Creating and using a Routable Road

[mclavey]

I can create and use a new road .... the problem I am having is I have to create it every time I restart the program . I have tried saving the draw file but it never reload the next time I start the program .

Help

Is there anywhere to get a manual for the program?

thanks

[Bob Carruth]

Is there anywhere to get a manual for the program?thanks

Click Help in the program and select User Guide. On the screen that comes up right click User Guide and select Save as. I keep my copy in DeLorme Docs. It's a searchable PDF.

It might also be on the software DVD. I don't have mine here right now to check.

[mclavey]

any hints on how to save and reload a draw of a road ?

[Sanaghan]

There should be no problems.

When you quit the program, does it ask if you want to save your changes?

[mclavey]

yes but it never reloads it.

the next time I restart street atlas the new road is not there and I have to redraw it.

Since you have created a new road I would think the creators of the
program would think you would like to use it for future trips and reload it
when the program restarts.

I will call tecnical support tomorrow and see if they can tell me what I am doing wrong.

If I find an answer I will post it for others.

[xapie128]

yes but it never reloads it.

the next time I restart street atlas the new road is not there and I have to redraw it.

Since you have created a new road I would think the creators of the
program would think you would like to use it for future trips and reload it
when the program restarts.

First, click the Help button then select Welcome Screen
Is "Create a New Map File" selected? If so, that's your problem.

Routable Roads that you create are stored in .an1 files and are treated like any other Draw layers. This means that in order to see the road, you need to have the Map file looking at the Draw layer (in this case a RoadLayer file).

However, each time you start a New map there are no files (e.g. Route or Draw) associated with it to begin with. In other words, a "New" map is a blank slate.

There are three ways to start a New map: by clicking the "Create a new Map File" button in the Map Files tab, by doing a Ctrl+N, or automatically creating a new Map file each time the program starts. If the option I described above in the Welcome Screen is selected then you are creating a new map each time you start the program, which means there will never be any Draw files (or RoadLayer files) associated with it when the program starts.

I suspect that each time you are re-drawing the roads, and exiting the program, it is saving a new RoadLayerX.an1 (where X = a number). You might have a dozen or more of them. Take a look at \DeLorme Docs\Draw\ and delete all the duplicates that have been made while you have struggled with this problem.

If you have a new Map, you need to go to the Map Files tab -> Add button -> Draw File, then select your RoadLayer file.

Suggestion: In the Welcome Screen, select "Open a Recent Map File" then it will always open your last saved Map. This way once you add the Draw layer with your added roads, and save it, you will always see those roads when you restart the program. However, if you want to make another New map, be sure to remember to use the Map Files tab -> Add button to add your roads (that is if you need them with that map).

[mclavey]

thank you for the help on how to load a draw file

I have also found that you can Export the draw file and then Import it to a new map.

[xapie128]

I have also found that you can Export the draw file and then Import it to a new map.

No need to do that, unless you just want the Lat/Lon in text format.

For RoadLayer files it will work (although it's an extra step) but for most Draw files (for instance, if they contain MapNotes, Waypoints, Symbols, or Draw objects) then when you Export it most of the attributes (color, font size, Symbol type, etc.) will be lost when you then Import the text file.

Instead, once you've created the .an1 file, use that exclusively to avoid losing any attributes. If it needs edited, then edit the objects on the map and re-save as a Draw (.an1) file vs. going through the text file that Export creates.

[xapie128]

thank you for the help on how to load a draw file

I'm glad you learned that, but the main focus of my post was the suggestion to change from "Create a New Map File" in the Welcome Screen.

Did that solve your problem?

[jthoma8318]

So I can only have one map file forever or I have to redraw the road each time? Got a better idea, they actualy fix the bugs in the program if they want to sell it.

[xapie128]

So I can only have one map file forever or I have to redraw the road each time?

You can have as many Map files as you want. Use the Map Files tab to open the one of your choice.

Manually created Routable Road layers are treated just as Draw layers. If you create a new Map file, you have to load the road layer (just like you would have to load a Draw layer that contains MapNotes, Symbols, or other draw objects you have placed in a Draw file). If you save the Map that has a Routable Road layer associated with it, then the next time you open that Map file you will also see the roads.

With Routable Road layers, you have a couple of choices:

• You can put all your Routable Roads into the same file (the default name is RoadLayer.an1) and you will be guaranteed to have all your manually added roads available whenever it is displayed
  
  
• If you have a lot of them, you might consider breaking them up into separate files and naming by state, county, trip, or other categories so you can just load those that pertain to the area you are working with. I'd suggest if you use this method that you put something in the file name so you can later distinguish it as a Routable Road file (e.g. add "RR" to the name) so you 1) can later find it, and 2) so you don't confuse it with a Draw file that might contain MapNotes, Symbols, etc.