Opening ENCs

MacENCx64 is compatible with vector format S-57 ENC. S-57 ENCs are distributed in catalogs (folders) with chart files and a single catalog index file. Copy or download the ENC catalogs to your hard drive preferably to a folder in your home folder (See Managing Charts Overview section).

Before ENC's can be displayed, they must be added to the Chart Manager. Select menu items File -> Chart Manager. Click Add ENC Catalog... to add a catalog to the chart list. Navigate to your charts folder and in the /ENC_ROOT find the CATALOG.031 file. If a CATALOG.031 file does not exist for the charts, then pick the FOLDER where the .000 files are located and a new CATALOG.031 will be created and added to the Chart Manager. (this is an uncommon scenario)

Use Remove to unlist a selected catalog from chart manager. (NOTE: Removing only deletes the reference to the charts in the Chart Manager listing. The files are STILL ON YOUR HARD DRIVE. You would need to use Finder to manage those folders if you wish to send them to the trash).

Select the twistie triangle icon to list the cells contained in the catalog. Some ENC's require Cell Permits to be used. The Add ENC Permits button can be used to add Cell Permits. The permits will be in files named ENC.PMT or PERMIT.TXT. Once added, these files are no longer used by MacENCx64, but should be kept for backup purposes. A good place to keep permit files is in the chart folder where you unpacked your catalog.

The User Permit field displays the code required for obtaining S63 encrypted ENCs.

The SHOW column, provides a way to turn On or Off the display and indexing of installed charts. This allows you to install many charts but to limit only those needed for planning or navigation and improves application performance. Best practice: turn on only the charts you need now.

The Scroll To button will display the selected cell. Then selecting the twistie triangle icon for the displayed cell will list all the objects in the folder. Selecting an object then pressing Scroll To will center the cell on the navigation chart to the selected object.

The find entry field can be used to filter which cells are listed. Selecting the Names radio button lists only those cells that name match the criteria in the find entry field. Selecting the Objects radio button lists only the cells that have a specific object with a matching name in them.

Double clicking on any cell name will display selected cell. Double clicking any object will scroll the chart to the object.

Updating ENCs

One of the benefits of the ENC's is their easy ability to be updated. Follow these steps to update the ENC's:

If the updates are not a complete ENC set, but instead just a partial set. Normally indicated by the terms "Update" either at the ENC download site or on the ENC CD, then follow these steps:

Create an Update folder different than your original folder and copy/unpack the update catalog into that folder.
Select any previous update Catalogs and remove them with the Remove button.
In the Chart Manager Select Add ENC Catalog... button to add the update catalog to the chart list. Pick the CATALOG.031 from the update ENC_ROOT folder.
Make sure to add any permits that accompany the update with the Add ENC Permits button.

In the case of a complete update, just remove the old catalog, replace with new.

For Download Manager controlled catalogs, all of these steps are automated.