anAtlas is a simple yet powerful tool for locating places on Earth. Detailed results are listed and displayed on a map of the world. anAtlas can search its local database of over 60,000 places, or search more comprehensive databases via the Internet.
- Link quickly to Internet resources such as maps, weather, and imagery
- Find distances between locations by setting a "Home Base"
- Work with your own data by simply dropping or pasting it into anAtlas
System Requirements:
- PowerPC
- Mac OS 8 or 9
- 9 MB of available RAM
Using anAtlas:
If the local database does not contain what you are looking for, try using an on-line database. To do this, click on the "that begin" popup menu and select "via Internet". Then click the "Find" key again. (Click on the "Use" button to select different databases; "USGS GNIS" is the best for U.S. only searches - in addition to populated places it also contains airports, caves, cemetaries, churches, schools, and many other features)
Once some locations show up in the list, double-click one (or drag one to the Map window) to highlight it on the Map. Try clicking on the "i" button in the upper right corner of the list to see what additional information on that location may be available.
Accepts various data formats dragged or pasted onto its controls. For example, both the main results list and the User Locations window accept column-delimited or column-delimited latitude-longitudes.
The Search Window -
• Click the disclosure triangle to expand the window to offer search limitations on country and population.
• Try searching "via Internet" for a more comprehensive (but slower) search.
The Results Window -
• Click the disclosure triangle to expand the window to display Latitude, Longitude, Range, and Population columns.
• Double-click a row or drag it to the Map window to highlight that location and center the Map view on it.
• Drag the location to the area at the top of the window to set it as the Home Base.
• Use the "i" button for on-line mapping, weather, etc. for the selected place.
• The Range column is the ground range from Home Base.
• Use contextual menus to do other actions and local searches.
• A "?" in the Population column denotes missing population data for that location.
The Map Window -
• Click and drag to scroll map.
• Click while holding down command or option to zoom in and out (or click bottom left buttons).
• When the cursor is over the Map, hold down the command key to display info on closest location to cursor.
• Use contextual menus to do other actions and local searches.
• Hold down the option key to display current sunrise and sunset times.
The Menu Bar -
• File -> New Search and Edit -> Find... -> Find Place are shortcuts to the "places" "that begin" search.
• File -> Internet Search switches to "via Internet" search.
• Edit -> Find... -> Find in Results... to search locations in the Results window.
• Edit -> Find... -> Find Again to find next match.
• Edit -> User Locations to add your own locations.
• Window -> Arrange resets and arranges windows to fill your main display screen.
Shortcuts And Tips -
• Click on "km" or "mi" in the Range column header to toggle distance units.
• Home Base Latitude and Longitude is editable.
• Press return or enter in the Results window to highlight the selected location on the Map.
• Click a name on the Map to highlight that location in the Results window.
Data From Other Applications -
Search, Results, Map, and User Location windows all accept dropped or pasted data from other applications.
Name, State/Province, Country, Latitude, Longitude is accepted. Just Latitude & Longitude is also accepted. Formats of some popular geographic search engines are also accepted and deciphered. For example, if a search was done at "Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names" and several place records were selected, the whole browser page could be selected and dragged onto (or cut & pasted into) anAtlas.
About the Local Database:
anAtlas's local database was created by merging several publicly available databases of populated places (Mostly GNIS) and facilities. In the case of duplicate places in the same state and closer than 50km, data from the historically more accurate database was used. Duplicate places further than 50km apart were left in the database. There were some obvious errors in some of the databases. Data cross-referencing, distance checking, and spelling comparisons were used to throw out the obvious errors and flag the questionable ones. The few remaining questionable ones were then verified with GNIS. Note that some countries may have many places with the exact same name or different accepted spellings for one place. Populations are 1990 Census data from GNIS databases.
Registering anAtlas:
anAtlas is currently free, although Harry Hooie encourages users to register anAtlas for US $10 to encourage continued development.
Registered users are entitled to future versions and product support. It is likely that future versions of anAtlas will not be free - but, registered users of anAtlas will always be entitled to ownership of all versions of anAtlas!!!
To register, go to http://harryhooie.com/
(There is a quick link in the "About anAtlas..." box)
anAtlas is eligible for discounted pricing on site licenses. For details, contact Harry Hooie Creations directly via e-mail.
Product Support:
Harry Hooie Creations e-mail: support@harryhooie.com
Harry Hooie Creations Home Page: http://harryhooie.com/
anAtlas Home Page: http://harryhooie.com/anatlas/
Plans are to have a MacOS X version available after Mac OS X officially ships.
Trouble Shooting:
When running under Mac OS 8 and 9 (classic version) -
anAtlas preloads the Map graphic for speed. If anAtlas is running low on memory, anAtlas may be unloaded the map to free up memory which will greatly slow Map redraws. This usually occurs when a monitor is set to millions of colors and preferences are set to display a large numbers of results in the Results window and/or greater than 1000 User Locations exist. To fix, get info on the anAtlas application and increase its preferred memory size.
Also, if multiple monitors are being used with different numbers of colors, anAtlas's preferred memory size should be increased by 1.5 Megabytes.
Version History:
New in Version 1.5 -
• Internet searching using several different user-selectable on-line databases
• Links to Internet resources such as maps, weather, imagery and more
• High resolution map render mode
Fixed in Version 1.4.1 -
• Fixed Latitude and longitude rounding errors in certain instances
New in Version 1.4 -
• User Editable Locations
• Handling of various data formats dragged or pasted from other applications
• Preference for remembering window positions and map settings (under Preferences/Misc.)
Fixed in Version 1.3.1 -
• Fixed preferences bug if Home Base contained a return
• Improved handling of missing data files
New in Version 1.3 -
• Population data searching
• Location names on Map
• More comprehensive name searches
• Result searching
Fixed in Version 1.2.1 -
• Fixed "incomplete results for "containing" searches" bug
• Fixed cosmetic Map glitches
New in Version 1.2 -
• Real-time "that begin" searches
• Distance computations
• Navigation Services support
• Contextual menus in Results and Map
New in Version 1.1 -
• Ground traces on Map
• Map scrolling and zooming
• Drag&drop between windows
Thanks to Beta Testers: Susan Stulting, Mike Byrd, Teresa McLendon, William Black, Bill Sommers
Disclaimer: In no event will the author of this software be liable for any special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from possession, use, or malfunction of this product.
