In This Issue:

Garden Notepad - Record Field Checks Using a Palmtop Computer
Create-a-Tour - Taking Visitors QUICKFinder! One Step Further
Get Ready - AutoCAD 2000 is Here
BG-Map Highlighted Feature - Custom Symbols

----------------------------------------------------------
New BG-Map Garden Notepad - Record Field Checks Using a Palmtop 
Computer.

The next release of the BG-Map Total Station Interface will 
include Garden Notepad, a new feature that allows garden staff to 
capture and record field checks on the same palmtop computer that 
is used to map plants. The New York Botanical Garden helped to 
inspire and fund its development.
Garden Notepad will record the following data: 
	Plant Condition 
	DBH
	Number of Trunks - A new data field.
	Sex
	Spread 
	Height 
	Check Note
The captured data is uploaded and automatically recorded in BG-
BASE. Garden Notepad is also adaptable for use with bar-coding.
Some gardens may wish to invest in more than one palmtop computer 
so that some staff members can be out recording field checks 
while others are mapping.
Even if your garden does not use a total station, you can still 
use Garden Notepad. Just purchase and install the Total Station 
Interface software, but use only the Garden Notepad feature.
Garden Notepad will be included with the update to the Total 
Station Interface as part of BG-Map version 5.0, 
scheduled for release this summer. For a preview, visit 
www.bg-map.com\feature\gnotepd.html

----------------------------------------------------------
Create-a-Tour - Taking Visitors QUICKFinder! One Step Further

Also coming in BG-Map 5.0 is a new feature of Visitors 
QUICKFinder! called Create-a-Tour. Visitors will be able to 
create their own customized garden tours by selecting up to 6 
plants. As each plant is added to the tour, it appears on a 
sheet of "paper" attached to a "virtual clipboard". The visitor 
can then print out a tour map leading him from plant to plant, 
starting with the plant closest to the Visitors Center. BG-Map 
calculates the distances to each plant and arranges them in the 
most logical tour sequence. The printout also includes 
information about all the plants, including common names, 
range, hardiness, flowers, and fruit. For a preview of the 
Create-a-Tour graphics, visit www.bg-map.com\vqf
Also being added to Visitors QUICKFinder!

1) There will be a user setup option to prevent visitors from 
searching for plants by name. Only lists of plants pre-
selected by the institution would be accessible. Or, 
searching both pre-selected lists and by name can be enabled.

2) Plants marked in BG-BASE as "Location Sensitive" will not be 
accessible to visitors.

3) Gardens will be able to set up Excluded Regions, garden areas 
that are restricted from searching by visitors. TO create an 
Excluded Region, simply define a region-bounded defined view, 
whose name begins with "EXR_"

----------------------------------------------------------
Get Ready - AutoCAD 2000 is Here

Autodesk has released the next generation of its flagship
AutoCAD software under the name AutoCAD 2000.
Some important new features of AutoCAD 2000:

1) The long awaited multi-document interface (MDI) is here - 
allowing multiple drawings to be opened simultaneously.

2) Editing of Xrefs is possible from within the primary drawing.

3) An Explorer-like interface eliminates dozens of dialog 
boxes.

4) Right click support throughout greatly reduces the required 
number of mouse clicks.

5) Major plotting changes - including multiple paperspaces.
ADI Plotter drivers will no longer work.

What does AutoCAD 2000 mean for BG-Map?

1) BG-Map will be able to provide much better mouse support using 
right clicking to eliminate a good deal of menu selecting.

2) We will be able to introduce new features not now possible 
with Release 14. Just what these new features will be will 
take further investigation of AutoCAD 2000 plus input from
BG-Map users.

3) DDE, which is the method currently used for communications 
between the BG-Map OpenInsight and AutoCAD, has been
eliminated. An alternative will be required - most 
likely a Visual Basic program to serve as an interpreter 
between Active-X (AutoCAD) and DDE (OpenInsight). This could 
ultimately result in much more flexible control of AutoCAD by BG-
Map.

4) Those of you who are still using the old JDL plotters
will almost certainly have to upgrade to a more modern
inkjet plotter because drivers to support AutoCAD 2000 will not 
be available Budget for this now.

When will BG-Map be updated to work with AutoCAD 2000?

Timing is not firm, pending further review of the software. The 
switch to AutoCAD 2000 will definitely not happen with the next 
release of BG-Map - version 5.0, scheduled for release this 
summer. It most likely will occur around the beginning of the 
year 2000, so plan and budget accordingly. Once the switch is 
made, all current BG-Map users will have to upgrade to AutoCAD 2000 - 
support of both Release 14 and 2000 by the same version of BG-Map
will not be possible. If you have any comments or suggestions
regarding BG-Map and AutoCAD 2000, please contact BG-Map.

----------------------------------------------------------
BG-Map Highlighted Feature - Custom Symbols

This feature allows you to assign special symbols to 
differentiate plants by family or genus. For example, you could 
use symbols to indicate all cacti or all conifers (by assigning 
the same symbol to multiple families). You design the symbols 
yourself using AutoCAD's editing tools. The customized symbols 
replace the canopy symbols normally displayed by BG-Map. The 
custom symbols can be displayed at the plants' current or 
ultimate spread or they can be assigned a constant size. If 
assigned a constant size, the custom symbols will be displayed 
even if size information is not present in BG-BASE.

Creating a Custom Symbol:

Here's how you can create a custom symbol (We are assuming that 
you have some basic AutoCAD editing skills.): Open a new drawing 
in AutoCAD. Set the current layer to 0. If you wish the symbol 
to display in the colors of the BG-Map plant groups, draw it with 
color BYLAYER. If you wish the symbol to always display in a 
constant color, draw it in a specific color. Draw a point entity 
using the point command. Then draw a circle of radius 1 whose 
center is the point that you just created. Now, draw your symbol, 
using the circle as a guide - do not extend the symbol beyond the 
circle. Leave the center of the symbol fairly open - this is 
where the plant's name and accession number normally appear. 
(For an example, look at the sample symbol fe_palm.dwg, which is 
located in the \bgmapwin\symbols folder.)
When you are finished drawing in the symbol, erase the circle, 
but leave the point entity in the center (BG-Map needs this). 
Save the drawing in the \bgmapwin\symbols folder using a filename 
of 8 characters maximum. (If the symbol is to be inserted at a 
constant size, scale it to the desired size first, and save it 
using a filename that begins with the letters "cc".
Now, open your basemap. Set the current layer to PLANTS, and use 
the block insert command DDINSERT to insert the file that you 
just created. Then, save the basemap. This will add the block 
definition of the new symbol.

Assigning the Custom Symbol to a Family or Genus:

In the BG-Map Window, select "Custom Symbols" in the Setup menu. 
Click "Select Family" or "Select Genus", and select a family or 
genus. Then enter the name of the symbol that you just created 
in the space provided. Test to make certain that the symbol is 
currently defined in you basemap by clicking "Test". If the 
symbol is displayed on the map, the symbol name is valid. 
Otherwise, AutoCAD will display an error message. If no error 
occurs, go back and click "OK (Save)"

Displaying the Custom Symbol:

When you generate a Quadrant, Defined View, or Site Map, select 
either "Current Canopies" of "Ultimate Canopies". Check the box 
labeled "User-Defined Symbols". The new symbol should appear for 
each plant that matches the assigned family or genus.
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
Visit the BG-Map USERS SUPPORT AREA at 
www.bg-map.com/userdata
BG-Map Botanical Garden Mapping System
E-mail:  glicks@bg-map.com
Tel:  1.215.887.1100	Fax: 1.215.887.1470