Codesearch - heeeeellllllpppp!!!!

g8 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 14, 2003 Posts: 12

First of all hello to all and congrats to those who run this great site Smile

I am a bit of a numpty when it comes to computers etc.. but somehow I manage to get there in the end. However it is now 4.20 am and I am going to crawl into my sack having failed miserably at the last hurdle with this Checkpoint software !!

Basically I am running TT2 on a iPAQ 3870 and have managed to download the postcodes that I want and the codesearch programme and everything seems to be there on my PDA. I have a long list of cbt files but can someone pleeeeeeease tell me in plain english what I need to do next to get them into TT2 and also how to use the feature when I want TT to take me to that postcode?

I know that this will probably have you all rolling around in hysterics at my ineptness but hey a man's gotta go to bed !!!!

Thanks in advance

Graham

g8 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 14, 2003 Posts: 12

Oops sorry I meant Codesearch software !!!! Embarassed

Talkingbollox · Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 1:15 pm Post subject:

I don't run CodeSearch program on the PDA.

What I do is run CodeSearch on the PC, then transfer the Postcodes.ov2 file to the TT map directory.

I have a base working directory containing CodeSearch.exe, and I have changed the default_symbol.bmp to postcodes.bmp.

I extract the CodeSearch postal region I want from the postcode regions into the working directory (e.g CodeSearch_WC_London.ov2).

I then fire up CodeSeach and type in the WC postcode I want converted into the program, and give the location a name - e.g. "mother-in-law". Save the output as "postcodes.ov2". This file is then transferred to the TT map directory along with postcodes.bmp on the PPC using Acticesync. In TT, navigate to the place you want ("mother-in-law") under Postcodes POI.

As you change and amend the postcodes.ov2 file under on the PC, you can just transfer this file to the PPC without the .bmp file as the bit map already exists on the PPC.

I trust the above is useful.

Oldie · Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 3:16 pm Post subject:

Hi g8,

I hope that you managed to get off to sleep OK Wink

Because you mention .cbt files you would have been trying to get the PocketPC version of CodeSearch to run. Did you find the readme file? Or was it too convoluted to understand? Anyway I am willing to talk you through the process if you still want some help.

Richard

g8 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 14, 2003 Posts: 12

Hey guys thanks for replying so soon Smile

I am a bit confused though - should I not have downloaded all these postcode files to my PDA then?

I am on the road all day and what I am trying to achieve is to enter a postcode and TT2 to take me there. I have got this long list of cbt files and now don't know what to do with them!!

I did read the 'readme' file and it got me as far as I am now - but if one of you kind people can explain to me in plain English how and what I do from hereon in I would be so very grateful Thumbs Up

Thanks again for your time

Graham

Oldie · Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2003 8:34 am Post subject:

Graham,

Firstly, you only need transfer to a folder on the PocketPC those .cbt files that cover the Postcode areas that you are going to travel in. There is no need to transfer the .ov2 files that are available on the PocketGPS website. Because CodeSearch is written using embedded Visual Basic searching the original .ov2 files was very slow. To speed things up I reformatted them and used the cbt extension to identify them. Usually the .cbt files would be placed on a storage card.

Have you managed to install the PocketPC version of CodeSearch by running the Setup program on your PC? If you have done this then, after starting CodeSearch from the Programs window on the PPC, you should use the Setup menu (bottom left corner of the screen) to set cbt Path and ov2 Path. When you select cbt Path the program will show you the names of your .cbt files. Tap one of them to set the path to the files. Use ov2 Path in the same way, but this time you have to select a Name, Folder and Location for the output ov2 file. A default name of csTrip is supplied. This is the file that you will use with TTN when setting up a route. Use the drop-down menus to select the Folder and Location of the TomTom Navigator map that you use when driving.

Finally, enter a Postcode, Search and Save.

That's enough for starters. Please give me details of what you have managed so far and we will go from there.

Richard

g8 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 14, 2003 Posts: 12

Well having finally sorted out my GPS problems I had another go at looking at this yesterday (at a respectable time of day!!)

All I can say is - WOW !!!! It was fairly straightforward when I thought about it and tried a few things and now I am well up to speed. I have even drawn a new bitmap image of a 'front-door' and renamed those relevant sections 'Postcode' from 'csTrip' and locked it into the TT2 POI 'quickstart' menu !!!

Oldie - you don't know how much time, frustration and head-banging this programme is going to save me as I am on the road for 8+ hours a day. You are to be truly commended for such an excellent programme.

Very best wishes for Xmas and the New Year

Graham Thumbs Up

Howarduk · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 8:06 pm Post subject:

Having read everyones excellent advice I downloaded Code search and all the postcodes. I wanted to run it on my PC and then transfer the files that I wanted onto my PPC.
I unzipped all the files and put them into one big folder then added the Code search.exe file help file and the default bmp and thought great, already to go now.
However, when I put in a postcode and then go to open it gives me the list of all the postcodes okay and I go to the area I want and then press open. I then get an error message that says.

"The selected file is not in Code search format"

All I did was unzip all the postcodes and put them into a folder didnt change them or anything else. I thought I have done what I am supposed to have done but obviously I have omitted something or done something that I shouldnt have?

Thanks in advance

Howard

Oldie · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2003 11:09 am Post subject:

Howard,

You do not need to use the Open or Append buttons when creating a new Postcode file. What you have done so far appears to be correct ie put the CodeSearch.exe file and the Postcode OV2 files in the same folder. After starting the program, enter a postcode in the first column of the grid. When you move to another box the program will look up the postcode coordinates and display them. You do not have to open any of the Postcode OV2 files, the program does it for you.

When you have created the list of codes, use the Save button to write them to a file and transfer this new OV2 file and BMP file to the TTN map folder.

The Open and Append buttons allow you to reuse those OV2 files that have been created using the Save button.

Richard

Howarduk · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2003 9:43 pm Post subject:

Richard

Thanks very much. I couldnt work out what I was doing wrong. As you say
I just moved along to the next grid and the Long and Lat just came in. Thanks very much for your help.

Howard

Howarduk · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 12:48 am Post subject:

Richard

Just one last question please. You said transfer both the bmp and the ov2 files to TTN database. I did that and the whole of both Check Point and TTN froze up and I had to soft reset twice to clear it. After deleting the files and resetting again it worked okay.
One of the other answers says that I only have to transfer the ov2 file not the bmp file. Would that have made the prog freeze? When I transfered I did it manually by just cutting and pasting the files into the TTN database.

Howard

Oldie · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 10:06 am Post subject:

Howard,

The problem could be the number of colours that I have used in the definition of the default bitmap (.BMP) file. Some PDAs do lock up if too many are used. The best way would be to copy and rename one that works on your PDA.

If you have, say, a file trip.ov2 in the TTN map folder then putting an icon bitmap file, trip.bmp, in the same folder will enable you to see the locations of the POI in trip.ov2 Without the bitmap file you will not be able to see the locations on the map, but you could still navigate to the POI.

Richard

Howarduk · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 6:51 pm Post subject:

Richard

I did see an answer on another thread about colours and bitmaps and the fact that some PDA's dont like full colour so I will try to dither the colour down to 256 or better still check to see what colour the bitmaps are.

Thanks very much for your help.

Howard

Howarduk · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 8:06 pm Post subject:

Richard

Thanks very much for all your help. I had to change the resolution of the bmp file and now it works great.

Many thanks for all your replies, and a Happy New Year.

Howard

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