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0001                   Micro World Data Bank in Polygons (MWDB-POLY)
0002 
0003                                 INTRODUCTION
0004                                 ============
0005 
0006          The full WDB-II is a digitial map data base produced by the
0007      Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and distributed by the National
0008      Technical Information Service (NTIS), U.S.  Department of Commerce,
0009      5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA, 22161.  Micro WDB-POLY is a
0010      highly compressed version which is suitable for use on micro computers
0011      and was put in this configuration by Micro Doc as Micro WDB-II.  Global
0012      Associates, Ltd added new data (primarily from Charles Culberson),
0013      made various fixes to Micro WDB-II, and rearranged the data into
0014      closed polygons.  Before describing Micro WDB-POLY a few words should
0015      be said about the source file - WDB-II.  The following paragraphs are
0016      paraphrased from the NTIS overview of WDB-II.
0017 
0018             WDB-II is a digitial representation of the world
0019         coastlines and boundries suitable for use in automated mapping
0020         systems.  It contains approximately six million discrete
0021         geographic points and was digitized using all available sources
0022         of information.  Map scales used range from 1:750,000 to
0023         1:4,000,000 with a nominal scale of 1:3,000,000.  These points
0024         are grouped by and identified as describing (1) coast lines,
0025         (2) country boundries, (3) state boundries (USA only), (4)
0026         islands, (5) lakes, and (6) rivers.  Each of these groupings is
0027         further broken down into features and subordinate classifications/
0028         ranks.  These ranks are hierarchically structured, and are also
0029         used for plotting symbol definition.
0030 
0031             WDB-II, as provided by NTIS, is in a 20 character format
0032         on five 9 track EBCDIC one-half inch magnetic tapes.  This data
0033         base consists of two types of records, one for the line segment
0034         identifier data, and the other for the latitude and longitude
0035         values of each discrete point making up the line segment.  In
0036         this format latitude and longitude values are recorded only as
0037         integers in degrees, minutes, and seconds.  WDB-II is available
0038         for $660.00 (Order Number PB-271 874 SET/HBG).
0039 
0040          Clearly, WDB-II is an excellent data source when making large (4
0041      x 6 foot) plots on a mainframe or minicomputer.  It is, however,
0042      somewhat large (150 - 200 megabytes) for use on microcomputers.  Even
0043      on the larger commercial online graphics systems, many points have to
0044      be filtered out before generating displays.  For this reason many
0045      people have spent considerable time over the past to filter and
0046      compress this data into a form which could be used in desktop
0047      computers.  To these people we wish to express our appreciation -
0048      particularly Antonio Riveria who provided us with a copy of the
0049      latest download of the file.
0050 
0051          The WDB-II product from which MWDB-POLY is derived may no longer 
0052      be availiable.  The CIA has replaced WDB-II with a RELATIONAL version.
0053      
0054          Contact Micro DOC (listed near the end of this document) for more 
0055      information on the 1995 Relational WDB-II CD.
0056 
0057 
0058                               BACKGROUND
0059                               ==========
0060 
0061          The present version began as a three megabyte ASCII text file
0062      which contained some 318,568 points selected from all six of the line
0063      types described above.  This file was then converted into a sixteen
0064      bit integer format which reduced the size to just over one megabyte.
0065      The file was divided into six files - one for each of the six line
0066      types then the Internal Political Borders were broken down into 4 
0067      separate files.  The file was configured such that it could be readily 
0068      moved to most desk top microcomputers.  The following table provides a
0069      brief statistical overview of the six line types which are contained
0070      in the data base.
0071 
0072 
0073                       Micro WDB-POLY File Composition
0074                       ===============================
0075          
0076          -------------------------------------------------------
0077          Detail PCOAST  PBORDER  PUSA48 PCANPROV  PMEXICO  PAUST
0078          Level   .PNT    .PNT     .PNT    .PNT     .PNT    .PNT
0079          -------------------------------------------------------
0080 
0081            1     22917    49073   6624      4978      879   1975
0082            2     27775    56754   6383      5714      997   2350
0083            3      4314    10163   1478      1113      181    634
0084            4      3033     7237    917       778      113    419
0085            5       890     4019    740       418     1984    187
0086          
0087          Total   58929   127246  16142     13001     4154   5565
0088          Lines       8      175     52        12       36      7
0089 
0090          ---------------------------------------
0091          Detail  PISLAND  PLAKE   RIVER    Total
0092          Level    .PNT     .PNT   .PNT
0093          ---------------------------------------
0094 
0095            1      20309    4671   11146   122572
0096            2      24190    5758   13217   143138
0097            3       3832     791    1817    24323
0098            4       2970     581    1254    17302
0099            5       1618     617     760    11233
0100          
0101          Total    52919   12418   28194   318568
0102          Lines      364      73     196      923
0103          
0104          The above table shows the number of points which are in each
0105      file and for each level of detail.  It also shows the number of line
0106      segments in each file.
0107 
0108          Detail level 5 produces the least detailed graphics image.  The 
0109      points at each level of detail are additive to the points at all lower 
0110      levels.  For example, when using detail level 4 the points from both 
0111      levels 4 and 5 must be used/retrieved.  Therefore, if one were drawing 
0112      lake lines at detail level 4, a total of 1198 (581 + 617) points 
0113      would be processed.  These 1198 points will describe 73 polygons.
0114      
0115          Note that the same number of polygons exist at all levels
0116      of detail.  For example, regardless of which level of detail is
0117      selected, there will always be 73 polygons described by the lake
0118      data file.  
0119 
0120          Actual use of the data in these files has shown that most
0121      displays which cover a reasonably large area do not need all of the
0122      detail provided at level 1.  A large area would be a major portion of
0123      the U.S.  For large area plots level 3 or 4 is normally sufficient
0124      and greatly reduces the number of points which must be processed. 
0125     
0126                  
0127                  MICRO WDB-POLY FILE AND RECORD STRUCTURES
0128                  =========================================
0129 
0130          All Micro WDB-POLY files are sequential files composed of fixed
0131      length six byte records which can be accessed randomly.  Each record
0132      is composed of three 16-bit signed [short] integer fields which can
0133      be read by all microcomputer languages.  There are no record seperators
0134      used in these files.  The record layout is:
0135 
0136                        | Code | Latitude | Longitude |
0137 
0138          Within the Micro WDB-POLY files the records are stored as shown 
0139      below.  In some cases there may be hundreds of points in a single line
0140      segment.  In other cases there may be consecutive header records
0141      which locate individual points to be plotted.
0142 
0143      |Header|Point1|Point2|PointN|Header|Point1|Point2|PointN|Header
0144      |Point1|Point2|Header|Header|Header|Point1|Point2|PointN|
0145 
0146 
0147          The same format is used for both the line header records and
0148      point records.  The usage of each field is as follows:
0149 
0150 
0151                               FIELD DEFINITIONS
0152                               =================
0153 
0154      CODE - Line Header Records.
0155 
0156      The CODE field is used to:
0157 
0158         1.  Identify the type of line segment which is described by
0159             the point records which follow it,
0160 
0161         2.  Identify the line or point within the line type, and
0162 
0163         3.  Provide the coordinates if the record describes a point.
0164 
0165          In header records the CODE field is always a positive four digit
0166      number in the form of: ABBB where
0167 
0168            A =                             BBB =          CODE =
0169             1 = Coast lines                 001 -> 008     1001 -> 1008
0170             2 = International Borders       001 -> 175     2001 -> 2175
0171             4 = Internal Political Borders (001 -> 107     4001 -> 4107)
0172                   U.S.                      001 -> 052     4001 -> 4052
0173                   Canada                    053 -> 064     4053 -> 4064
0174                   Mexico                    065 -> 100     4065 -> 4100
0175                   Australia                 101 -> 107     4101 -> 4107
0176             5 = Islands                     001 -> 364     5001 -> 5364
0177             6 = Lakes                       001 -> 073     6001 -> 6073
0178             7 = Rivers                      001 -> 196     7001 -> 7196
0179 
0180      CODE - Point records.
0181 
0182          In point records the CODE field contains the detail level.  The
0183      detail level is a value in the range of 1 through 5.  To properly
0184      retrieve points at any detail level use the following comparison:
0185 
0186         IF CODE >= DESIRED_DETAIL_LEVEL THEN ...
0187 
0188 
0189      LATITUDE and LONGITUDE - In both header and point records.
0190 
0191          The latitude and longitude fields contain the coordinate values
0192      expressed in signed minutes.  The values in these fields are computed
0193      with the formula COORD_VALUE = (Degrees * 60) + Minutes.  Thus, the
0194      ranges of coordinate values in MWDB-POLY are:
0195 
0196       90 00N =    5400
0197       90 00S =   -5400
0198      180 00E =   10800
0199      180 00W =  -10800
0200 
0201      NOTE: The Latitude and Longitude data can be converted on the fly to
0202      Decimal Degrees by dividing the signed minutes values by 60.
0203 
0204          MWDB-POLY uses the standard four quadrant cartesian coordinate
0205      system in which north, south, east, and west are referenced to the
0206      equator and the Greenwich meridian.
0207 
0208          When a header record is followed by point records the
0209      coordinates in the header record are the beginning of the line.  When
0210      a header record is followed by another header record then the
0211      coordinates in the header record should be plotted as a single point.
0212      When working at low levels of detail it is common to find multiple
0213      consecutive header records which locate isolated points.
0214      
0215          This documentation and the associated files are placed in the
0216      public domain and may incorporated into other products without fee so
0217      long as appropriate credits are included.  An appropriate credit line
0218      would be - "This product contains/uses data originally placed in the
0219      public domain by Fred Pospeschil and Antonio Riveria that has been
0220      modified by Paul Anderson of Global Associates, Ltd. The Original
0221      coordinate data was created by the Central Intelligence Agency."
0222 
0223                             
0224                             MWDBPOLY.ZIP CONTENTS
0225                             =====================
0226 
0227          MWDBPOLY.ZIP contains a MWDBII database that is reasonably up to 
0228      date, clean, and modified to provide closed polygons without using an 
0229      index file (Index files ARE available).
0230 
0231      The following files are in MWDBPOLY.ZIP:
0232 
0233      GLOBAL.TXT   - About Global Associates, Ltd.
0234      GOODEIHS.BAS - Quick Basic program that draws Goode's Homolosine 
0235                      projection interrupted for continental unities.  The 
0236                      Plot file routines and the way the map is drawn inside 
0237                      the "extensions" are NOT the best, but it works. The 
0238                      plot files import into Corel Draw with no problems. 
0239                      
0240                      NOTE: The Open file statements will have to be modified 
0241                      to reflect where the *.PNT files are located on your 
0242                      system. This program was written for Quick Basic 4.5,
0243                      however, it will run (slowly) with the Qbasic interpreter 
0244                      that comes with MSDOS.
0245      MWDBPOLY.TXT - This document.
0246      PBORDER.TXT  - Notes on PBORDER.PNT and VECTOR graphics output.
0247      PCOAST.PNT   - Use this file when you don't want Political Borders.
0248      PBORDER.PNT  - Use this file in place of PCoast.pnt when you want 
0249                      political borders.
0250      PUSA48.PNT   - USA internal Political Borders.
0251      PCANPROV.PNT - Canadian Internal political Borders.
0252      PNTCONV.ZIP  - Two programs that can be used to convert the *.PNT files 
0253                      to and from ASCII.
0254      PMEXICO.PNT  - Mexican Internal Political Borders
0255      PAUST.PNT    - Australian Internal Political Borders.
0256      PISLAND.PNT  - Islands of the world.
0257      PLAKE.PNT    - Lakes of the world.
0258      RIVER.PNT    - Rivers of the world. Original MWDB II file (No Polygons).
0259      SELECT.EXE   - This program is from the original MWDB II distribution 
0260                      disks. You can use it to: 
0261                 
0262                      1) Combine all the *.pnt files into 1 (one) file.
0263                                            Or
0264                      2) Create *.PNT/*.MAP/*.ALL or *.CCI files containing 
0265                          less data.
0266          
0267      ------------------------------------------------------------------------
0268      MWDB-POLY can be used AS IS with the following programs:           
0269      
0270        1) Charles Culberson's VersaMAP (70511.3134@compuserve.com)
0271        2) Philip Voxland's WORLD (voxland@atlas.socsci.umn.edu)
0272        3) Daan Strebe's GeoCART [MAC] http://terradata.com/
0273        4) Scott Loomer's MicroCAM and WinCAM
0274           ftp://ftp.usma.edu/g&ene/gsl/microcam/          
0275           - or -
0276           http://wolf.its.ilstu.edu/microcam/
0277 
0278      ------------------------------------------------------------------------
0279                             
0280                             
0281                               FINAL NOTES
0282                               ===========
0283 
0284          This document is a modified version of the original that is included
0285      with the Micro WDB-II database.
0286      
0287      Additional map data base products may be obtained from:
0288 
0289       Fred Pospeschil (AKA Micro Doc)
0290       2739 42nd St.
0291       Two Rivers, WI 54241-1111 
0292 
0293       E-mail: fwp@excel.net 
0294 
0295       - and -
0296 
0297       Charles Culberson
0298       8 Ritter Lane
0299       Newark, DE  19711
0300 
0301      The MWDB-POLY database is released to the Public Domain by: 
0302 
0303       Global Associates, Ltd.
0304       Suite 206
0305       1206 Laskin Road
0306       Virginia Beach, Va.
0307 
0308       Ph. (804) 428-4902
0309      
0310      =====================================================================    
0311          ALL USERS OF THESE MATERIALS ARE TOTALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR
0312      USE AS THESE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED WITHOUT EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
0313      WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.
0314      =====================================================================