Mapinfo

LCC KSA Mar 30, 2005 Slide: 1

MapInfo

3rd October 2005

By: Syed Maqbool HassanRF Expert, LCC KSA

Introduction

A desktop mapping and GIS (geographical information system) application.

Shows tabular data in a variety of forms e.g. map and graph.

Open environment has led to over 300 compatible products.

Data

Tabular Data: Numeric, statistical and textual information on a map.

Graphic Data: Vector (with coordinates) and raster images that allow images to be shown on a map.

Table

A table is tabular data of numeric, textual or statistical type and stored with graphical data.

It can also be used in conjunction with graphic data.

Open Table

Opening of Tab file supports formats: ASCII (.txt), .dbf, .mdb, Lotus, Excel and images.

Save Table

Tables can be saved for different software environments.

Layer Control

It controls the order and appearance of layers on a map.

Create Points

Points are created for the graphic data associated with the textual or numeric data.

Table Maintenance

The table structure can be modified and fields can be added or removed.

Indexing can be selected for layers.

Workspace

Works like taking snapshot of your physical desktop and recreating each time by placing items in the same way.

Tracks information of which files are open, themes applied, layer settings applied, labels created and open windows.

Query

Provides the ability to extract specific data records or map objects from a map linked to a database.

A temporary table is created to store the records of each selection (query).

Query: Select Tools

Several ways of map data selections: Select Radius Select Marquee (rectangle) Select Boundary Select

Query: Find

It enables you to locate a certain map object that is difficult to find visually.

Query: Select

Enables to build simple queries to select records and objects from a single table.

Records meeting criteria are displayed in browser window.

Query: SQL Select

Can build more complex queries than Select. Uses standard SQL (structured query language).

Legend

Many different cartographic legends can be created for a map.

To create legend, Map > Create Legend.

Object Edit Existing Data

For attribute data, use browser window for editing. For graphical objects, info tool can be used for editing.

New Graphic Objects

There are several tools for creating new graphic objects.

Info Tool

Info tool can be used see attributes of graphic objects and for editing purposes as well.

Edit Object Combining Objects

Allows to combine one or more objects into one object and aggregate the associated data.

Object Erase/Erase Outside

Removes a portion of a map object using the currently selected object as eraser.

The portion of the target object covered by erasing object is removed.

Object Edit - Splitting

Breaks map objects into smaller parts using the currently selected object as the cutter.

Select target set of objects, and then the object or set of object to split by.

Graphs

Graphs represent the data in attractive ways to help in understanding and evaluation.

Different types of graphs are: area graph, bar graph, line graph, pie graph and X-Y graph.

Thematic Mapping

The process of overlaying tabular data on geographical objects in a map.

Types are: range, pie chart, graduated symbol, dot density, individual values and grid.

Thematic Mapping - 2

Ranges: Shade classes of data or fill pattern. Bar and Pie Charts: When the data to map are in

several columns. Graduated Symbol: The symbol is sized by the amount

of selected field or expression relative to a point.

Thematic Mapping - 3

Dot Density: used for region data. It shows randomly dispersed dots in a region.

Individual Values: available for text values mapping, although numeric can also be mapped.

Grid: shows data as colour variations across a map.

Geocoding

Process of assigning X and Y coordinates based on location information in a mappable database.

It is in another way, address matching to locate the particular address.

Printing

Printing can be accomplished on many different printers and plotters.

Printing Layout Window

It allows to arrange multiple MapInfo windows to prepare a single printout.

Map, browser, graph, titles, legends, scale bars and north arrows.

Print preview is included after performing design.

Crystal Reports

Reports tabular data in browser window or more formatted way called Crystal Reports.

Crystal reports allows to generate custom reports out of MapInfo tables.

Raster Images

Raster images are bitmap images consisting of pixels or dots.

MapInfo can read following raster image formats: .gif, .jpg, .tif, .pcx, .bmp, .cut, .tga

Conclusion

MapInfo is a powerful GIS software comprising many features helpful for site project management.

It enables site search, custom queries and displays make it the ideal tool for geographical site displays.

ODBC and OLE embedding linking provide even greater power by linking with other applications like excel and embedded windows.

Thanks for your valuable time.

Syed Maqbool HassanRF Expert, LCC KSA