• Coming in Next Version of BG-Map: Responses to Your Requests
• Garden Notepad Success Stories
• Alternatives to the HP 200lx Palmtop
• Facilities Management Module Installed at Mt. Cuba
• Need to Take a Large Map to the Field? - Try a Using Giant Clipboard
• Anti-Bacterial Coating for Touchscreens Now Available
• Dry that Drowned Palmtop Before Turning it On! 
• New Flowcharts Posted to Website
• BG-Map Highlighted Feature - Multi-Trunks 
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Coming in Next Version of BG-Map: Responses to Your Requests

You asked for it - you've got it.  Several most often requested
features will be included in BG-Map 2000, the next release of
BG-Map due this summer. Here are just a few highlights:

Cancel Button:

Suppose that you're generating a site map, or updating a genera list,
or performing some other lengthy process. You realize that you've made
a mistake, or the process is taking too long.  But, there's no way to
cancel it. A cancel button that could be used in such circumstances
was the feature most often requested by BG-Map users. The long-awaited
Cancel Button is coming.  It will allow you to cancel various processes
in mid-stream and return to the previous window.

Scrollable Image Display:

Another often-requested feature is a scrollable display that will
accommodate images that are too large to fit the screen. A new
BG-Map image display will allow you to scroll the image up and down
or side to side to make visible portions that are hidden from view.
Note:  The new image display supports only these graphics file
formats: .bmp .dib .jpg and .gif. If you have images in other formats,
such as .pcx, the image will display in the old non-scrollable image
display window. Visitors QUICKFinder still uses the non-scrollable
display. So, for VQF, be sure to use appropriately sized images.

Improved Performance for Update Families, Genera, and Common Names:

Updating the genera list on systems that have many names stored in
BG-BASE has been very time consuming - taking up to several hours
to complete.  New improved software code promises to significantly
shorten the process.

User Settable Number of Lines per Page for Reports:

Some users have experienced a problem in which one or two lines of
plant lists or reports spill over onto a second page, resulting in
much wasted paper.  It will now be possible to prevent this by
presetting the number of lines per page.

Single Space Option for Book Map Plant Lists:

Several users have requested this option, which will allow single
spacing the plant lists that accompany book maps, again conserving
paper.

And… more:

Garden Notepad Inserts User name Instead of Just Initials - Garden
Notepad will insert your full user name, just as if you had typed
the information into BG-BASE.

Record Label Condition with Garden Notepad - you will be able
to record Label Have Type and Label Need Type using Garden
Notepad.

Continuously Variable Sizing of Text and Symbols - instead of
being limited to 2 sizes of text and symbols for defined
view maps ("Size to Fit" and "Size to Plot"), you will be
able to adjust to any intermediate size by using a slider
control.

Map Export Utility - a new export utility will allow you to easily
create AutoCAD files including plants that you can share with
landscape architects and others.

Where am I? - a brand new feature:  click anywhere on the map,
and BG-Map will tell you which quadrant you are in.

Long filename Support - image filenames are no longer limited
to 8-characters.  BG-Map now provides a full Windows Explorer
Interface for choosing and managing files.

Passwords by Category - individual passwords can be set up
to access various features and modules.

Plus even more… to be anounced.

REMEMBER - BEFORE INSTALLING BG-MAP 2000, YOU WILL NEED TO
UPGRADE YOUR AUTOCAD FROM RELEASE 14 TO AUTOCAD 2000.  You
must purchase the AutoCAD upgrade from an authorized AutoCAD
dealer.  If you have more than one BG-Map workstation, all
must be upgraded to AutoCAD 2000 (or AutoCAD Map 2000 or
AutoCAD LT 2000).  Plan now to make certain that you have
AutoCAD 2000 on hand by mid-summer.
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Garden Notepad Success Stories

Still not using Garden Notepad for automated collection
of plant size and condition data using a hand held
computer?  What are you waiting for?  Here are a couple
of recent success stories:

Wayne Cahilly of The New York Botanical Garden writes:

"Garden Notepad has worked well for us. The Horticulture
Department is working on an evaluation of three of our
flowering tree collections, and so as the test project
for Notepad, we collected the data for them. The data
collected was mostly dimensional: DBH, height, spread,
and number of trunks. In cases where trunks could not
be measured at 4.5 feet above grade a "check note" was
entered to explain where diameter was taken. The results
were excellent with a flawless upload to BG-BASE and easy
access to the information through the map from there on out. 
Using your pseudo-TCL command line I was able to query for
all mapped plants in the genus Prunus with a DBH in excess
of 12 inches and got a list back nice and quickly. This is
going to be a big help as we add more and more of dimensional
data to our database. 

Thanks for putting the Garden Notepad together for us.
Its great!!" 

And, Angela Brown of The North Carolina Arboretum writes:

"I have used the Garden Notepad in our Core Gardens
inventory of plants. I saved so much time in the field
and in the office.  Because I key in the accession number
that I find on the tag and it is updated in BG-BASE, there
really isn't much guesswork."... (Prior to using Garden
Notepad) "I found myself with paper inventories having to
go back out into the field and recheck to make sure I was
finding the right plant."... "What usually took about a
week or two doing the inventory and entering the data, I
am anticipating can be done in under a week including
producing eplacement labels!"... "I feel that the Garden
Notepad is a helpful addition to our plant records system!
I am also glad that I am able to use our palmtop other
than solely for mapping purposes." 

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Alternatives to the HP 200lx Palmtop

It's official - the Hewlett Packard 200lx palmtop computer,
long the backbone of the BG-Map Total Station Interface
and Garden Notepad, is no more.  Hewlett Packard has
discontinued this DOS-based product in favor of its newer
Windows CE-based Journada line of palmtops and PDA's.
Service and parts for the 200lx are still available (See
the "Drowned Palmtop" story below.)  And, a few used ones
can still be found.  But, new 200lx's are virtually
impossible to secure.  So, what are the alternatives?

The Total Station and Garden Notepad software will run on
a Windows CE palmtop if it is equipped with DOS emulation
software such as such as XT-CE.  Here are a couple of
potential replacements for The 200lx:

HP Journada 680/690 (List price about $800)

This new palmtop features a color backlit screen, and a
3/4 size keyboard that is very usable for typing field
check notes.  (You can also plug in a full size keyboard.)
It comes with a built-in 56KB modem standard, so when
you're not mapping or doing field checks, you can check
your e-mail or surf the web.  One drawback, compared to
the 200lx, is the inability to view the screen in direct
sunlight.  You could rig up a simple hood to provide
enough shade to make the screen viewable.

In terms of price/performance and quality, the 680/690 is
an excellent value.

Husky feX21 (List price about $1,900)

At more than twice the cost of the 680/690, the Husky feX21
might not be within range of your budget.  But, it offers
some significant advantages.  It is an extremely rugged
"industrial strength" machine that can withstand severe
environmental conditions as well as rough handling.  And, it
offers several screen options, including color or monochrome
"transflective" screens that are viewable in conditions
ranging from full sunlight to darkness.  The keyboard,
however, is not as "typeable" as that of the 680/690.

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Facilities Management Module Installed at Mount Cuba

The new BG-Map Facilities Management Module has been
installed at Mt. Cuba Center for the Study of Piedmont
Flora.  Following initial testing and evaluation at
Mt. Cuba, it will become available as an optional part
of BG-Map 2000 this summer.

The Facilities Management Module is priced at $3,750.00
for an unlimited number of users.  To find out more, check the
BG-Map home page at www.bg-map.com, and click on "Facilities
Management".  Or, visit the BG-Map exhibit booth at the AABGA
Conference in Asheville in June.

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Need to Take a Large Map to the Field? - Try a Using Giant Clipboard

Book maps are great for taking out into the field because they're
small and easy to handle.  But, sometimes, you might need to
take along a large-format map.  How can you do this conveniently?

On a recent visit to the Morris Arboretum, I learned that Plant
Recorder Elinor Goff uses a giant clipboard to make large maps
easy to carry, use, and mark up while in the field.  The clipboard
is about 23" x 26".  The company name is "National".

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Anti-Bacterial Coating for Touchscreens Now Available

If you're planning on setting up a touchscreen kiosk for
Visitors QUICKFinder, you might be interested to learn that
MicroTouch has announced a new anti-bacterial technology
for its ClearTek 3000 line of touchscreen monitors.

Dubbed "CleanScreen", it is reported by MicroTouch to be
the first touchscreen incorporating anti-bacterial
technology registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).  Permanently bonded to the face of the
touchscreen, CleanScreen is designed for use in public
kiosks, ATM's, and other areas where hygiene might be
a concern.

For more information, check the MicroTouch website at
www.microtouch.com.


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Dry that Drowned Palmtop Before Turning it On!

Ethan Johnson of the Holden Arboretum relates this tale of
palmtop peril:

"Our HP 200LX took a dive into Lotus Pond and was turned
on repeatedly before its circuits had a chance to dry.
I found this out at 4:00 yesterday afternoon when returning
from my fieldwork.  Needless to say, the poor machine is no
longer functioning and I am looking to replace it."

Fortunately, Ethan was able to have the palmtop repaired at
reasonable cost by Thaddeus Computing, Inc.(www.thaddeus.com).
There is a lesson to be learned here.  If your palmtop (or
other electronic device) should become soaked, let it dry
thoroughly before turning it on.  A few days in a sunny warm
spot should do.  This will greatly enhance its chances
of survival.

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New Flowcharts Posted to Website

New, updated, and improved surveying and mapping flowcharts
have been posted to the BG-Map Users Support website at
www.bg-map.com/userdata.  The flowcharts guide you along
each step of the process from surveying through uploading,
converting, and mapping.  Three different flowcharts are
included.  One is for manual surveying.  One is for total
station surveying using Transfile Win 200 for uploading.
And, the third is for total station/GPS surveying without
Transfile Win 200.

Also included in the readme text file is a glossary of
terms used in the flowcharts.  You can find the flowcharts
under "Surveying Tips".

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BG-Map Highlighted Feature - Multi-Trunks

This feature, introduced in BG-Map version 5.0, allows to
you depict on the map trees with multiple trunks.  The map
displays the trunk as a circle within which are several
smaller circles (1 - 6), which represent the number of
individual trunks.  There is no attempt to scale the
individual trunks to their real-life sizes.  But, the
multi-trunk symbol does allow you to see at a glance which
trees have multiple trunks, how many trunks they have, and
the relative overall size of the tree (via the DBH
measurement).

Assigning a User Field for Multi-Trunk Data:

Before you enter any multi-trunk data, you must first
assign a  vacant User Field in the BG-BASE Plants file
to be used to store the data.  If you are not certain
which User Fields are vacant, check with BG-BASE.

To assign the User Field, select "Quad Up Options" from
the Setup Menu in the BG-Map Window.  Under "User Field
for Multi-Trunks", select the field that you wish to use.

How to Record Data for Number of Trunks:

Use Garden Notepad to record the number of trunks in the
field.  When you upload the data, the number of Trunks is
stored in the selected User Field in the BG-BASE
Plants file.

Or, manually enter a number from 1 - 6 in the assigned
User Field in BG-BASE.

How to Display Multi-Trunks on the Map:

When generating a Quadrant or Defined View map, check the
box labeled "Show Multi-Trunks".  Multi-Trunk symbols will
be displayed for plants that have values recorded both for
"Number of Trunks" and DBH.  The DBH value should represent
a "combined" value for all the trunks.  This will be
determine the display size of the multi-trunk symbol.

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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