RMAP --- Current version is 1.1 Homepage is at http://www.reza.net/rmap/ Description ----------- Simply put, rmap is a package that will allow you to generate images of the earth from a distance or fairly zoomed in. The code is a small C binary that reads a datafile of vectors to generate the image. The actual image is generated from the libgd library, which will either generate a gif, png, or jpeg based on the version of libgd and auxiliary libs you have. Please see the libgd documentation regarding any auxiliary libs your version might require. I've tried to make the code be intelligent when you run configure, but I've not done much testing of it yet. History ------- This package derived out of my personal need for a mapping system that was accurate across the globe in terms of longitude and latitude positioning. I found references to the CIA's Data Bank II which consists of 3 9-Track tapes of COBAL data that ran on old mainframes which had decent vector data of the earth, and that were also in the public domain. However, trying to find these on the Internet proved to be a challenge. I finally came across a set of data files derived from the CIA's Data Bank files which were compressed in an odd format and made to run on old old terminals using some Fortran program. I wrote some code to convert the mass of datafiles into one larger one that contained all the data as well as was fairly fast at accessing it. And that's the history of the origin on the vector data file. Data Content (Configuration) --------------------------- The following types of data are available for plotting. By editing the rmap.color file which is installed in the same directory as the earth.rez vector file (usually in /usr/local/share/rmap/ or /usr/share/rmap/), you can specify what you want to be displayed, and in what color. You can also copy this file into your home directory and rename it .rmaprc in case you can't edit the rmap.color file in it's installed location. You can also give rmap a command line option pointing to the colormap file you would like used. Look in rgb.h for a list of all the colors which you can use. The colors are the same as the standard rgb.txt file that comes with XFree86 for your convinience. Use 'none' if you don't want a particular feature graphed. The list of features is as follows. The Following are availibe for plotting --------------------------------------- Boundaries ---------- Demarcated or delimited boundary Indefinite or in Dispute Other line of separation of sovereignty on land US State Lines Costs, Islands and Lakes ------------------------ Coast, islands and lakes that appear on all maps Additional major islands and lakes Intermediate islands and lakes Minor islands and lakes Intermittent major lakes Intermittent minor lakes Reefs Salt pans -- major Salt pans -- minor Ice Shelves -- major Ice Shelves -- minor Glaciers Rivers ------ Permanent major rivers Additional major rivers Additional rivers Minor rivers Double lined rivers Intermittent rivers -- major Intermittent rivers -- additional Intermittent rivers -- minor Major canals Canals of lesser importance Canals -- irrigation type MISC ---- If you are having strange problems, verify that the earth.rez file is not corrupt. The md5sum checksom of earth.rez is ab97468a5179c1e51759ef5ba7458a0b
