GATOR: Hints and Tips

GATOR users might find these hints and tips helpful when using the GATOR application. For more help on using GATOR, please see the GATOR Application Guidebook (PDF) as well as the Glossary of GATOR Terms for definitions of the terms and fields used in the GATOR application.

• General Search Operation and Wildcard (%)
• Locating Different Parcel Types
• Searching Interest Data
• Searching Wellsite Data
• Image Information
• Using SID Images
• Other Information

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General Search Operation and Wildcard (%)

• You can use either upper or lower case when typing in any field, GATOR is not case sensitive.
• When using a dropdown list (e.g. for Land Districts), type in the first letter of your search term to navigate more quickly.
• The maximum number of returns per page is 50. Clicking the Next button will take you to the next 50 results.
• When your search returns multiple results, scroll to the bottom of the first page and click the Count button. This will refresh the results page with a count of the total number of returns (i.e. 1 to 50 of 257).
• In GATOR, the % sign functions as a Wildcard, providing more search flexibility. For example:
   

  Let's say you are searching for a company in the Interested Parties field. If you're not sure if the correct name is "Dolittle & Steele" or "Dolittle & Smith" entering Dolittle% will bring back all companies that start with Dolittle.
   
  If you're not sure of the order of the two names, typing %Dolittle% will find ALL Dolittles in the system, regardless of exactly where the name occurs in the field.

• A definition of the fields can be accessed from within GATOR. Click on a term or heading on any GATOR page that is underlined. You will be linked to definitions within the Glossary of GATOR Terms.
• The GATOR Application Guidebook (PDF) provides hints and details about the major Search options, along with screen shots and an explanation of the information that is returned.

Locating Different Parcel Types

• You can search for a Mineral Claim parcel using its name as a search criterion (i.e. the "Blackbird Fraction"). Select Legal Description as the search option from the main menu and type the Mineral Claim name in the Parcel Name field. You can also use the % sign as a wildcard with a portion of the Mineral Claim name, as in %bird%.
• To search by a partial legal description for a Subdivision Parcel click on the Legal Description link option from the main menu. Then in the Legal Description Substring field enter a portion of the subdivision parcel description with the % sign as a wildcard (e.g. %BLOCK 10%) and press the Submit Query button. This search option can be used with or without other identifiers such as Plan Number, Land District and others. Both filters of Plan Number and Legal Description Substring can be used at the same time.
• To search by a partial legal description for a Subdivision Parcel whose legal description includes a Plan Number which may appear in the BODY of a legal description rather than just at the end of the legal description, click on the Legal Description link option from the main menu and enter the Plan Number in the Legal Description Substring field, as %1234% rather than in the Plan Number field. This Legal Description Substring query may provide more returns than just entering the Plan number in the Subdivision Plan Number field.
• You can search for Indian Reserves by name using the Parcel Name field under the Legal Description heading, as well as by legal description. Users can also search for Indian Reserves by Indian Reserve number by entering the Indian Reserve number in the IR Number field under the Legal Description heading.
• If Survey Parcel searches for Vancouver Island survey parcels do not produce the expected returns, they may be E&N or VL&M parcels. Click the Clear button on your search screen. Enter the Land District and the parcel number, followed by the % sign wildcard, as in District Lot 12%. The parcel you are looking for will more than likely be among the additional returns. If this does not produce the desired results, try entering your parcel number with the wildcard in the Section or Block field, rather than the District Lot field.
• See our listing of Hudson Bay Company Grant Information (PDF) for descriptors that can be used to locate details and images for these unique grants. These descriptors include the grant Document Number, parcel identification number (PIN) and parcel Legal Description.
• To search for a PLAN (Tube, Tray or EPC) click on the Survey Details > Tube or Tray link from the main menu.
• To search for a plan of a Park, Protected Area or OIC Ecological Reserve by it's name click on the Survey Details > Admin Area link from the main menu. Select the desired Admin Area type from the drop down menu provided. Then enter the Park, Protected Area or OIC Ecological Reserve Name in the field provided and press the Submit Query button.
• To search for a Land Title Office Plan by Plan Number click on the Survey Details > LTO Plan link from the main menu. Then type the Land Title Office Plan Number in the field provided and press the Submit Query button.
• To search for all Survey Parcels within a specific map grid click on the Survey Details > BCGS Mapsheet link from the main menu. Then type in the BCGS grid number and click Submit Query.
• The GATOR Application Guidebook (PDF) provides hints and details about the major Search options, along with screen shots and an explanation of the information or query results that are returned.

Searching Interest Data

• The Encumbrance Report provides a consolidated listing of both Survey and Interest information.
• It is possible to filter the Subdivision Parcel returns from a Encumbrance Report query by using one of three filter options along with the selected Parcel Identification Number (PIN). When using the filters, the report will supply only subdivision parcels that meet the filter criteria.
• When searching by PIN from the Encumbrance Report, both Plan Number and Legal Description Substring can be used at the same time.
• To search by PIN for one or more Subdivision Parcels using a partial Legal Description click Encumbrance Report > Pin and enter the PIN as well as the Legal Description Substring. The Encumbrance Report will return details on the Primary Parcel and any Subdivision parcels which include the criteria of the filter, along with their Interest Details.
• Document Number searches allows users to search for Interests or tenures such as Crown Grant, leases, licences, reserves, as well as Hudson Bay grants, by their Document Number. To search by Document Number select the Interest > Document Number heading. A Document Number is not a PIN Number.
• Crown grant document numbers do not have zero place holders. For example: 5556/0526 is an incorrect Crown grant number and will not provide any results, the correct number to enter in the Document Number field is 5556/526.
• Users can search for a group of documents using the % wildcard with a portion of the Document Number. This is useful when searching for many Crown grant documents, or for a group of Crown grant documents all with the same Volume Number. To conduct this search select the Interest > Document Number heading and enter (for example) "%/556" for all grants within Volume 556.
• File Number searches from the Interest > File Number heading allows users to search for records by Land File Number.
  Note: You must enter any leading zeros of a Land File Numbers to successfully receive results.
• You can search for a specific Interested Party (Interest > Interested Party) using the wildcard with a portion of the First, Last or Legal Name. If your searches do not produce the expected results, use only three or four letters of the name with wildcards, as in %hydro%.
• It is possible to search for many Interests by BCGS Mapsheet number. This query will provide a listing of all Interests within the selected mapsheet. To search for an Interest by BCGS Mapsheet number click on the Interest > BCGS Mapsheet heading. Then type in the BCGS Mapsheet number. Results can be filtered by selecting a desired Purpose or Interest Type if desired. This search option must be used with the BCGS Mapsheet number. It is possible to search for an Interest without selecting purpose or type.
• To search for a particular Interest by Type, Purpose, Sub Type or Sub Purpose click on the query by Interest > BCGS Mapsheet heading. Then type in the BCGS Mapsheet number and select the desired Tenure Type or Purpose from the menu provided and press the Submit Query button. This search option must be used in conjunction with a BCGS Mapsheet number.
• See our listing of Hudson Bay Company Grant Information (PDF) for descriptors that can be used to locate details and images for these unique grants. These descriptors include the grant Document Number, parcel identification number (PIN) and parcel Legal Description.
• The GATOR Application Guidebook (PDF) provides hints and details about the major Search options, along with screen shots and an explanation of the information or query results that are returned.

Searching Wellsite Data

• There are two different kinds of wellsite plan numbers or Locations. The Location Numbers to be entered depend upon the type of wellsite plan, either Peace River Block plans or Petroleum and Natural Gas plans.
• Wellsite plan numbers MUST be entered in the Location field with a dash between each number or letter, as in 7-8-79-18-W6M or 93-P-1-F-3-C.
• For Peace River Block plans, the plan or Location number is based upon the Dominion Township survey system within the Peace River Block area. For these plans the first number is the Legal Subdivision, then the Section Number, then the Township, then the Range and lastly the Meridian number, as in 7-8-79-18-W6M.
• For Petroleum and Natural Gas plans the plan or Location number is based upon the Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG) grid survey system. The first number and letter are the NTS grid number, then the mapsheet number, then the Block letter, then the Unit number, and lastly the Quarter Unit letter, as in 93-P-1-F-3-C. Note that the numbering system used here might differ slightly from the order of the numbering system used by the wellsite operators.
• You can also search for wellsites using their Name as a search criteria. Select wellsites > File, Name, Location as the search criteria, then type in a portion of the wellsite name and the % sign as a wildcard.
• The GATOR Application Guidebook (PDF) provides hints and details about the major Search options, along with screen shots and an explanation of the information or query results that are returned.

Image Information

• Images are provided in GIF, TIF, SID, or PDF formats depending upon their size or type. Every Image is NOT available in every format, and some images in GATOR are only available in one format.
• Clicking the View Image(s) link will charge your account and launch the Atlas Image Display application. This application allows you to view GIF and SID images in your browser. Black and white images are normally provided in a TIF or GIF format. Colour images are usually available in an SID or TIF format.
• TIF images are more detailed than GIF images. If the GIF image is not clear or detailed enough, then click on the TIF image button to download the TIF format image. Remember that some images will not be available in multiple formats.
• Where the Image button is a red X, there is some technical difficulty with the image and it is not available at this time. If you were billed for this missing image, Please see the Contact Us page for the GATOR Refund Request form.
• Some images in GATOR are electronically received and deposited. These images are known as EPC or Electronic Plan Crown. You can search for EPC plans using Survey Details > Tube or Tray link from the main menu. Use a wildcard to search for all EPC plans, by entering epc%.
• The GATOR Application Guidebook (PDF) provides hints and details about the the images used in the GATOR application.

Using SID Images

Please be aware that neither GATOR nor the Government of British Columbia provide any kind of help or support for the ExpressView Browser (MrSID Browser) Plug-in. An older MrSID Viewer Manual (1998) is available for download, but may be out of date regarding some aspects of the newer ExpressView Viewer and is supplied only as a reference.

• Viewing MrSID Images:
  • MrSID is an acronym for Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database, an image compressor, viewer and file format for large bitmap images that enables viewing and manipulation of images locally and over networks while maintaining maximum image quality. The file extension for these image files is .SID. MrSID technology is patented and developed by LizardTech, Inc. of Seattle. For more information on MrSID visit the LizardTech web site at http://www.lizardtech.com.
  • The Atlas Image Display application allows you to view SID images without downloading or installing the ExpressView Browser Plug-in (formerly MrSID Browser Plug-in) from http://www.lizardtech.com/download/.
  • Using the Image Toolbar at the top of the SID image viewer allows you to zoom in, zoom out and move around the image in the viewing window. Holding the left mouse button while moving across the image will create a "zoom-to" box that the viewer will zoom to when you release the left mouse button.
    
• Saving MrSID Images:
  • Right-clicking on the actual .SID image in the viewer window will bring up the Save Picture As... option. Choosing this option will allow you to save a .JPEG of only what you can currently see in the Atlas Image Display viewing area.
    Note: To save the entire .SID file, you must have the ExpressView Browser (MrSID Browser) Plug-in installed on your computer.
  • When you are saving the file, every time you right-click the .SID image, the save prompt will use the exact same file name "mrsidimage.jpg". Please change the file name to a more descriptive title to ensure you do not overwrite previous images.
• Printing MrSID Images:
  • Right-clicking on the actual .SID image in the viewer window will bring up the Print Picture... option. Choosing this option will allow you to print (to a mapped printer) only what you can currently see in the Atlas Image Display viewing area.
  • You may print the map in pieces and paste them together (printing over-lapping sections helps with piecing).

Other

• The Encumbrance Report is just like the old CLR (Crown Land Registry) report. It provides a consolidated listing of both survey and interest details for a Primary Parcel and its Subdivision Parcels.