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Making your .list file

Make .list · Examples · Updates · Users' Stats · Highway Browser

 

How to make your list of clinched (travelled) Interstate highway segments:

The basic idea is to make a list of segments you have travelled and put them in a plain text file to be emailed to the webmaster.

  • Choose a username and make a plain text file called username.list. For example, if your username is highwayguy80, name your text file highwayguy80.list. Use only lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores (_) in your username, and keep the username at or under 15 characters.

  • Make a list of your travelled interstate segments in your .list file. The Highway Browser is designed to help you with this process. The Highway Browser lists all available highways and all available entry/exit points along the highways. Break up your travels into segments by state and interstate highway, and enter one segment per line, using the following 4-column format with space delimiters:

    STATE highway endlabel1 endlabel2     (Format)
    PA I-80 161 224                           (Example - Primary Interstate Highway)
    NC I-95BLFay I-95_S I-95_N                (Example - Interstate Business Loop)
    SC I-20BSFlo I-20 BelDr                   (Example - Interstate Business Spur)

    • STATE: The two-digit, capitalized postal code for the state that contains the highway. For example, use PA for a segment in Pennsylvania.
    • highway: The highway name, as given in the Highway Browser. For example:

    Fayetteville, NC's Business Loop I-95 is shown in the Highway Browser at the left. The state abbreviation and highway name are highlighted in yellow.

    To enter a piece of this route, begin a line in your .list file with this highlighted text. For example, if you clinched this whole I-95 BL, you would enter:

    NC I-95BLFay I-95_S I-95_N

     

  • Before submitting your .list file, check the following to avoid some common mistakes:
    • Use only a single space as a delimiter between items on the same line. Tabs or commas will prevent the mapping script from parsing your file.
    • Save your file as a text-only file with a .list extension. If you create your file in a word processor (Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Write, etc.), you must use Save As... to convert to a plain text file that is free of extra formatting. Please avoid using the .list.txt extension.
    • Make sure each line has exactly the four required fields: state, highway, and two labels.
    • Remove any header or footer lines. Such lines will produce an error or prevent the mapping script from parsing your file.
  • Email your .list file to .

  • Your clinched highway map site will later appear at the following address:

    http://cmap.m-plex.com/user/username/

    For example, see the webmaster's clinched highway site.

    Unfortunately, the site cannot be generated instantly. The mapping script must be manually run at this time. Expect at least a day to pass before your web site appears. If your site does not appear within 7 days, try sending it again.

  • Fixing your mistakes. The home page of your clinched highway website contains links to both a copy of your .list file and an error log. This error log will show any highways or endlabels not recognized by the mapping script. If there are errors, download the .list file, fix any typos in your .list file, and consult the Highway Browser to look up any bad endlabels. Once you have fixed the errors, email your updated list to the email address above.

    Note! Windows users may find that Notepad incorrectly displays end-of-line characters in the .list file and may show the entire file condensed into one line of text with block characters. Wordpad, which is also bundled with Windows, correctly displays the file. Be sure to save your file as plain text.

  • Updating your site. You can have your clinched highway site updated by updating your .list file and sending it again. To update your file, start by downloading the copy from the bottom of the home page of your clinched map site. Sometimes I need to make minor formatting changes to your file to get the mapping script to parse it, and so using your original file will reintroduce the same formatting errors, and I won't be happy to fix it again! Download the fixed version instead. Once you resend your file, you will usually need to wait at least a day to see your updated site.
  • Changes to the highway systems. New highways are born and old highways are extended, truncated, or relocated every so often. The database used to make your clinched maps will be updated accordingly. To keep up with these changes that will affect your clinched highway maps, see the Updates page. You may occasionally need to update your .list file to keep up with changes.


  • Enjoy your clinched highway site!
 

 
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