Karto help

Version 2.0

Installation guide





Back to Karto's help.



If you need a hard copy of this documentation, please print the file:

install_en.pdf

1Introduction

Karto is a mapping program for positioning points on a map from their coordinates.

This program has been designed by and for speleologists. It is therefore not surprising that the examples in this document often refer to "entrances of cavities", caves, or other avens. It can however also be used for other undertakings where it is believed necessary to place points accurately on a map.

2Installation

2.1If you already have another Karto version

If you already have a version of Karto installed on your computer, you can leave it installed, both versions can work independently of each other, each installed in its own folder.

Install the new version in a directory different from the directory used by your previous version. Test this new version and after 2 or 3 days / weeks of use remove the directory of the old version of Karto (possibly recovering any data that may be there!).

Practical tip:

After installing the new version of Karto, copy your old karto.ini (or karto.xml) located in the old Karto folder, and place it in the new Karto folder (replacing the karto.ini or karto.xml provided with this version). This will allow you to keep using the Karto configuration you had in the old version.

2.2Installation procedure (Windows or Linux)

Karto uses the Java program. This program is available for free on the net. It's up to you to install the version you require (version provided by IBM or others). In the past, Java was provided with the Karto program. This is no longer the case today.

2.2.1Test if Java is already present

First of all, check if Java is installed and which version has been implemented. In order to do that :

On your window (DOS or linux shell) type :

java -version

The system will answer either with something like :

java version "1.8.0_131"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_131-b11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.131-b11, mixed mode)

Which means that Java is well installed, and that its version is version 1.8.0 ( java version "1.8.0_131" )

or with something like :

'java' ia not a known internal or external command,

or an executable, or a command file.



Which means that Java is not installed (and must be installed).

The minimum version for Karto is Java 1.8.0 (the current known java version is 1.10).

2.2.2Java Installation

If your version of Java is too old, or not installed, connect to the Internetand go to http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.8/ or http://java.sun.com/products to download and install the Java version of your choice. The Java Runtime Execution (JRE) is all you need. there is no need to install the JDK version which is much bigger and which is only required for computer developers needing to recompile part of Karto.

2.2.3Karto Installation

Download from our website the file KartoV2.zip ;.

Unzip the zip file which will automatically create your KartoV2 directory.

located in the KartoV2 folder are two scripts, karto.sh and karto.bat. Use one or the other depending on your environment (.bat for Windows, .sh for Linux).

The scripts Karto.bat or Karto.sh can be edited as required to make them fit your environment (memory, configuration files ...)

You can also create a launch shortcut and associate it with the Karto icon (Karto.ico) which is located in the Karto folder (this operation is not performed automatically).



Once everything is ready, open Karto, possibly by using the shortcut which you have created

2.2.4Language configuration

Karto is translated into several languages.

You can define the language you want to use (for the interface of the program, as well as for the log file), directly in the launching options (compatibility with the old version of Karto).

To set your language code, add the options:

For a list of languages (and countries) provided as standard in your version of Karto, refer to the general documentation of the application (Karto.html). This documentation will also tell you how to add your own translation file (and flags).

Another solution is to define the language of the application at the time the application is launched. A popup will open automatically and ask you for the language of use for Karto (see chapter Configuring the language on the full doc). The choice you make is saved in Karto.xml, and can be modified later (see the Karto Options chapter on the full doc).

2.3Screen Configuration

Karto automatically displays the scale of the map displayed on the screen. In order to do this there is a need to know the number of DPI of your screen, and since this information annot be automatically obtain, a small manual operation has been incorporated in the Karto options.

This is not mandatory for this information to be provided, and Karto will work fine if you do not provide it. If the configuration is not (or has been badly) provided, the scale information given by Karto (this is for information purposes only) will be wrong.

After starting Karto, go to the "Karto options" menu, in the "constants" window


Using a ruler, measure the distance between the "A" and "B" marks as shown on the screen (5.5 cm in this case), and enter this value in the field below (Distance between A and B) . Please state whether centimeters or inches are used (check box on the right).

Validate the entry. The exact number of Dpi of your screen is then displayed for information.

The calculation of the scale at the top right of the map will then be correct:




2.4Installations under other OS

Follow the same procedure as above, but you will need to find a compatible version of Java, and manually update your launch scripts (to adapt them to your OS).

2.5Content of Karto

The KartoV2 home directory contains:

In the current version, the "KartoV2" directory takes up about 14 MB.

2.6The different data files of Karto

The Karto application uses several different file types to store its data:

2.7Installation Issues

When Karto is first launched you may get an error and Karto does not start. If this happens, the DOS window remains open and allows you to identify the problem.

Refer to the Bugs and Known Issues chapter if you have a problem launching Karto.

3Tips for managing your data

Before starting to use Karto, there is a need to reflect on the potential data storage problem .

You can quickly end up having to manage a large number of cards and files. You must therefore find a way to order them in order to quickly find the information which is of interest to you. The Karto application gives you the option to save the default directories where you will search for your documents.

3.1Practical advice

We therefore recommend that you:

By setting these 3 directories in the Karto options page, the selection window will automatically be in the right directory when you ask to open an image, a map, or a point file.

3.2Tree Example

Here is an example of a tree:




The 3 directories (images, maps, points), are all registered under the same directory "data". This simplifies searches, and it also allows you to copy all files on a CD Rom and then open the cards from the CD ROM. This directory can be installed in the Karto directory (next to the "demo" directory), or in another directory.

in this example, we have created 3 subdirectories for images and maps to separate maps from very different geographical areas. If you work on only one sector, it is then useless (for you) to create the subdirectories (as here 06, ardeche and vercors).



Once your data is organized, you will be able, in Karto, to configure the folders in the Karto options menu (see the Karto options chapter on the full doc) in order to have an automatic pre-selection of the right folder when searching for documents.

3.3Internationalization of Karto

3.3.1The language

To choose the language of the program, edit the file Karto.bat and change the options "lang" and "country" to use those which correspond to your country. Check that the ".properties" file exists (in the same directory as Karto.bat or in standard delivery: see below)

The language and country codes are standardized, if you want to translate Karto into another language, you can use the international codes:

The language and country codes define the name of the translation file that will be used.

Examples :

This file must be present in the file karto.jar or in the directory Karto (with the Karto.bat)

The languages supplied as standard are:

For other translations, refer to the Karto website (http://karto.free.fr/Karto ).

Note: by default, the French language is always chosen.



For any other language (or language variant) you can generate the file yourself (from a file that you update). See the next chapter

3.3.2The country (flags)

With the language, the country's flags are displayed at the bottom left of the screen. You can add your flags by putting them in the "resources / flags" folder that you create in the karto installation folder (as for the language). The file should be named "flag_XX.png" where XX is the international code of the country in question. This option can be changed in the Karto configuration options.

3.3.3Add or correct a language

If you want to add a new translation, or correct an existing translation:

example:

Points présents sur la carte == Points located on the map

Becomes:

Points présents sur la carte == Punkti, kas atrodas karte



3.4Setting up Karto

Once the architecture is defined, you have to update some Karto options. This will be done by launching the Karto program and populating the application's default directories in the options page (see the Karto Options chapter).

The directory paths can be indicated in relative (relative to the file karto.bat) or in absolute (by pointing to the hard disk).

According to our previous example, if we assume that the data directory is located on disk C (c: \ data) we will have:

  1. Image directory : c:\data\images

  2. Card directory : c:\data\cartes

  3. Points directory : c:\data\points

Note :

If we want to create several configuration files for Karto, this can be done by creating a configuration file and by indicating each time the directory of the mountain area (06, Ardèche, Vercors) for images and maps. This function ishould only be used by advanced users.