TIDE CONVERTER README


TideMac and TideWin are simple console-based applications which will covert
text-format tide tables into PalmPilot databases for the Tides application. 
Install the Tides application and as many tide table databases as you want and
you're ready to go.

Currently, TideMac and TideWin support two tide table formats, xtide and a simple
table format.  Source code is included so if you find a format which isn't
supported, you should be able to easily modify TideMac or TideWin.

I personally recommend the xtide format at the site mentioned below since you can
download tables for the entire year (or more) and the tables account for daylight
savings as well!

Take a deep breath now... since there's no place which provides Pilot-ready tide
tables, you'll have to do a little work.  All you'll need is a connection to the
World Wide Web and a text editor or word processor.  Read below about the format
and then surf to one of the sites mentioned.

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Both xtide and the table format start with two tab-delineated lines:
(Tab-delineated means you type a "tab" between each field.)

The first line contains three names: 
1. a name used for the destination filename
   (what the file will be called on your drive)
2. a 31-character (or less) name for the Pilot PDB
   (what it will be named on your Pilot)
3. a 63-character or less site name
   (which will be displayed in the Tides application).

The second line contains the table format type, whether the values are in feet or
meters and the maximum number of tides per 24 hour period (typically 4).

xtide format files are available at <http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/sitesel.html>
and look like:

Gloucest.PDB	Gloucester Harbor MA	Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts
xtide	feet	4
  High Tide:  Tue 1997-04-01  4:51 AM EST  9.02
   Low Tide:  Tue 1997-04-01 11:19 AM EST  0.11
  High Tide:  Tue 1997-04-01  5:35 PM EST  8.20
   Low Tide:  Tue 1997-04-01 11:40 PM EST  0.72
  High Tide:  Wed 1997-04-02  5:54 AM EST  9.13
   Low Tide:  Wed 1997-04-02 12:20 PM EST  -0.06

high/low format files are available at
<http://northshore.shore.net/~mcmorran/tide/tideform.html> and look like:

Boston.PDB	Boston MA	Boston, Massachusetts
high	feet	4
04/01/1997	05:52	9.99	12:22	0.28	18:36	9.06
04/02/1997			00:43	0.94	06:55	10.10	13:24	0.09	19:38	9.37
04/03/1997			01:46	0.60	07:59	10.36	14:24	-0.25	20:39	9.88
04/04/1997			02:48	0.06	09:01	10.73	15:22	-0.68	21:37	10.50

This is a simple table which alternates between high and low tides (or low and
high if the table type is "low").

For either format file, you can copy and paste the table into your text editor or
word processor, then add the two lines as described above to the top of the file.
Save the document as a TEXT only document.  Then run TideMac or TideWin and it
will convert the text file info Pilot format.  Use the Pilot Install App program
to install them on your Pilot.

A text version of the tide table for Gloucester Massachusetts as well as a Pilot-
format (PDB) version are included as a starting point.