Métro
User guide
One-picture guides |
![]() |
||
![]() |
Palm
|
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
||
Route search
![]() |
The easiest solution : you write down the names of the
departure and arrival stations (you need only enter the first letters,
Métro will complete the names for you) then "tap" on the
(go) button. Part of a name
may be enough (in Paris, "Etoile" will find the station "Charles de
Gaulle-Etoile").
If the option is activated in the Preferences (see below), the closest stop
name will be filled automatically by the program as you enter characters in
the field.
Assisted solution : "tap" on the
(stop) button, a list
appears with all the stations. Just "tap" on the one you're looking for, it is
displayed as the departure station. When you "tap" on the arrival field, you
can do the same for the arrival station. Finally, "tap" on the
(go) button.
Intelligent assistance : same as above but
before you "tap" on one of the button, enter the first few characters of the
name of the station. The position in the list is updated to the name
closest to your entry.
Permanent assistance : after the list is displayed (as above), simply enter text in the Departure or Arrival field. The position in the list is updated to the name closest to your entry.
The fastest: write down the first characters of your departure station, enter the graffiti linefeed sign, enter the first characters of your destination station then again the graffiti linefeed sign: the calculation is done!
The icing on the cake: the program
memorizes the last stations you used. To display the history list, "double tap"
on the (station).
One-hand operation on Handera and Sony devices: press the JogDial, search your start stop in the list (scroll with the up/down button and change the selection with the JogDial), press again to select your stop, select your arrival station (same operation), press to compute the route and scroll through the results with the JogDial.
One-hand operation on the Palm Tungsten & Treo 600: press the "select" button, search your start stop in the list (scroll with the up/down button and change the selection with the left/right button), press "select" again to select your stop, select your arrival station (same operation), press "select" a las time to compute the route and scroll through the results with the JogDial.
In some cities, you can search a place of interest instead of a subway station (how do I go to the Eiffel tower, for example). These sites appear in bold in the stations list.
Tap on the (info) to
display some information on the start or end station (whichever has the focus).
On the places of interest in the "tourist" databases, you'll even get detailed
information such as address, phone number, opening times...
Back
![]() |
The (back) button is a
simple way to compute your route back from Arrival to Departure without having
to enter the names of the stations again.
Clear
![]() |
The (clear) button
resets the "Métro" GUI: it clears the departure and arrival station, the
stations list and the result field. It also optionnally resets the current time
(see options).
Timing |
This feature is available only with some of the databases. When using these
cities, the day of the week and time are displayed on screen. You just have to "tap"
these fields to change your travel time. The
(clear) button can
optionnally reset the current time (see "Options").
On the currently selected day and time, some lines may not operate; "Métro" takes this into account to compute a route.
Lines
![]() |
The button displays the
list of lines in the current city. Select a line to list its stations (for some
cities, the title background reflects the line color). You may then "tap" on one
of these stations to enter it in the "From" or "To" field (depending on the one
where the caret is). Arrows (up or down) before the name of a station denote a
stop in only one direction.
A line is "operating" (that is, used for calculating a route) only if the box next to it in the list is checked. If there is an "X" mark, it means the line is closed on the current day and time. You can also uncheck the box if you don't want to use the line (in case of a temporary interruption for example).
In some cities, an icon shows the transport "type" (subway, railway, tram,
bus, funicular, trolley or boat) and the line color. In this case,
clicking a second time on the
button will show the list of line "groups" that lets you easily de-/activate
the corresponding lines: for instance, if you don't want to take the NJ Transit
lines in New York, just uncheck its "group" in the list and the program will not
try to use them and the calculation will be faster.
The activation state is saved between uses for line groups but not for individual lines.
Places of Interest
![]() |
In some cities, the database contains a list of "Interesting places": the
program can give you directions to go to these places, just as for a station. To
see the list, "tap" on the
(sites) button next to the line popup. The button is grayed out if there are no
interesting places in the current database.
Address
![]() |
You may have noticed the (address) icon: you can use it to
compute a route from or to one of your contacts' address. When you "tap" on the
button, a list is displayed containing all the contacts in your address book
with a "metro" field. If you select one of the names, it appears in the "from"
or "to" field, prefixed with an "@".
You can also directly enter a contact name (with an "@" prefix) in the "from" or "to" fields. The "auto-fill" feature is then available, if the option is activated in the preferences (see below).
For this feature to work:
You'll have to create a custom field named "metro"
(check your device user's guide to learn how to do this) in your address book
and fill this field for your contacts. You can enter more than one stop,
separated by semi-colons (";").
Warning! On the
latest devices (PalmOne Tungsten E or Tungsten T3), you have 9 custom fields but
the program works only with the 4 first only. If you rename one of the fields 5
to 9, the feature will not work.
You can specify the city the stops applies to:
prefix the stop names with the city name or its first characters (exactly as it
is spelled in the program) and a colon (":"), the contact will appear in bold in
the list if the current city matches the city specified. Example:
Paris:République;Gare de l'Est
("Paris
" will
match the Paris as well as the Paris-Bus databases).
You can even add the walk time between the
contact's address and each stop: enter the time (in minutes) after a
'%'
just after the stop name. Example : République%4;Gare
de l'Est%10
(the address is 4 minutes from "République
"
and 10 minutes from "Gare de l'Est
"). If you don't enter a
value, the program adds a 5 minutes walk.
Results |
When you "tap" on the (go)
button (or enter the linefeed graffiti in the "to" field), the
calculation starts. If it's taking some time (more than about 2 seconds), a
progression bar is displayed on screen. You can "tap" on it to stop the search,
you'll get the best route calculated so far.
After a search, the results lists displays 1 or 2 different routes for your request: the shortest route and the route using the fewest connections. If they are the same, only the shortest one is displayed. Sometimes, both may take the same time and number of connections but have some other difference.
For some cities, the vertical bar next to a line name reflects its color. An icon may also show the transport "type" (subway, railway, tram, bus, funicular, trolley or boat).
Tap once in the results text to copy to the clipboard. You can then paste it in a memo or a mail.
Tap once on the icons (left column) to get detailed information on your route:
Informations
![]() |
The button (informations)
shows informations on the selected city, along with the names of the people who
contributed to the database. It also shows the city release date (useful to
check if you have the most recent version).
Options |
In the "Options" menu, the "Preferences" item has the following choices :
For those who don't know how to access the menus on their Palm, check the silk-screen button bottom-left of the graffiti zone... And take a break to read your device user guide :-)
Tap on (OK) to save your
changes
(Cancel) to go
back to the main view.
The "Network" option shows the list of cities you have installed with "Métro".
You can also access the "Network" option simply by "tapping" on the city name in the "Métro" main form title.
A little after a city name
denotes an obsolete database: you can delete it and you must upgrade to a newer
version to use it. Those cities found on an extension card (in
the
/PALM/Programs/metro
directory only) are
displayed with a special icon (see the installation
guide for more instructions).