Background
EDMCE is a
Windows version of EDM developed for PocketPC 2002 operating
systems such as one finds on the Ipaq and various other handheld
computers (though not Palm). The program differs from standard
survey programs in that it was specifically designed to help with
piece proveniencing artifacts in archaeological sites.
It uses a configuration file that the user designs
(there is also a default configuration). It has
menu fields to speed data entry and reduce errors. It allows user
defined spatial units that can then be associated with various fields so
that the total station can determine which unit a point comes from and so
that defaults and ID numbers can be retained for those units. The program accepts data transfers from
Topcon, Wild, Leica and Sokkia total stations (though
Sokkia instruments have not yet been tested with this version).
We have tested this program on HP Ipaq computers
(Models 3650 and HX-4700). Though in theory these computers have
built in serial ports, we have found that they are not reliable.
Thus we use an
external serial port card (if link is dead try "serial compactflash
card" on www.mobileplanet.com).
This card will also give your laptop with a PC-Card slot a serial port
(useful for newer laptops that do not have serial ports).
PocketPC 2002 vs 2003
This software was written in a Microsoft programming language designed to
create applications for PocketPC operating systems (also a Microsoft
product). When Microsoft upgraded the operating system to 2003, they
announced that they would no longer support this programming language and
that all programs would have to be re-written in a new language (also a
Microsoft product). To help with the transition, in version 2003
only, they offer a support library that allows you to continue running
2002 applications. All future versions of the PocketPC operating
system will no longer support 2002 applications at all.
You can download the support file at this
Microsoft link. You will need to download the file, transfer it
to your PocketPC computer, and then run the file. It will install
the support libraries needed to operate EDMCE. If you are going into
the field, it is highly advisable that you save a copy of this file on a
CD so that you can restore your PocketPC if necessary.
Also, this new version of the program posted here addresses a lot of bugs
that the PocketPC 2003 operating system created. In particular, the
New Site and Open Site functions did not work at all. In addition,
the pull down menus used for entering data after recording a point did not
work at all. You may experience other problems. Please let us
know if so and we will try to address them.
In the mean time, we are learning the new programming software and will be
posting a new version here sometime in 2005.
New Version 1.5
We used EDMCE last summer at two excavations and it has been used by
others. This is not to say that it is bug free. Please
let us know if you download it
and encounter problems.
This install works on ARM 1100, ARM 720T,
MIPS 4000, and SH3 processors (it may work on others as well - supposedly
most new PocketPC computers follow the ARM standard - the installation
program handles this automatically). If you have
problems with installing it,
please let us know.
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Issues
(4/25/05)
We have new Ipaq computers (HX-4700). These computers are a lot
faster than our original Ipaq computers and work a lot better.
However, they are also PocketPC 2003 and there were lots of issues related
to this. Version 1.5 of the program addresses these.
You will note that taking a shot happens faster now. Originally
there was a delay associated with resetting the serial port before each
shot. This has been removed. However, this means that if you
let the machine go to sleep, you need to be sure to use Station - Reset
Connection before taking a shot. Better is to use Power - Power Off
to put the machine to sleep.
Sections of the program that open a file have been re-written because of a
problem associated with PocketPC 2003.
The pull-down menus in the edit point data screen are a little different
now (again because of a 2003 issue). You will notice that blank
items have been added to the end of the list in the pull-down. This
was done to fix the problem.
Support for Leica total stations has been added and tested (this should
include Wild models as well). It has been tested with a TCR403
machine and seems to work well.
If you were using a serial port other than COM1 it may have not remembered
this each time you started the program. This has been fixed (as well
as a problem remembering which total station was used).
The default directory is now \my documents instead of \my documents\edmce.
Again, this works around a PocketPC 2003 problem.
Note, there is now a draft of a manual.
As we put the program to use this summer (starting June 13), you can
expect more updates on this site.
Issues
(5/29/04)
We are currently in the field, using this program, and finding some bugs.
We have, therefore, posted an update and will do so throughout the summer
as necessary. Note, that this version changes a few things.
The name of the prisms table is changed and thus you will lose your prisms
when you switch to it. Also, if you are using unit fields, you no
long need to list "Unit" as the first field. As always, we recommend
you make a backup of the program and data files before switching to this
program.
In addition, we are currently putting the final touches on Newplot and a
new program (EDMWIN) that will make using EDMCE a great deal easier.
EDMWIN will allow you to create configuration files and transfer these
files and data files back and forth to a PocketPC. Issues
(4/23/04)
There were a number of bugs (too numerous to list) in the previous version
that have been addressed (new version is 1.4).
There are several important issues that have arisen. First, we have
found that it is impossible to ensure that data are not lost when instead
of exiting the program normally, you do a hard reset (pressing the reset
button) AND the data file is in the internal memory of the machine (ie.
stored on a local 'drive'). If you can do a soft reset (shutting
down the task), the data are safe. However, we also found that if
you store your site data file on an external memory card, then the data
are safe regardless of what kind of reset you do. We strongly
recommend this anyway since external memory cards are not lost if there is
a complete power failure.
Second, the Ipaq (model 3650) with an external serial port card does not
wake-up after a power-off while the program is running. The program
will become extremely slow. If you turn off the computer while the
program is running or if the computer turns itself off to save power, do a
"Station-Reset Connection" from the program menu (sometimes you
need to give the machine about 10 seconds to fully wake up). If you forget to
do this, be patient, and when you are back on the main menu for the
program, do a "Station-Reset Connection". It is not recommended that
you let the machine power off when it is not at the main screen. And
if you are not using the program for a long time (lunch or the end of the
day) it is recommended that you exit the program (this has the benefit too
of making sure the data are written to the database). We are working
on a fix for this problem.
Third, though the program can handle multiple prisms with different offset
values, there is currently one issue with this. After you record a
point and go to the edit screen, if you edit the the prism and in doing so change the prism offset,
the correct XYZ will not be recalculated (the Z is changed to reflect the
different prism heights). In these instances, we recommend canceling
and re-shooting the point if the offset error is unacceptable.
Future versions of the program will address this issue.
Issues (9/20/05)
There were a number of issues with the File New and File Open CFG/MDB
menus. I have tried to fix these. You should be able to create
a new site (CFG and MDB) more easily now.
It has been reported that the 3-shot setup is not working properly (this
is where you initialize by shooting to two known points). I have not
had an opportunity to look into this yet.
Note that the new version of the program has a button with a '+' in it on
the form where you enter data after recording a point. This button
is to be used when adding new items to pull-down menus. It is an
attempt to fix a bug wherein if you add a new item and then immediately
save the new point, the item is not added to the pull-down menus.
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