MapSearchApp — Panel Grid Search

A WPF desktop application for locating PLSS tax panel sections on a high-resolution county base map.
Enter a 4-digit panel number → the app highlights the exact section on the map and runs an OCR readout.

Repository: https://github.com/band72/TaxPanelApp

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📥 Download & Installation

Option 1 — Installer (Recommended)

1. Go to the Releases page
2. Download MapSearchApp.1.0.3.exe
3. Run the installer — no .NET runtime required (fully self-contained)
4. A shortcut is created in the Start Menu; optional Desktop shortcut during install
5. Launch MapSearchApp from the Start Menu or Desktop

Option 2 — Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/band72/TaxPanelApp.git
cd TaxPanelApp
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true /p:PublishSingleFile=true
# Executable will be at: bin\Release\net8.0\win-x64\publish\MapSearchApp.exe

Requirements (source build only): .NET 8 SDK, Windows 10 build 19041+

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🗺 User Manual

1 — Loading a Base Map

On first launch the app automatically loads the Tile Map Index PDF bundled in the Tax-Maps\ folder.

To load a different map:

• Click Base Map in the toolbar
• Select any .pdf, .png, or .jpg file
• Large PDFs are rendered at 4000px wide for maximum optical zoom

2 — Searching for a Panel

Step	Action
Type a 4-digit panel number into the Panel Number box	e.g. 6307
Press Enter or click Search
A red bounding box highlights the section on the map
A detail window opens showing a zoomed crop + OCR text

3 — Panel Number Format

Panel numbers follow the PLSS grid coding used by the county:

R T SS
│ │ └─ Section  (01–36)
│ └─── Township (1=T2N, 2=T1N, 3=T1S, 4=T2S, 5=T3S, 6=T4S)
└───── Range    (3=R23E, 4=R24E, 5=R25E, 6=R26E, 7=R27E, 8=R28E, 9=R29E)

Example: 6307 → Range R26E, Township T1S, Section 7

First digit (R)	Range
3	R23E
4	R24E
5	R25E
6	R26E
7	R27E
8	R28E
9	R29E

Second digit (T)	Township
1	T2N
2	T1N
3	T1S
4	T2S
5	T3S
6	T4S

4 — Calibration Offsets

If the red highlight box doesn't align perfectly with your map, use the Calibration Offsets sliders in the toolbar:

Slider	Effect
Left	Moves the grid origin right
Top	Moves the grid origin down
Right	Shrinks the grid from the right edge
Bottom	Shrinks the grid from the bottom edge

Offsets are automatically saved to offsets.txt on close and reloaded on next launch.

5 — Reference Grid Overlay

Check Show Reference Grid to draw a visual township/section grid over the map.

• Blue thick lines = Township boundaries (every 6 sections)
• Faint lines = Individual section boundaries

6 — TIF Directory (Settings)

Click ⚙ Settings to point the app at a folder containing .TIF map files for advanced lookups.
The path is saved to tif_directory.txt in the app directory.

7 — Check for Updates

Click ↑ Updates in the toolbar to check for a newer version.

• The app fetches version.json from the GitHub repository
• If a newer version is available you'll be prompted to open the download page
• The button shows Checking… while the request is in flight and never freezes the UI

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🔄 Update Manifest

The update checker reads:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/band72/TaxPanelApp/main/version.json

Current version.json at the repo root:

{
  "version": "1.0.3",
  "url": "https://github.com/band72/TaxPanelApp/releases/latest"
}

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🛠 Developer Notes

Build & Publish

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true /p:PublishSingleFile=true

Compile Installer

& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Inno Setup 6\ISCC.exe" MapSearchApp.iss
# Output: Installer\MapSearchApp.1.0.3.exe

Version Bump Checklist

• MapSearchApp.iss → AppVersion and OutputBaseFilename
• MainWindow.xaml.cs → CurrentVersion constant
• version.json → version field
• Git tag + GitHub Release

Error Reporting

Unhandled exceptions are automatically POSTed (fire-and-forget) to the configured back-end endpoint in ErrorReporter.cs:

private const string ErrorEndpoint = "https://api.yourdomain.com/errors";

Payload includes: version, context, message, stack trace, OS, machine name, and UTC timestamp.

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Recent Changes (v1.0.3)

Change	Detail
App Icon	Custom 256×256 .ico — embedded in exe, installer wizard, shortcuts, and Add/Remove Programs
Installer	No .NET prereq check — fully self-contained bundle
↑ Updates button	Toolbar button; HTTP manifest check; never blocks UI (Task.Run offload)
Error Reporting	Global DispatcherUnhandledException + UnhandledException + UnobservedTaskException hooks
version.json	Committed to repo root for live update notifications