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SurView TutorialInstallation, Configuration & Removal |
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The SurView directory contains the following files (approximately 2 MB):
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Unlike many Windows applications, SurView does not require installation - if provided as a viewer on a CD of digital data, it can run directly from the CD, without any files being copied to your system and without configuration. However, you can also copy the files to another drive for convenience (so you can run SurView without the CD).
SurView has minimal impact on your system in terms of files and configuration settings.
Installation procedure
If you wish to install SurView on your hard disk, simply
drag & drop the entire '\surview' directory (it
might have another name) from the CD to any convenient
location on your hard-disk. For example, any of the
following directories is a reasonable choice, but feel
free to put it anywhere, i.e.:
Microsoft's CTL3DV2.DLL file (~22 kb in size) provides the 3D visual
effects in SurView's dialog boxes.
Use File Manager/Explorer to drag CTL3DV2.DLL from the ...\SURVIEW\SYSTEM directory (located below SURVIEW.EXE) and drop it into your ...\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. If you are running Windows from a network drive, you may not have access to this Windows 'system' directory, in which case, install the file in your ...\WINDOWS directory. Do not use the DOS 'copy' command to perform this operation: a newer version of CTL3DV2.DLL file may be over-written without warning.
If the file already exists, Windows will display the size, date, and time of both files and prompt 'Confirm file replace'. You should cancel the operation if the existing CTL3DV2.DLL file is more recent than the CTL3DV2.DLL file from the CD.
You may then create an icon (File | New in File Manager) or a
Windows '95 'shortcut' (right click on the desktop and choose
New | Shortcut), to run the surview.exe application conveniently.
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File Association
Windows allows data files to be 'run' (i.e. with Program Manager's
File | Run option, with Explorer's Start | Run option,
by double-clicking them in File Manager/Explorer or by attaching
them to icons or Windows '95 'shortcuts' which can be double-clicked).
However, all of this requires that the files be 'associated' with a
particular application so that Windows knows where to find the .EXE
file.
SurView contains an embedded utility to register the 'File Association' for 6 file types (.BOB/BLC, .GRX, .SLD, .ASX, & .FDL). Subsequently, any of the SurView files can be 'run' with the above methods. This 'association' procedure writes entries into the Windows registration database (win.ini file on Windows 3.x). Whether you have copied surview.exe to your hard disk or whether you have decided to leave it on the CD, you should set these File Associations.
Warning
Please use SurView's procedure to set the File Association - it does
the same thing as the procedure built-in to Windows, but is more flexible
and SurView-specific. Note that File Association only enables
Windows to find the application - it does not guarantee that the application
will be able to open the file. If you double-click on a SHP or GRD/GRI file,
Windows may ask you to identify the application to be used. If you point to
SurView, that still will not work. Windows will deliver the file to
SurView, but SurView will reject it because SurView does not
recognize SHP/GRD/GRI files - it uses ASX files to access SHP files and
GRX files to access image/grid files.
Procedure
Click the [-] 'system menu' (or SurView icon in Windows
'95) in the extreme upper left corner of SurView's window and
select 'File Association'.
The dialog box will show the path to the .exe that is currently 'associated' with each of the 6 SurView file types. It will also show the pathname to the current surview.exe. One or more of the current associations may be undefined (blank) or it may point to another copy of surview.exe.
Sample File Association dialog boxes
![]() no File Association for SurView |
![]() File Association for current SurView |
![]() File Association for different SurView |
Moving SurView
If you move surview.exe after the File Association has
been done, you will need to reset the File Association settings
from this same dialog box so that Windows will know where to find
surview.exe at its new location. Bring up the File Association
dialog box and click 'Set to current' to replace the existing
entries with the current location of surview.exe.
Icon display
Once the File Association has been done, File Manager/Explorer
will draw a different icon for the associated files, indicating that
they are 'executable' (by double-clicking them). Note that this may
require restarting File Manager/Explorer.
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SurView has now been completely removed from your system.
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Digital data files can remain on the CD, but if desired, the files can be moved to another drive (perhaps for faster access). When moving these files (for any reason), keep in mind the following restrictions on FDL, ASX & GRX files, all of which are small text files:
If the FDL file is copied to another location, the files listed in the FDL file must also be moved to the same location relative to the FDL file. If they are located elsewhere, you must edit the .FDL files to change the filenames to fully-qualified pathnames (drive, directory, filename and extension). SurView always requires the filename extension (.ASX, .GRX, etc.) to determine the file type.
Note that using a complete pathname in an .FDL file allows you to create other .FDL files (on your hard disk), containing the pathnames of your favourite combination of the primary data files (which can remain on the CD). For example, you might create a c:\xxx.fdl file containing references to several files on CD drive D:
d:\radiomet\pot.grx d:\geology\geo.asx d:\drainage\rivers.bob d:\geochem\biogc.bob |
All you need to do then is put the CD in drive D: and run the c:\XXX.FDL file to view all of those files.
ASX files contain the filename of a binary .SHP file (i.e. xxx.shp),
the filename of an attributes file (i.e. xxx.dbf) and the filename
of a 'theme' or 'lookup table' file (probably a .DBF file, but it
could be any name). If these files are not in the same directory
as the xxx.asx file, the simple filenames in the .ASX file must be
replaced with fully qualified pathnames.
GRX files contain the filename of a binary grid file (i.e. xxx.bil)
and the filename of a corresponding colour palette file (i.e.
xxx.rgb or xxx.cmy). If these files are not in the same directory
as the xxx.grx file, the simple filenames in the .GRX file must be
replaced with fully qualified pathnames. If the .RGB or .CMY files
reside in the ...\SURVIEW directory (which is common), full
pathnames are not required, since SurView knows where to find them.
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