WA8LMF Home Page | Main Ham Radio Page |Main UI-View Notes Page | Updated 31 July 2010

Using Precision Mapping 8.0 or 8.1 With UI-View

IMPORTANT! Before proceeding with the following installs, ensure that UI-View32 Ver 2.03 is installed and operating properly.

A complete UIview / Precision Mapping 8.x install consists of three separate programs that must be installed separately, and in the correct order:

The main UI-View Ver 2.03 Program that is a free download from UI-view.net.

You must use the 32-bit version; the 16-bit (i.e. Windows 3.1) version of UIview with a seemingly higher version number (2.39) WON'T WORK!
The Precision Mapping Server 7.07 plug-in for UIview (commonly referred to as "Pmap Server 7") downloadable from UI-view.net . PMap Server is the "middleware" go-between that allows UIview to access the Precision Mapping database. PMap Server 7 was originally written to work with Precision Mapping 7. However, it also works with Precision Mapping 8.0 and 8.1 . [The older PMap Server Versions 5 and 6 will not work with Precision Mapping 7.0 or 8.0 . See more details about Versions 5 and 6 below. ]
The Precision Mapping Streets & Traveller 8.0 or 8.1 program (commonly referred to as "PMap 8") purchased from Undertow Software. This is a commercial street mapping program similar to Delorme Street Atlas or Microsoft Streets & Trips. However Precision Mapping is the only program that will work inside UIview to produce fully scrollable zoomable maps.

The same PMap Server 7.07 is used with:

Precision Mapping Streets & Traveler 7.0
Precision Mapping Streets & Traveler 8.0
Precision Mapping Streets & Traveler 8.1

*** There is no PMap Server 8 ***.

You must use PMap Server 7.07 with Precision Mapping 8.x, and you must install it in the sequence described below. This is different from the sequence in the instructions provided with PMap Server 7.

Note that PMap Server 7.07 is an unfinished work-in-progress derived from the similar server for Precision Mapping 6.0 shortly after the original author's death in late 2004. [The help system for PMap Server 7 still contains references to Precision Mapping 6.0 .]

PMap Server 7.07 was released in Jan 2005 for use with Precision Mapping 7.0. It has never been revised to explicitly accommodate the Precision Mapping 8.x program released a year later. As a result, the install process with Precision Mapping 8.x is somewhat clumsy.

PMap Server 7 was released long before Windows Vista and Windows 7 appeared. It has not been revised to accommodate these versions of Windows. PMap Server 7 can be made to run with these OS's, but it requires an even clumsier install process. It is NOT a trivial "Run setup and sit back" proposition. Click Here For Details

Background and General Information

The "secret sauce active ingredient" in both Precision Mapping7 and 8, and the PMap Server 7 plug-in for UIview, is the MapPro71.ocx "Active-X" control. This is the program component used to retrieve data from the Precision Mapping database files. This software component, located in the main Precision Mapping folder, is used by both the standalone Precision Mapping Streets & Traveler programs Versions 7 and 8, and by the Pmap Server 7 for UI-View.

Undertow Software is endlessly fiddling with MapPro71.ocx and has released numerous versions of this software building block over the life of both PMap 7 and PMap 8. Only one version of this control can be active in Windows at a time. Installing the programs in the wrong sequence can cause a wrong and outdated version of this control to be the active one! Click Here for a changelog listing the changes in the MapPro71.ocx control since it's release.

[Note that UI-View does not actually use the Precision Mapping program. UIview only utilizes the database and the MapPro71.ocx ActiveX control. This control is placed on your hard disk (and registered with Windows) by installing the Precision Mapping program. You can, if you wish, run the Precision Mapping program separately and simultaneously with UIview. Both programs can use the database at the same time.]

The original release of Precision Mapping 8.0 had many bugs,and corrrupted data for Los Angeles county, California and some other cities. Numerous older major street segments were broken or just plain missing. These problems have now been corrected with a service pack update. Go to:

http://www.undertowsoftware.com/support/PMSAT80.htm#SP1

to download the PMSAT80, Service Pack 1 update. This is an 18 MB self-extracting archive file that should be unpacked into the main Precision Mapping 8 folder, after doing the main install from the PMap 8 CD-ROMs.

Update Notice: As of March 2007, the Precision Mapping 8.0 CD-ROMs appear to have been "slipstreamed" with the patches contained in the service pack above, AND a version of MapPro71.ocx even newer than the one in the service pack. If your CDs are newer than this, you DO NOT need to install this service pack.

DO NOT install this update on Precision Mapping 8.1 released in spring 2009. The update is only for Ver 8.0. You will "update" Ver 8.1 backwards by about two years!

Click Here for a changelog listing the changes in the MapPro71.ocx control since it's release.

IMPORTANT! The procedure for upgrading an existing Precision Mapping 7 system is different from installing Precision Mapping 8 from scratch on a new system. Both procedures are described below.

Jump to locations lower down on this page:

Cold-Installing PMap 8.0 or 8.1
Upgrading an Existing PMap 7.0 Installation
PMap 8.0/8.1 POI (Points of Interest) Information

Precision Mapping 8 installs the Undertow Software MapPro71.ocx Active-X control into the main Precision Mapping program folder. Installing PMap Server 7 places an obsolete older version of the MapPro71.ocx file in the PMap Server 7 folder.

The presence (or lack thereof) of MapPro71.ocx and it's companion MapPro71.cfg configuration file from previous installations, affects how PMap 8 and the PMap 7 Server are installed.

[ Undertow Software allowed the UIview authors to include the older version of MapPro71.ocx as part of the PMap Server 7 install. For unknown reasons, they are NOT allowing the inclusion of the newer version of the OCX as part of an updated PMap Server installer. As a result, the somewhat roundabout installation procedures (and critical order of installs) below are required to ensure that the newer version of MapPro71.OCX in the Precision Mapping 8 folder (rather than the obsolete older one in the PMap Server 7 folder) is the active copy. ]

Note for Precision Mapping 5 and 6 Users: These earlier versions of Precision Mapping and their associated PMap servers do not use the MapPro71.ocx control. If one of these earlier versions of Precision Mapping is present on your system, install Precision Mapping 8 following the from-scratch install rather than as an upgrade.

You do not need to un-install Precision Mapping 5 or 6 before installing Version 7 or 8. If you have the disk space, you may actually want to keep PMap 6 on your system, since it has drawing tools that can create UI-View compatible map overlays such as marked up routes and added points of interest (for a parade route or marathon for example). The later Precision Mapping 7 and 8 create these overlays in a format incompatible with UI-View. (Once the overlays are created in Pmap 6.0 , they can be loaded by the PMap Server 7, and used with PMap 7 or 8 in UIview. It's just that the later versions lack the tools to create them.)

 

Cold-Installing Precision Mapping 8.0 or 8.1 On A UI-View Setup Never Used With Precision Mapping 7.0

These instructions are for a user who DOES NOT currently have the older Precision Mapping 7.0 or PMapServer7 on their system. The key to a successful install is to have the proper OCX registered with Windows and the proper mapping data directories ("folders") selected inside UI-View.

Install UIview Ver 2.03. Verify that UIview operates normally. You must have UIview working correctly before installing the other programs. Temporarily use the static map of the entire US for testing.

Shut down UIview
.

REBOOT!

Install PMapServer7. This installs the OLD version of MapPro71.OCX and registers it with
Windows. It also installs the other required DLL and support files.

NOTE: This is the opposite of the installation sequence in the instructions included with PMapServer7. The included instructions tell you to install Precision Mapping first.

(The instructions were written for installs with Precision Mapping 7.0 and have never been updated for PMap 8.x).

Run the "Init PMapServer7" shortcut the above install creates. This:

Creates configuration and support files in the PMap server folder, including
PMapServer7.ini that later will store the path to Precision Mapping's data files.
It also creates the file !!PmapServer7.INF which will later be copied into the
UIview folder. In other words, you should see more than one file in the PMap
Server 7 folder.

Communicates with the Windows registry to find out where UIview.exe is located,
and then copies the file !!PmapServer7.INF into the \MAPS folder located under
the main UIview folder. This file must be present in this location to allow "Precison
Mapping Server V7" to show up in the list of loadable maps in UIview.

REBOOT!

Install Precision Mapping Streets & Traveler 8.0 or 8.1.

This installs the NEW version of MapPro71.ocx and registers it with the Windows Registry,
thereby overriding and disabling the old version installed in 3 above. The old version (installed
by PMapServer7 in step 2) is then never used again. If you install PMapServer7 AFTER PMap 8,
you will have problems. since the older version of MapPro71.OCX will now take precedence
over the newer one.

Forget about UIview and the PMap Server for a moment. Startup and run the standalone
Precision Mapping 8.x program. You will be prompted to register the program. Choosing
the registration option will launch your default web browser and send you to the web site
http://registermyapp.com . The registration process produces a "magic number" that you
then copy/paste into the dialog in the Precision Mapping window.

[NOTE: Save this number for future use if you have to re-install the program for some reason.
Note that this number is unique to a particular machine and operating system version.
If you change either, (for example, upgrade from Win98 to XP, or do an install on another
machine) you will have to repeat the registration process. Unlike Windows XP/Vista "product
activation", there seems to be no limit to how many times you can re-run the registration process.]

Using Windows Explorer, copy the file MapPro71.cfg from the Precision Mapping 8.0
program folder to to the PMap Server 7 program folder. This ensures that PMapServer7
will be using the correct mapping data directories. Copy the MapPro71.OCX file located
in the Precision Mapping 8 program folder (this is the newer version of this file) into the
PMap Server 7 folder, thereby overwriting the older version located there.

Start UIview. Select Menu "Map", "Load a Map" and then select
"Precision Mapping V7 Server" from the list.

If large area views display properly, but local street detail fails to show when zoomed
in (or nothing at all appears), pull down and select "Map, Control Panel" from the UI-View
menu bar. From the resulting "PMapServer7 Control Panel", select "Options, Precision Mapping
Data Paths, Easy Setup". You will be prompted to navigate your directory tree to point to the
location of the main Precision Mapping (not UI-View!) program. You may have to exit UIview
and restart it before the changes will have any effect.

See below to enable Points Of Interest in the UI-View display.

Upgrading An Existing Installation Currently Using Precision Mapping 7.0

Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0 or 8.1 will work with PMapServer7 but a few changes to MapPro71.cfg , located in the PMapServer7 folder will be required to tell PMap server to use the new Ver 8.0 data files.

If you do NOT update or edit MapPro71.cfg or use UiView to change the Precision Mapping data directories after Installing PMap 8.0 then one of the following will occur inside UI-View:

If Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 7.0 is still present on your system, PMapServer7 will use the old PMap 7.0 street files, not the new, updated PMap 8.0 Street files. POIs (Points of Interest) will NOT display.

If Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 7.0 has been removed or is not present, you will not see any local streets or POIs at all when you zoom in with UI-View/PMapServer7.

Installation instructions:
DO NOT uninstall or reinstall PMap Server 7 !!
Shut down UiView.
REBOOT.
Uninstall Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 7.0 
REBOOT.
Install Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0.
Register the PMap 8 installation with the Undertow website. (Shows up online as 
"RegisterMyApp.com").
AGAIN: DO NOT re-install PMapServer7 !!! This will cause the older version of MapPro71.ocx provided with PMap Server to disable the newer version provided with PMap 8. This will cause major problems.

Finally, modify the existing PMap Server 7 installation.

Start UiView after PMap 8.0 has been installed and registered with Undertow.

Select menu "Map", "Control Panel", "Options" "Precision Mapping Data Paths", "Easy Setup". When the dialog appears, navigate to the main Precision Mapping Streets 8.0 (not UI-View) program directory, then hit OK.

Restart UiView. PMap 8 streets detail will now be available for display.

Precision Mapping 8.0 Points of Interest Information and Display

Precision Mapping 8.0 introduced a database of millions of "POIs" (Points of Interest) not present in earlier version of the program. These include gas stations, motels, restaurants, supermarkets and other items supposedly of interest to travelers. These POIs don't appear until you zoom down to detailed close-up street level In downtown commercial districts, there can be dozens of these in every block. When Precision Mapping is used with UI-View, this creates a very cluttered display that makes APRS symbols hard to spot. By default, the POIs show in the stand-alone Precision Mapping program, but not in the UI-View/PMap Server 7 display.

The display (or non-display) of the POIs is controlled by entries in the file MapPro71.cfg.

There are TWO copies of MapPro71.cfg on the system.

One is in the PMap Server 7 folder and only affects PMap display INSIDE UIview.
The other is in the main Precision Mapping program folder and only affects the display of the stand-alone Precision Mapping program run OUTSIDE of UIview.

Open either copy of MapPro71.cfg with a text editor like Windows Notepad. Near the top of the file you will see a paragraph similar to the following:

[Directories]
CDSTATE=C:\Program Files\Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0\STATES
CDDATA1=C:\Program Files\Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0\DATA1
CDDATA2=C:\Program Files\Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0\DATA2
CDDATA3=C:\Program Files\Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0\DATA3
CDSTATE1=C:\PROGRAM FILES\PRECISION MAPPING STREETS AND TRAVELER 8.0\STATES
CDDATA4=C:\PMAP60\Data4

Note: Your paths will vary depending on where you installed Precision Mapping.

The path for "CDDATA4= " determines where the PMap Server looks for the supplementary POI database introduced with PMap 8. (The PMap Server 7 Control Panel setup options overlook modifying this path during setup, since it didn't exist at all in Precision Mapping 7.0).

If you want the POIs to show inside UIview, edit the copy of MapPro71.cfg located in the PMap Server 7 folder. Ensure that the path for CDDATA4= points to the same folder as the other Precision Mapping data files in the lines above. If you do not want the POIs to show inside UIview, delete this line (or insure that the path points to a non-existent location in case you change your mind and want them back).

Save the file and restart the program. (Be sure to save it with the original ."cfg" extension; don't let your editor change the file name extension to ".txt" !)

You can edit the MapPro71.cfg file in the main Precision Mapping 8.0 program folder the same way to force the display or non-display of POIs in the standalone Precision Mapping program. (You can also control the display from within Precision Mapping from it's own options dialogs. This WILL NOT affect the displays inside of UI-View.)

If you are certain that you will never want the POIs, either in UI-View or in standalone Precision Mapping, delete the line CDDATA4= in both copies of MapPro71.cfg . Then delete the entire contents of the folder "\DATA4" located under the main Precision Mapping 8 program folder. This will reclaim over 300MB of hard disk space.

If desired, you can custom-tweak the POI displays. Open MapPro71.cfg with a text editor like Windows Notepad, and locate the following lines (they will be near the end of the file):

OBJECT=POIMGR
VIS=1
MMJR= 0.25
MMNR= 0.15
VISL=FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF01
FLABEL=STD_NAME
FHINT=STD_NAME+#13#10+"ph."+PHONE

VIS controls display of POI's. 1 = visible 0 = not visible.
MMJR is the zoom level in miles when the POI symbols start to display.
MMNR is the zoom level where POI text displays.
VISL is the different categories of POI's to be displayed. The POI
dialog in Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler allows you to
change the displayed categories. The cfg file is probably not
updated until PMap is shut down.
FLABEL controls what Poi text is displayed on the map. You can
display STD_NAME and PHONE on the same line by specifying
FLABEL=STD_NAME+" "+PHONE. Double quotes required for all literal text.
FHINT controls the hint text that appears when you move the mouse
over the POI. This does not work in UiView, since it and PMapServer7
do not present the actual OCX surface to the user.
STD_NAME+#13#10+"ph."+PHONE causes the name to appear on the top
line of the mouse hint, and the phone number on the bottom line.