MapInfo

3rd October 2005

By: Syed Maqbool Hassan

RF Expert, LCC KSA

LCC KSA

Mar 30, 2005

Slide: 1

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 Hassan
RF Expert, LCC KSA