Creating a new display with WinDisp

Once WinDisp has been installed a program group Scientific Computing will be added to the Start menu and WinDisp will be added to this group. To start WinDisp click on the program name and the following opening screen should appear:

This menu provides a number of options for defining a layout, with the default being to start a new layout. The action for each option can be initiated either by selecting the option and then clicking on OK, or simply by double-clicking the required option.

Layout Options

Open an existing layout

Selecting this option brings up a Select Existing Layout dialogue box from which an existing layout file and location can be chosen. Once a layout file has been selected and read, the layout defined in the file will be automatically displayed and the location of the layout will be used to set the current working directory.

Display current working directory

Clicking on the button will display the current working directory folder name on the form.

Start a New Layout in current directory

Selecting this option allows you to build a new layout in the current working directory by using the Edit menu item to select and define the items to be displayed in the layout.

Start a New Layout in new directory

Selecting this option allows you to select the working directory in which the new layout is to be designed. You will be prompted to select the working folder.

Start a New Layout in specified directory

Selecting this option uses the folder name specified in the text box to set the current working directory. This allows you to post in a path from another application (eg Windows Explorer) and then start the new layout in that location.

Set current working directory

Clicking on this button uses the folder name specified in the text box to set the current working directory. This allows you to post in a path from another application (eg Windows Explorer) and then select an existing layout from that location without having to navigate there using the Select Existing Layout dialogue.

Action Options

The following options allow you to start a new layout using the display of data of the selected type.

Display an Image

Selecting this option brings up the Select Image File dialogue box from which an existing image file and location can be chosen. Once an image file has been selected and its format determined, the Image Specification menu will be displayed from which the image display style options can be selected. On exiting from this menu the image limits will be used to define the layout area limits and map scale and the layout will be automatically displayed.

Display Contours

Selecting this option brings up the Select Contour File dialogue box from which an existing contour file and location can be chosen. Once a contour file has been selected, the Contour Specification menu will be displayed from which the contour display style options can be selected. On exiting from this menu the contour limits will be used to define the layout area limits and map scale and the layout will be automatically displayed.

Display a DXF File

Selecting this option brings up the Select DXF File dialogue box from which an existing DXF file and location can be chosen. Once a DXF file has been selected, the limits are read from the DXF file header and used to define the layout area limits and map scale and the layout will be automatically displayed.

Display a TEM File

Selecting this option and clicking on OK will bring up a Select TEM File dialogue box from which an existing TEM data file and location can be chosen. Once a TEM file has been selected, the user is placed in the Multi-Panel definition form from which the user can specify the format and limits for the data file. These limits are then used to define the layout area limits and map scale and the layout will be automatically displayed.

Post Data From a Text File

Selecting this option brings up the Select Data Posting File dialogue box from which a data file and location can be chosen. After the file is selected, the format for decoding the data is defined on the Data File Specification form, Data names, types and scales are then defined on the Data Names form and you will then be prompted select a posting style and the Data Posting Specifications form will be displayed. On this form, the specific details of how the data is to be posted need to be defined. Once these steps have been completed and the form closed, the layout will be automatically displayed.

Post Data from a Database

This option operates the same as for the text file option except that you will be prompted to select a Microsoft Access database as the source of data to be posted.

Post Data from an ODBC Source

This option operates the same as for the text file option except that you will be prompted to select an ODBC data source as the source of data to be posted. The ODBC option can be used to post data from a variety of database types including dBASE, Excel, SQL, FoxPro etc.

Post Data from a Geosoft Database

This option operates the same as for the text file option except that you will be prompted to select a Geosoft gdb database as the source of data to be posted. To use this option, you need to have the free Geosoft API installed and included in your path. The API is included on the downloads page. When you run this install make sure that the checkbox to add the install folder to the path is turned on. You also need to ensure that the API folder precedes any other folders (eg the Oasis foler) containing the geodist.dll.

IP Pole and Dipole Data

Selecting this option bring ups the Select IP Data File dialogue box from which an existing IP data file and location can be chosen. Once a data file has been selected, the IP data display wizard is initiated and the format and data columns to be read from the data file and also how they should be displayed are defined. These specifications are then used to read the data file, determine the layout area limits and map scale and the layout will be automatically displayed.

AMT/CSAMT Psuedosection Data

This option operates much the same as for the IP data display except that the pseudodepth is defined using the frequency data in the selected data file

Plotting displays with WinDisp

Once a layout has been defined the display may be plotted in a number of ways. The current display can be plotted using the Windows printing option, however some displays (especially those including large images) are best plotted using the PDF, PostScript or HPGL/RTL print to file options. These print options are accessed from the File > Print menu item and are described in detail under the Print Specifications menu.

Another possibility is to use the File> Export> Display as... menu item to export the layout as DXF, MapInfo, JPEG, Shape or WMF format.

Finally, the current graphics window can also be copied to the clipboard using the Edit > Copy menu item. The current image is placed on the Clipboard and can then be pasted into another application.

Modifying Layout Specifications

The current layout specifications are modified by bringing up the individual menu forms and changing the parameters which control the layout components. The forms are activated through the menu items at the top of the main WinDisp form. These menu items are delineated on the WinDisp Menu Items page.

The layout specifications are stored in a file with a default extension of "csf". This is an asci file and so may be edited if there are any difficulties loading an existing layout, but it is not advisable as the data in the file is not easy to identify.

Send mail to john.paine@onaustralia.com.au with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: April 10, 2012