def dmstodec(x):
    """ Utility Function to convert CDDMMSS.sssss
    to floating point decimal degrees
    
    where C is the Cardinal Direction (N/W/S/E) indicator for sign
    """
    c = 1.0 if x[0] in 'NW' else -1.0
    d = float(x[1:3])
    m = float(x[3:5])
    s = float(x[5:])
    return c * (d + m / 60.0 + s / 3600.0)
