1.
Introduction & Credits
or
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1.1
- The Main Object of
this program is to provide a simple means of locating a parish and
those other parishes that surround it. Having identified the
parish or group of parishes I leave it to you to search the many
other excellent sources of information in your quest for additional
information. Some of these are available on-line and you will
find some links on my web site. ParLoc has seen much development over
the years since I first started the project for my own use in the
early 1990s, and many features have been added over the years.
The increased power of personal computers and the increase in the
availability of On-Line mapping systems, have made some of the early
features redundant and they have been removed.
1.2
- The original database
used by this program was
created by Gerald Lawson and was used as the basis for this version
with his kind permission.
.
1.3
- Thanks. I
am indebted to all those users who have contacted me with advice,
suggestions and corrections. All the corrections and many of
the suggestions have been incorporated to help make the program and
its database what it is today. It's an ongoing process.
1.4
- Caution ~ This
program and its database should be used as a finding aid.
There is no guarantee of accuracy nor completeness.
PLEASE
read this file First and look at my web site. Email should be in
Plain Text and should NOT include attachments without my prior
agreement.
Any
corrections that come to light between releases will be posted to the
corrections page of my web site.
2. Installation or Return to Contents
The Self-extracting Installer in the form ParLoc5x-yySetup.exe. Where 5x is the program version number and yy is the database version number.
All the necessary files will be put in C:\Parloc5\.
You can move these if you wish but they must NOT go into C\Program Files or Program Files(x86).
3.
Scope & Limitations
or
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3.1
Map References
3.1.1
The
majority of the map references for mainland UK parishes are based on
the South-west corner of the 1 km grid (OS Landranger Series) that
contains the name of the parish where shown. A few are based on
larger scale maps and so may not be as accurate and in some cases
where the information becomes available the map reference is based on
the 1 km square that contains the church.
Note that [SIP] in place
of a map reference means See Individual Parishes.
3.1.2
The
map references for Ireland have been estimated from larger scale maps
and so may not be as accurate as those used for England, Scotland &
Wales but should be good enough to show the general relationship of
one parish with another.
3.1.3
The
Eastings and Northings used in the database represent the distance
East and North of the origin of the Ordnance Survey National Grid.
In the case of the UK this is to the South West of the Isles of
Scilly and for Ireland is off the South West corner of
Ireland.
3.1.4
In
many cases all the parishes in the larger towns and urban areas have
the same map reference. Where accurate data comes to hand to separate
them it is incorporated into the data base.
3.1.5
It
is impossible to adequately identify the area covered by a parish
from a single map reference. The aim is only to show its
general location and its relationship to other parishes that surround
it.
3.2
Inclusion Policy
3.2.1
- In
general the database includes those parishes that existed sometime
between the mid 16th and mid 19th centuries for the mainland and for
a somewhat later period for Ireland. The original database
included a few non conformist churches and most registration
districts. It may be possible to add more non conformist churches in
the future. Note that the database does NOT include civil
parishes.
As far as possible parishes are located in the Counties
that they were in during the period covered by the database. Users
should be aware that over time there has been a considerable number
of boundary changes and during some periods in the past it was not
unusual for some parishes to be detached from their County.
3.2.2
- Some
modern parishes were included in the original database. These
will not be deleted but it is not my intention to add any
more.
3.2.3
- Note
that where a parish name is followed by another name in braces {}
there is now some doubt as to whether the first name existed as a
parish within the period covered by the database. The name in
braces is thought to be the name of the Parish that covered that area
or {???} if I don’t know. These records have been left in
the database because some other indexes may show them as parishes.
Names in parentheses ( ) are alternatives or show additional
information i.e. Town or Village. Square Brackets [] are used to show
that at some time the parish has been in another County.
Users are reminded that this program and its database should be used as a finding aid. There is no guarantee of accuracy nor completeness.
Current Record - many of the functions are centred around the current record which is highlighted in pale blue.
There are only 5
fields (all pale yellow) that allow user entry:-
The box
marked Enter Search String Here ( all searches are case
blind)
The Search Radius Box
and Type , County, & Country additional report
filters
4.1 - Radio Buttons ~ decide whether the search is to start at the beginning of the Parish Name or anywhere in the name. Used with the Find First & Find Next Record buttons
4.2.1- Navigation Buttons ~ move about the file. The Group buttons moving 6 records at a time.
4.2.2– Navigation KEYS can also be used to navigate around the database.
|
HOME & END |
First & Last Record |
|
PAGE_UP, & PAGE_DOWN |
Previous 6 and Next 6 Records |
|
UP & DOWN arrow Keys |
Move one record at a time |
4.3 - Find First ~ starts the search at the beginning of the Database File.
4.3 - Find Next Record ~ continues the search starting from the current record.
4.5 - Next in County ~ Allows you to move through the database to those parishes in the county whose code is entered in the Search string.
4.6 - List of Parishes within a Radius of ~ does what it says and displays the list which may then be :-
Printed, Plotted to the Screen or
Copied to a CSV file see section 7.1
Printing is
via your systems default text program, normally Notepad.
The Latest Plot can be found in a file called Plot-Parish.bmp which can be printed via your systems default graphics program.
You can also use the Additional Report Filters with this function see Section 8
4.7 - Selected County List ~ will produce a list of Parishes that match the code entered in the search string. see section 7.1
4.8 - List of Parishes Matching Search String ~ does what is says. Used if you only know part of a name and need a list of possible names. see section 7.1
You can also use the Additional Report Filters with this function see Section 8
4.9 - View Latest Report ~ Displays whichever of the above lists was last produced. see section 7.1
4.10 - Set Target Parish ~ stores the details of the current parish while the user selects a second parish to.......
4.11 - Calculate Distance to Current Parish ~ calculates the distance and direction to the target parish selected above.
5.1.1 - File >Amend Current Record ~ This allows you to correct errors in the database or to put your data into an newly created record. As far as possible the program checks your data for reasonableness.
5.1.2 - File >Insert New Blank Record ~ This adds a new record at the end of the file for you to amend.
5.1.3 - File >Mark Record for Deletion ~ This adds a “~” character to the start of the Parish Name indicating that you intend to delete that record. Note that if you sort the file and such records will be moved to the end of the file.
5.1.4 - File >Un-mark Record ~ Allows you to remove any “delete marks” entered in error.
5.1.6 - File >Delete all Marked Records~ Does what is says and creates a save file before and after the process. These are called Parishes.Sav & Parishes.Sav1
5.1.7 - File >Sort Parishes into Alphabetical Order ~ This also creates save files before and after and are also called Parishes.Sav & Parishes.Sav1
5.1.8 - File/Import and Append
a CSV file -
This
option will allow the user to import new records from a Comma
Separated File created in a spread sheet or database.
Fields are
separated by commas, and text fields are no longer surrounded by “
marks.
Any
data presented with this function will not be edited except to ensure
it fits the data base format.
However its main purpose is to
allow users to update any future releases of the database with their
own amendments. Users
will need to mark any records that they add or amend with a unique
character string, say //U// or //A// for records they have Updated or
Added. Then these can be selected ( see Reports/Parishes
Matching a search string) and exported to a CSV file (see
Reports/Preview/Create a CSV File) and later re-imported to update
any future database released with later versions of the program.
You will need to
save a copy of your CSV file away from ParLoc to avoid it being
overwritten by
new releases
5.1.9 – File>Create a Save File ~ Create a copy of the Parishes Data base File called:-
Parishes.Sav This will overwrite any existing file with that name.
5.1.10 – File>Restore from the Save File ~ This will copy the Parishes.Sav to Parishes .Dat
5.1.11 - File >Exit Program ~ just another way of exiting the program
5.2.1 - Maps & Plots>Get On-Line Map ~ uses the default browser to ask Streetmap.co.uk for a map centred on the current parish.
5.2.2 - Maps & Plots> Mainland UK Location Plot ~ This shows the Location of the current Parish on a rough map of the UK.
5.2.3 – Maps & Plots>Ireland Location Plot ~ This shows the Location of the current Parish on a rough map of Ireland.
5.2.4 - Maps & Plots>Print Latest Plot ~ This will open the default graphics software allowing you to print the plot.
5.3.1 - Help>County Codes ~ Displays a list of the accepted standard county codes. Can Be Printed
5.3.2 - Help>Extra Notes ~ some, mainly Scottish Parishes, have additional notes that are shown in the users default browser
5.3.3 - Help>Manual ~ Displays this file in the users default browser
5.3.4 - Help>About ~ The Freeware licence details
6.
Searching the Database tips
& tricks or
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6.1.1
- To SEARCH for a Parish:-
Enter
the Name or part of it in the yellow box at the top of the screen and
click on Find
First or
Find
Next.
Find
First starts
the search from the beginning of the file whereas
Find
Next starts
from the current record which is highlighted in light blue.
Any
record that matches the search criteria will become the current
record.
Note that the Radio Buttons on the right-hand side
of the screen allow a choice of search either anywhere within the
parish name or from the start only.
For example if the
search string was “ingham” then:-
6.1.2 - Anywhere and Find First would go to “Addingham”
Find
Next would
need to be pressed scores of times before it found “
Ingham”
From
Start and
Find First
would go
straight to “ Ingham”
From
Start is
the default.
6.2 - The
Next County
Button allows
you to move through the database to those parishes in the county
whose code is entered in the search string.
6.3
- GOTO
a Record Number.
Enter
a valid Record
Number in
the Search Field (yellow box near top of screen) and click Find
First.
A number less than 1 will go to Start of File and numbers greater
than the number of records will result in a jump the End of
File.
Any Non numeric entry will result in a Name search.
7.
Viewing your Results or
Return to Contents
7.1 - Each of the
Functions:-
List of Parishes
within a Radius of n ~ see section 4.6
Selected
County List ~see section 4.7
List of Parishes
Matching Search String ~ see section 4.8
Will produce a report and display it on the Print Preview Screen
7.2.1 – Print(Opens Notepad)
This allows you to use the full facilities of your printer
7.2.2 - Create and Export a CSV File
This function will create a CSV file in database format for the parishes listed in the print preview.
7.2.3 - Plot the results to the
screen (available where a plot would make sense)
The
plot can be printed via your default graphics program
8. Report Filters or Return to Contents
By using any or all of these filters you can modify the results of either the Matching String or Radius searches.
e.g. by putting “=” or “~” in front of a county code.
=WAR will select only Warwickshire parishes and
~WAR excludes Warwickshire parishes
9. Release Notes or Return to Contents
Version 5.0#16
This is a brand new version written in FreeBasic but using the same database as previous versions but with a slightly different structure so they are NOT interchangeable with version 3 & 4 which will be discontinued in the near future.
Version 5.1#17
This is a bug fix release with an updated database including some 50 corrections.