The Settings Column

The data values are entered in the settings column on the right of the screen.  The width of the settings column can be altered by dragging the yellow vertical bar between the settings column and the map. Open or close the vertical sections of the settings column by clicking on the arrow next to each section title.

Place the cursor over the blue down-pointing arrow and click to open a section.

Place the cursor over a green up-pointing arrow to close a section. Sub-sections can be opened and closed in the same way.

The settings column is divided into four main sections:

• Time and place. Unless you are using vector files calibrated for the UK National Grid, you will need to enter your approximate latitude and longitude manually. This simply allows the program to determine the angle of the sun. It does not need to be absolutely accurate. Enter the month you are interested in. The program uses the sun's angles for the 21st of each month so that March, June, September and December model the equinoxes and the solstices. Move the cursor on the horizontal clock dial to change the time of day.
• Background. Select one or more vector files (dra,shp,mif,dxf) which will serve as the base map context of your trees. Provided that your files are calibrated for the UK National Grid, the program will use them to automatically fill in the latitude and longitude values referred to above.
• Root barriers. Click on the "Choose" button to select a root barrier vector file.
• Trees. The trees section determines the aspects and properties of each tree to be displayed on the map.

Adding trees

The simplest way to add a tree is to select the Add tree tool and click on the map. The new tree will be defined by the "Default tree settings". If you are working manually, open the sub-section "Trees" to edit the settings for the new tree. 

Alternatively, and more usually, the tree settings will be imported from your tree data table. Where the data table does not include particular values, for example if your table does not have a  field for tree shape, the program will apply the default value specified under the "Default tree settings". To import a data table click on the "Import" button at the top of the Trees section. You can import data from a CSV, DBF, Excel XLS, or MS Access MDB file.

When a data file is imported, the program will attempt to automatically determine which data columns should be used for the required data values. If it cannot determine the correct column it will display "none". Click on "none" to display a drop-down box listing all the fields in the data file and select the appropriate field to be applied.

A sub-section will be created for each tree in the data file. We recommend that you strictly limit the number of trees in each data file. The more trees in a file, the slower the program will run..

To edit a tree, open the designated sub-section and change the values. The map will be automatically updated as you go.