Tide Stamp ©1996-2000
Brian C Burke
All Rights Reserved.
This version of Tide Stamp is free. It may be distributed on any on-line service, network, bulletin board or web site provided that this Read Me accompanies it. It may not be distributed on any electronic media without the author's permission.
Tide Stamp is a tide and current predictor. The key word here is predictor. Tide prediction algorithms cannot consider unusually strong winds, stormy weather conditions, spring runoff, or other factors which can and will affect tides. Therefore always view tidal predictions as no more than estimates of the real thing. Further though great care has been taken in the writing of this software, it may contain errors. Further still, the database is not certified and may contain errors. IF YOU USE THIS SOFTWARE, YOU USE THIS SOFTWARE AT YOUR OWN RISK. DO NOT USE FOR ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE HARM COULD RESULT.
The 'harmonics' database used by Tide Stamp is maintained by David Flater for use with his XTide software. Current versions of XTide (Tide and Current prediction for XWindows) are available at:
Tide Stamp Installation:
System 7 or greater is required. Tide Stamp and its 'harmonics' file must be in the same folder. The date and time must be set in the General Controls or Date and Time Control Panel, and the time zone and latitude must be set in the Map Control Panel.
Note: If your Mac has a 68k series CPU and a FPU (floating point unit) use Tide Stamp-68KFPU_Only for enhanced calculation speed, otherwise use Tide Stamp.
Tide Stamp Usage Notes:
1. On startup the software calculates the tides for the location at the top of the Local menu using the user choices in the Tide and Stamp menus. The recommended set of choices is: Start Now Day, Period 3 Days, Clock 12 Hour, Time Local. (Time Local is either standard time or daylight savings time. Time UTC is time according to the universal time clock .)
2. The Local menu is user configurable. Sequentially select the ten tide/current locations of most interest to you from the location menus. These ten locations will now be in the Recent item under the Tide menu, with the first location selected at the top of the Recent list. Select the Recent to Local item under the Tide menu and the Local menu is now the list of locations you selected. These lists persist across runs.
3. The Stamp menu sets the appearance of the tides you calculate. Toggle thru the items 2 - 6 until you have found a set that creates a 'stamp' you like. The Default item selects the recommended choices. This stamp can be printed. The Stamp menu choices persist across runs.
4. For system 7.5 and later Tide Stamp uses the Date and Time control panel to determine if Daylight Savings Time is set. For pre system 7.5, Tide Stamp uses the Daylight Savings On choice under the Tide menu. In either case when daylight savings time is selected, it is assumed that the General Controls or Date and Time Control Panel has been adjusted for daylight savings time. The time zone designation in the tide location will reflect daylight savings time if the harmonics file indicates daylight savings time is used at the tide location, and if the location is in the same hemisphere as the machine location. The machine location and time zone are determined from the Map Control Panel.
5. If you have a slower 68k Mac, note that items under the Tide menu reguire a complete (ie slow) recalculation of the tide, while items under the Stamp menu only require a screen redraw.
6. Tide Stamp 2.0.2 corrects all known bugs in version 2.0. This version will calculate tides for all dates prior to and including Dec 31, 2002
If you have questions or comments about Tide Stamp, you may contact: briancburke@home.com