FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Contents

• HP48 Software
• All PC Software
• All DOS Software
• All Windows Software
• Flash55
• Flash20
• FileMan48
• Survey Chief

All PC Software (DOS and Windows)

1. How does a site license work?
2. How much does a site license cost?

   DOS Software

3. I just got a new computer and I'm getting a "Run Time Error 200" message.
4. When I try to print I get an error message saying "Not enough memory to install print spooler."

   Windows Software

5. Some dialog boxes appear too large for the screen.
6. Some dialog boxes appear to be cut off with controls going off the right or bottom.
7. I'm trying to register the software but the release code you sent doesn't work.

   Flash55

8. Is rainfall data available for my state?
9. Why am I getting a runoff value of 0 in the peak discharge computation?
10. Why am I getting a much greater runoff value with Flash55 than with Flash20/TR-20?

    Flash20

11. Is there a Windows version available?
12. Why isn't TR-20 running when I execute Run/TR-20 from the menu?

    FileMan48/Survey Chief (DOS)

13. I'm trying to install the software on a second computer. Is that allowed?
14. Can I uninstall the software to install it on another computer?
15. Why do i receive the error "Undefined block XXXX" when I import a Survey Chief DXF file into AutoCAD?

    Survey Chief 4+ (Windows)

16. I just installed Survey Chief 4.0 on a Windows 95 computer and am getting an error saying 'Improper installation or illegal copy'.
17. When I open a file in Survey Chief 4.0 a message is displayed saying the file is locked.
18. Some of the speed buttons in the plot window execute the wrong command.
19. The speed buttons in the plot window are not shown on screen.
20. Can I open multiple files in version 4.1.1?
21. I just upgraded to Version 4.1 and now I can't see my linework and symbols.
22. Can i use alphanumeric line and symbol codes?
23. Can I print a gradesheet for a metric job with 3 decimal places of accuracy?
24. When I try to transfer I get an error "Specified comport doesn't exist". What's wrong?

All PC Software (DOS and Windows)

1. How does a site license work?
   All RAMSS programs are licensed for use on only a single computer. If you wish to run a program on 2 or more computers you must purchase a copy for each computer.

   An alternative to this is purchasing a site license. A site license allows you to use the program on as many computers as you wish within one site. We define a site as a city or geographical area. This means you may use a site license to install the software both at home and at the office, but if your company has an office in Philadelphia, PA and an office in Pittsburgh, PA this would require 2 separate site licenses.

2. How much does a site license cost?
   A site license for a product costs three times the product's cost. If you want to run a program on one or two computers it will be cheaper to purchase individual licenses. If you want to run a program on three or more computers, a site license is recommended.

   If you have already purchased one or two copies of the program, this credit will be applied toward the cost of the site license.

   For example, if you already have one copy of Survey Chief 4, bought for $249, the cost of a site license is $747 (3*249), but you would receive credit for the Survey Chief you have already purchased and you would pay $498 to upgrade to a site license.

   DOS Software

3. I just got a new computer and I'm getting a "Run Time Error 200" message.
   One of the software libraries used in ALL our DOS programs causes this error on 350MHz and faster computers. If the error message appears immediately after launching the program, this is probably the cause. This bug appears in software which was created in '94-'96 when speeds this fast were not imagined. We have prepared update versions of all programs correcting this problem.
4. When I try to print I get an error message saying "Not enough memory to install print spooler."
   In the program, you have selected to print using the DOS print spooler, but it is not installed. This problem can be corrected in one of two ways:
   • Install the DOS print spooler in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, following the instructions under Print Menu in you manual, or
   • Configure the software to print directly to the printer port rather than spooling the data.
     • Select Print Setup from the menu to open the Print Setup dialog box,
     • Double click the printer in question in the 'Defined Printers' list box. By default, there is only one printer defined, named 'Default'.
     • In the Modify Printer dialog change the Device setting from DOS Spooler to the port to which the printer is attached.

   Windows Software

5. Some dialog boxes appear too large for the screen.
   Most of our Windows programs work best at a display resolution of 800x600 or higher. We recommend 1024x768 or better if your hardware supports it. Engineering software requires the display of a lot of data and/or graphics, and higher screen resolutions help. Survey Chief in particular will be very awkward to use at a screen resolution less than 1024x768. Decent quality 17" monitors supporting up to 1600x1200 can now be purchased for around $200-$250 and can be an excellent investment.
6. Some dialog boxes appear to be cut off with controls going off the right or bottom.
   We have seen this problem occur occasionally when Windows is configured to display large fonts. The problem can be avoided by going to Control Panel, and selecting Display. The next step varies by Windows version:
   • 95/98/NT - On the Settings tab, change Font Size from large to small.
   • 2000/XP - On the Settings tab, click Advanced button, and change Font Size from large to small.
   You will need to reboot your computer after changing this setting.

   Flash55

7. I'm trying to register the software but the release code you sent doesn't work.
   The number one reason users can not get a release code to work is using an incorrect company name. The release code is tied to the company name, as you submitted it and as displayed on the information provided with your release code. The company name is not case sensitive but otherwise must be entered the same as when you submitted it. Re-enter the company name, press the Install Code button, and verify that you get the same install code that you submitted previously. If the install code is not the same you have most likely not re-entered the company name correctly, and the release code will not work.
8. Is rainfall data available for my state? We have included rainfall data for all states for which we have data. If you download the latest version of Flash55 for Windows 95/98/NT it will include all available tables. Ohio was recently added.
9. Why am I getting a runoff value of 0 in the peak discharge computation? Runoff (Q) is computed as a function of Rainfall (P) and curve number (CN). If you look at the runoff equation in the appendix of the Flash55 manual, you will see that the term on top (in brackets) is squared. This bracketed value is not allowed to go below 0, or else decreasing values of rainfall (P) can produce increasing runoff, which we know intuitively is not true. This condition occurs with very small values of P or CN. For a given value of P, you can determine the minimum value of CN which is required to produce a partial result which is greater than or equal to zero (ie, P=0.40 requires CN>=83.3), and which is therefore the minimum CN value to produce runoff. These values agree closely with SCS TR55 Figure 2-1, "Solution of runoff equation" and Table 2-1, "Runoff depth for selected CN's and rainfall amounts".
10. Why am I getting a much greater runoff value with Flash55 than with Flash20/TR-20? Check and see if the affected areas have CN values below 40. Using the TR-55 method, the minimum CN value allowed is 40, so the TR-55 method will produce greater runoff than the TR-20 method when your CN is less than 40. The runoff may be as much as ten times the runoff produced by TR-20. The values produced by the TR-20 method are generally accepted as being more accurate.

    Flash20

11. Is there a Windows version available? The Windows version of Flash20 has been released. Like our other Windows products it is a 32 bit version supporting 95, 98, Me, NT, 2K, and XP.
12. Why isn't TR-20 running when I execute Run/TR-20 from the menu? Flash20 starts TR-20 by creating a script named Q20.bat. Check in your installation folder (by default C:\Program Files\RAMSS\Flash20 [or Flash55]) and see if this folder exists. If it does not exist it is probably because you do not have permission to write to the installation folder. You need to have write permission to the installation folder, both for the script file and to allow editing of the rainfall tables. If you do not have administrative authority contact an administrator within your company and request Write permission to the folder where Flash20 is installed.

    FileMan48/Survey Chief (DOS)

13. I'm trying to install the software on a second computer. Is that allowed? No. Unless you purchased a site license, the software may be run only on a single computer. To install the software on a second computer you must purchase a second copy.
14. Can I uninstall the software to install it on another computer? Yes. To uninstall any RAMSS' DOS software, insert the installation disk into your A: drive (if your drive is B: then substitute B in the example). Type
    • a:install /uninstall
    and press enter. The installation program will guide you through the process. The software can now be installed on a different computer. To UNLICENSE any Windows software contact RAMSS support before removing the software from your computer or your license may be lost.
15. Why do i receive the error "Undefined block XXXX" when I import a Survey Chief DXF file into AutoCAD? AutoCAD only reads the BLOCKS section of a DXF file when the DXF is imported into a new drawing. If you are importing DXF into an existing AutoCAD drawing, all the blocks required by your symbol mapping must exist in the drawing already. An easy way to avoid this problem is to:
    • open a new drawing in AutoCAD,
    • read the DXF file into the new drawing,
    • save the temporary drawing,
    • insert the temporary drawing into your main drawing as a block,
    • and finally, explode the temporary block.
    Typically however, you should have all the blocks you use for symbols predefined in your drawing. This is usually done by adding them to your prototype.

    Survey Chief 4 (Windows)

16. I just installed Survey Chief 4.0 on a Windows 95 computer and am getting an error saying 'Improper installation or illegal copy'. This error occurred on some Windows 95 computers running a version of Survey Chief prior to 4.0.6. Even if you receive this message you can continue to use the software. To correct this problem download the latest version of Survey Chief from the trial download page.
17. When I open a file in Survey Chief 4.0 a message is displayed saying the file is locked. This message is displayed to prevent more than one user from accessing a file at the same time. If you are running Windows 95/98 and see this message when no one else is accessing the file there is an error. This problem occured under 95/98 only (not NT), and has been corrected in version 4.0.9. Download the latest version of Survey Chief from the trial download page. In version 5, file locking can be disabled from Edit/Preferences/System. This is not recommended in a multiuser network environment however, as the file locking ability was added specifically to avoid problems with multiple users overwriting each other's changes.
18. Some of the speed buttons in the plot window execute the wrong command. The wrapping Toolbar used in the plot window is a standard windows control. The code for it is not in Survey Chief but in COMCTL32.DLL in your Windows system folder. Version 4.72.2106.4 of COMCTL32.DLL (11/17/97, 462,608 bytes) displays this problem, but the older Version 4.70 COMCTL32.DLL (04/30/97 310,032 bytes) allows the toolbar to work correctly. If you need to use the newest version of the DLL, the problem can be easily corrected in Survey Chief by maximizing the window. Once you maximize the window, even when it is restored to the original size the buttons will now be correct. We are working to find out the cause of this. The newest version of COMCTL32.DLL can be downloaded from Microsoft by clicking here.
19. The speed buttons in the plot window are not shown on screen. As explained in the item above, this is due to an incompatible version of COMCTL32.DLL. With Survey Chief 4.1.1 you must have version 4.72 or Version 5 (displays 5.80) installed. The newest version of COMCTL32.DLL can be downloaded from Microsoft by clicking here or here.
20. Can I open multiple files in version 4.1.1? Yes. By default Survey Chief 4.0 opened every new file in a new window. By default Version 4.1 will open a file in the existing window. To open a new window select File | New | Window from the menu.
21. I just upgraded to Version 4.1 and now I can't see my linework and symbols. In version 4, lines and symbol codes were stored in the TEXT field of a cogo file. Version 4.1 added a CODE field to organize this data and separate it from additional text. Existing data can be converted using the Convert Codes command in the Cogo menu. Select a range of points to convert, then execute Cogo | Convert Codes. In the dialog box, specify the delimiter which separates the code from the text (usually a comma or space). If you have points which contain only a code, check the box labelled "Treat text as code if not delimited". Normally you will not want to check the "overwrite existing codes" option.
22. Can i use alphanumeric line and symbol codes? Yes. Version 4.1 added a code table which allows you to map your codes (containing alpha and or numbers) to our numeric symbol numbers and user specified AutoCAD block names, layers, and scale factors for exporting data. A color can also be specified for use in Survey Chief plots. The code table can be accessed from the plot window by executing Edit | Code Table or from the DXF export dialog (Transfer | Export | DXF) by pressing the Options button. Multiple tables can be maintained, for use on different projects or with different CAD systems.
23. Can I print a gradesheet for a metric job with 3 decimal places of accuracy? Survey Chief 4.1.1 added user definable gradesheet formats. With this release we added some additional formats including 2 for metric usage. The formats shipped with 4.1.1 did not include 3 decimal places on the cut/fill which some users have requested. You can download SurChief.spf (5K) and install it in your Survey Chief folder to install revised metric formats. These formats are only supported by version 4.1.1 or newer. Also, if you would like to see stations displayed as 1+000.00 rather than 10+00.00, go to Edit | Preferences, select the Interface tab, and use the Display Stations control to select where the plus appears.
24. When I try to transfer I get an error "Specified comport doesn't exist". What's wrong? The short answer to this is that the port specified in Survey Chief's Transfer/Port Setup dialog does not exist. The problem often is determining what COM port you are connected to and determining what name it is defined as in the operating system. With Windows 2000 or XP right click on a My Computer icon (either on your desktop or in your start menu) and select Manage. This opens the Computer Management console. Locate System Tools/Device Manager and select it. In the right hand pane locate Ports (COM & LPT) and click the [+] icon to expand it. You should see entries for one or more COM ports, typically labelled COM1 - COM4. If you do not see any but you have ports on the back of your computer they are probably disabled in your computer BIOS (accessed at startup). If your computer does not have serial (COM) ports it is possible to install a USB to serial converter cable and software drivers to create a COM port. If using a USB converter you will have an opportunity to specify a COM port when installing the drivers. You should chose COM1 - COM4 making sure it does not conflict with another device.