README FILE FOR CORDUMP.EXE, PTDUMP.EXE, and TXTDUMP.EXE - Non- interactive DCW VPF Conversion Utilities (Note: Use these software programs at your own risk; neither the author, nor Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, MA, assumes any responsibility for damages which might occur from their use/abuse). These programs -- CORDUMP.EXE, PTDUMP.EXE, and TXTDUMP.EXE, derived from the Public Domain Source Code for VPFDUMP.EXE, distributed with all original DCW CDROMs -- were created to work as part of an interface between the Digital Chart of the World (CDROM dataset in VPF format) and ARC INFO's UNGEN (GENERATE) format. CORDUMP.EXE and PTDUMP.EXE main limitations are that they do not connect the correct attributes (identifiers) of the various line features with their vectors. The program does not, for example, output any feature which distinguishes winter routes vs. logging routes on the roads layer. All routes from a particular grid tile will be output at the same time. The feature identifiers which are output by the program are sequential ordered only. However, the results have been superb for (projected) vector overlay of remotely sensed imagery. The enhancement that the DCW vectors bring to visual analysis of NOAA AVHRR and Landsat in remote places all over the globe (especially where mapped data is lacking) has been significant. The CDROM drive must be on and seen as a regular DOS drive before any of these programs can function. A sample batch file, for example, to access the line vectors in the ROADS (RD) directory of the South America/Africa CD (SOAMAFR) at the GEOREF 5-degree grid tile at intersection HF22, might read: D: CD\ CD DCW\SOAMAFR\RD\H\F\22 c:\IDRISI\CORDUMP EDG > c:\tp5\project\RDHF22.LIN c: Drive letter D: should be replaced with the letter appropriate for the CDROM drive. The directory names on the line calling CORDUMP and redirecting the display output to a file are immaterial and user-defined. Print out the file DCGEOREF.WQ1 (Quattro Pro v.1.0 format) to get a listing of the GEOREFerencing system of the directories/subdirectories for use with VPF2ARC programs. Two other programs provided with this posting, PTDUMP.EXE and TXTDUMP.EXE, may also be used to access DCW data and will operate identically to CORDUMP. See the file DCWLIST.PRN to see which programs should be used to access which directories/file primitives of the DCW CDROMs. A program VPF2ARC.EXE for IDRISI will be available soon on the IDRISI ftp MIDGET.TOWSON.EDU. VPF2ARC.EXE interactively creates batch files (from user-prompted information) which call CORDUMP.EXE. Author: Peter Schlesinger, Woods Hole Research Center, PO Box 296, Woods Hole, MA 02543 (508)540-9900/9700 fax INTERNET: I43_PS02@RED.WHOI.EDU