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Pitney Bowes Software Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pitney Bowes Inc. Pitney Bowes, the Corporate logo, pbEncom and Discover
are [registered] trademarks of Pitney Bowes Inc. or a subsidiary. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
2013 Pitney Bowes Software Inc. All rights reserved.
Discover 2013 User Guide
TM
Pitney Bowes Software Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pitney Bowes Inc. Pitney Bowes, the Corporate logo, pbEncom and Discover
are [registered] trademarks of Pitney Bowes Inc. or a subsidiary. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
2013 Pitney Bowes Software Inc. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents i
Table of Contents
1 Introducing Encom Discover ................................................................. 1
Help ......................................................................................................... 25
Technical Support ................................................................................... 27
Viewing and Printing the Electronic Manuals .......................................... 28
ii Encom Discover User Guide
Acknowledgements........................................................................... 1093
Encom Discover gives users the ability to process and view data in ways that
previously required a number of software packages. A geologist in the field, an
exploration manager in head office, or a draftsperson in a regional office can use
Encom Discover to track tenement activity, contour point data, view drillholes in
plan and section, analyse geochemical data, facilitate map creation, easily
produce scaled hard copy output, and more.
Encom Discover Help, which you can access on the Discover Help
menu, contains a full explanation of all functions in Encom Discover,
including all the reference information found in this guide, the Encom
Discover User Guide.
Refer to the Getting Help section of this guide for more information about
accessing other forms of documentation and instructions for viewing PDF files.
If displayed, click this button to learn more about the options available on
the menus, tools, and dialog boxes that are related to the current topic.
Keys on the keyboard appear in small capital letters. For example, the Ctrl
key appears as CTRL in the text.
Menu options, buttons, and dialog labels are in boldface. For example,
On the Discover menu, click Exit.
File and folder names and paths are shown enlarged and monospaced.
For example, disk:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop
where the italicised terms disk and username are placeholders.
Programming terms, variables, screen text, and text that you type are
shown monospaced. For example, Click the Value box and type null.
Options that you select from a list are shown enclosed by < > symbols.
For example, Click the Projection box and select <Custom>.
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 3
System Requirements
Important This guide only applies to single workstation installations of the software. If you
are installing a network licence, refer to Technical Support.
System Requirements
Encom Discover 2013 requires Mapinfo Professional version 10.5 or later.
Minimum requirements
Recommended requirements
Dedicated graphics card with 256 MB dedicated VRAM memory, and with
OpenGL optimised drivers, such as Nvidia Quadro or ATI FireGL series.
See also
... System Requirements
... Licensing Encom Discover
... Configuring Encom Discover
Place the Encom Discover software DVD in the DVD drive and wait a few
seconds. The DVD should register with your computer automatically and
display an installation menu list. From this menu you can select the
components you wish to install. When selected, the installation program
will run automatically.
Note If the DVD does not auto-start, from Windows Explorer, navigate to the root
folder on the DVD and double-click Discover_2013_Setup.exe.
If you are installing the Encom Discover Mapinfo Pro bundle, any existing
versions of Mapinfo Pro will also be removed.
Silent installation
For the Discover install, add /s parameter to the command line, i.e. run
Discover_2013_Setup.exe /s. This can also be run from a batch or command
file. On Windows 7, the batch file or command line shell must be run by an
administrator.
For more details on installing MapInfo Professional silently, see the Install guide
PDF in C:\Program Files
(x86)\MapInfo\Professional\Documentation.
Some prerequisites, such as .NET framework 4.0, require restarts and may
interrupt the install, and should be pre-installed.
To license the installation on the client machine from the server, create the file
EncomLM.ini in the same folder as the installation program:
[EncomLM]
SecurityServerPath=servername:serverport
SecurityServerEnabled=1
SecurityDongleEnabled=0
Note When Encom Discover is uninstalled, the entire Discover folder and it contents
are removed. The Discover licence and Licence Manager are not removed. You
will need to transfer the licence to another computer or PBS. User
customizations, such as drillhole projects, picklists and legends, are not
removed.
6 Encom Discover User Guide
See also
... Licensing Procedures for a Hard-Disk Licence
... Installing Encom Discover
... Configuring Encom Discover
If Encom Discover is installed on the computer with a valid licence, the software
does not need to be relicensed when you reinstall the software. Your current
Encom Discover configuration files and settings will be preserved.
You can transfer a licence from one computer to another without contacting PBS.
For detailed instructions, see:
Transferring a Licence
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 7
If you are upgrading an installation with a valid licence to a later version of the
software, see
Note If a message is not displayed, then start Encom Discover manually, as described
in Starting Encom Discover Manually.
2. Click Yes. MapInfo Professional will still operate normally if you choose to
skip licensing Encom Discover.
3. The Create Licence File dialog box is displayed. Type the company
name and click OK.
5. In the Customer number box, type the 7-digit customer code supplied
with the software.
6. In the Licence serial number box, type the 10-digit serial number
supplied with the software.
7. Type your contact details in the corresponding boxes. If you do not know
your customer number or serial number, contact customer support at
software.support@pb.com.
8 Encom Discover User Guide
8. Click the E-mail button or, to generate a report that can be faxed to PBS,
click the Print/Fax button. The PBS fax number is printed on the report.
Note If you are submitting your activation code request by e-mail, the automatic PBS
tracking system should respond within 30 minutes.
12. In the Activation code box, type or paste the activation code supplied by
PBS.
13. Click the Activate button. A message confirming that the software is
licensed will be displayed.
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 9
After installing Encom Discover, if a licence for an earlier version exists, you will
be asked for an upgrade activation code when you run the software. You will be
granted a 20-day evaluation licence so that you can continue to use the software,
but you must request an activation code and activate the new licence before the
evaluation licence expires.
Transferring a Licence
3. Click Yes.
4. The Create Licence File dialog box is displayed. Type the company
name and click OK.
5. Click Activate.
10. In the Destination hardware ID box, type the Hardware ID code from the
destination computer.
To return or park the licence with PBS, type 4666666 as the destination
ID.
Important The licence transfer will disable the licence on the source machine. The source
computer licence cannot be reactivated unless the licence is transferred back
from the destination computer or a new activation code is obtained from PBS.
Important Take care that you enter the correct Hardware ID.
15. In the Activation code box, type the activation code that you obtained
from the source computer.
16. Click Activate. A message is displayed confirming that the licence has
been successfully transferred.
If the transfer was not successful, on the source computer, browse to the
C:\ProgramData\Encom folder and open the file Lic_Log.txt file. This
contains a copy of the activation code generated for the licence transfer.
Note If you need to transfer the Encom Discover licence back to the original machine,
you must repeat the transfer procedure.
After you have installed and licensed the software, to display information about
the installed licence, from the Discover menu, under Discover Help, click
Licensing. The Licence Manager is displayed.
Troubleshooting
If you believe that the licence is correctly installed, but you are unable to correctly
operate Encom Discover, contact Pitney Bowes Software. For contact details,
see Contacting PBS.
Dialog Help
If this is a new installation: Displays the Hardware ID, and allows you to
request a licenceactivation code.
Activate
Click to enter the activation code supplied by PBS and activate the licence.
Displays the Activate Software Dialog Box.
Transfer
Click to enter the hardware ID of a destination computer and transfer the license.
Displays the Transfer Dialog Box.
Complete the details in this dialog box and send by e-mail or fax to PBS.
Hardware ID
Customer number
Title/name
E-mail address
Click the box to edit or type your e-mail address. When sending the request by e-
mail, this is the address that PBS will reply to with the activation code.
Print/Fax
Click to display the reuest form, which you can print and fax to PBS. The PBS fax
number is displayed on the form.
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 13
Go Back
Enter the activation code supplied by PBS, and then activate the licence.
Hardware ID
Activation code
Activate
Go Back
Enter the hardware ID of the destination computer and then transfer the licence.
Destination Hardware ID
Transfer
Displays the activation code required to transfer the licence to the destination
computer.
Go Back
How do I participate?
The first time Discover is started, you will be presented with a dialog asking if you
would like to participate in the initiative. Click 'Yes' if you would like to participate
or 'No' if you do not want to participate.
To join the program, select 'Yes, I would like to activate the Product
Improvement Initiative on my computer.' and press OK.
See also
... Auto-starting Encom Discover
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 15
During installation, you can specify the paths for the Encom Discover program
files, configuration files and temporary files. These and other Discover folder
locations can be viewed and edited at any time after installation. For information
about the Discover folders, see Configuration Dialog Box.
Important When you change the location of a configuration folder, you are asked if you
want to copy the contents of the existing folder to the new location. Unless you
have been instructed otherwise by PBS support, always click Yes. Clicking No
will create an empty folder, which you must manually copy the template
configuration files into.
2. To change a folder location, click the browse button next to the folder box:
Program Files: In the Browse for Folder dialog box, either select
an existing folder, or click Make New Folder and type the folder
name.
Other folders: In the Select Path dialog box, select All users if you
want all users to share the same folder and files, or Current user if
you want each user to have separate folders and files, or Custom if
you want to create a custom folder. If you are creating a custom
folder, click the browse button to select or create a folder.
Note Current user files are not overwritten when switching to All users.
Note A template copy of the configuration and common files are installed and stored in
C:\ProgramData\Encom\Discover and C:\ProgramData\Encom\Common.
These are automatically copied to each user's profile settings folder when
starting Discover.
16 Encom Discover User Guide
By default, MapInfo sets the Status Bar to display the window width (Zoom). You
can override this default so that when a new Map window is opened, the status
bar displays either the cursor position, window width, or map scale.
2. Under Miscellaneous, click the Map Status Bar display box and select
the display option.
This override only has effect when Encom Discover is running. You can change
the status bar display for each map window manually by clicking the display on
the Status Bar or from MapInfo Map>Options.
Encom Discover automatically saves the workspace every few minutes. The
workspace is saved to DISCOVER.WOR in the Discover Configuration folder and
can be restored.
The Discover workspace is useful for recovering from user or program errors. For
example, if you have accidentally closed a complex layout before saving a
workspace, use the Discover workspace to resurrect your work.
See also
... Viewing and Changing Discover Folder Locations
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 17
Dialog Help
File paths
By default, the Discover configuration folders [defaults are shown in brackets] are
created under the shared data location.
On Windows XP:
On Windows 7 and 8:
[disk:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Encom\Discover]
By default, these folders are hidden and read-only. The Discover install
automatically elevates permissions for All Users to read/write to these folders.
Program files
[.\Discover] folder containing the Discover MBX program and other system
files. Users require read-only access to this folder.
Configuration files
Temporary files
Picture files
[ ] Folder used to store images and picture files defined by the Document Linking
utility. Click the browse button to display the Select Path Dialog Box.
18 Encom Discover User Guide
Tenement files
MapShop files
[.\Discover\MapShop] folder. Click the browse button to display the Select Path
Dialog Box.
Picklist files
Miscellaneous
Overrides the MapInfo Status Bar display (Zoom) default when a new Map
window is opened. Select a display option:
Company name
Office
User
Autosave workspace
Type the time interval in minutes between autosaves. To disable, type a value of
zero (numeric 0) minutes. The workspace is saved to DISCOVER.WOR in the
Discover Configuration folder (see Configuration files above) and can be
restored by selecting Restore Autosave Workspace on the Discover menu.
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 19
User level
Important The advanced level allows the user to simultaneosly run multiple tools. However,
this may result in data loss when concurrent operations are performed on the
same data table.
Automatic start
Auto-start modules
(Module): Select the application menus you want to show when MapInfo
starts.
All users: All users on the same machine share the same Discover
configuration folders. Creates the selected configuration folder under
disk:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Encom\Discover (Windows XP) or
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Encom\Discover (Windows
7 and 8).
Current user: Users with separate logins on the same computer have
separate Discover configuration folders. Creates the selected
configuration folder under disk:\Documents and
Settings\username\Application Data\Encom\Discover
(Windows XP) or C:\Users\username\AppData\Encom\Discover
(Windows 7 and 8).
Note The default installation paths of configuration folders are different for Windows
XP and Windows 7 and 8 operating systems.
See also
... Viewing and Changing Discover Folder Locations
... Overriding the Default Map Status Bar Display
... Autosaving and Restoring the Workspace
... Auto-starting Encom Discover
Important The user must have write permissions for the Discover configuration folder. If the
user doesn't have write permissions to this folder, an error message is displayed.
To continue, the user must set the required write permissions.
After you have started Encom Discover, refer to the Encom Discover User Guide
for information about the user interface and how to perform tasks.
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 21
You can prevent Encom Discover auto-starting from either the Discover
Configuration dialog box, or from the MapInfo Tool Manager:
Or
2. In the Tools box, locate Encom Discover and clear the Autoload check
box.
You can also show selected Discover application menus and tools at start-up or
at any time after Encom Discover starts.
To show a menu, on the Discover menu, click the menu name (i.e.
Surfaces Menu, Images Menu, Drillhole Menu, GraphMap Menu,
ColourMap Menu, or Discover 3D Menu).
To hide and show the Enhanced Layer Control tool when Encom Discover
starts:
To hide and show the Command Search tool when Encom Discover starts:
See also
... Starting Encom Discover Manually
... Using the Discover Command Search Tool
2 Installing and Configuring Encom Discover 23
If Encom Discover does not load automatically the next time you run MapInfo
Professional, you can start the application manually. When you have started
Encom Discover, you can then set it to start automatically.
Or
2. In the Tools box, locate Encom Discover and select the Autoload check
box.
The next time MapInfo starts, Encom Discover will then automatically load and
run.
See also
...Auto-starting Encom Discover
3 Getting Help 25
3 Getting Help
Should difficulties or questions arise while operating Encom Discover, there are
several sources of help available.
In this section:
Help
Technical Support
Help
Discover Help is a comprehensive and accessible reference and contains all
topics found in the Encom Discover User Guide. Help can be displayed at any
time by:
Selecting the Help button on a dialog box. This displays the relevant topic
of the help (context help).
Context help can also be displayed by pressing the F1 key while a graphic
or dialog is displayed.
PDF Documentation
The user guide and tutorials are also supplied in PDF format. This is an electronic,
print-friendly version of the help documents. The Encom Discover User Guide can
be accessed from the Discover Help menu. For more information, see Viewing
and Printing the Electronic Manuals.
The Encom Discover Online Knowledge Base contains useful information that is
regularly, including how-to articles, tips and tricks, error messages and their
resolutions, video tutorials, and such. You can access the knowledge base from
the Discover Help menu, or by visiting http://encomkb.encom.com.au.
3 Getting Help 27
To assist with learning how to use Encom Discover, a set of tutorials is installed
with the software. The tutorials provide step-by-step instructions on how to
perform common taks in Encom Discover. The data files that are used in the
tutorial exercises are also installed. All tutorials are based on real exploration
situations in which Encom Discover can be used to display, enhance and
visualise field data. The tutorial is available as a PDF document. The PDF file can
be displayed from the Discover>Discover Help menu.
For information on obtaining support directly from the PBS support desk, see
Technical Support.
Technical Support
Purchasers of PBS Maintenance and Technical Support (MATS) are entitled to
technical support and software updates. Support can be obtained by e-mail or
from the PBS website.
Contacting PBS
You can obtain product support for Encom Discover by e-mail or from your PBS
reseller.
E-mail software.support@pb.com
Web www.pbencom.com
2. On the Discover menu, point to Discover Help, and click User Guide or
3D User Guide.
4 Whats New in Encom Discover 29
General
Windows 8 support
Drillholes
Raster Imagery
The Images module can now Reproject and Clip large raster file sizes
(>200MB e.g. SRTM scale imagery).
4 Whats New in Encom Discover 31
The Images Module can now also Reproject and Clip ECW imagery
(converting into another image format such as .png for processing)
Data Entry
Data entry is now possible for multiple tables in the same session
Structural Symbols can now be easily captured and rapidly created from
large datasets with this module
Managing Toolbars
When Encom Discover starts, new menus and toolbars are added to the MapInfo
interface. The Discover menu provides access to all Discover application menus,
toolbars and tools. To open the menu, click Discover on the MapInfo menu bar.
Other application menus and the Enhanced Layer Control tool can be opened
from the Discover menu.
The Discover toolbars can be docked or floated. To show and hide the Discover
toolbars, on the MapInfo Options menu, click Toolbars, and then turn on and off
the toolbars as required (see Managing Toolbars).
34 Encom Discover User Guide
As you move the cursor over each menu item, a message is displayed in the
Status Bar at the bottom-left of the MapInfo window, which provides a short
description of each item.
Some application menus are not displayed until selected from the Discover menu
(such as Surfaces, Drillhole and Tenements) or from submenus (such as DigData
on the Data Utilities menu).
You can also automatically start selected application menus when Encom
Discover starts (see Auto-starting Encom Discover).
See also
... Encom Discover Application Menus
... Configuring Encom Discover
... Starting Encom Discover
Managing Toolbars
The Encom Discover interface includes a number of toolbars, each of which may
be set to be displayed or hidden and positioned as floating or docked toolbars. As
you move the cursor over each toolbar button, a message is displayed in the
Status Bar at the bottom-left of the MapInfo window, which provides a short
description of each tool. The tools available from the Discover toolbar and
Discover application toolbars are described in Encom Discover Toolbars.
When Encom Discover starts, the Discover toolbar is added to the MapInfo
interface. Other application toolbars are displayed depending on their auto-start
settings (see Auto-starting Encom Discover) or when the application menu is
loaded.
Discover toolbar
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 35
The Discover toolbars can be docked or floated, and hidden or displayed at any
time using commands from the Discover menus, from the MapInfo
Options>Toolbars menu item or by right-clicking in a background area on the
toolbar.
Click the drag bar on the left of the toolbar and drag to another location.
Click the title bar and drag to the docking areas at the top, bottom, left,
and right perimeters of the MapInfo window.
On the MapInfo Options menu, click Toolbars, and then turn on and off
the toolbars as required.
You can also close a floating toolbar by clicking the window close button
on the title bar.
You can also hide and show some toolbars from the corresponding
application menu; for example, click Show Map Window Buttons on the
Discover Map Window menu to display the Map Window toolbar.
36 Encom Discover User Guide
The Command Search tool lets you search for tools available from the Discover
menus by name or keyword. The list of matching tools updates as you type. For
example, you can type part of a tool name or the name of a module to obtain a list
of all the matching and associated tools. Multiple keywords, separated by spaces,
are treated with a logical AND. The search is not case sensitive.
To clear the search results and revert to the list of recently used tools, click the
clear search button . The categories of search results can be collapsed and
expanded by clicking the arrow symbol next to the category title.
To hide and show the Command Search tool when Encom Discover starts:
3. Under Other Options, choose the text size, recently used settings, and
tool transparency.
Note Configuration files specifying the contents of each category and icon images are
stored in the Discover Menu folder.
See also
...Configuring Encom Discover
Dialog Help
Use the controls to move categories of tools from Selected to Unselected and
vice versa. Click and drag to select multiple categories, or hold the SHIFT or CTRL
key while selecting from the list.
Other options
Result transparency
See also
... Using the Discover Command Search Tool
Favourite MapBasics
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 39
3. Next to the File path box, click the Open button and browse to the
location of the MapBasic tool.
5. Click OK to add the MBX to the list of favourite MapBasic MBXs on the
Favourites dialog box.
2. On the MapBasic MBXs tab, double-click the MapBasic tool or select the
MBX and click Run MBX.
To re-order MapBasic tools, select and click the Up and Down arrow
buttons to move it up and down the list.
Favourite Workspaces
3. Next to the File path box, click the Open button and browse to the
location of the workspace file (.WOR).
Use the Discover Workspace Editor to check and modify table references in
workspaces. To open the editor, from the Disover menu, point to Table Utilities,
and then click Workspace Editor.
42 Encom Discover User Guide
Under Tables in workspace, the status of each table is listed as either OK,
Unused or Missing:
OK: the table is used in the workspace, i.e. displayed in a map window or
browser and that the file path to that table is correct.
Unused: the table is open but not displayed in a map window or browser
in the workspace.
Missing: the table is set to display in a map window or browser but the
table cannot be found in the location specified by the file path.
If the file path is incorrect, from the Workspace Editor, select the table,
click Edit Selected Path, and then browse to the new table location.
Click Set All to Current to set the path names of all tables to the same
folder as the workspace.
Click Set All to Absolute to save the selected drive and directory path for
all the tables in the workspace.
Click Set All to Relative to make the path names of all tables located
under the folder where the workspace is stored relative to the workspace
folder. If the table folder is not located under the workspace folder, the full
path is preserved.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 43
Select the Turn off editable layers check box to turn off all the editable
layers in all map windows. This is useful when a workspace is to be written
to CD-ROM or to prevent other users from making modifications to tables.
Select the Open all with interactive check box to open all tables in a
workspace in interactive mode. In interactive mode the user is prompted
to browse for a new table location if the workspace file path is incorrect. If
the file path in a workspace is not interactive and a table is not present in
the saved file location, the workspace will not open.
Select the Remove printer settings check box to delete the printer
setting information from a workspace.
See also
...Fixing Problems in a Workspace
Before writing a workspace and its tables to portable media, such as a CD-ROM,
or archiving as a zip file, use the Workspace Editor and Save Tables and
Workspaces tools to check and consolidate the tables referenced in the
workspace to a single folder.
Note All tables saved to a new folder using Save Tables and Workspace will be
saved as native MapInfo files regardless of their original format (Excel, Access
etc) with the exception of raster images.
See also
...Fixing Problems in a Workspace
...Checking and Modifying Table Locations in a Workspace
44 Encom Discover User Guide
After selecting the workspace, the Workspace Loader dialog is displayed, from
which you can:
Pause on Error
By default the workspace loader utility will pause when an erroneous
command line is encountered. It is recommended to always have this
option enabled.
Step Line-by-Line
If the Step Line-by-Line box is checked, each time the Run button is
pressed the workspace loader utility will advance through the workspace
one line at a time. This enables the user to edit and test the workspace
command lines as the workspace is loading.
Click the Run button to automatically run through each command of the
workspace file in the Current Statement Editor window at the top of the dialog.
The status of each command is displayed in the bottom Status window with either
an OK or ERROR message.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 45
When an erroneous command line is encountered, the utility will pause and
display it in the Current Statement Editor. The ERROR message in the Status
window will be accompanied by an error description. The errors are detailed in the
table below along with recommendations as to whether the erroneous command
needs to manually edited in the Current Statement Editor or skipped using the
Skip Line button. The error message table can also be accessed via the Error
Message Definitions button at the base of the dialog.
Unable to open table XXXX Table XXXX has been deleted or corrupted.
Skip the command
Table XXXX is not open The Open Table command has been skipped for
table XXXX. Delete the reference to table XXXX
in the Current Statement Editor, then press
Continue.
More advanced users can use this tool to run MapBasic scripts coded into a
workspace.
See also
... Checking and Modifying Table Locations in a Workspace
Drillholes Menu
Geochem Menu
GraphMap Menu
Images Menu
Surfaces Menu
Tenements Menu
Discover 3D Menu
Discover Menu
The Discover menu provides access to all Discover menus, utilities and tools:
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 47
Map Window
A selection of map window productivity tools and utilities for capturing
movies, creating registered raster images, measuring distance and
bearing, and displaying the dynamic scale bar. For information about the
tools available on this menu, see Map Window Menu.
Map Grid
Adds a map grid to the current map window in any of the MapInfo
standard projections or in a user-defined custom projection. The style of
the map grid is fully customisable and you can overlay multiple grids on
one another (for example a Lat-Long grid on a UTM grid). The map grid is
drawn into a temporary table called AUTOGRID, which is located in the
Discover temporary directory unless you nominate a different table name
and location. For information about how to use this tool, see Add a Map
Grid.
Map Autogrid
Displays a dynamic map grid in the current map window in any of the
MapInfo standard projections or in a user-defined custom projection. The
map grid coordinates are updated whenever the map window is zoomed
and panned. The style of the map grid is fully customisable and you can
overlay multiple grids on one another (for example a lat-long grid on a
UTM grid). For information about how to use this tool, see Add a Dynamic
Map Grid to a Map Window.
Scaled Output
Inserts a correctly sized and scaled frame of the front map window with a
map grid) into a layout. Additional frames for scale bar and title block are
added to the layout. When applied, the map scale, map size and paper
size are displayed in a text box, and the Scaled Output Menu is added to
the menu bar. For information about how to use this tool, see Creating
Scaled Maps.
Structure Symbols
Displays structural data as oriented structural symbols from a symbol
library. Structural data can be read from a structural data table or digitized
in a map window. For information about how to use this tool, see Working
with Structural Data.
Map Making
Select from a variety of tools for adding features to scaled maps such as a
frame, title block, scalebar, legend, title, and annotating points and lines.
For more information about the tools available on this menu, see Map
Making Menu.
Data Utilities
Select from a variety of tools for searching and replacing text, selecting by
attribute, splitting tables, transforming coordinates, laying out grids,
assigning values to polygons, searching for objects near other objects,
calculating distances and angles, displaying time-series data, digitizing
and data entry, creating stacked linegraphs, and a variety of vector and
polygonal tools. For more information about the tools available on this
menu, see Data Utilities Menu.
Object Editing
Select from a comprehensive set of tools for creating, editing,
manipulating, moving, splitting, and transforming point, polyline, and
polygonal map objects. For more information about the tools available on
this menu, see Object Editing Menu.
Table Utilities
Select from a variety of tools for managing and manipulating MapInfo
tables. For more information about the tools available on this menu, see
Table Utilities Menu.
Replaced Utilities
Selected legacy tools that have been replaced by newer functions in the
current version of Encom Discover. For more information, see Replaced
Utilities.
Discover Help
Displays license and product information and opens help and other
documents. For information about the tools on this menu, see Discover
Help Menu.
Configuration
Configure folder locations, status bar, auto-save settings, auto-start
settings, and other configuration settings. For information about how to
use this tool, see Configuring Encom Discover.
Important When you change the location of a configuration folder, you are asked if you
want to copy the contents of the existing folder to the new location. Unless you
have been instructed otherwise by PBS support, always click Yes. Clicking No
will create an empty folder, which you must manually rebuild with configuration
files.
Exit
Closes the Discover menu and unloads the application.
See also
...Starting Encom Discover
...Configuring Encom Discover
...Licensing Encom Discover
Standard Views
Saves the current map window geographic extents and window
dimensions and restores saved views to the current map window. By
storing the geographical extents over a project area or area of interest the
current map window view can be quickly re-positioned over the location
defined by the selected view. Standard Views can be used with any open
datasets and are independent of the current map window projection. For
information about how to use this tool, see Saving and Applying View
Settings.
50 Encom Discover User Guide
Favourite Projections
Maintains a list of frequently used map projections, which you can apply to
the active map window. Projections in this list are displayed whenever a
Discover utility requires a projection to be assigned. For information about
how to use this tool, see Saving and Applying Map Projections.
Map Linking
Geographically links mapper windows so that any pan or zoom applied to
one mapper window is automatically applied to all other map windows
included in the linked group. For information about how to use this tool,
see Linking Map Windows.
52 Encom Discover User Guide
See also
... Map Window Controls
For information about how to use the tools on this menu, see Show Cursor
Position in Linked Windows.
Cursor Position On
Turn on the cursor position display in linked mapper windows.
Select Mappers
Displays the cursor position selected in one window in other linked
mapper windows.
For more information about how to use the tools on this menu, see Creating
Scaled Maps.
Re-specify Parameters
Redisplays the Scaled Output dialog box, from which you can modify the
frame settings, including the frame position, scale, margins, map grid, title
block, and scale bar. For more information, see the topics under Add a
Scaled Frame to the Layout.
Note Additional import and export tools are available from other Discover application
menus and from MapInfo. For more information, see Importing and Exporting.
The Discover Import and Export menu contains the following functions:
Import tools
Vector Import
Imports a wide range of 2D and 3D vector formats into a MapInfo table.
Forinformation about how to use this tool, see Vector Import.
DataSight Import
Adds the DataSight Menu to the menu bar, from which you can setup a
database connection, select and import tables from a DataSight database,
and manage open tables. For information about how to use the tools on
this menu, see DataSight.
ECW/JPEG2000 Import
Imports ECW and JP2 format, located, raster image files from either the
local disk or from an Image Web Server. For information about how to use
this tool, see ALG/ECW/JPEG2000.
ioGAS
Adds the ioGAS Menu to the menu bar, from which you can import and
refresh an ioGAS file and associated thematic map in a Mapinfo TAB file.
For information about how to use the tools on this menu, see ioGAS.
MicroMine Import
Imports MicroMine data and string files into MapInfo tables. Discover
reads the MicroMine file, creates an appropriately structured table and
inserts the data. For information about how to use this tool, see
MicroMine.
Export tools
Vector Export
Exports a MapInfo tableas 2D or 3D vectors in a range of different formats.
Forinformation about how to use this tool, see Vector Export.
See also
...Importing and Exporting
DataSight Menu
For information about using these tools, see Using the DataSight Import Tool.
Refresh Tables
Refreshes a MapInfo table from a DataSight table through the SQL
Server.
ioGAS Menu
Import ioGAS
Imports an ioGAS file directly into a MapInfo table.
Refresh Table
Refreshes an imported ioGAS file, including the ioGAS thematic map. The
existing Mapinfo table is overwritten.
Exit ioGAS
Closes the ioGAS import menu.
Use these tools to streamline the entry of attribute data for digitized map objects.
Objects can be digitized either with the cursor or from a digitizing pallette.
Picklist Manager
Use this tool to manage picklist styles by either modifying existing picklists
or creating new picklists by importing from external files or creating a
brand new picklist. For information about how to use this tool, see
Creating and Managing Picklists.
Apply Style
Use this tool to apply a single picklist style to either selected map objects
or to newly created map objects. For information about how to use this
tool, see Applying a Single Style from a Picklist.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 57
Apply Picklist
Use this tool to apply multiple selected picklist styles to map objects in a
table either permanently or as a thematic map. For information about how
to use this tool, see Applying Multiple Styles from a Picklist.
Setup Table
Configure tables with validation rules and defaults for data entry. For
information about how to use this tool, see Configure Table for Data Entry.
Enter Data
Digitize spatial or enter non-spatial validated data with attributes. For
information about how to use this tool, see Enter or Digitize Table Data
and Map Objects.
Label Creator
Adds text labels to objects selected in a map window, with text size scaled
to the map scale. Label Creator has many smart features that will assist
with creating professional maps. For information about how to use this
tool, see Adding Text Labels.
Format Text
Sets the current font style or, if objects are selected, reformats text for a
specified output scale. Use this tool to reset text size when you change
the scale of the map window. For information about how to use this tool,
see Formatting Text.
Line Annotation
Adds geological annotation to the selected linework. Annotation for a
variety of styles can be added at a user-specified spacing and size, and at
a specific map scale. For information about how to use this tool, see Apply
Geological Line Styles and Annotations.
MapShop menu
Automate the generation and printing of multiple map sheets covering a
region. Adds the MapShop menu to the menu bar, from which you can
select a layout template and a map series. Mapshop will then
automatically batch create and print maps in the selected region. For more
information about this tool, see MapShop.
The Discover Data Utilities provide a variety of tools for manipulating and
processing data including:
Select by Group
Selects all records with specific values or attributes from a specified
column in a table. For information about how to use this tool, see Select
by Group.
Table Split
Splits a table into multiple tables using unique attribute values in a field.
For example, create separate tables for different geological units covering
a project area from a master table, extract tenement data by holder, or
split out open file geochemical data by company. For information about
how to use this tool, see Splitting Tables.
60 Encom Discover User Guide
Update Coordinates
Adds or updates map object coordinates in either a browser or a map
window using coordinates from either a map window or a browser. For
example, you can place the coordinate positions of sample points or collar
locations into X and Y data columns in the same MapInfo table.
Alternatively, if new survey data has become available, update the
position of existing map objects with new coordinates from X and Y data
columns in the browser. For information about how to use this tool, see
Updating Coordinates.
Transform Coordinates
Converts coordinates from one coordinate system to another based on
various coordinate transformation parameters. The transformed data is
stored in a new table with a suffix _trans. and displayed in map or
browser window. For information about how to use this tool, see
Coordinate Transformations.
Reproject Coordinates
Reprojects data captured in one coordinate system in a new coordinate
system. For example, vector data captured in Australian AGD84
coordinates can be reprojected into GDA94 coordinates. Vector data can
be reprojected between projected (e.g. UTM), geographic (e.g. lat-long)
and custom coordinate systems. The utility works in the same way as the
MapInfo Save Copy As tool but has been designed specifically to
incorporate the NTv2 grid shift transformation parameters for selected
Canadian and Australian projections. For information about how to use
this tool, see Reprojecting Coordinates.
Assign Values
This tool operates in two modes: You can either assign aggregated values
of map object attributes in one table to the containing polygon map objects
in another table (see Assigning Values to and from Polygons), or you can
assign polygon attributes in one table to contained map objects in another
table (see Assigning Values to Polygons from a Grid).
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 61
Proximity Search
Displays map objects that are located within a specified distance from one
or more selected objects. Apply additional filter criteria to returned map
objects to refine proximity search. For example, identify geochemical
samples that are located within 2 km of an old mine site. The search can
be further refined to only identify samples that have a gold grade greater
or equal to 2 ppm. Alternatively, perform search for all significant copper
occurrences that fall with 2 km of a selected faults. For information about
how to use this tool, see Select by Proximity.
Line Orientation
Calculates the orientation of a line or polyline and adds the direction as an
attribute in a selected column in the table. This is useful when analysing
tables containing linear map objects such as faults, fold axes or creeks
where no directional attributes exist. For information about how to use this
tool, see Calculating Line Orientation.
Distance Calculator
Measures the distance and angle between points in two separate MapInfo
tables. For example, determine an error distance and bearing between
control points when transforming point coordinates between two
projections. The two tables must share a common field to create the link or
join between them; for example, a control point number. The join must be
a one-to-one relationship. One point in the first table can only be linked to
one point in the second table. For information about how to use this tool,
see Calculating Distances Between Points in Separate Tables.
Plot Vectors
Displays velocity and flow data as oriented vectors with either a fixed
vector length or with a length proportional to a magnitude attribute in the
point source table. For example, water flow, soil creep, erosion rate, dune
movement or any surface measurement which has a magnitude and
direction component can be represented in this way. The table must
contain mapped point locations, with attribute columns for the position
coordinates (Easting and Northing) and the vector azimuth. An optional
column can also be added to control the length of the vector magnitude.
For information about how to use this tool, see Formatting Vector Objects.
62 Encom Discover User Guide
Setup
Set up temporal data tables for display as a temporal trend graph. For
information about how to use this tool, see Setting Up Temporal Trends
Graphs.
Graph Display
Displays temporal data in the form of a linegraph. For information about
how to use this tool, see Creating Temporal Trends Graphs.
Graph Query
Displays the attribute values and date in a temporal linegraph. For
information about how to use this tool, see Querying Temporal Trends
Graphs.
Graph Colouring
Thematically maps and annotates temporal trend linegraphs using the
MapInfo Modify Thematic Map tool. For more information, see Creating
Temporal Trends Graphs.
Clone Style
Clone the style from objects in a MapInfo table and apply to selected
objects. For information about how to use this tool, see Cloning Object
Styles.
Key in Shapes
Create map objects with coordinates entered from the keyboard. For
information about how to use this tool, see Creating and Editing Objects
from the Keyboard.
Offset Object
Create a matrix of map objects at increments from a seed object. For
information about how to use this tool, see Offsetting Copies of an Object.
Transform Objects
Apply shifting, scaling and rotation to one or more objects. For information
about how to use this tool, see Moving, Scaling and Rotating Objects.
Align Objects
Align the top, bottom, left, right or centre of map objects relative to each
other. For information about how to use this tool, see Aligning Objects.
Polyline Smoother
Smooth polylines by applying a spline. For information about how to use
this tool, see Smoothing.
Line Cut
Cut any line or region object with a crossing line. For information about
how to use this tool, see Cutting.
Line Concat
Join lines within a specified distance and angle of each other. For
information about how to use this tool, see Joining.
64 Encom Discover User Guide
Insert Nodes
Insert nodes at specified intervals from the beginning of a line or into
polylines/polygons at regular spacings between existing nodes. For
information about how to use this tool, see Inserting Nodes.
Extract Nodes
Extracts nodes or line segments from a polyline or polygon. For example,
extract nodes from contour lines and reprocess the three-dimensional
point data to create a new interpolation grid. Extracted node coordinates
are added to a new table as attributes. For information about how to use
this tool, see Extracting Nodes.
Donut Polygons
Cut-out in-lying polygons for a whole table. For information about how to
use this tool, see Creating Donut Polygons.
Clip to Polygon
Clip and save all data from multiple layers which lie within a selected
object. For information about how to use this tool, see Clipping.
PolyBuilder
Create regions from intersecting linework automatically or manually. For
information about how to use this tool, see Conditioning and Converting
Linework into Polygons.
Close All
Closes unused tables, query tables, selected tables, or all open tables.
For information about how to use this tool, see Closing All Tables.
Favourite Tables
Maintains a list of frequently used tables so that they can be opened
quickly and identified by an alias. For information about how to use this
tool, see Favourite Tables.
Favourite Workspaces
Maintains a list of frequently used workspaces. For information about how
to use this tool, see Favourite Workspaces.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 65
Favourite MapBasics
Maintains a list of frequently used MapBasic programs. For information
about how to use this tool, see Organising Your MapBasic Tools.
Workspace Editor
Edit workspace tables and pathways. For information about how to use
this tool, see
Multi-File Open
Opens multiple tables from different folders into one map window,
separate map windows, an open map window, a browser windows, or as
no view. For information about how to use this tool, see Opening Multiple
Tables.
Multi-Pack
Pack multiple tables with the option to pack the tabular or graphical
component of the table. For information about how to use this tool, see
Packing Multiple Tables.
Multi-Append
Append multiple tables with the option to order the appending sequence.
For information about how to use this tool, see Appending Multiple Tables.
Multi-MIF Import
Import multiple MID and MIF files from different folders. For information
about how to use this tool, see Importing Multiple MID/MIF Files
Multiple-MIF Export
Export multiple MID and MIF files. For information about how to use this
tool, see Exporting Multiple MID/MIF Files.
Multi-Table Reproject
Reproject multiple tables to a new coordinate system. For information
about how to use this tool, see Reprojecting Multiple Tables.
Hotlink Documents
Defines the path name to a linked document for a map object. For
information about how to use this tool, see Creating a Hotlink.
Sort Table
Permanently sort a table using one or two sort columns. For information
about how to use this tool, see Sorting Tables.
RGB Colourizer
Colours map objects on RGB colour schemes entered as attributes in a
table or extracts RGB values from point, line, or polygon map objects and
saves them in a table. For information about how to use this tool, see
Colour Map Objects by RGB Values.
See also
...Working with Tables
Help
Opens Discover Help. Help contains all the information provided in the
Discover User Guide, in an interactive Windows help format.
3D Help
Opens Discover 3D Help.
User Guide
Opens the Discover User Guide PDF in Adobe Reader. Contains printer-
friendly topics on how to accomplish tasks with Discover. This information
is also provided in Help.
3D User Guide
Opens the Discover 3D User Guide PDF in Adobe Reader. Contains
printer-friendly topics on how to accomplish tasks with Discover. This
information is also provided in Help.
Tutorials
Opens the Discover Tutorials PDF in Adobe Reader. A selection of
tutorials that will guide you through some typical tasks in Discover.
3D Tutorials
Opens the Encom Discover 3D Tutorials PDF in Adobe Reader. A
selection of tutorials that will guide you through some typical tasks in
Encom Discover 3D.
Licensing
Opens the Discover Licence Manager (and server license manager, if
configured). For information about how to use this tool, see Licensing
Encom Discover.
About Discover
Displays information about the current installed version of Encom
Discover.
Surfaces Menu
The Discover Surfaces module provides a rich suite of functions and tools for
creating and analysing gridded surfaces. The Surfaces module has been
designed to integrate seamlessly with gridded data created externally from
MapInfo and with other Discover modules that use gridded data.
Create Grid
Interpolate gridded surfaces from point, polyline or polygon objects using
a variety of methods. Interpolate multiple large data sets with millions of
points or polylines to build a massive grid using triangulation. For
information about the tools available on this menu, see Create Grid Menu.
Grid Contouring
Create contours from surface grid. For more information about this tool,
see Creating Contours.
Grid Calculator
Perform grid arithmetic, statistical and Boolean calculations on one or
more grids. For more information about this tool, see Computing Cell
Values by Expressions.
Grid Filter
Apply Convolution smoothing, enhancement, sun-angle or Geophysical
FFT filters to a surface grid. For more information about this tool, see
Applying Grid Filters.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 69
Hydrology
Remove unnatural pits, extract drainage features and generate catchment
areas on hydrological surfaces. For information about the tools available
on this menu, see Hydrology Menu.
Grid Query
Select grid cells based on single value, multiple value ranges/percentiles
or elevation, slope, and aspect criteria. Calculate volume between grid
surface and specified level, create a slope or aspect grid from surface
grid. For information about the tools available on this menu, see Grid
Query Menu.
Grid Utilities
Classify, grid to grid clip, clip, convert, create RGB, curvature, cut/fill, edit,
fill holes, flip, merge, outline, overlay, replace, reproject, resample, rotate,
shift, slope, split, statistics, surface area, vectorize, create viewshed grids.
For information about the tools available on this menu, see Grid Utilities
Menu.
Grid Tiler
Large grids can be 'tiled' (i.e. subdivided) into a number of smaller grids
without needing to open the source grid into MapInfo. For more
information about this tool, see Dividing Grids into Tiles.
Grid Information
Display surface grid information to screen information including statistics.
For more information about this tool, see Summary Statistics.
Interactive
Interpolate gridded surfaces from point, polyline or polygon objects using
a variety of methods: Inverse Distance Weighting, Kriging, Triangulation,
Spatial Neighbour, Minimum Curvature, Density or Distance. Dynamically
preview the output grid and adjust the interpolation parameters on-the-fly.
For information about how to use this tool, see Create Grid.
Hydrology Menu
Classify
Classify each grid cell into one of a number of ranges.
Clip
Define a region using an irregular polygon or rectangle and remove the
portion of the grid that lies within or outside this region.
Convert
Input a data grid in one format and save to another grid format.
Create RGB
Combine separate grids having red:green:blue colour signatures to a
single, multi-banded RGB grid file.
Curvature
Compute curvature of a grid.
72 Encom Discover User Guide
Cut Fill
Compute the differential volume of material added/removed between two
grids.
Edit
Display and edit a selected grid cell. View surrounding grid cell values.
Fill Holes
Replace nulls within or around a grid by extrapolating values using the
surrounding data.
Flip
Invert the rows or the columns of a grid in their location either horizontally
or vertically.
Merge
Merge several grids to form a new grid.
Outline
Creates attributed polygons outlining the bounds of multiple grids.
Overlay
Modify grid cell values based on polygon boundaries in a specified TAB or
MIF vector file.
Replace
Allow specific grid values (such as Nulls or nominated values) to be
replaced by another data value or Null
Reproject
Reproject a grid into a new coordinate system.
Resample
Grids can be re-sampled to a new cell size using any of three available
interpolation schemes.
Rotate
A grid can be rotated about its defined origin by a specified angle.
Interpolation processing is required for this procedure.
Shift
Apply an easting or northing offset to the origin location of a grid.
Slope
Assigns cell values of either maximum slope angle or direction
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 73
Split
Used for multi-banded grids, this operation outputs separate component
grids of the individual single bands.
Statistics
Compute statistics for grid regions inside one or more overlying vector
polygons.
Surface Area
Compute the 3D surface area, planar area and roughness of a grid.
Vectorize
Convert a grid into polygons, using either individual cells, non-null regions,
regions of discrete values or the grid bounds.
Viewshed
Compute the view-shed of one or more towers of a specified height above
the grid to an observer at a specified height above the grid.
Volume
Calculate the volume between two grids or the volume of a grid above or
below a Z level.
Batch Process
One-step grid utility processing of multiple gridded surfaces (such as re-
projection or slope analysis). For information on how to use this tool, see
Batch Processing Grids with Grid Utilities.
For more information, see Using the Interactive Grid Utility Tool.
BIL Grid
ER Mapper Grid
Geosoft Grid
Surfer Grid
Minex Grid
HGT Grid
ASCII Grid
For more information about importing grids, see Surface Grids in the Importing
and Exporting section of this guide.
Export Grid
Images Menu
Reproject Image
Reproject raster images into a new coordinate system. For information
about how to use this tool, see Reprojecting an Image.
Clip Image
Clip a raster image to a region. For information about how to use this tool,
see Clipping an Image.
Image Properties
View image file size, projection, X and Y coordinate extents, number of
rows and columns, total pixels, image type and metadata. For information
about how to use this tool, see Displaying Image Properties.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 75
Enhance Image
Adjust image contrast and brightness and modify colour and gamma Red,
Green, Blue channels. For information about how to use this tool, see
Enhancing an Image.
Filter Image
Apply smoothing and edge detection filters to image. For information
about how to use this tool, see Applying Image Filters.
Rotate Image
Rotate image by specified angle. For information about how to use this
tool, see Rotating an Image.
Convert Image
Save an existing image in a new image file format. For information about
how to use this tool, see Converting an Image to Another Format.
Modify Image
Apply transparency to the image. For information about how to use this
tool, see Modifying Image Transparency.
Exit Images
Closes the Images menu. For information about how to use this tool, see
See also
...Image Tool
Drillholes Menu
The Discover Drillholes module provides the following tools for processing and
visualising drillhole data in vertical section and plan view:
Project Manager
Define and manage drillhole data tables and columns. For information
about how to use this tool, see Creating and Managing Drillhole Projects.
Section Manager
Manage project drillhole sections and plans. For information about how to
use this tool, see Managing Sections and Plans.
Session Manager
Save and load drillhole project sessions containing data tables, sections
and associated tables. For information about how to use this tool, see
Session Manager.
76 Encom Discover User Guide
Subset Project
Create a new drillhole project from a selection of drillholes in an existing
project. For information about how to use this tool, see Creating a Subset
of a Project.
Log Display
Display downhole data variables in log style for individual drillholes. For
information about how to use this tool, see Displaying Downhole Logs.
Legend Editor
Define colour tables. For information about how to use this tool, see
Legend Editor.
Downhole Compositing
Composite drillhole data by attribute, cut-off grade, RL or depth downhole.
For information about how to use this tool, see Downhole Compositing.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 77
Downhole Merge
Merge multiple downhole tables to smallest sample interval. For
information about how to use this tool, see Merging Downhole Tables.
Generate 3D Coordinates
Calculate and map 3D map coordinates for a downhole data table. For
information about how to use this tool, see Generating 3D Coordinates.
gINT Importer
See gINT
WinLoG Import
See WinLoG
GraphMap Menu
Start GraphMap
Starts the GraphMap tool. For more information, see Starting GraphMap.
Exit GraphMap
Closes the GraphMap tool and menu.
The GraphMap tool provides interactive data display and analysis functionality
using an extensive range of 2D and 3D graphical visualisation and analysis
techniques. Data exploration is a fundamental component in understanding
complex patterns and relationships which may exist in your datasets, whether the
data is geochemical, demographic or sales-orientated. GraphMap provides a
powerful and intuitive way to identify these relationships and examine their
interactions. For more information, see Using the GraphMap Tool.
Geochem Menu
Point Classification
Point classification of data is used to segregate a dataset into groups
defined by a range or group of values. The point data can then be
statistically analysed by group or range, and point displays can be
modulated by colour, size and symbol type. Classifications can be applied
to the same table and field (column) by selecting classifications
concurrently on one or more classification tabs. To modulate colour, size
and symbol with separate fields, you must apply each classification
consecutively, saving the classification table between each application.
For information about how to use this tool, see Classifying Data by Colour,
Size, and Symbol.
Data Levelling
Many statistical processes require data to be normally distributed.
Because geochemical data typically exhibits a log-normal distribution or is
positively skewed, it must first be transformed or levelled to a normal
distribution. The Discover levelling utility provides a number of common
levelling functions that can be used to normalize the data.. For information
about how to use this tool, see Normalizing or Levelling Data.
Summary Statistics
Computes standard statistical results for multiple elements in a
geochemical data table. Statistics can be calculated for a selected group
within a mixed sample population.. For information about how to use this
tool, see Computing Summary Statistics.
The Data Handling Options tool is available from the tools on the Geochem
menu and is used to convert negative values, non-numeric values, and replace
other numeric values in the current geochemical data table. Typically, negative
values are recorded in raw files to represent values that have either been not
recorded, not assayed, or are below the detection limit, which need to be treated
differently, statistically, from zero values. For more information, see Pre-
processing and Cleaning Data.
For more information about the tools on this menu, see Data Processing and
Statistics.
Tenements Menu
Application
Creates new or modifies existing applications by interactive sub-block
selection, and generates application reports automatically for entry into
standard statutory application forms. For information about how to use this
tool, see Apply for an Australian Mineral Tenement
80 Encom Discover User Guide
Tenement Search
Searches downloaded tenement data by holder, by licence type, and by
date, For information about how to use this tool, see Searching Australian
Tenements
Exit Tenements
Closes the Tenements menu.
Discover 3D Menu
For information about the tools on this menu, see the Encom Discover 3D User
Guide and Encom Discover 3D Help.
Open 3D Window
Opens the Discover 3D Window.
Open 3D Workspace
Opens a saved 3D session including data in the 3D window and
associated tables and map windows in MapInfo Professional.
Save 3D Workspace
Saves the current workspace in both MapInfo Professional and Discover
3D.
View Map in 3D
Displays data visible in a MapInfo map window as a georeferenced bitmap
image in Discover 3D.
View Objects in 3D
Displays point, line or polygon map objects in a Discover 3D as 3D
vectors.
View Surface in 3D
Displays selected grid files in Discover 3D. Only grid files that are
currently open in MapInfo Professional can be displayed.
Create 3D Points
Displays point data tables in Discover 3D.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 81
Create 3D Lines
Displays line data tables in Discover 3D.
View Drillholes
Displays selected drillholes from an open Discover drillhole project in
Discover 3D.
View Trenches
Trenches/Costeans in a open drillhole project can be migrated into 3D.
View Sections
Displays drillhole sections created in a Discover drillhole project as
georeferenced bitmap images in Discover 3D.
View Logs
Displays drillhole logs created in a Discover drillhole project as
georeferenced bitmap images in Discover 3D.
3D Display Wizard
The 3D Display Wizard provides a user-friendly step-by-step guide to
displaying either the entire current map view or individual map objects in
Discover 3D.
3D Extrusion Wizard
The 3D Extrusion Wizard provides a user-friendly step-by-step guide to
displaying vector objects as extrude solids in 3D.
3D Utilities
A selection of 3D image tools. For information about the tools available on
this menu, see 3D Utilities Menu.
Options
Various user-defined system and display settings to customise Discover
3D such as temporary folder location, surface display and compression
options, XYZ indicator, map projection, images resolution, etc.
3D Utilities Menu
Object Manager
Display images as geolocated images such as trees, building etc.
The following shortcuts are added to the mapper window, the Layer Control, and
the Table List shortcut menus:
View in 3D
See Viewing Data in Three Dimensions.
Map Linking
Opens the Map linking tool, see Linking Map Windows for more details.
Map Preferences
Opens the MapInfo Professional Options>Preferences>Map Window
dialog.
Unselect All
Unselect all records/objects in any of the selected tables.
Close Table
Close the selected tables.
Map Linking
Opens the Map linking tool, seeLinking Map Windows for more details.
Compare Structure
Opens the Discover Multi Table Structure Manager tool (see Multi-table,
Multi-field Editing).
Discover Toolbar
Surfaces Toolbar
Drillholes Toolbar
See also
... Understanding the User Interface
Discover Toolbar
Map Grid
Draw a map grid in any projection to the front map window.
Scaled Output
Insert a correctly sized and scaled frame of the front map window (with map grid)
into a layout.
Projections
Create and use a list of favourite projections.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 85
Standard Views
Select and save custom geographic views.
Text Search/Replace
Search one or more columns in a table for a particular text string, optionally
replacing each occurrence with a new string.
Select by Group
Allows the selection of all records with a specific value from a nominated column
in a table.
Display Documents
Display one or more documents that are linked to a selected map object.
Update Coords
Insert object coordinates into data columns in a browser, or update positions of
existing points using new coordinates from data columns in a browser.
Favourites
Maintain and use a list of commonly used tables, workspaces, and MBXs.
Close All
Closes all tables.
Select by Styles
Allows the selection of all objects from a table that have the same graphical style
attributes as the selected object.
Fit to Selected
Resizes and zooms the map window to display the minimum bounding rectangle
of the selected object.
Zoom to Selected
Zoom the map window to show the entire minimum bounding rectangle of the
selected object(s).
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Text Labels
Place text labels into a map window, with text size relative to a specified map
scale.
Text Format
Set the current font size or re-size selected text for a specified output scale.
Label Angles
Alter the label angle for a specified map layer.
Legend
Create and customise a legend for up to 10 layers in a multi-layered map.
Titleblock
Create and insert a custom title block into the layout window.
SeeThru Shades
Apply transparent shading, as lines or points, to selected polygons.
Annotate Lines
Add geological annotation to linework (e.g. strike and unconformity symbols).
Key in Shapes
Create map objects by entering node coordinates from the keyboard, or edit the
node coordinates of a selected object.
5 Managing the User Interface and Workspaces 87
Thin Nodes
Reduce the number of nodes in an object.
Line Cut
Cut any object (except points and text) with a line that crosses the object.
Change Direction
Reverse the direction of selected polylines or regions.
Smoother
Improves the appearance of digitized linework by smoothing abrupt changes in
direction.
Surfaces Toolbar
Grid Info
Report grid cell values directly to the screen.
Sun-Shade Grid
Add real-time sun-shading to a gridded surface to improve the appearance of
relief in 2D.
Grid Legend
Display a legend relating the grid colours to data values.
Grid Query
Create MapInfo polygons covering areas of a grid that meet the query criteria.
Surface Profile
Identify and analyse trends or spatial relationships on gridded surfaces by
generating profiles for any line or polyline across the surface.
Create Grid
Opens the Gridding Tool, allowing the creation of grid surfaces
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Drillholes Toolbar
Specify Section
Opens the Drillhole Plotting dialog, allowing section or plan definition.
Data Display
Display downhole data for selected sections/plans.
Section Grid
Creates a grid to display in the section/plan window.
Section Layout
Add one or more sections to the layout window.
Log Display
Display up to 24 columns of downhole data for individual drillholes in a plain log
style display.
Downhole Info
View information for a selected drillhole collar from the related data tables.
Cursor Position On
Enables an interactive cursor that automatically connects geographic locations in
separate mapper windows.
Data EntryToolbar
Picklist Manager
Create and manage picklist styles.
Apply Style
Apply individual picklist style.
Apply Picklist
Apply multiple picklist styles.
Setup Table
Setup table for valid data entry.
Enter Data
Enter valid data into MapInfo table.
6 Map Window Controls 91
Map Projections
MapInfo stores a default view for each layer in a map window. When a new map
window is opened for a table, the layer is displayed in this default view. Use the
Discover>Map Window>Set Default Table View tool to change the default
view. This feature is not applicable for raster tables. Set the default table view to
display an entire data layer or to only display a selected area for large data tables.
Dialog Help
Select the layer in the active map window for which you want to change the
default view.
See also
... Setting the Default Map View
Use the Discover>Map Window>Save Mapper State tool to save the position,
size, centre point and zoom width of the front map window. After saving the map
window state you can then restore it with Restore Mapper State. The Restore
Mapper State option is useful when you want to restore a map window that is
used in a layout window after you have zoomed or panned across the map
window.
See also
... Saving and Applying View Settings
... Saving and Applying Map Projections
Use the Discover>Map Window>Standard Views tool to store the current map
window geographic extents and window dimensions. By storing the geographical
extents over a project area or area of interest the current map window view can
be quickly re-positioned over the location defined by the selected view. Standard
Views can be used with any open datasets and are independent of the current
map window projection.
6 Map Window Controls 93
1. Display the extents of the project area or area of interest in the current
map window.
The Add View Dialog Box is displayed, which shows the map window
extents and size.
94 Encom Discover User Guide
4. In the Description box, type the name for the view and click OK.
5. To add another view zoom and pan the current map window or set up a
new view in another map window, and then repeat steps 3 and 4.
To delete a view, select the view in the list and click Delete.
6 Map Window Controls 95
To re-order views, select the view and use the Up and Down arrow
buttons to move the view up and down in the list.
Note The selected view is applied regardless of whether there is any data in that area.
See also
...Saving and Restoring the Mapper State
...Saving and Applying Map Projections
Dialog Help
View Description
Restore View
Restores the geographical extents of the selected view to the active map window.
Restores the geographical extents and amp window dimensions of the selected
view to the active map window.
Up and Down
Add
Adds the view extents in the active map window. Displays the Add View Dialog
Box from which you can name the view.
Delete
See also
... Saving and Applying View Settings
Description
See also
... Saving and Applying View Settings
Map Projections
Saving and Applying Map Projections
Use the Favourite Projections tool to create a list of frequently used map
projections. Favourite projections are used to change the current map window
from one projection to another.
Any projections added to this list are also displayed in the first window of the
Choose Projection dialog whenever a Discover utility requires a projection to be
assigned.
3. Select the projection from the Category box and Category Members
box.
4. Click OK.
1. Select the map window to which the new map projection will be applied.
To view details of the new map window projection, see Displaying Mapper
Projection Details.
See also
... Saving and Restoring the Mapper State
... Saving and Applying View Settings
... Displaying Mapper Projection Details
... Coordinates and Projections
Dialog Help
Projections
Up and Down
Use the up and down buttons to reorder the projections in the list.
6 Map Window Controls 99
Add
Adds a new projection to the favourites list. Displays the Choose Projection
Dialog Box, from which you can select the projection category and member.
Remove
Apply
See also
...Saving and Applying Map Projections
Category
Category members
See also
...Saving and Applying Map Projections
A table can be stored in a projection that is not defined in the MapInfo projection
file (MAPINFOW.PRJ). In this case, the coordinate system name is undefined
and is referred to as a custom coordinate system. It is accompanied by a list of
the projection parameters. Use these parameters to add the new coordinate
system to the MapInfo projection file.
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See also
... Coordinates and Projections
... Displaying Map Coordinates, Distances and Bearings
... Saving and Applying Map Projections
... Coordinate Transformations
Measure the distance and bearing between two map window locations.
Display the browser entries for a selected table continuously as the cursor
moves over map objects in the map window.
Cursor Coordinates
The cursor position coordinates in the current map window projection are
displayed continuously in the Location Display dialog box as the cursor moves
within the map window. Click Select alternate projection for position to display
coordinates in an additional projection. For example, the cursor position can be
viewed in UTM and lat-long coordinates or UTM and Local Grid coordinates at the
same time.
The Location Display window can be moved by dragging the window title bar.
To close the Location Display window click the button in the top-right corner.
Note The coordinates displayed in the Location Display window may appear different
to those displayed by the MapInfo cursor position due to in-built rounding in the
MapInfo coordinates. Discover reports and displays the coordinates as reported
by MapInfo for the screen position. The precision of the coordinate locations is
dependent on the map window zoom level, the higher the zoom the greater the
coordinate precision.
6 Map Window Controls 101
The Bearing and Distance measurements displayed are taken from the last
selected cursor position. To start measuring, click at the desired location in the
map window. The bearing and distance measurements from the selected location
to the current cursor location are displayed in the Location Display window. The
measurements are updated continuously as the cursor is moved within the map
window. Click in the map window again to re-start the bearing and distance
measurements.
Note When selecting map window locations to be used in Bearing and Distance
measurements, map objects cannot be selected using the MapInfo Snap utility.
Object Attributes
Note If the map window has scroll-bars enabled, the browser details may not be
displayed when the cursor is placed over an object. Remove the scroll-bars
using the Map>Options menu option.
See also
...Coordinates and Projections
...Coordinate Transformations
...Map Projections
Dialog Help
Displays the cursor position coordinates continuously as the cursor moves over
the map window. The cursor position coordinates are displayed in the current
map window projection.
To move the window, click and drag the window title bar. To close the window,
click on the window close button .
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Click the button to select an additional projection for the the cursor position
display. For example, the cursor position can be viewed in UTM and lat-long
coordinates or UTM and Local Grid coordinates at the same time.
Note The coordinates displayed in the Location Display window may appear different
to those displayed by the MapInfo cursor position due to inbuilt rounding in the
MapInfo coordinates. Discover reports and displays the coordinates as reported
by MapInfo for the screen position. The precision of the coordinate locations is
dependent on the map window zoom level, the higher the zoom the greater the
coordinate precision.
The bearing and distance values are taken relative to the last selected cursor
position. To start measuring, click a location in the map window. The
measurements are updated continuously as the cursor is moved within the map
window. Click in the map window again to re-start the bearing and distance
measurements.
Note Map objects cannot be selected using the MapInfo Snap utility when selecting
map window locations for bearing and distance measurements.
Browser information
Click the Details for box to select a table to display the browser information. Move
the cursor over the map objects to view the browser entries from the selected
table. To stop displaying browser entries select <None> from the Details for box.
Note If the map window has scroll bars enabled the browser details may not be
displayed when the cursor is placed over an object. Remove the scroll bars using
Map>Options.
See also
... Displaying Map Coordinates, Distances and Bearings
6 Map Window Controls 103
Right-click the scale bar window to display the Scale Bar Shortcut Menu, from
which you can customise the scale bar format and display options.
On the Discover menu, point to Map Window, and click Show Dynamic
ScaleBar. The scale bar is displayed in a separate window.
1. Right-click in the Scalebar window and select Options from the shortcut
menu. The Scale Bar Options Dialog Box is displayed.
Changes to the scale bar properties are displayed in the Preview box.
2. Under Type, select the scale bar style, number of segments, and units.
3. Under Display, select the scale bar colour and the placement, font size
and font of the labels.
1. Right-click in the Scale Bar window and select Save to Map from the
shortcut menu.
2. From the Save Scale Bar Dialog Box, either type the position of the top-
left corner of the scalebar in the X and Y boxes, or click Select On Map to
locate the scale bar interactively.
3. To change the location of the table the scalebar is saved to, under Output,
click the Save button and navigate to the required folder.
4. Click OK to save the scale bar and display in the map window.
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See also
... Map Projections
... Map View Settings
... Coordinates and Projections
... Creating Scaled Maps
... Add a Map Grid
Dialog Help
Save to Map
Creates a static scale bar object in the active map window. Displays the Save
Scale Bar Dialog Box dialog box, from which you can select the location of the
scale bar in the map window.
Options
Customise the scale bar. Displays the Scale Bar Options Dialog Box.
Clear to float the scale bar outside the MapInfo window frame.
Keep On Top
See also
... Display a Dynamic Scale Bar Window
Select the position of the saved scale bar in the active map window.
6 Map Window Controls 105
Select On Map
Click to select the top-left position of the scale bar in the map window.
Output
Output file
By default, the scale bar is saved to SCALEBAR.TAB in the Discober Temp folder.
Click the box to edit the folder and file name, or click the Save button to select a
new folder.
See also
...Display a Dynamic Scale Bar Window
Type
Style
Standard
Checkerboard
Meridian
Line
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Segments
Units
Display
Label placement
Foreground
Background
Font
Preview
See also
... Display a Dynamic Scale Bar Window
A dynamic Autogrid can be added to the front map window. The map window grid
coordinates are updated automatically whenever the map window is zoomed or
panned. The Autogrid re-displays the new map window coordinates on the fly
when the window view dimensions are modified and can be turned on and off as
required.
An Autogrid is ideal for interactive work, but when creating grids for presentation
purposes in scaled maps, you should use a static map grid as described in Map
Making.
6 Map Window Controls 107
2. The Setup Map Autogrid dialog box is displayed. See Add a Map Grid for
information on setting the grid display options.
After the grid is defined and displayed, the Autogrid menu and toolbar are
displayed.
Display of the Autogrid can be toggled from either the menu or by clicking
the toolbar button.
Each time the grid is turned on the Setup Map Autogrid dialog is displayed. The
last entered grid line styles and colours are retained between views but label
positions need to be specified each time if they vary from the default. To close all
currently open autogrids use the Autogrid>Exit Autogrid menu option.
Note Map Autogrids cannot be removed from a map window through the Layer
Control or Enhanced Layer options.
See also
...Creating Scaled Maps
...Add a Map Grid
...Map Projections
...Map View Settings
...Coordinates and Projections
Dialog Help
Map projection
The map window projection is displayed. To change the map window projection,
see Map Projections.
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Projection
Auto (current map window): Draw a map grid using the current map
window projection.
Custom coordinate system: Draw local and real world grids using a
custom transformation. To create a custom transformation coordinate
system, see Coordinate Transformations.
Grid spacing
The default grid spacing is calculated from the width of the map window. Type a
new grid spacing in the units of the map window projection (typically metres or
degrees).
Grid style
Choose Lines, Points, or Edge Ticks grid style. If grid lines have significant
curvature, you can smooth the grid lines using Label Options.
Aa (text style)
Displays the MapInfo Text Style dialog box, from which you can change the label
font, font size, colour, background style and colour, and ornamentation.
Symbol style
(Point style grids) Displays the MapInfo Symbol Style dialog box, from which you
can change the grid point symbol, colour, size, and other effects.
Line style
(Line and edge-tick style grids) Displays the MapInfo Line Style dialog box, from
which you can change the line style, colour and line width.
Label size
Displays the grid label font size. Type a new value in pts, or select the text style
(Aa) button. Text size will change with the scale of the cuurent view.
Map scale
Select to draw grid labels in a mask outside the map frame. Clear to draw grid
labels in the map window margins.
Display labels at
Select or clear check boxes to show and hide labels at the top, bottom, left, and
right of the map window.
Label Options
Displays the Grid Label Options Dialog Box, from which you can smooth curved
grid lines, add a label suffix and prefix, set the frequency of grid labels, and
change the number of decimal places.
Options
If there is already a grid drawn in the active map window, select the check box to
add the new grid to the existing grid. Clear the check box to replace the existing
grid.
Select to overlay a second grid with a different projection and style. After you click
OK, the first grid is drawn, and thenthe Map Grid dialog box is displayed again so
that you can define the second grid.
See also
...Add a Dynamic Map Grid to a Map Window
This is useful when adding a frame of specific size to a layout. Use the drawing
tools or Discover>Object Editing>Key In Shapes tool to create a rectangle
covering the area to print, and then use Fit Map Window to Selected Object to
re-size the map window to the selected rectangle.
This tool can also be used to display an entire map object when a selected region
or polyline object is much larger than the current map window zoom level. In this
case, remember that the aspect ratio of the map window is fitted to the objects
bounding rectangle.
Note For objects that have an aspect ratio of less than 0.1 or greater than 10, the
selected object does not completely fill the map window.
See also
... Zoom to the Extents of the Selected Object
... Matching the Sizes of Linked Windows
See also
... Fit the Map Window to the Selected Object
Map Linking provides the ability to geographically link mapper windows so that
any pan or zoom update applied to one mapper is automatically applied to all
other map windows included in the linked group.
Right-click in a map window and select Map Linking from the shortcut
menu.
The Map Linking Dialog Box lists all currently open mappers and the projection of
each. Use the checkboxes next to Mapper names to select/unselect mappers.
Select All and Unselect All buttons are also provided.
Fixed extents - The windows are synchronised so that the window centre
point and the X axis extents are always visible in the map window
regardless of either the map scale or the window dimensions.
Fixed scale - Following a pan or zoom, the new map centre and scale are
applied to the other linked mappers. Thus, each linked mapper window
has the same centre coordinate and scale but the amount of data shown
in each depends on the individual window size and dimensions.
Individual mappers can also be linked via the Link this map option on the pop-
up menu from a right mouse click in a mapper. A tick next to this menu item
indicates that the mapper is linked. Selecting the option toggles the linkage.
After selecting the map windows to be linked and method to use, click OK.
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The Map Link option can be deselected from either the Map Linking dialog by
clicking Unselect All or by the right-mouse click pop-up menu in any linked
window and deselecting the Link this map option. When this option is disabled
the menu item will not show a tick beside it (see above).
See also
... Show Cursor Position in Linked Windows
... Matching the Sizes of Linked Windows
In the Cursor Position Dialog Box, select the map windows to display the cursor
locator symbol by placing a check next to each window box. Sometimes the
cursor position selected in one mapper is not currently visible in another mapper
because the data coverage does not include the selected position. Check the Pan
mapper to show cursor position box to pan the map window view to show the
cursor position.
The cursor symbol style button allows you to modify the Cursor position symbol
to any of the standard MapInfo symbols. To adjust the symbol style, press the
Symbol button or use the MapInfo menu item Options>Symbol Style.
6 Map Window Controls 113
The Cursor Position operation can be deselected at any time by clicking on the
Cursor Position Off button on the Cursor Position toolbar.
See also
...Linking Map Windows
...Matching the Sizes of Linked Windows
The Map Window>Match Window Sizes option allows linked mapper windows
to be displayed in the standard size map window. If tables are displayed in a
number of different sized linked mapper windows the preferred map window size
can be selected and all other map windows will be re-sized to these map window
dimensions. This allows for easy comparison of the same area between the linked
map windows.
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See also
... Linking Map Windows
Dialog Help
Select mappers
Displays all open mapper windows and their projections. Select a check box to
link the mapper window.
Select All
Clear All
Unlinks all mapper windows. You can also unlink a mapper window by right-
clicking inside the mapper window and clearing the Link this map option on the
shortcut menu.
Linking method
Fixed extents
The windows are synchronised so that the window centre point and the X axis
extents are always visible in the map window regardless of either the map scale
or the window dimensions.
Fixed scale
Following a pan or zoom, the new map centre and scale are applied to the other
linked mappers. Thus, each linked mapper window has the same centre
coordinate and scale but the amount of data shown in each depends on the
individual window size and dimensions.
6 Map Window Controls 115
Select mappers
Symbol
Click to select the symbol style. Displays the MapInfo Symbol Style dialog box.
Select All
Clear All
When the cursor position selected in one mapper is not currently visible in another
mapper, select the check box to pan the map window view to show the cursor
position.
7 Importing and Exporting 117
Raster Imagery
Surface Grids
Drillholes
See also
...Supported Data File Formats
...Registering and Rectifying Raster Images
...Saving a Map Window as a Registered Raster Image
...Making Movies and Animations from Map Windows
MapInfo File>Open
MapInfo Table>Import
Every file format that can be imported into MapInfo Professional and Discover is
listed in Supported Data File Formats, as well as the location of the corresponding
import tools. File formats are listed by source (e.g. Landmark Grid files) and file
name extension (e.g. GRD).
acQuire
ASCII Data
Datamine
DataShed
DataSight
DXF
Geosoft
ioGAS
LIDAR LAS
MicroMine
MineSight
7 Importing and Exporting 119
Surpac
Vulcan
Vector Import
AutoCAD .DXF
Datamine wireframe (point/triangle) .DM
ESRI shapefiles .SHP
ESRI .TIN, .ADF
Gemcom .BT2
GOCAD vector .TS, .PL, .VS
GPS exchange .GPX
Keyhole Markup Language (Google) .KML
LizardTech MrSID .SID
MapInfo Professional .TAB
MapInfo Professional .MIF
Surpac string .STR
Surpac wireframe .DTM .STR
Vulcan triangulation .00T
3D Studio files .3DS
Raster Imagery
ALG/ECW/JPEG2000
Gridded Surfaces
ASCII Grid
BIL Grid
ER Mapper Grid
Geosoft Grid
HGT Grid
Minex Grid
Surfer Grid
Import tools
Export
Export Grid
Drillholes
gINT
WinLoG
ASCII Data
Datamine
DataShed
7 Importing and Exporting 121
DataSight
DXF
Geosoft
ioGAS
LIDAR LAS
MicroMine
MineSight
Surpac
Vulcan
acQuire
The acQuire Import utility enables you to import drillhole or geochemical data
directly from an acQuire database into MapInfo tables for use with the Discover
drillhole display module. The import utility uses the acQuire direct API to provide
direct access to the acQuire database.
Note This tool downloads and creates a native copy of the database. It is recommend
if you are always connected to the network, to create a live link to the data
instead, using File>Open DBMS Connection. See Mapinfo Professional Help
for more information.
Note The acQuire database import supports all acQuire data models up to 4.4.1. For
more information on the data models and version support, see Select Data from
acQuire Dialog Box help topic.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
acQuire Database Import.
4. Click Choose MapInfo projection and choose the projection that the
collar coordinates were recorded in.
5. In the X field and Y field boxes, select the fields containing the X and Y
coordinates.
7. Click Save acQuire Settings to retain these settings for future use. Next
time the acQuire data is to be displayed use the Load acQuire Params
button to re-load a saved acQuire database query.
8. Click Import.
9. Next to the Collars file box, click the Open button to select the output
folder and file name. When selected, the other output file locations are
updated to match. Click in any box to edit the defaults or click Open.
10. To disable import of the survey, lithology or assay data table, clear the
Import check box adjacent to each file name box.
7 Importing and Exporting 123
To use this data in the Drillhole module, you will need to create a new database
from the TAB files. See the Creating and Managing Drillhole Projects for more
information.
Dialog Help
Mode
Commands
Click to display the Select Data from acQuire Dialog Box, from which you can
create an SQL query and select the data from the acQuire database.
Import
Open database
Create map
See also
... acQuire
Select a path name and a file name for each of the imported drillhole or
geochemical data tables. When the path name of the first data table is selected,
default names are created for each of the remaining tables. You can edit the
default names. Clear the Import check box to prevent importing unwanted tables.
The collar data is always imported.
ASCII Data
The Discover Advanced ASCII Import utility is designed to import external multi-
column ASCII data files into a MapInfo .TAB file.
Flexible import format that can accommodate any number of ASCII data
columns.
Can read ASCII files with either fixed width (defined by column size) or
delimited by user defined characters.
Easy interface for column naming can use a header line or interactive
dialogs. Unwanted header records can be skipped during the import.
Use or save templates to describe the data format for re-use. Comments,
headers and nulls are all handled in the templates.
To view samples of ASCII files that you can import, see Supported ASCII File
Formats.
As well as generic or custom ASCII text file formats, the following formats are
automatically detected with in-built templates:
CSV format
LAS downhole log
Minesight SRG (see MineSight)
Datamine (see Datamine)
Geosoft XYZ
GemSys
AmiraTEM
ERMapper vectors
Encom ModelVision
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and click Advanced
ASCII Import.
2. Under Input file, click the Open button and select the ASCII file to be
imported. Hold down the CTRL key to select multiple files for batch import.
The first 100 data records of the file are displayed in the Data preview
box. If the format is not supported (e.g. binary file or inappropriate text
file), a warning message is displayed.
To examine the input file in an external text editor, click the Preview
button. To change the default editor, click Options (see ASCII Import
Options).
4. The column widths are indicated by vertical lines in the Data preview box.
With fixed-width data, if fields that are not properly identified, you can add
and move separators.
To add a separator, click the new position in the Data preview box.
5. If the file contains header lines, under Header, select the Number of lines
in header. The header lines are displayed in the Data preview box.
7 Importing and Exporting 127
Click Field Summary to display a list of all the assigned column names
and field data types. To change the field assignment and filed type, right-
click the column label and click Properties.
7. Input data fields containing an asterisk (*), a solitary minus sign (-) or a
space ( ) are automatically treated as null values. When imported, nulls
are written out to the .TAB file as blanks in character fields and zeroes in
numerical fields. To define a different null specifier string, (e.g. 999.99),
right-click the column label and select a standard field from the Fields
Shortcut Menu and click Properties. From the Properties Dialog Box,
under Nulls, in the String interpreted as null input value box, type the
null string. To apply the same null string to all input fields, select Apply to
all fields.
8. When you have completed defining the structure of the input file, click
Import to create the .TAB file. If multiple ASCII files are selected, they will
be saved in the selected output folder with a default name.
The steps above describe the common tasks when importing ASCII files. For
information about advanced ASCII import features, see:
Ignored Records
Ignored Characters
The Discover Advanced ASCII Import utility can load a wide range of ASCII
multi-column formats. Typically the formats fall into the following classes:
Geosoft-style data files having line numbers embedded as standard XYZ file
Line 1600
300200.0 6253800.000 56481.027 -0.010
300220.0 6253810.000 56479.535 *
300240.0 6253820.000 56478.371 -0.003
300260.0 6253830.000 56477.547 -0.001
300280.0 6253840.000 56477.035 -0.000
300300.0 6253850.000 56476.781 -0.000
300320.0 6253860.000 56476.707 -0.001
300340.0 6253870.000 56476.723 -0.003
Line 1700
300660.0 6243880.000 56476.734 -0.005
300680.0 6243890.000 56476.660 -0.008
7 Importing and Exporting 129
1600,300200,6253800,56481,-0.01
1600,300220,6253810,56479.5,-1.00E+30
1600,300240,6253820,56478.4,-0.003
1600,300260,6253830,56477.5,-0.001
1600,300280,6253840,56477,0
1600,300300,6253850,56476.8,0
1600,300320,6253860,56476.7,-0.001
1600,300340,6253870,56476.7,-0.003
1600,300360,6253880,56476.7,-0.005
1600,300380,6253890,56476.7,-0.008
The Options Dialog Box contains defaults for importing an ASCII file.
If the Use last format file (*.i3) by default is checked, next time a saved
format file (*.i3) is loaded by pressing the Load format button, the
directory path of the previously loaded or saved format file directory will be
used. If this option is left unchecked, the default path when browsing for a
format file will be the same as the path of the ASCII file currently being
imported (but with an .i3 extension).
Two options are available for the Auto-classify behaviour: Hide header
when classified and Show dialog compacted. These options are
toggles for the initial display of the Advanced ASCII import dialog. Auto-
classification occurs when the Advanced ASCII importer can detect the
ASCII structure upon loading a file without any prompts from the user.
Null value inputs can be specified under the Properties dialog when right
clicking on a particular field. To specify the output value of a defined null
value, type in for example -9999 into the Output null value dialog box.
Subsequent to importing the ASCII file, the defined null values will
populate the MapInfo Browser.
The input file can be previewed with an external editor of the users choice
as set under the Editor option. By default this is set to WordPad.exe.
130 Encom Discover User Guide
Check the Import the Line Field box if there is a column containing a line
identifier in your data. In some cases, there is not a line field in your survey data.
Instead, the file contains a separate data line that specifies the start of each new
survey line. The data following the line identifier are all the measurements relating
to that survey line. The simplest example of this is for the line simply to contain
the string Line x, where x is a survey line name e.g. 1020.
To import data from files with interspersed line numbers check the box Has
interspersed line numbers and select an appropriate line number prefix from
the pull-down list. If the line prefix that is not in this drop-down list, it can be typed
in manually. The line prefix may be included in the output or can be left out
altogether (e.g. Line 1020 or just 1020). When the Has interspersed line
numbers option is enabled there is no need to select a field to be the Line field.
Ignored Records
Sometimes a file may contain additional data lines that are not needed in the data
import. To enable Discover to ignore particular lines of data in an ASCII file, enter
the symbol or text used at the start of the unwanted lines (e.g. #,//, etc) in the
Comment Lines control. Make sure each entry is contained within quotation
marks and multiple entries are separated by a comma.
To import the ASCII file select the Import button in the top-right corner of the
dialog. You are then prompted to select the name of the TAB file that is created
to contain the imported data.
Ignored Characters
To pre-process or filter out unwanted characters from the ASCII dataset, type the
characters to ignore (such as *, %, $, #, @ or ?) into the Ignore characters text
box (top left of the dialog). Once these characters have been defined, the Data
preview will interactively change displaying the dataset without the specified
characters. Upon import these characters will not be displayed.
If you need to import a number of files with the same data layout it may be useful
to save the ASCII import Template for later use. To do this, simply press the Save
Format button and enter a name for the template. Make sure to save the import
template before you start importing the data the format information is lost.
7 Importing and Exporting 131
When you want to import another data file with an identical format, reload the
saved template using the Load Format button. Discover will automatically
configure the new data file with the appropriate field names, field properties,
delimiters, column widths, etc.
Dialog Help
Options
Click to display the ASCII Import Options, from which you can display and edit
import options, including:
Auto-classification options.
Field Summary
Displays a list of all the assigned column names and field data types.
Save Format
Save the ASCII import settings for later use. Enter a name for the template. Make
sure to save the import template before you start importing the data or the format
information will be lost.
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Load Format
Reload a saved template. Choose the template file (.i3) from the Open dialog box.
Input file
(Open)
Contract/Expand
Show header
Ignore characters
To pre-process or filter out unwanted characters from the ASCII dataset, type the
characters to ignore (such as *, %, $, #, @ or ?). Once defined, the Data preview
is updated, and the characters will not be imported.
Line numbers
Files may contain a line field or a separate line that specifies the start of each new
survey line.
Select iif the file contains interspersed line numbers. When selected, there is no
need to select a Line field.
Select to include the line prefix in the output. For example, if the prefix is Line,
the line number is Line 1020 with the prefix or 1020 without the prefix.
Header
If available, column names can be read from the header lines. Header lines are
displayed in the Data preview area as green text and are separated from the data
by a horizontal line.
To manually define column names, right-click on the column label in the Data
Preview area and select from the Fields Shortcut Menu.
Select if the header contains field names and click or type the line number that
contains the field names.
Starting at char
Column format
When first loaded, the type of file (fixed width or delimited) is determined
automatically. Use the following options to modify the file type and column format
settings.
Fixed width: Select if field values are confined within the same character
positions on every line.
Space
Tab
134 Encom Discover User Guide
Other
Columns
When first loaded, the columns are determined and are displayed in the Data
preview area with vertical separator lines. With fixed-width data, you can add and
edit columns in the Data preview box:
To delete a column break, move the cursor over the vertical line until the
cursor shape changes, and then double click.
To move a column break, drag it to a new position. Hold the CTRL key to
move all columns to the right of the current column.
Reset Widths
Clear Names
Auto-name
Click to name all skipped columns with a sequentially numbered prefix. Before
auto-naming, you can set columns to Skip, by either right-clicking on the column
label and selecting Skip this field from the shortcut menu, or clicking the Clear
Names button to reset all field names to Skip.
Comment lines
Type the character or text string used at the start of the unwanted lines. Enclose
each entry in double quotation marks and separate multiple entries with commas.
For example: #,//, /
Data preview
Displays the first 100 data records of the file specified for import. If the data is not
suitable for import (e.g. binary file or an unsupported text file), a warning message
is displayed. If no data is loaded the message No data loaded is displayed in the
data preview area.
7 Importing and Exporting 135
Right-click on a column heading to display the Fields Shortcut Menu, from which
you can assign field names, select the field type, and add or delete column labels.
(Edit)
Click to display the entire file in an external text editor. The default editor is
WordPad. To change the editor, click Options.
See also
...ASCII Data
...Datamine
...MineSight
Displayed from the Data preview box on the ASCII Data Import Dialog Box.
Properties
Displays the Properties Dialog Box, from which you can display, edit and create
fields names, edit field properties, and the treatment of null values.
Insert a new field name and shift the existing labels to the right.
Delete a field name and shift the existing labels to the left.
Display, edit and create fields names, edit field properties, and the treatment of
null values.
Field properties
Name
Click to select a standard field name (X, Y, Z, Depth, Azimuth, Fiducial, and such),
or type a name in the box.
Data type
Click to select the field data type. Types include: Floating point, Integer, String,
Deg Min Sec, Time, Date and DateTime.
7 Importing and Exporting 137
The Deg Min Sec data type has a format of dddmmss.sc or ddmmss.sc,
e.g. 334510.05N = 33 deg north, 45 min, 10.05 sec. The fractional
seconds part (.s) is optional. To discriminate which hemisphere the input
coordinates are located in, a suffix of E or W will determine which
hemisphere from the Greenwich Meridian the input coordinates are
located in. A suffix of N or S will determine which hemisphere from the
Equator the coordinates are located in. The coordinate values will be
prefixed with either a + or -.
Nulls
Input data fields containing an asterisk, a single minus sign or blank are
automatically treated as null values. Nulls are written to the .TAB file as blanks for
text (string) fields or zeros for numerical fields.
Format files
When an import template is loaded, the path name of the last loaded or saved
template will be used. Clear to load the template from the same folder as the input
data file.
X and Y fields
Auto-classify behaviour
Select to hide the header lines in the Data preview when the file is classified.
138 Encom Discover User Guide
Select to hide advanced options on the ASCII Data Import dialog box when the
file is classified.
Nulls
Null value inputs can be specified under the Properties dialog when right clicking
on a particular field. To specify the output value of a defined null value, type in for
example -9999 into the Output null value dialog box. Subsequent to importing
the ASCII file, the defined null values will populate the MapInfo Browser.
Editor
External editor
The input file can be previewed with an external editor of the users choice as set
under the Editor option. By default this is set to WordPad.exe.
Datamine
Discover can automatically import point or polyline files exported from Datamine
in ASCII format. Datamine ASCII files consist of header rows defining the field
names followed by the rows of data.
MapInfo files can also be exported in Datamine ASCII format so they can be read
directly into Datamine.
Exporting to Datamine
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Datamine ASCII Import as Points.
7 Importing and Exporting 139
2. Click Import.
3. You are then asked to select the output table and location, and select a
projection.
IN
FILE CREATED BY SYSTEM USING DATAMINE ON 03/05/28
8 8
COLOUR N 1 1 -0.100000E+31
XP N 1 2 0.000000E+00
YP N 1 3 0.000000E+00
ZP N 1 4 0.000000E+00
PTN N 1 5 0.000000E+00
PVALUE N 1 6 0.000000E+00
SYMBOL N 1 7 -0.100000E+31
LSTYLE N 1 8 -0.100000E+31
1.0 5669.462 3481.314 10148.0 1.0 182.0
201.0 1001.0
1.0 5670.037 3478.527 10148.0 2.0 182.0
201.0 1001.0
1.0 5668.771 3478.072 10148.0 3.0 182.0
201.0 1001.0
1.0 5668.072 3481.049 10148.0 4.0 182.0
201.0 1001.0
1.0 5669.462 3481.314 10148.0 5.0 182.0
201.0 1001.0
1.0 5666.332 3442.354 10148.0 1.0 183.0
201.0 1001.0
1.0 5665.804 3441.783 10148.0 2.0 183.0
201.0 1001.0
140 Encom Discover User Guide
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Datamine ASCII Import as Polylines.
2. Click Import.
3. You are then asked to select the output table and location, and select a
projection.
IN
FILE CREATED BY SYSTEM USING DATAMINE ON 03/05/28
9 9
String_N N 1 1 -0.100000E+31
COLOUR N 1 2 -0.100000E+31
XP N 1 3 0.000000E+00
YP N 1 4 0.000000E+00
ZP N 1 5 0.000000E+00
PTN N 1 6 0.000000E+00
PVALUE N 1 7 0.000000E+00
SYMBOL N 1 8 -0.100000E+31
LSTYLE N 1 9 -0.100000E+31
10.0 1.0 6034.375 4083.493 9045.26 1.0
176.0 201.0 1001.0
10.0 1.0 6031.418 4082.272 9045.213 2.0 176.0
201.0 1001.0
10.0 1.0 6028.923 4080.577 9045.14 3.0
7 Importing and Exporting 141
Exporting to Datamine
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Datamine ASCII Export.
2. Under File details, click the Input table box and select the table to be
exported.
3. In the Output Datamine box, type or edit the output file name, or click the
browse button to navigate to the output folder and file.
4. Under Elevation, click the Z value from column box and select the field
that defines the elevation, or type a default elevation in the Default Z
value box.
Dialog Help
File details
Input table
Output Datamine
Click the browse button to select the output folder and type the output file name.
Elevation
Click to assign a column in the input table to the Datamine ZP elevation field. If
<None> is selected, the value in the Default Z value box is assigned to all points.
Default Z value
Attributes
Select the attribute columns from the input table to be exported. Hold the CTRL or
SHIFT key to select multiple columns.
Coordinate transform
See also
... Datamine
DataShed
The DataShed Database Import utility is an installation option for users working
with DataShed databases. When the DataShed Database Import menu option
is selected the DataShed menu is added to the MapInfo menu bar.
7 Importing and Exporting 143
The link between MapInfo and the DataShed database is provided by the
DataShed Geocomm utility. For information on how to run the Geocomm utility,
refer to the DataShed documentation. All help enquiries should be directed to
Maxwell Geoservices at support@max-geoservices.com.au.
DataSight
Server Authentication
Access Methods
Server Authentication
The DataSight Import Tool supports both Windows Authentication and SQL
Server Authentication for connecting to MS SQL Server. Windows Authentication
uses your Windows ID and password to access the database. If you select this
option, you will be able to open the resulting .tab file or .wor files that contain this
table without entering a user name or password. You do not have to enter a user
name or password in the fields provided.
SQL Server Authentication requires that you enter a unique ID and password to
access this database. If you select this option, you will be prompted for this ID and
password each time you open this .tab file or access it in a workspace. Please
see your database administrator to determine which authentication methods are
enabled on your server.
144 Encom Discover User Guide
Access Methods
The DataSight Import Tool supports two methods for connecting MapInfo to the
server. A linked table is a MapInfo Professional table that is downloaded from a
remote database and retains links to its remote database table. The remote
database table is known as a DBMS table. When MapInfo Professional
downloads a table, it copies the entire contents of the table to the local machine.
Any changes you make to the copy can be committed to the server table at any
time. We often recommend that you use linked tables rather than live tables to
improve performance.
You can access remote data as a live access table using MapInfo Professional.
It is called a live access because there is no local copy of the data, that is, all
operations against the data go directly to the server. This differs from linked
tables, which download a snapshot from the remote database into a native
MapInfo Professional table.
You can perform most operations on a live access table that you do for a regular
MapInfo Professional table. For example, you can view, edit, copy, and save a live
access layer just as you can a regular MapInfo Professional table. However, you
cannot pack or modify a live access table's structure.
You can create live access tables with or without a cache. The cache is a memory
cache, which contains only the rows that are in the map display for that window.
This optimizes certain operations such as ToolTips, labeling, etc. on the map. The
cache is automatically updated when the view of the map changes, (for example,
zooming or panning).
Before using the DataSight import tool, ensure that the following prerequisites
have been established:
The user has a valid login for SQL Server and permission to read the
DataSight database.
The user understands the map projection in which the GIS co-ordinates in
DataSight have been created.
7 Importing and Exporting 145
On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and click DataSight
Connector.
2. In the SQL Server box, type the name of a SQL Server instance that
contains a DataSight database, or click Browse to select from the list of
available SQL servers.
Create a new SQL query and import data into a MapInfo table
4. Under Select fields and criteria, move fields into the Selected box to
include them in the imported table.
5. Select the Refine selection criteria check box if additional criteria are
required to filter the rows imported into MapInfo.
On the Simple tab, use the expression builder to define selection criteria.
To create a multi-line expression, in the Join column, select AND or OR,
and then define the following criteria.
6. Click Next.
8. Under MapInfo Output Table, type a file name for the MapInfo table or
press the disc button to open a save file dialog.
9. Select Table is Mappable to create points in the MapInfo table and click
the symbol button to apply a point symbol style.
10. Press Projection to choose the appropriate projection to create the points
(must match the projection used to create the Latitude / Longitude fields in
DataSight).
3. Click Open.
7 Importing and Exporting 147
Dialog Help
SQL Server
Type the name of a SQL Server instance hosting one or more DataSight
databases
Browse
This dialog allows you to choose from a list of SQL Server instances detected on
the network
Authentication
If using SQL Server Authentication, type valid login for that SQL Server. (Disabled
if using Windows authentication)
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Remember password
Select database
Browse
This dialog allows you to choose from a list of databases detected on SQL Server
(requires a valid login)
Test Connection
Confirms that the login details are valid, and a connection to the database can be
achieved.
Open Connections
See also
... DataSight
... Server Authentication
... Access Methods
... Prerequisites for Using the DataSight Import Tool
... Using the DataSight Import Tool
Database
Available tables
Click to filter the list of tables displayed in the Available tables box. The
Advanced Table Filter Dialog Box is displayed.
7 Importing and Exporting 149
You may pick which columns to return from the DataSight table by moving them
from the Available to the Selected box.
Select to display the Simple and Advanced tabs, from which you can create an
expression to filter table records.
Simple Tab
Define a row filter for the imported table by selecting a Field, Operator and Value
to create a WHERE condition for the query. Additional criteria can be added by
AND or OR in the Join box.
Advanced Tab
See also
...DataSight
...Using the DataSight Import Tool
Choose either linked tables, live access, or live access with cache.
Specify the file name and path for the imported table. If linked tables was selected
a copy of the SQL data will be placed here. If live access was selected, only a .tab
file pointing to the database table will be created.
Table is mappable
Point objects will be created in MapInfo if this box is checked. This option requires
that Latitude / Longitude (or Easting and Northing) data exists in the DataSight
table / query.
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Symbol
Projection
Allows you to specify the projection in which the DataSight coordinates were
created.
Checking this will cause the currently selected projection to be the default.
See also
... DataSight
... Using the DataSight Import Tool
DXF
The Discover DXF Import function has a major advantage over the MapInfo DXF
Import utility and the Universal Translator (UT). The Universal Translator is
available in MapInfo Professional.
Vector Import
Vector Export
In your CAD drawing, you should digitize each rock type (or other data type) into
an appropriately named layer. For example, digitize all basalt polygons to a layer
called "Basalt", all tenement boundaries to a layer called Tenement and all
stream polylines to a layer called Streams.
When Discover reads a DXF file created in your CAD package, all objects are
inserted into the one table, but the DXF layer name is written as an attribute for
each object. The end result is one table containing all DXF layers, each of which
has an appropriate name as an attribute. You can then easily split out all objects
of one type (such as basalts or tenements) and save them to a different table or
join them to related attribute tables.
Elevation values are automatically stored from the DXF file and an extra Z is
added to the new table. Note that for points, the elevation is unambiguous, but for
multi-node objects such as polylines, polygons, and surface meshes, only one
elevation is stored for an entire object. This elevation is the average Z value of all
nodes in the object. If a polyline defines a watershed or fence line for example,
the first elevation is likely to be unrepresentative of the average elevation of the
object.
Note The MapInfo DXF import function allows you to store elevations of DXF lines, but
not polylines. To store elevations of DXF polylines, polgons, or mesh surfaces
(TINs), you need to use Discover.
Discover can export contour lines with attributes to 3D DXF files. Whilst MapInfo
exports any map objects to a DXF file, it does not use an attribute (such as height)
for the elevation field in a DXF file.
Use Discover to create 3D DXF files containing the Z value attribute from the
contour line that can then be imported into AutoCAD, MicroStation or other 3D
visualisation software.
Objects digitized into a section layer can be exported to 3D DXF files for
visualisation in 3D software systems including the Discover 3D add-on module.
Any type of map object (polylines, regions, points etc) may be digitized into the
section layer. When these objects are exported to 3D DXF, any attributes that
have been added to the boundary objects are also exported.
Choose the boundary to export from the Available Section Feature Layers list.
Enter a Layer Name for the individual DXF layer. Discover can export section
boundaries as a single 3D DXF file with all boundaries in one layer. In addition, a
single 3D DXF file with separate layers for each boundary may be exported.
3D DXF files may also be created using unique attributes from a column in the
section boundary table. For example, if one or more section boundary tables
contain lithological boundaries for shale, sandstone, basalt, etc select the column
that stores this attribute from the Multiple Files pull-down list. A series of 3D DXF
files are created with each file containing all the lithology polygons for one unique
attribute, e.g. Shale.DXF
7 Importing and Exporting 153
Geosoft
The Geosoft Import utility enables you to import data from a Geosoft Oasis
Montaj database into a MapInfo table. The imported data is stored in native
MapInfo .TAB file format. When importing databases which contain multi-channel
array data (such as Geotem or EM data) data into Discover each array channel
will be imported as a single column. Because MapInfo Professional has a table
width limit of 4096 bytes. Any Geosoft tables that are wider than 4096 bytes will
be truncated during import. In this situation you will be warned that some data loss
will occur.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Geosoft Database Import.
2. Next to the Input file box, click the browse button and select the .GDB
input file.
3. If the data file contains spatial data, select the Has X and Y fields check
box.
4. In the X field and Y field boxes, select the fields containing the X and Y
coordinates.
5. To import a subset of records from the input file, click Select subset of
lines. From the Line Selection Dialog Box choose the lines to be included
or excluded.
154 Encom Discover User Guide
6. Click Choose Projection and choose the projection that the data
coordinates were recorded in.
7. Select Open in map to display the table in a map window. Clear the check
box to display the data into a browser only.
Dialog Help
File details
Input file
Click the browse button to select the Geosoft database (.GDB) file to be imported.
Click to restrict the lines imported. The Line Selection Dialog Box is displayed.
Choose Projection
Open in map
Select to view spatial data in a map window or clear to import the data into a
browser only.
See also
...Geosoft
Use the arrow control buttons to add and remove lines from the Selected lines
box.
ioGAS
The ioGAS Import Tool is developed by PBS in consultation with ioGlobal. This
tool enables users to import ioGAS files and attributes directly into Mapinfo
Professional and save as a series of *.TAB files. The main data table contains
the sample locations plotted in geographical space and displayed using the saved
attribute symbology. Each attribute style also has an associated legend table.
On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
ioGAS Import.
You can also use the MapInfo Tool Manager to autoload ioGASImport.MBX ,
which is located in the Discover folder.
3. Under Field assignments, review and select the input field assignments.
4. In the Null Value box, type the value that will be substituted into any blank
field records in the .GAS file. Otherwise, Mapinfo sets blanks to zero.
6. Under Display options, choose if you want to import all data records, or
only data that is visible in ioGAS.
7. Under Output options, select the output table name and location.
8. Click Projection and choose the projection that the coordinates (see
Field assignments above) were recorded in.
When the data is imported a map window is displayed which contains the
attributed data. Three legend windows are also opened which correspond to each
of the colour, shape and size attributes used in the map window.
Note To avoid truncation of table names, keep ioGAS file names under 31 characters.
7 Importing and Exporting 157
This will overwrite the existing Mapinfo table. Use File>Save Copy As to
preserve the original table.
Dialog Help
Input file
Note Keep ioGAS file names under 31 characters. If the ioGAS file name is greater
than 31 characters, it will be truncated in MapInfo and some windows may not
open automatically. These windows can be viewed by selecting Window>New
Map Window.
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Field assignments
Review and select the field assignments. The Key is the sample or drillhole ID,
and the Easting and Northing columns contain the X and Y coordinates.
Key
Easting
Northing
Null Value
Type the value that will be inserted into any blank cells found when importing the
GAS file. Otherwise, MapInfo inserts a zero value.
Field selection
Field in the Selected data box will be imported with the fields selected under
Field assignments. Use the control buttons to add and remove attribute fields in
the Available data and Selected data boxes.
Display options
Visible only: Import only data rows that are set as visible in the GAS file.
Output options
File
Click the browse button to select the output folder and output TAB file name.
Projection
See also
... ioGAS
7 Importing and Exporting 159
LIDAR LAS
The LIDAR Importer allows a quick and efficient way of importing ASPRS
standard LAS files into MapInfo TAB files, creating the associated attributed
points.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
LIDAR LAS (ASPRS) Import.
2. Next to the Input file box, click the browse button and select the LAS
input file.
3. In the Output file box, type or edit the output table name, or click the
browse button to navigate to the output folder and table.
4. Click Set Projection and choose the projection that the data coordinates
were recorded in.
5. Click Choose optional fields and choose additional data fields (other
than the X, Y, Z coordinates) to be imported into the output table.
7. Click Import.
Note LIDAR LAS datasets can also be directly interpolated to create a gridded surface
using the Large and Multi-file Gridding tool in the Discover Surfaces module
Dialog Help
File details
Input file
Output file
Click the browse button to select the output folder and output TAB file name.
Set Projection
Click to select the projection that the data was recorded in.
Click to display the Select dialog box, from which you can choose additional fields
in the input file that you want to import into the output table.
Select the check box to display the imported table in a map window at the
selected projection.
Coordinate transform
See also
... LIDAR LAS
MicroMine
Import MicroMine data and string files into MapInfo tables. Discover reads the
MicroMine file, creates an appropriately structured table and inserts the data.
7 Importing and Exporting 161
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Micromine Import.
2. You are asked to select the input file and output table, and then the
MicroMine Import Dialog Box is displayed.
Data file: Select if the file contains sample and drillhole information,
including survey and downhole data files. The Micromine Data
Import Dialog Box is displayed.
String file: Select if the file contains string (polyline) data. The
Micromine String Import Dialog Box is displayed.
For string files, select the fields in the input file that define the X and
Y coordinates, and the string ID. Options are also provided for
creating closed polygons and defining the line style.
Dialog Help
Data file: Select if the file contains sample and drillhole information,
including survey and downhole data files.
String file: Select if the file contains string (polyline) data. The Micromine
String Import Dialog Box is displayed.
See also
...MicroMine
162 Encom Discover User Guide
See also
... MicroMine
(Line style)
See also
... MicroMine
MineSight
The MineSight Import utility enables you to import MineSight SRG string files
into MapInfo tables. The data can either be imported as points representing each
vertex in the string file or as strings (polylines).
MapInfo files can be exported in MineSight SRG format so they can be read
straight into MineSight.
Exporting to MineSight
7 Importing and Exporting 163
Polyline and point files exported from MineSight are in an ASCII, CSV format. The
MineSight file has an SRG extension and contains fields: Easting, Northing,
Elevation, Node Point count, Material name, Attribute name, Object Name, and
Attributed Material name. The Easting, Northing, Elevation and Node Point count
are required items.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
MineSight SRG Import.
The Advanced ASCII Import tool automatically recognises the SRG file
structure and makes the relevant selections. To modify the automatic
assignments, see ASCII Data.
2. Click Import.
3. You are then asked to select the output table and location, and select a
projection.
2733.330,5507.240,420.000,1,TOE,,TOE,
2736.520,5502.470,420.000,2,TOE,,TOE,
2730.110,5490.940,420.000,3,TOE,,TOE,
2727.920,5479.010,420.000,4,TOE,,TOE,
2740.690,5472.920,420.000,5,TOE,,TOE,
2754.040,5480.850,420.000,6,TOE,,TOE,
Exporting to MineSight
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
MineSight SRG Export.
2. Under File details, click the Input table box and select the table to be
exported.
164 Encom Discover User Guide
3. In the Output SRG file box, type or edit the output file name, or click the
browse button to navigate to the output folder and file.
4. Select the Flip XY check box to reverse the order of the X and Y
coordinates.
5. Under Elevation, click the Z value from column box and select the field
that defines the elevation, or type a default elevation in the Default Z
value box.
Dialog Help
File details
Input table
Click the browse button to select the output folder and the output file name.
Flip XY
Select to reverse the order of the X and Y coordinate fields in the output file.
Elevation
Default Z value
Attributes
Select columns from the input table to be exported as attribute fields. Hold the
CTRL or SHIFT key to select multiple columns.
Coordinate transform
See also
...MineSight
Surpac
Vulcan
The Vulcan Archive Import utility enables you to import Vulcan Archive ASCII
files into MapInfo tables. The data can either be imported as points representing
each vertex in the string file, strings (polylines) or as closed strings (polygons).
MapInfo files can be exported in Vulcan Archive ASCII format so they can be read
straight into Vulcan.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Vulcan Archive Import.
2. Next to the Input file box, click the browse button and select the input file.
166 Encom Discover User Guide
3. In the Output file box, type or edit the output table name, or click the
browse button to navigate to the output folder and file.
5. Click Set Projection and choose the projection that the data coordinates
were recorded in.
Note The X, Y coordinate values will not be imported into the browser and the Z value
will be an average of the vertex Z values for each string in the original file
because MapInfo does not support multiple vertex records per object in a
browser.
Exporting to Vulcan
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Vulcan Archive Export.
2. Under File details, click the Input file box and select the table to be
exported.
3. In the Output file box, type or edit the output file name, or click the
browse button to navigate to the output folder and file.
4. In the Name field box, select the column assigned to the Name field
(HoleID, for example) in the output file.
5. In the Value field box, select the column assigned to the Value field in the
output file.
6. In the Z field box, select the field that defines the elevation, or select the
Use fixed Z value check box and type the elevation in the adjacent box.
7 Importing and Exporting 167
Dialog Help
File details
Input file
Output file
Click the browse button to select the output folder and type the output TAB file
name.
Points Only: Create points for each vertex in the string file. Use this
option if you wish to import the string vertices only and preserve the
original string file X, Y, Z coordinate information.
Set Projection
Coordinate transform
See also
...Vulcan
168 Encom Discover User Guide
File details
Input file
Output file
Click the browse button to select the output folder and the output file name.
Output type
Select from the available options: Auto select, Points only, or Labels only.
Name field
Select the column assigned to the Name field (HoleID, for example) in the output
file.
Value field
Select the column assigned to the Value field in the output file.
Z field
If the Z field is not assigned, select the check box and type a Z value.
Attributes
Select columns from the input table to be exported as attribute fields. Hold the
CTRL or SHIFT key to select multiple columns.
Coordinate transform
See also
... Vulcan
7 Importing and Exporting 169
Vector Import
The Vector Import wizard enables the importing of a wide range of 2D and 3D
vector formats into native TAB files. The tool can also batch import multiple files
and convert them into multiple TAB files. The supported file formats are:
2. Select the file format you wish to import and click OK.
3. Select the files to import. Select multiple files by holding down the CTRL
key as you click on each file name. Click Open.
4. Review the Output folder location and if it is a 3D file, define the View
Angle by selecting Convert to 2D, viewed from the.
6. You may be prompted to select a projection for the output TAB files.
Note The projection list available in the Discover Vector Import utility is stored in a
separate file to the MapInfow.prj file. If you want to import into a custom
coordinate system which has been added to the MapInfow.prj file then copy
the custom projection line into the Encom.prj file located in the
...\Program Files\Encom\Common\Projections folder.
170 Encom Discover User Guide
See also
... Transform Vector Files.
... Vector Export
Vector Export
The Vector Export wizard enables the exporting of a native TAB file to a wide
range of 2D vector formats. The tool can also batch export multiple TAB files and
convert them into multiple vector files.
AutoCAD .DXF
CSV text file .CSV
Encom .TKM
ESRI Shapefiles .SHP
GOCAD Vector .TS, .PL, .VS
Google keyhole markup language .KML
GPS eXchange .GPX
MapInfo Professional .MIF
MapInfo Professional .TAB
Surpac string .STR
2. Select the TAB files to export from those open in MapInfo. Select multiple
files by holding down the CTRL key as you click on each file name. Click
Open.
5. Click Export.
See also
... Transform Vector Files
... Vector Import
7 Importing and Exporting 171
The Transform Vector File utility can transform, reproject, and convert a wide
range of vector file formats. The following input file formats are supported:
3D Studio .3DS
AutoCAD .DXF
Datamine wireframe (point and triangle) .DM
ER Mapper vector .ERV
ESRI shapefiles .SHP
ESRI TIN .ADF
Gemcom .BT2
GOCAD vector .TS, .PL, .VS
Google Keyhole Markup Language .KML
GPS exchange .GPX
LizardTech MrSID .SID
MapInfo Professional .MIF
MapInfo Professional .TAB
Surpac string .STR
Surpac wireframe .DTM , .STR
Vulcan triangulation .00T
AutoCAD .DXF
CSV text file .CSV
Encom .TKM
ESRI shapefiles .SHP
GOCAD vector .TS
Google Keyhole Markup Language .KML
GPS exchange .GPX
MapInfo Professional .MIF
MapInfo Professional .TAB
Surpac string .STR
172 Encom Discover User Guide
Transform coordinates enable the options button for Scale, offset and
rotation settings. This is useful for converting feet units to metres or
transforming from a local grid to UTM.
Name field certain formats only support a single attribute or label field
for the vector objects. If enabled, select the desired field for labelling the
points.
7 Importing and Exporting 173
Correct polygon vertex order problems checks the node order in all
polygon objects. Outer parts will be stored clockwise and inner holes will
be stored counter-clockwise.
Convert polylines with one point to point objects and polygons with
two points to polylines removes any erroneous objects.
Note The projection list available in the Discover Vector Import utility is stored in a
separate file to the MapInfow.prj file. If you wish to reporejct into a custom
coordinate system which has been added to the MapInfow.prj file then copy
the custom projection line into the Encom.prj file located in the (Windows XP)
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Encom\Common\Projections or (Windows 7 and 8) C:\Users\All
Users\Encom\Common\Projections.
174 Encom Discover User Guide
Correct polygon vertex order problems checks the node order in all
polygon objects. Outer parts will be stored clockwise and inner holes will
be stored counter-clockwise.
Convert polylines with one point to point objects and polygons with
two points to polylines removes any erroneous objects.
Raster Imagery
Discover provide supports a number of different located image formats (see
Supported Data File Formats) and tools for importing and exporting raster
imagery:
ALG/ECW/JPEG2000
Encom EGB
Use Images>Rectify Image to import and register other types of raster imagery.
For more information, see Registering and Rectifying Raster Images.
7 Importing and Exporting 175
See also
...Importing an EGB Image
...ALG/ECW/JPEG2000
...Saving a Map Window as a Registered Raster Image
ALG/ECW/JPEG2000
Load and open images from an ECWP or IWS image server. ECWP files
are defined by a URL that starts with a ecwp:// prefix.
176 Encom Discover User Guide
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click ECW/
JPEG2000 Import.
2. Under Open, select Open ECW, JP2 or ALG file. to open a file from the
local disk or network.
Note This functionality does not support .ALG files referencing linked ECWP,
embedded .ERV, or dynamic links.
3. Click the Open button and select an image file to open. The image is
displayed under Preview and its details are displayed under Image
properties. Use the preview toolbar to examine the image.
To select multiple files, either repeat steps 2 and 3 for each file or select
multiple files by holding down the CTRL key.
6. Click Open. The Images will be opened in Mapinfo, and a TAB file is
created in each image folder.
Note ECW/JPEG2000 grids are not supported by the Discover Surfaces module.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click ALG/
ECW/JPEG2000 Import.
3. Type or paste the URL link in the text box. Make sure to include the
ecwp:// prefix.
4. Click the Load button to open the ECWP link in the preview area.
8. Click Open. You are pormpted to select an output file name and location.
When processed, this generates both a TAB and an IWS file on the local
disk. The IWS is a metadata file listing details about the Image Web
Server ECWP link.
ECWP Image web servers can be found via the internet, or on local database
servers. There is a number of free access and subscription based websites which
provide access to ECW imagery databases via the internet.
When ECWP file is opened in Discover, a local TAB file and a local metadata link
file with the extension IWS is created. The IWS file contains information such as
the URL location of the ECWP file.
If you have an ECW which contains no embedded registration, these can also be
registered in MapInfo using this tool. When non-projection information is found,
you can select the desired projection and enter in the top-left corner and pixel
height and width, which is then used to automatically determine and register the
image corner points.
See also
...Importing an EGB Image
...Rectifying Raster Images
...Reprojecting an Image
...Converting an Image to Another Format
Dialog Help
Open
Open ECW, JP2 or ALG file: Open a file from the local disk or network.
Open file from Image Web Server (ECWP): Open a file from an Image
Web Server.
File
Click the Open button to select the input file and location. When selected, the
image is displayed under Preview, and its properties are displayed under Image
properties.
Image properties
Columns x Rows
Displays the number of columns and rows in the raster grid. Click to display
additional information about the grid.
(Grid Information)
Click to display information about the raster grid, including the coordinate
range, number of columns and rows, and other data.
Image projection
Map projection
To change or set the image projection, click the browse button and select a
MapInfo projection.
Note Do not override the image projection. To reproject an image after it has been
imported, use Images>Reproject Image.
Top left
Preview
Preview toolbar
Use the controls to zoom in and out, zoom to extents, zoom to true scale, and
restore previous view.
See ALG/ECW/JPEG2000.
Note This functionality does not support .ALG files referencing linked ECWP,
embedded .ERV, or dynamic links.
Encom EGB
GeoreferenceImage Begin
Comments = ""
Version = "1.0"
Image = "Kangaroo_Flats_Geochem_Map.png"
ImageFormat = PNG
Geometry = QUAD
CoordinateSpace Begin
Projection = "Transverse Mercator (Gauss-Kruger)"
Datum = "Australian Geodetic 1966 (AGD 66)"
Units = "km"
CoordinateSpace End
Registration Begin
TopLeft = 373570,5380784.86,0
TopRight = 400692.53,5380784.86,0
BottomLeft = 373570,5356994.78,0
BottomRight = 400692.53,5356994.78,0
Registration End
GeoreferenceImage End
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Encom PA Located Image Import.
2. Under File details, next to the Input EGB file box, click the browse button
and select the input file.
3. In the Output TAB file box, type or edit the output table name, or click the
browse button to navigate to the output folder and file.
5. Click Set Projection and choose the projection that the image
coordinates were created in.
See also
...ALG/ECW/JPEG2000
...Rectifying Raster Images
1. On the Discover menu, point to Import and Export, and then click
Encom PA Located Image Export.
3. In the Height for Z axis box, type the elevation (Z) in metres.
You can also export sections and plans from a Discover drillhole project using
Drillholes>Import or Export>Export Sections as Encom PA Located Image.
This will correctly register a plan or cross-section in 3D.
See also
...ALG/ECW/JPEG2000
...Rectifying Raster Images
See also
...Importing an EGB Image
182 Encom Discover User Guide
Dialog Help
File details
Click the browse button to select the output folder and the output TAB file name.
If defined, select to import the transparent colour setting from the EGB file.
Set Projection
Click to select a MapInfo projection. The projection defined in the EGB and the
selected projection are displayed.
Coordinate transform
Select the fields in the EGB file that you want mapped to the X and Y coordinates
fields in the output table. For example, you can map the Z field in a vertical section
as the Y field in the map window.
See also
... Importing an EGB Image
7 Importing and Exporting 183
Type a Z value.
See also
...Exporting as an EGB Image
Surface Grids
Use MapInfo Professionals File>Open option to import the following grid file
types, and set the Files of Types to Grid Image:
Multi-banded grids are by default opened and displayed by only their first band.
Use Surfaces>Modify Grid Display to enable multi-banded colouring.
Use Discover Surfaces>Import Grid File menu to import the following grid file
types:
ASCII Grid
184 Encom Discover User Guide
HGT Grid
Export Grid
Other tools:
See ALG/ECW/JPEG2000.
Note This functionality does not support .ALG files referencing linked ECWP,
embedded .ERV, or dynamic links.
ASCII Grid
Discover can convert and register ASCII format grids, i.e. text file format, so they
can be displayed and queried using the Discover Surfaces module. ASCII grid
files may contain X, Y and Z values or just Z values only.
Note A faster, batch version of this tool is available from the Large and Multi file
gridding tool, by selecting multiple ASCII files and using the Gridding Stamp
method. For more information, see Large and Multi-file Gridding.
7 Importing and Exporting 185
2. Use the Browse button to select the ASCII grid File to Import (*.TXT,
*.ACS or *.CSV formats)
3. The Output Grid will automatically be assigned with the same name as
the input grid and default to the preferred grid format specified in
Discover>Configuration>Grid Handlers. Both the saved grid name and
saved grid type can be modified using the Browse button adjacent to the
Output Grid control.
4. Use the File Format pull-down list to select whether the grid file contains
X, Y and Z values or Z values only. The dialog options for these formats
are discussed further below.
5. If there are null cell values used such as -9999 enter these into the Null
cell value window.
6. Select a colour look-up table to display the grid once it is created from the
Image Shading pull-down list.
7. Select the projection of the ASCII grid using the Map Projection button.
186 Encom Discover User Guide
8. Select a Coord Type either the Cell Lower Left Corner or the Cell Center.
This specifies at which point the XY coordinates refer to in each cell.
XYZ ASCII files contain a row for each cell listing its X and Y coordinate
information and Z value. In the Coord type control (bottom of the dialog), the XY
coordinates must be specified as referring either to the Cell Centre or the Cell
Corner point.
If the ASCII grid file contains Z values only, the Import Properties dialog is
automatically displayed requesting further grid information:
7 Importing and Exporting 187
Discover can automatically obtain this information if the grid to import is an ESRI
ASCII Grid as the grid dimensions are stored in the Header of this grid file type.
If the grid file does not contain a header the grid dimensions will need to be
entered manually.
Discover also must know where to start importing the grid from and whether to
import by row or column. When complete, click OK to return to the ASCII Grid
Import dialog.
188 Encom Discover User Guide
HGT Grid
1. From within the tool, first select the appropriate arc-second size (1 or 3
seconds).
2. Press Process files, and select one or more HGT files to import. Press
OK to generate the necessary ERS header and TAB file/s
3. Close the dialog, and use MapInfos File>Open to browse for the newly
created TAB files. Open these.
The formats below can be imported from the Surface>Import Grid File>Legacy
Options menu; however, File>Open is the recommended method for these
formats.
BIL Grid
ER Mapper Grid
Geosoft Grid
Minex Grid
Surfer Grid
The Discover Surfaces>Import Grid File option provides a method that enables
the user to check the grid header file during the import process.
When importing the grid files Discover will attempt to read the grid geometry
information from the grid file header. If Discover cannot access the grid geometry
information it will check the grid file size, the number of cells and the cell size to
ensure that the grid geometry is valid. Modify or enter any additional information
necessary in the registration dialog. When importing a grid using Discover specify
an appropriate MapInfo Projection for the grid file so it can be correctly registered.
When a grid is imported into MapInfo, a .TAB file is created that defines the
filename, format ("raster") and the origin and extents of the data. The coordinate
system and projection information is also specified. The TAB file also contains
metadata relating to the statistics and colour applied to the display of the grid in
MapInfo. The following is an example TAB file containing grid display metadata
for an ER Mapper grid:
!table
!version 500
!charset WindowsLatin1
Definition Table
File "png_compositesrtm.ers"
Type "RASTER"
(128.999583333333,0.000416638889) (0,0) Label "Pt 1",
(155.000415626633,0.000416638889) (31201,0) Label "Pt 2",
(128.999583333333,-11.000416254411) (0,13201) Label "Pt 3",
(155.000415626633,-11.000416254411) (31201,13201) Label "Pt 4"
CoordSys Earth Projection 1, 104
Units "degree"
RasterStyle 6 1
begin_metadata
"\Encom" = ""
"\Encom\Grid" = ""
"\Encom\Grid\Display" = ""
"\Encom\Grid\Display\Min Cell Value to Colour" = "-60.00000000000"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\Type" = "3"
190 Encom Discover User Guide
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunElevation" = "60.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\Max Cell Value to Colour" = "4805.000000000"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\Colouring" = ""
"\Encom\Grid\Display\Colouring\InterpolateColor" = "1"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunHighlightElevation" = "60.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\MaxCellValue" = "4805.0000000000"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunIntensitySaturation" = "100.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunColorSaturation" = "0.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunAzimuthDeg" = "45.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunHighlightIntensity" = "40.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunHighlight" = "0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunHighlightAzimuth" = "315.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunHighlightSaturation" = "0.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\LUT" = "pseudocolor.lut"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\MinCellValue" = "-60.000000000"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunShadowDepth" = "50.0"
"\Encom\Grid\Display\SunShading" = "0"
"\IsReadOnly" = "FALSE"
end_metadata
BIL Grid
The Band Interleaved by Line (BIL) format for storing gridded surface data is a
popular format and is readable by many other software packages, such as ER
Mapper and Arc/Info. The BIL format simply stores each grid cell value
sequentially starting at the upper left and proceeding by row towards the lower
right. The geometry of the BIL grid file is defined in an associated .HDR file (that
states the number of rows and columns as well as other information).
The BIL format used by Discover allows grid cells of any values to be stored, as
well as null cell values (grid cells that do not have an interpolated value). Discover
can also read BIL files created in other software and on UNIX workstations.
Discover can automatically register BIL grids (and the corresponding .HDR file)
using the information in the .HDR file. For the grid to register correctly select an
appropriate MapInfo projection using the CoordSys button to correspond with the
coordinate system of the BIL file.
7 Importing and Exporting 191
ER Mapper Grid
DatasetHeader Begin
Version= '5.5'
LastUpdated= Thu Mar 3 23:38:11 GMT 1995
SensorName= 'GEOTEM'
SenseDate= Fri Nov 19 06:07:58 GMT 1996
DataSetType= ERStorage
DataType= Raster
ByteOrder= MSBFirst
CoordinateSpace Begin
Datum= 'AGD66'
192 Encom Discover User Guide
Projection= 'TMAMG53'
CoordinateType= EN
Units= 'METERS'
Rotation= 0:0:0.0
CoordinateSpace End
RasterInfo Begin
CellType= Signed32BitInteger
NullCellValue= -9999999
CellInfo Begin
Xdimension= 50
Ydimension= 50
CellInfo End
NrOfLines= 128
NrOfCellsPerLine= 320
RegistrationCoord Begin
Eastings= 327600
Northings= 8595050
RegistrationCoord End
NrOfBands= 2
BandId Begin
Value= 'Channel 16'
Units= 'ppm'
BandId End
BandId Begin
Value= 'Channel 3'
Units= 'ppm'
BandId End
RasterInfo End
DatasetHeader End
7 Importing and Exporting 193
Note When ER Mapper grids are created by Discover the Datum and Projection
variables in the .ERS file are NOT set to the projection of the input data points.
Instead the Datum and Projection fields are set to RAW, RAW by default. To
open an .ERS grid which has been created by Discover in ER Mapper these
variables must be edited and replaced with the correct ER Mapper Projection
and Datum variables that equate to the projection of the original point data used
by Discover. If the RAW, RAW variables are not replaced with the correct
Projection & Datum information the .ERS file will not open in ER Mapper 6.0 or
later.
Note Any *.ERS files created as a virtual dataset are not registered.
Discover can automatically register ESRI ASCII grids, so they can be displayed
and manipulated using the Discover Surfaces module.
194 Encom Discover User Guide
ESRI ASCII grids generally have a six line header at the beginning of the file
which contains information relating to the number of rows and columns in the grid,
the lower left hand corner X and Y coordinates, the grid cell size and the null data
value. Each entry under the header represents the z value of a grid cell. The order
of the data is from left to right along each row at a time.
2. Use the Browse button to navigate to and select the target grid. The
importer will automatically detect the ESRI ASCII grid geometry and
populate the dialog with the correct details.
3. By default the grid projection will not be defined. Click on the Projection
button and choose the correct projection for the grid.
Geosoft Grid
Specific details of the contents of these files can be obtained from Geosoft
(Toronto, Canada). Some revisions of the grid format have been made and the
import utility within Discover has been established to comply with the grid format
current as of March 2000.
Minex Grid
Discover has the facility to Import Minex Grid files. The Minex .XYZ grid format
is typically used in Surpac Minex software package for the display of 3D surfaces.
The Minex Grid utility is capable of importing multi-banded .XYZ datasets.
7 Importing and Exporting 197
The geometry of the Minex grid is defined in the header of the grid file:
Origin - Grid origin located at the lower left grid cell centre
Note The Minex utility is not currently designed to display rotated grids upon import.
To rotate a grid after it has been imported use the Surfaces>Grid
Utilities>Rotate tool. Although Discover can import multi-banded Minex grids,
the grid will not be separated into its component bands on import. To separate a
multi-banded grid, use the Discover>Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Split utility.
In the Import Minex grid dialog use the Browse button to navigate to the folder
where the grid file is located and select the grid.
The importer will automatically detect the Minex grid geometry and populate the
dialog with the correct details. If you wish to alter the grid registration this can be
done within the Import Minex Grid dialog.
By default the grid projection will not be defined. Click on the Projection button
and choose the correct projection for the grid.
Surfer Grid
Discover supports the Surfer GS Binary Grid file format. These grid files have a
.GRD file extension. When importing a Surfer GS Binary grid Discover will
automatically determine the grid dimensions and grid geometry. The projection in
which the grid was originally created must be known prior to import as the Surfer
binary grid format does not contain any coordinate system information.
Surfer ASCII grids may be imported using the Import ASCII Grid option but will
need to be modified to conform to standard ASCII grid import format. Any header
information would need to be removed from the file and the grid then imported
using the ASCII Grid Import Z-values only option. The number of grid rows and
columns, the grid origin and grid cell size information from the original header
information will need to be entered manually.
Vertical Mapper grids are supported in MapInfo Professional 5.5 or later as read
only files. A Vertical Mapper grid is a binary format grid with the file extension
default of .GRD. Vertical Mapper can export a number of different grid formats
including ASCII grids.
Discover includes a read/write Grid Handler for Vertical Mapper format grids so
they can be read and modified by the Discover Surfaces utilities. An appropriate
MapInfo coordinate system must be selected using the CoordSys button to
enable the Vertical Mapper grid to be correctly registered.
200 Encom Discover User Guide
In order to modify a grid created by Vertical Mapper using Discover the Vertical
Mapper grid file must be toggled on within Discover. See Surfaces>Import Grid
File>Toggle Support for Vertical Mapper Grid for more information.
Note When a Vertical Mapper grid is associated with Discover the grid will not be able
to be modified in Vertical Mapper until the format handling is toggled back to
Vertical Mapper. This is done by re-selecting the Surfaces>Import Grid
File>Toggle Support for Vertical Mapper Grid menu option.
For information on the formats of each of the above, refer to the Vertical Mapper
User Guide.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) provides Digital Elevation Model
(DEM) data across the entire United States. One of the formats which is provided
free of charge to the general public is DEM data captured at 1:24,000 or 7.5
minute scale. This 1:24,000 scale provides elevation data in 30 x 30 meter
spacings with each DEM tile corresponding to the USGS 7.5 minute topographic
quadrangle map series for the United States.
7 Importing and Exporting 201
1:24,000 scale DEM data is available in SDTS format only. Spatial Data Transfer
Standard (SDTS) format is a standard industry file format used to share or
transfer spatial data between different computer systems. The 1:24,000 DEM
data files in SDTS format can be downloaded from GIS Data Depot http://
gisdatadepot.com/dem, from MapMart.com at www.mapmart.com, and from
Advanced Topographic Development and Images (ATDI) at www.atdi-us.com.
Once the appropriate DEM file is selected from one of the websites listed above,
download both the DEM data file and the corresponding text file to your computer.
The DEM dataset is made up of a number of files which have been packaged
together as a .TAR archive file and then saved using the gzip compression format.
For example, the Bear Hole 1:24,000 DEM from Big Horn county, Montana
download file is named 1630650.DEM.SDTS.TAR.GZ. The corresponding
1630650.DEM.SDTS.TXT file can be opened using any text editor such as
WordPad, NotePad, etc and contains information about the DEM data including
cell size, grid origin and projection information which will be required in order to
import the DEM data successfully.
The Discover USGS DEM import utility uses the contained .TAR file to import,
extract and display the DEM data. Therefore do not decompress the contents of
this file to a temporary folder and open it but click NO in order to display the
contents of the 1630650.DEM.SDTS.TAR.GZ file in WinZip:
202 Encom Discover User Guide
3. Browse to the folder in Windows Explorer containing the DEM .TAR file
and click Open.
The Discover USGSDEM Grid Registration dialog is displayed with the number of
columns and rows, the top left X and Y grid coordinates and the cell height and
width already populated.
7 Importing and Exporting 203
Click on the CoordSys button and select the correct projection. The 1:24,000
DEM grids are generally in the Universal Transverse Mercator (NAD 27 for US)
projection and the correct zone information can be found in the corresponding
TXT file discussed earlier. Click OK to create the grid. The DEM grid is displayed
in grey scale in a new map window and can be used with any of the Discover
Surfaces grid menu options and tools. To re-open the USGS DEM grid simply
select the .TAB file in the MapInfo File>Open dialog.
Use the Toggle Support for Vertical Mapper Grid menu item to associate a
Vertical Mapper grid with Discover. Once a Vertical Mapper grid has been
associated with Discover, the grid cannot be used within Vertical Mapper until the
toggle is turned off. Turn off the toggle by re-selecting the Toggle Support for
Vertical Mapper Grid menu.
Note Vertical Mapper only recognizes a vertical mapper gird when opened as a raster
layer in Mapinfo Professional, whereas Discover handles grid as true interactive
grid layers in Mapinfo Professional.
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There may be instances where a Discover grid is to be used with other software
that cannot read binary grids. In this case, the safest way to transfer the grid is in
ASCII format. Discover provides the option of exporting the grid as either XYZ
values or Z values only per line. It can also create an ESRI ASCII grid file.
The following parameters can be set in the ASCII Grid Export dialog:
Grid Origin specifies the location of the first cell written to the file. The
grid will be written sequentially from this point.
Cell Origin sets whether the XY co-ordinates refer to the cell centre or
lower-left corner point.
Delimiter the value delimiter method used in the file (e.g. tab, comma,
etc) .
Null Cell Value value written for null cells this overrides any inherent
null value in the grid.
Note for ESRI ASCII export format, only the Cell Origin, Null cell value and
Precision options are available.
Note When exporting to the ESRI ASCII format, only the Cell Origin, Null cell value
and Precision options are available.
Export Grid
Discover can convert (export) any supported grid to an alternative grid format.
This allows a grid created in Discover to be used with another software packages.
This menu option opens the grid Convert Tool; this can also be accessed from
Surfaces>Grid Utilities.
7 Importing and Exporting 205
Discover can export any supported grid to a GeoTIFF image file at a specified
resolution. The colouring and sun-shading in the grid display is preserved in the
output image. The geo-location and projection information is also preserved. This
allows a grid created in Discover to be used with software packages that do not
support gridded file formats.
This menu option opens the grid Grid Export dialog. The available grids are listed
under Available Files. Select a grid to display in the Preview box. You can open,
close and query grids in this list. At the bottom of the dialog, choose if you want
to export All grids or the Current (selected) grid. The output options are specified
separately for each grid.
Select a grid in the Available Files list. Under Output Image, the resolution of
the image at 100% resolution is shown in the Full resolution box. To resample
to a lower resolution, click in the Scale box and type the required resolution
between 1% and 100%. The resulting, resampled image resolution is shown in
the Output box.
Choose Output to individual folders if you want to export the grids to separate
folders, or choose Output to one common folder to save all images in the same
folder. The output file name and folder location for the selected grid image is
shown in the GeoTIFF File box. Click inside the box to edit. Click the Save button
to save your changes.
Drillholes
Discover Drillhole Projects
gINT
WinLoG
7 Importing and Exporting 207
Drillhole projects can be imported and exported (for sharing between Discover
users) from the Drillhole Project Manager (see Sharing Discover Drillhole
Projects).
1. On the Drillholes menu, click Project Manager, and open the drillhole
project you want to export.
2. On the Drillholes menu, point to External Data Formats, and then click
Export Drillholes to 3D DXF.
The desurveyed drillhole traces for the complete project, or a selection of holes,
are exported as 3D DXF vector objects. This is useful when sharing a drillhole
project with other 3D applications or for viewing very large projects (thousands of
holes) in Discover 3D. This does not export downhole dataonly the hole traces
are exported.
See also
...Sharing Discover Drillhole Projects
...Export Section Layers to 3D DXF
gINT
The gINT product suite encompasses software for creation of borehole, well log
and fence diagrams, amongst other things. Bundled with Discover is an easy to
use importer which converts data stored in the gINT database format into the
necessary MapInfo tables required for a Discover drillhole project, and optionally
automatically creating a drillhole project.
1. On the Drillholes menu, point to External Data Formats and then click
gINT Importer.
2. Under Input gINT project database file, if you have previously imported
this database and saved the import settings as a template, click Open
Template and select the template. Otherwise, click the Open button and
browse to the .GPJ file to be imported.
If you have selected a template, review the table and field assignments on
the Collar Settings and Downhole Data Settings tabs, and then click
OK to start the import. Otherwise, for a new database import, follow the
instructions below.
3. On the Collar Settings tab, under Collar table, click Projection and
choose the projection that the collar coordinates were recorded in.
5. On the Downhole Data Settings tab, use the controls to move the
required data table to the Selected box.
Field assignment examples for depth (e.g. geophysics) and interval (e.g. Lithology) data
(left and right examples respectively).
6. Under Output options, click the Save button and select the folder where
the new MapInfo drillhole tables will be created.
Note Updating an existing project will not update any sections or plans. These will
need to be refreshed and regenerated.
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8. Use the Save Template button to save your import settings so that you
can quickly re-import an updated version of this database using the Open
Template option (see step 2).
See also
... Modifying and Deleting Drillhole Projects
... Regenerate Sections
WinLoG
Are all the wells/bores vertical, or does the database contain some
inclined holes? WinLoG calls these deviated boreholes.
Which downhole data tables within the WinLoG database are to be used,
and which fields in each table are required. WinLoG stores data in a
standard Access database (.MDB) structure, regardless of what downhole
data was input. Therefore every WinLoG database will have exactly the
same standard tables and table structure (e.g. Lithology,
Geophysics_Data, Samples, Water_Data, etc), even if these tables are
empty.
1. On the Drillholes menu, point to External Data Formats, and then click
WinLoG Import.
If you have selected a template, review the table and field assignments on
the Collar Settings, Survey Settings, and Downhole Data Settings
tabs, and then click OK to start the import. Otherwise, for a new database
import, follow the instructions below.
3. On the Collar Settings tab, under Collar table, click Projection and
choose the projection that the collar coordinates were recorded in.
5. If the database consists entirely of vertical holes or wells, you can skip the
Survey Settings tab. The WinLoG Importer will automatically create the
necessary Dip and Azimuth fields required by the Discover Drillhole
module and set these values at 90 and 0 degrees respectively.
If the database contains any inclined holes (WinLoG version 4 and later),
on the Survey Settings tab, under Borehole survey table, select Assign
a separate downhole survey table for angled holes. Tthe WinLoG
DeviationSurvey table is automatically converted for use in Discover.
Note WinLoG uses a dip of 0 degrees for vertical holes; these will be converted
automatically to 90 degrees. Thus a WinLoG dip of 5.2 degrees will be converted
to 84.8 degrees for use in Discover.
6. On the Downhole Data Settings tab, use the controls to move the
required data table to the Selected box.
Field assignment examples for depth (e.g. geophysics) and interval (e.g. Lithology) data
(left and right examples respectively).
7. Under Output options, click the Save button and select the folder where
the new MapInfo drillhole tables will be created.
Note Updating an existing project will not update any sections or plans. These will
need to be refreshed and regenerated.
7 Importing and Exporting 213
9. Use the Save Template button to save your import settings so that you
can quickly re-import an updated version of this database using the Open
Template option (see step 2).
See also
...Modifying and Deleting Drillhole Projects
...Regenerate Sections
8 Working with Tables 215
Splitting Tables
Favourite Tables
The Favourite Tables tool enables frequently used tables to be added to a list
where they can be opened and displayed quickly and easily. Instead of having to
use File>Open to open tables each time, tables located in different folders or on
different network drives can be opened from a single source. Favourite tables
can also be assigned an "alias" name to make it easier to determine the contents
of the table in the list if desired.
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3. Click File Open and browse to the location of the table to add.
4. Enter an alias name for the table into the Name window if desired.
5. Click OK.
2. To open a single table select it from the list and double-click with the
mouse or click Open Tables.
3. To select multiple tables click and drag with the mouse or hold down the
SHIFT or CTRL keys.
New Mapper for All Open the selected tables into a single map
window
New Mapper for Each Open the selected tables into separate
map windows
Current Mapper Open the selected tables into the current map
window
Additional Options:
To edit a table name or location highlight it and click the Edit button.
To re-order tables highlight the table in the list and click on the Up and
Down arrow buttons.
The Multi-File Open is extremely useful when working with many tables. It is not
uncommon for a user to want to open a number of tables from different folders
and add them to a new map window. Rather than using the MapInfo File>Open
Table menu option once for each different folder containing the desired tables,
the Discover Multi-File options enable a user to choose all the tables from the one
dialog.
Select the disk drive from the Look in drop-down list. Browse through the folders
in the drive until a desired folder is reached. Highlight the table(s) from the folder
and click on the Add File button. The selected tables will then be displayed in the
Selected Files window. Choose the mode of display from the Preferred View
drop-down list. The available preferred views include opening all the selected
tables into the one map window, each table into a separate map window, into a
currently open map window, as browser windows or as no view. If all the tables
to open are located within the one folder, click Open when all tables have been
selected.
If some of the tables exist in other folders (or on another disk drive), change to the
appropriate drive and folder. Select another table and use the Add File button to
add this table to those already in the Selected Files window.
To remove a table from the Selected Files list make sure it is highlighted and then
click on the Remove File button. When all the files to be used are selected,
choose the Preferred View and click on the Open button.
Hold down the SHIFT key or click and drag holding down the left mouse button to
select consecutive tables from the list to close. Hold down the CTRL key to select
non-consecutive tables.
Click the Unused button to close all tables which are open but not currently visible
in a map or browser window. This option should be used before saving a
workspace to close any unused tables open in the background. This should help
to minimize problems with opening the workspace in the future if all unnecessary
tables are removed prior to saving the workspace.
Click the Query button to close all tables created from map or browser window
selections including queries created using the Query>Select or Query>SQL
Select menu options.
The Discover DBMS Auto Refresh utility enables tables linked to a remote
DBMS database such as SQL, Oracle or Access to be automatically refreshed at
a specified time interval. This ensures that the most recent exploration or mining
data is being used at all times with MapInfo. In order to use the DBMS Auto
Refresh utility a remote database connection must be created and the database
tables already open into MapInfo. See the MapInfo User Guide for more
information on how to set up and work with remote database connections.
Note If you have created a Live Access or Live Access with caching DBMS table, you
do not need to refresh the table.
Select the DBMS Auto Refresh option from the Discover>Table Utilities menu.
A new DBMS Auto Refresh menu is added to the MapInfo Menubar.
Click on the Settings option to display the Select Database Tables to Update
dialog:
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All of the DBMS currently open tables are displayed along with the remote
database connection details including DSN name, database file path and driver
information. Select the remote database tables to be updated automatically by
clicking in the box next to each table or use the Select All button.
To start the automatic refresh, select Update On from the DBMS Auto Refresh
menu. A tick will be placed next to this option when in update mode.
Alternatively, turn on the automatic refresh by clicking on the Update On button.
To stop the automatic refresh, select Update Off from the DBMS Auto Refresh
menu. A tick will be placed next to this option when not in update mode.
Alternatively, turn off the automatic refresh by clicking on the Update Off button.
Note If a remote database table is closed during the automatic update session a
warning message is displayed. To prevent warning messages being displayed
for closed tables go to the Settings menu option to remove the tables from the
update list or select the Update Off option to turn off the automatic refresh
altogether.
8 Working with Tables 223
Search one or more columns in a table for a particular text string with the option
to replace each occurrence with a new string.
Select the columns to search from the list. Click and drag holding the left-mouse
button to select consecutive search columns or use the SHIFT key. Use the CTRL
key to select non-consecutive search columns from the list.
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Choose the type of search from Find text only or Find and Replace selected
text or whole string. All searches can be designated to find records according to
case by checking the Case Sensitive search box. To view the selected records
check the Browse Selection box. If this box is not checked a dialog will appear
with information relating to how many records are found and/or replaced with the
selected text.
Enter the entire text string or selected text characters from the search text string
in the Find window. In the above example, Discover will search for all
occurrences of the text "Riversleigh" in the Unitname field. The returned search
records can also be replaced with new text if desired. Although the above search
is performed on a character column, searches can also be made on numeric fields
whereby Discover will search and/or replace the selected numerical data.
If a Find and Replace text search has been selected enter the replacement text
in the Replace with window. For example, find all occurrences of North in the
selected field and replace with Nth. Depending on the Find and Replace option
selected, records which only contain the text North may be replaced or all
records which contain the text North along with other text may be replaced.
The search result is held in a temporary table which is named according to the
search text specified. In the above example, a temporary table called
Riversleigh is created.
Dialog Help
Search in columns
Select the columns to search from the list. Click and drag to select consecutive
search columns or use the SHIFT key. Use the CTRL key to select non-consecutive
search columns from the list. You can search for characters in text and numeric
columns.
(Search options)
Find and replace selected text: Find text string in any string and replace
the search string with the replacement string.
8 Working with Tables 225
Find and replace whole string: Find text strings containing the search
string and replace the whole string with the replacement string.
Browse selection
Find
Replace with
Type the text string that will replace the search string.
See also
...Searching and Replacing Text in Tables
Additional tools are provided for selecting map objects in a map window (see
Selecting Objects)
Select by Group
Use the Select by Group tool to select all records with specific values or
attributes from a specified column in a table.
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Use this option to quickly see a list of all the unique entries in a selected column.
For example, visualize a list could easily be created of all the rock types logged
in a drillhole downhole lithology table. The user could then choose just the units
of interest (e.g. QV and Fault) and create a query of all intercepts with these
lithologies.
To use the tool, choose the source table from the Table to Select From pull-down
list. Select the attribute column from the Selected based on field pull-down list.
A complete list of unique data entries for the selected column is displayed in the
Groups window.
8 Working with Tables 227
The unique field attributes will initially populate the Unselected pane. Move the
required attributes to the Selected pane using the selection buttons. To select
consecutive attributes hold the left-mouse button and drag or use the SHIFT key
in combination with the mouse control. To select non-consecutive attributes use
the CTRL key in combination with the mouse control.
Zoom map to selection will zoom to the extents of the selected records
in the current map window.
The output query can be given a unique name by entering a value into the
Selection Result Table text box.
Dialog Help
Select options
Group on field
Groups
Lists all unique entries in a selected column. Select values in the Unselected box
and the use the controls to add and remove values from the Selected box. To
select multiple values, click and drag, or hold down the SHIFT or CTRL key.
Output
Select to create and name a result table containing the selected records.
Browse selection
Map selection
Select to zoom to the extents of the selected records in the active map window.
See also
... Select by Group
Sorting Tables
Discover>Table Utilities>Sort a Table
In the Table Sort dialog select the table to sort from the Table Name list. Select
the primary column to sort the table from the Primary Column Name drop-down
list. Select the Ascending or Descending option to sort the records in ascending
or descending order. If required, a secondary sort column may be selected from
the Secondary Column Name drop-down list. Click OK to sort the table.
Note For Alpha-numeric character columns, these will be sorted as a character. Ie.
A11 is greater than A100, but A011 is less than A100.
8 Working with Tables 229
By default, the selected table is sorted by the first column, with no secondary sort
column.
A new table can be created which will make a copy of the original table before
sorting. This will have a default name of the input table with _Sorted suffixed...
Note This operation cannot be undone. If you wish to add a row number prior to
sorting, so that the original table order can be retrieved by sorting on this column,
you can use Discover>Table Utilities>Add Unique Identifier.
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The Alter Map Bounds function enables a user to adjust the map bounds of a
mappable table. The map bounds of a mappable table may need to be modified
under the following circumstances:
New map objects are to be added that are located beyond the bounds of
the existing non-earth map table.
Map objects digitized from a raster layer and then saved may have
restricted map bounds that prevent the addition of new map objects into
the layer
Loss of data precision resulting from map bound extents that are set too
large for a non-earth map table. Restricting the bounds can help to
improve the data precision.
If the Current Data Limits are not acceptable, enter new map bound coordinates
into the Minimum and Maximum X and Y windows. Click OK to alter the map
bounds.
Note When using this option, data outside the specified boundary is deleted from the
table file and cannot be recovered.
Splitting Tables
Discover>Data Utilities>Table Split
The Split Table utility allows a table to be split into multiple tables using unique
attribute values in a field. For example, create separate tables for different
geological units covering a project area from a master table, extract tenement
data by holder or split out open file geochemical data by company.
Select the source table from the Table to Split pull-down list. Select the attribute
field (e.g. company_name or lithology) from the Split based on field pull-down
list. The number of unique entries or groups in the selected field will be indicated.
If there are spelling mistakes or different entries for the same attribute in a field
these will be treated as unique and separate tables will be created for each.
Auto A new table will be automatically created for every unique attribute
in the selected field.
Custom The user can individually select which attributes are to be split
or combine individual attributes into Groups for splitting. A combination of
individual and grouped attributes can also be chosen. Multiple attributes
grouped together will form a single output table.
In Custom mode, the unique field attributes will initially populate the Selected
pane. To select and deselect items use the selection buttons.
To Group a series of attributes (into a single output table), first deselect all the
attributes (None). Then in the Unselected list, hold the left-mouse button and
drag or use the SHIFT key in conjunction with the mouse control. To select non-
consecutive attributes use the CTRL key in conjunction with the mouse control.
When the attributes have been selected for grouping, press the Select button to
create the split group. The Group Properties dialog will open listing the Group
members. The Group Name can be modified if required.
8 Working with Tables 233
The default output table name for the newly created tables uses the original table
name with the unique attribute or group name extension. To change the default
output name, click on the Save button. The {GROUP} placeholder must be part
of the output table name. As MapInfo truncates table names longer than 30
characters when they are displayed in MapInfo it is recommended to try and
keep output table names as short as possible.
Dialog Help
Split options
Table to split
Groups
Auto: Create a new table for every unique value in the selected field.
Select values in the Selected box and the use the controls to add and
remove values from the Unselected box.
To create groups, first move the values into the Unselected box, and then
select the values in the required group. To select multiple values, click and
drag, or hold down the SHIFT or CTRL key. When you have selected all the
values in a group, click the select button to display the Group
Properties Dialog Box, from which you can name the group. The group
name will be displayed in the Selected box.
Output options
File
The output table name for the split tables uses a stem with the value or group
name extension. To change the default stem name, click on the Save button. The
{GROUP} placeholder must be part of the output table name. Keep output table
names as short as possible because MapInfo truncates table names longer than
30 characters.
See also
... Splitting Tables
Group Name
Details
The tools on the Discover Data Entry menu streamline the entry of table data and
creation of digitized map objects. Attribute data in a column can be incremented
automatically, validated, or selected from a look-up table. Customized styles can
also be applied to objects as they are created.
The tools on the Data Entry menu perform the following functions:
Picklist Manager
Use this tool to manage picklist styles by either modifying existing picklists
or creating new picklists by importing from external files or creating a
brand new picklist. For information about how to use this tool, see
Creating and Managing Picklists.
Apply Style
Use this tool to apply a single picklist style to either selected map objects
or to newly created map objects. For information about how to use this
tool, see Applying a Single Style from a Picklist.
Apply Picklist
Use this tool to apply multiple selected picklist styles to map objects in a
table either permanently or as a thematic map. For information about how
to use this tool, see Applying Multiple Styles from a Picklist.
Setup Table
Configure tables with validation rules and defaults for data entry. For
information about how to use this tool, see Configure Table for Data Entry.
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Enter Data
Digitize spatial or enter non-spatial validated data with attributes. For
information about how to use this tool, see Enter or Digitize Table Data
and Map Objects.
Object styles are managed with the Picklist Manager. The Picklist Manager is
used to create map object and textural validation lists used for the creation of new
map objects and applying map styles and attributes to selected map objects.
A picklist list can be created from a new list or generated from anexisting dataset.
On the Picklist Manager, a picklist can be selected from the Picklists box. The
following tools are provided to create and manage Picklists these tools are
loacted under the Configure dropdown button:
8 Working with Tables 237
Tool Description
The Styles box displays the styles available in the selected picklist. The following
tools are provided to create and manage styles:
Tool Description
2. Under Picklists, click the Configure button and select the Create
new picklist option. The Create Picklist dialog is displayed.
You can also create a picklist from an existing picklist and then modify it.
6. Under the Styles box, click the Add New Style button.
7. The MapInfo style dialog is displayed, from which you can define a style
for the selected object type. Click OK and type in a description for the new
style (e.g. Shale) into the New Style Description dialog. Click OK.
8 Working with Tables 239
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you have defined all the required styles in this
list.
9. Use the other controls below the Styles box to Delete, Rename, Edit, and
order styles in the picklist.
2. Under Picklists, click the Configure button and select the Import
picklist option The Import Picklist dialog is displayed.
GeoStyles Imports files from the Styles Library tool which the
Picklist Manager has superseded.
4. Click OK and select the file to be imported. If the file contains multiple
object types, these will be separated into several picklist files.
5. Use the other controls below the Styles box to Delete, Rename, Edit, and
order styles in the picklist.
2. Under Picklists, click the Configure button and select the Append
Picklist option. The Append Picklist dialog is displayed.
4. Click OK to append.
5. Use the other controls below the Styles box to Delete, Rename, Edit, and
order styles in the picklist.
To delete a picklist:
2. Under Picklists, click the Configure button and select the Delete
existing picklist option.
8 Working with Tables 241
3. A warning message will appears asking if you want to delete the selected
picklist, click OK button to delete the picklist.
2. Under Picklists, click the Configure button and select the Rename
picklist and description option. The Rename Picklist dialog is
displayed.
3. Modify the Picklist Name and Picklist Description text boxes as required,
click OK to commit the change.
2. Under Picklists, click the Configure button and select the Save
picklist modifications option.
2. Click the Picklists box and select the picklist you want to edit.
3. The picklist styles are displayed in the Styles box. Use the tools under the
Styles box to perform the following:
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To delete a style, select the style in the Styles box and click .
To rename a style, select the style in the Styles box and click .
Note Styles can be added to a group to streamline the data entry process when using
the Data Entry>Enter Data tool.
To edit a style, select the style in the Styles box and click . The
MapInfo style dialog is displayed, from which you can edit the
style. Click OK and edit the description. Click OK.
To reorder styles in the Styles box, select the style you want to
move and use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to reposition in
the picklist styles.
A single picklist style can be applied to selected map objects or applied when
creating new map objects. The textural description for the picklist can be added
to the selected object record in the Browser table.
5. Click Apply.
7. Select the table column you want to apply the style description.
8. Click Apply.
4. Click Apply.
Note If you wish to insert the style description text in the new object record, select the
Insert style description check box and populate the table and column
dropdown boxes.
Multiple picklist styles can be applied to selected map objects or applied when
creating new map objects.
Note By default all styles are selected, if you wish to apply certain styles select those
styles.
6. Select the table column you want to apply the style description.
7. Click Apply.
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Note By default all styles are selected, if you wish to apply certain styles select those
styles.
6. Select the table column you want to apply the style description.
8 Working with Tables 247
7. Click Apply.
Note Individual Thematic map styles are the only type current supported by this tool.
Note By default all styles are selected, if you wish to apply certain styles select those
styles.
4. In the Style Structural Options box select the table you want to apply the
structural style.
6. If dip labels are required for the structural symbols click the Label
Options button to open the Structure Text Labels dialog.
7. Click Apply to change the point objects into rotated structure symbols.
Note Make sure the MapInfo table is packed, otherwise unexpected object attribution
may result.
8 Working with Tables 249
The Data Entry>Setup Table tool configures any TAB file with validation rules for
data entry using the Discover Enter Data tool (see Enter or Digitize Table Data
and Map Objects). The tables can be either mappable or non-mappable. The
validation settings are stored as metadata in the TAB file. TAB files linked to
images, grids and read-only files such as Excel spreadsheets cannot be used
with this tool..
1. On the Discover menu, point to Data Entry and select Setup Table. The
Select Tables dialog is displayed.
2. All open vector and non-mappable tables are listed in the Select Tables
dialog box. Select a table. Only one table can be configured at a time. To
open a different table, Click the Open button and select the TAB file you
want to open in MapInfo Professional. The table type and validation status
is indicated by the following icons:
3. Click OK to load the selected table in the Setup Digitising Table dialog
box. The table name, projection and location are displayed under Table
Options. The Table Fields box is populated with the table fields as rows
and field properties as columns in a spreadsheet-like grid. The table
validation columns are initially blank.
Validation settings that are applicable to each field are shaded blue. For
example, you can only select a look-up table (of text values) for a text field
(type Char). Similarly, minimum and maximum numerical values can only
be set for numerical fields (type Integer, SmallInt, Float, and Decimal).
Setup Digitising Tables dialog showing validation settings for each table field
Validation options available from the Data Entry>Setup Table tool depend on the
field type.
Lookup Table Select a picklist to use as the validation list from that field.
The picklists are located in:
Windows 7 and 8
C:\Users\CurrentUser\AppData\Roaming\
Encom\Discover\Picklist
Windows XP
C:\Documents and
Settings\CurrentUser\Application Data\
Encom\Discover\Picklists
Map Style Select this option to use the graphical style of the selected
picklist when creating new map objects (Map Style field has
bold font for the field title in the Enter Data tool).
Note To clear a selection in the Setup Digitising Table, right-click in the cell and select
Clear Value.
Data can be entered into standard TAB files (without validation) or TAB files with
validation settings created with the Discover Setup Digitising Table tool (see
Configure Table for Data Entry). Tables can be either mappable or non-
mappable:
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Data can only be entered in existing TAB files: the data entry tool does not create
MapInfo tables nor alter their structure.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Data Entry and select Setup Tables.
The Select Tables dialog is displayed.
2. All open tables are listed in the Select Tables dialog box. Select a table.
To open another table, Click the Open button and select the TAB file you
want to open in MapInfo Professional.
3. Click OK to load the selected table in the Data Entry tool. The table
names are displayed on the tab at the top of the data sheet. The number
of records and the current selected record are displayed on the navigation
bar at the bottom of the dialog box.
View information about the open table such as Name, Path and
Projection.
5. Use the navigation bar or keyboard arrow keys to move up and down the
table records and left and right between columns. You can then:
Edit value Use the TAB and right/left arrow keys to move
between cells. Use the navigation bar and up/down
arrow keys to move between records. Click a cell to
edit. If a picklist is defined in the validation settings,
select from the valid picklist values. Values are
validated on entry.
Copy value Click in the cell and press CTRL+C. Copies a single
value to the clipboard.
Paste value Click in the cell and press CTRL+V. Pastes a single
value from the clipboard.
6. Click the Save button to save your changes to the current table.
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Note All validation errors must be resolved before the table can be saved or the Data
Entry tool can be closed.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Data Entry and select Setup Table. The
Select Tables dialog is displayed.
2. All open tables are listed in the Select Tables dialog box. Select a table.
To open another table, Click the Open button and select the TAB file you
want to open in MapInfo Professional.
3. Click OK to load the selected table in the Data Entry tool. The table
names are displayed on the tab at the top of the data sheet. The number
of records and the current selected record are displayed on the navigation
bar at the bottom of the dialog box.
View information about the open table such as Name, Path and
Projection.
Note You cannot enter a new browser record using the Data Entry tool for a mappable
table. To create a new record you must digitise a new map object in the map
window.
7. Use the navigation bar or keyboard arrow keys to move up and down the
table records and left and right between columns. You can then:
Edit value Use the TAB key and right/left arrow keys to move
between cells. Use the navigation bar and up/down
arrow keys to move between records. Click a cell to
edit. If a picklist is defined in the validation settings,
select from the valid picklist values. Values are
validated on entry.
Copy value Click in the cell and press CTRL+C. Copies a single
value to the clipboard.
Paste value Click in the cell and press CTRL+V. Pastes a single
value from the clipboard.
Note The Data Entry tool supports the selection of singular map and browser records
and objects. Multiple record or object selections are currently not supported.
8. Click the Save button to save your changes to the current table. All
validation errors must be resolved before the table can be saved and the
Data Entry tool can be closed.
1. On the Discover menu, point to Data Entry and select Setup Table. The
Select Tables dialog is displayed.
2. All open tables are listed in the Select Tables dialog box. Select a table.
To open another table, Click the Open button and select the TAB file you
want to open in MapInfo Professional.
3. Click OK to load the selected table in the Data Entry tool. The table
names are displayed on the tab at the top of the data sheet. The number
of records and the current selected record are displayed on the navigation
bar at the bottom of the dialog box.
View information about the open table such as Name, Path and
Projection.
Note You cannot enter a new browser record using the Data Entry tool for a mappable
table. To create a new record you must digitise a new map object in the map
window.
8. Use the navigation bar or keyboard arrow keys to move up and down the
table records and left and right between columns. You can then:
Edit value Use the TAB key and right/left arrow keys to move
between cells. Use the navigation bar and up/down
arrow keys to move between records. Click a cell to
edit. If a picklist is defined in the validation settings,
select from the valid picklist values. Values are
validated on entry.
Copy value Click in the cell and press CTRL+C. Copies a single
value to the clipboard.
Paste value Click in the cell and press CTRL+V. Pastes a single
value from the clipboard.
Note The Data Entry tool supports the selection of singular map and browser records
and objects. Multiple record or object selections are currently not supported.
10. Click the Save button to save your changes to the current table. All
validation errors must be resolved before the table can be saved and the
Data Entry tool can be closed.
8 Working with Tables 261
The Discover Add Unique Identifier (UID) utility allows an incrementing numeric
code, with optional alphabetic prefixes/suffixes, to be quickly assigned to a table
based on the row number.
This can be used to generate a unique sample code for table if this does not
exist, or is in an invalid format for sorting. To create add a unique ID to each row
in a table:
2. Enter a Start Number and Increment Value (e.g. 434, 435, 436, etc).
4. Either add a New Field (and specify its position) or use an Existing Field
for the output UID. For new fields, the field type will automatically be
assigned depending on the UID format. For existing fields, only field types
compatible with the UID formatting defined will be able to be selected.
The Multiple Column Update tool enables columns in one table to be updated
with data from columns in another table where there is a common join such as
sample number or drillhole name between the two tables. Discover can update up
to 30 columns at the one time so long as the columns already exist in the table to
update. Only the records which match the join criteria are upated and any other
unmatched records in the table retain their original values. This enables subsets
of data to be easily updated.
For example:
2. Make sure that the table to update contains columns to store the new
values. If the columns do not already exist in the table, create them using
Table>Maintenance>Table Structure or the Discover Multi-table, Multi-
field Editing.
7. Select the column in the table to update pull-down list and select the
matching join column in the from value table pull-down list.
8 Working with Tables 265
8. Under Field Mapping select the first column in the Update From pull-
down list.
9. Select the corresponding column in the table to update from the Update
To pull-down list.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 to match all columns to update from and to in each
table.
Note If the column name in Update To matches the column name in Update From
simply select the next Update From column to automatically display the
matching Update From column.
Additional options:
To save or load a set of Field Mappings, use the save/load buttons. This will
save/load the mappings based on the field names but not types. If not all saved
fields exist when loading a mapping, a summary report will be provided detailing
which fields do not exist or are invalid.
To remove an entry under Field Mapping, select a cell in the row and click the
Delete button.
Check the Allow Undo option to enable updates to a table to be undone using
File>Revert Table. This will return the data in the table to the last time it was
saved.
If a table is in non-native format, the join fields are not indexed or the datatypes
are different between the update from and to columns the Alert button is
displayed. Place the cursor over the button to view message. See
Troubleshooting for more information.
Troubleshooting:
To reduce processing time index the the join column in each table. To
index a column see Table>Maintenance>Table Structure.
To avoid data loss, ensure columns in the table to update are the same
datatype as the columns in the update table. Eg. Character, Float, Date,
etc. To compare and modify tables use the Discover Multi-table, Multi-field
Editing or Table>Maintenance>Table Structure.
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Discover>Table Utilities>Multi-Append
Append multiple tables to another table. Select the table to append to from the
available Open Tables list. Select the table to append the other tables to from the
Append to Table pull-down list. Choose the order in which the tables are to be
appended. Use the arrow keys to re-order if necessary. Click OK to append the
selected tables.
Note With the Multi-Append option, all tables selected must have the same number
of columns. If the tables have the same number of columns but do not have the
same structure then data conversion errors (such as when character values are
read into a numeric column) may occur during the appending process.
The user is prompted to select a directory to store the new MapInfo files created
from the imported MID/MIF files. Follow the same procedures for Multi-Open
menu option regarding selecting folders and files to add to the Selected Files
window, choosing the Preferred View and removing files from the list.
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Export multiple tables to MID/MIF format. Select the tables to export from the
available open tables list. Choose to export to the same directory as the tables or
to a new directory. Click OK to export the selected tables.
Addition
8 Working with Tables 269
Deletion
Copying
Rename
Type Alteration
Reorder
Field Display
Two field display options are available at the top right of the dialog:
Match by Field Name will display fields with the same name in the same
row. This is an excellent way to check whether assay fields are named
identically e.g. two tables might have a Cu field, whilst a third table might
have a copper field. Another example: one table may have a HoleID
field, whilst another a Hole_ID field. It also allows a simple visual
comparison of the field types of matching fields: three tables may have
HoleID fields of differing types (e.g. Character(10), Character(40) and
Integer).
The Case Sensitive option at the bottom left of the dialog enables
matches only between field names of the same case (e.g. HoleID will not
match holeID or holeid).
Field Editing
At the base of the Table Structure Manager dialog are the editing tools. These
require a field selection to open: this can be a single field, multiple fields within a
table or multiple fields across multiple tables. Field selection is with the left mouse
button: either hold this button down to highlight multiple adjacent fields, or use it
in combination with the keyboard CTRL button to select non-adjacent cells.
However, not all editing functions can handle multiple cell selections (e.g. you
cannot rename multiple fields in the same table at once); an appropriate warning
message will be returned if the current selection is invalid for the selected editing
tool.
Each editing button will open an appropriate dialog, which can be resized to allow
the full target file name to be visible:
8 Working with Tables 271
The Add Fields dialog resized to display the full target field names
Add - adds a new field with the specified name and type to each selected
table. The new field will be added to the end of each table. This option
requires a single field selection in each target table; this can be a
populated or blank field, neither of which will be altered.
Copy copies the selected fields to other tables. The field, if it does not
exist, will be appended to the end of the destination table.
The warning dialog displayed when copying a field that already exists
Change Types - multiple fields can have their types/format altered (e.g.
from integer to float). The selected fields do not need to have the same
initial type. Note however that this may result in data truncation or loss,
e.g. changing latitude and longitude fields from float to integer will result in
a massive loss of precision. A warning message to this effect will be
displayed prior to finalising field type alterations.
Order - a single field from each table can be assigned a new field position.
This will result in a reordering of all fields below this new position, e.g.
moving a field to the 3rd position within its table, the existing 3rd field will
be moved to the 4th position, the 4th to the 5th, etc. If the specified position
does not exist within the table, the field will be placed at the end of the
table (e.g. moving a field in a 10 field table to position 20 will simply place
it at the end of the table).
The Display Object Columns option at the bottom left of the dialog will add an
Obj field to each mappable table. This field is not editable, but allows a count of
the total number of objects in a table, as well as a count of each object type
(points, lines and/or regions). To initiate an object count, select the pull-down
arrow in the Type cell of the appropriate Obj field; for a small number of objects
the total and sub-counts will be displayed.
Press OK to continue with the count. When the warning message disappears, re-
access the Type pull-down arrow to view the count result.
A Text Report of the current multiple table comparison (it requires at least two
tables to be open in the dialog) can be generated using the button at the bottom
left of the dialog. This output can be copied and pasted to a text editor (e.g.
Notepad or Word) using CTRL+C and CTRL+V.
9 Data Processing and Statistics 275
Classifying Data
The Data Handling Options tool is available from utilities on the Geochem menu
and selected other tools. The processing options available include:
Negative values
Non-numeric values
Zero values
Replacement values
2. On the Geochem menu, click one of the menu options; for example,
Point Classification.
4. Click the Data Handling Options button. The Data Handling Options
Dialog Box is displayed.
5. Under Input, select the options you want to apply to negative, non-
numeric, zero, and other data values.
6. Under Output, select the options you want to apply to the output table.
7. Click OK and return to the previous dialog box and continue processing
the modified table.
Dialog Help
Input
Replaces all negative values in the table. Select the check box and type Null or
a numeric value in the box.
Multiplies all negative values in the table. Select the check box and type a numeric
value in the box.
9 Data Processing and Statistics 277
Replaces all non-numeric values in the table. Select the check box and type Null
or a numeric value in the box.
Replaces all zero values in the table. Select the check box and type Null or a
numeric value in the box.
Select a template table. The table must be open before it can be selected.
Select the field in the template table that contains the element name.
Select the field in the template table that contains the original value.
Select the field in the template table that contains the replacement value.
Output
The following options are only available when Data Output Options is selected
from the Data Levelling dialog box.
Replace all null values with a numeric value. Select the check box and type a
numeric value in the box.
See also
... Pre-processing and Cleaning Data
... Data Processing and Statistics
Classifying Data
Point Classification of data is used to segregate a dataset into groups defined by
a range or group of values. Point symbols can be modulated by colour, size and/
or symbol type using one or more data fields.
Multi-field Classification
Geochemical data is often collated from different sources and to highlight this
graphically a different symbol type can be assigned to each sub-grouping of the
dataset. Assay values can then be classified into value range groups via various
statistical methods and displayed as the colour or size of the symbol.
Point classifications can be displayed as a thematic map overlay or the new point
symbols can be saved to the existing table or new table.
3. In the Point Classification dialog box, in the Select table box, click the
geochemistry table.
4. In the Select column box, click the field you want to classify.
9 Data Processing and Statistics 279
6. Select a classification. You can classify data by colour, size and symbol
concurrently.
8. To edit a division, click in a Description, >= or < cell and type a new
value.
Note Values outside the lowest and highest classification groups will be ignored.
However, the tool applies continuous internal data ranges. Any gaps from one
classification group to the next will be ignored.
Select the Null symbol check box to apply the Base symbol to all
null value data. Only selected classification properties (colour, size,
symbol) are applied to null value data.
11. When you have completed defining the classifications (on the colour, size,
and symbol tabs) for the selected data field, click Apply.
On the MapInfo File menu, click Save Table to save the classification, or
Revert Table to restore the table to its last saved state. To save an RGB
classification thematic map, you must save the workspace.
Note The classified symbol may be hidden by a coincident point symbol. Use the
Discover>Map Window >Select by Graphical Styles tool to query the map
table for all the samples that fall within a particular Point Classification for a
combination of colour, size, symbol style properties.
See also
... Multi-field Classification
... Trivariate Point Classification
... Select by Graphical Style
9 Data Processing and Statistics 281
Multi-field Classification
To modulate the point styles by two or three different fields, apply the
classifications consecutively, saving the classified table between each
classification. For example, to modulate the point colour by Cu, and the point size
by Pb:
2. Select the table, and then in the Select column box, select the Cu field.
3. On the colour tab, select the Classify by colour check box, and
then select the classification options.
4. Under Output type, click Change source, and then click Apply.
7. Select the table, and then in the Select column box, select the Pb field
8. On the size tab, select the Classify by size check box, and then
select the classification options.
9. Under Output type, click Change source, and then click Apply.
See also
...Classifying Data by Colour, Size, and Symbol
...Trivariate Point Classification
Dialog Help
Select table
Select field
Classify by ...
Output type
Creates a new table containing the classifications applied to the original data
table. The new table is automatically named with the _Classified extension or
can be renamed by clicking New table options. The new classification table is
automatically displayed in a new map window.
Click the button to select fields in the input data table that you want added
to the output table, and to change the output table name. The Specify
Output Table Dialog Box is displayed.
Null symbol
Select the check box to assign a default symbol to null value data in the
selected field.
Change source
Modifies the selected table in place. After classification, the table must be saved
using (MapInfo) File>Save Table.
9 Data Processing and Statistics 283
Thematic map
Class field
Base symbol
The default symbol applied to unclassified points and null value data. Clcik the
symbol to change.
Use this option to ignore or replace negative, zero or non-numeric values in the
data table. See Pre-processing and Cleaning Data.
See also
...Classifying Data
Select the check box to modulate the point symbol colour by values in the
selected field.
Save and load a classification table. The colour, size and symbol type are
recorded in the saved table.
Colour field
Colour method
Select an auto-ranging method. The resulting range divisions and colours are
displayed in the classification table.
(Classification table)
To edit the label, limits or colour of a division, click inside the cell and type or select
the new value. The Count and % fields are automatically updated.
Values outside the lowest and highest classification divisions will be ignored. Any
gaps created by editing the range limits will be ignored.
Add or remove the selected divisions in the classification table. Divisions cannot
be changed for discrete value groups, such as for non-numeric data, except for
the <Custom> classification method.
LUT
Displays the colour lookup table currently applied to the classification. Click the
box to select a different LUT. For information on editing and creating an LUT see
User Guide: Legend Editor.
9 Data Processing and Statistics 285
Select the check box to modulate the point symbol size by values in the selected
field.
Save and load a classification table. The colour, size and symbol type are
recorded in the saved table.
Size field
Size method
Select an auto-ranging method. The resulting range divisions and sizes are
displayed in the classification table.
(Classification table)
To edit the label, limits or symbol size of a division, click inside the cell and type
the new value. The Count and % fields are automatically updated.
Values outside the lowest and highest classification divisions will be ignored. Any
gaps created by editing the range limits will be ignored.
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Add or remove the selected divisions in the classification table. Divisions cannot
be changed for discrete value groups, such as for non-numeric data, except for
the <Custom> classification method.
Min
Max
Step
Select the check box to modulate the point symbol type by values in the selected
field.
Save and load a classification table. The colour, size and symbol type are
recorded in the saved table.
Symbol field
Symbol method
Select an auto-ranging method. The resulting range divisions and symbols are
displayed in the classification table.
9 Data Processing and Statistics 287
(Classification table)
To edit the label, limits or symbol type of a division, click inside the cell and type
or select the new value or symbol. The Count and % fields are automatically
updated.
Values outside the lowest and highest classification divisions will be ignored. Any
gaps created by editing the range limits will be ignored.
Add or remove the selected divisions in the classification table. Divisions cannot
be changed for discrete value groups, such as for non-numeric data, except for
the <Custom> classification method.
Symbol font
First
Last
Step
Allows you to select which fields you want included in the output table and to
change the name of the output table.
File name
Click the box to edit the file name or click the browse button to select a new output
folder.
Available fields
Fields available in the input table that are not included in the output table. To add
to the output table, select the field or fields required in this box, and then click the
Add button, or click All.
Selected fields
Fields selected to be added to the output table. To remove, select the field or
fields in this box, and then click the Remove button, or click None.
Trivariate classification can be used to highlight points that are above a threshold
in individual RGB channels, as well as above combinations of thresholds on
multiple RGB channels.
9 Data Processing and Statistics 289
The output classifications can be displayed as a thematic map overlay or the new
point symbols can be saved to the existing table or new table. Classification
legends can be displayed as a thematic legend or as a MapInfo table which can
be edited and scaled. Each sample is assigned a point classification code which
is saved to a new column in the original or new table.
5. Under Channel selection, in the Red box, click the field you want to
assign to the red channel. Make field selections in the Green and Blue
boxes.
Set Point Styles: Click to assign point styles to each of the eight
RGB classification codes. For more information, see Setting Point
Styles.
Create new table: Create a new table with each sample point
coloured according to their assay values relative to the specified
threshold level. Click the New Table Options button and select
fields from the input geochemistry table to add to the new
classification table.
Note It is not possible to control the order in which multiple sample points at the same
location are displayed. Therefore it may appear that a sample which is coloured
is masked by overlying sample points. Use the Discover>Data Utilities>Select
by Group option or an SQL query on the _Classfield column to query the table
for all the samples that fall within a particular RGB Classification.
For each of the possible eight classification codes, a separate point style can be
set. Each sample will be coloured in the map window according to these
classification point styles. To view or modify the default point styles click the Set
Point Styles button. The Point Style Setup dialog contains a symbol button for
each classification code.
To change a symbol style, click the symbol button and choose a new symbol
style, colour or size for the selected code. The Null symbol shape will be applied
to all points assigned a null value by the Data Handling Options tool. To use the
same symbol for all RGB threshold combinations, check the Use single symbol
style box, and select the symbol style to use. To automatically size the symbols
across the classification codes, select the Graduate symbol size from check
box and type a size for the smallest symbol.
Two legend options are available for identifying what each symbol style
represents.
Custom Legend
To create a legend table that can be edited and scaled as a permanent MapInfo
table, select the Display custom legend check box. The custom legend displays
the legend items as text or point objects, which can be modified using the
standard MapInfo map object style options. The legend window is created in a
non-earth centimetre projection and can be placed in a layout and scaled using
the frame tool.
The first five characters of the red, green and blue channel field names will be
displayed in place of the channel names. The threshold value and the threshold
value as a percentage of the maximum value is also displayed in the legend table.
292 Encom Discover User Guide
MapInfo Legend
Check the Display MapInfo legend box to create a MapInfo legend similar to
those created in the MapInfo Create Legend or Create Thematic Map menu
options. MapInfo legends cannot be scaled and must be saved as part of a
workspace. To modify a MapInfo legend, double-click in the legend window and
use the Styles and Legend buttons in the Modify Thematic Map dialog.
Null Values
To ignore or replace negative, zero or non-numeric values in the data table click
the Data Handling Options button. See Pre-processing and Cleaning Data in for
more information on using this tool.
Dialog Help
Table
Select the point table you want to classify. The number of records in the data table
are displayed.
Channel selection
Red
Green
Blue
Threholded by
Value: Type a threshold value for each channel in the adjacent boxes. The
data range is displayed to the right of the box.
Select the check box to use the same threshold (defined for the red channel) on
all three channels.
Output options
The classification code field name. Click the box to select a different, existing
character field, or type a new field name. The default field name is _ClassField.
Displays the Set Point Styles Dialog Box, where you can assign point styles to
each of the eight RGB classification codes.
Select the check box to classify and display all points in the input table. Clear the
check box to exclude those with null values.
Output type
Thematic map
Change source
Modifies the selected table in place. After classification, the table must be saved
using (MapInfo) File>Save Table.
Creates a new table containing the classifications applied to the original data
table. The new table is automatically named with the _Classified extension or
can be renamed by clicking New table options. The new classification table is
automatically displayed in a new map window.
Click the button to select columns in the original data table that you want
added to the output table, and to change the output table name. The
Specify Output Table Dialog Box is displayed.
Use this option to ignore or replace negative, zero or non-numeric values in the
data table. See Pre-processing and Cleaning Data.
See also
... Classifying Data
9 Data Processing and Statistics 295
Allows you to select which fields you want included in the output table and to
change the name pf the output table.
File name
Click the box to edit the file name or click the browse button to select a new output
folder.
Include fields
Select a check box to include the field in the output table or clear to omit.
Assign a point style to each of the eight possible classification codes, that is, each
RGB channel value from 000 through 111.
Legend
Click to save point styles as a table and load a saved point styles table.
(Symbol legend)
Displays the symbol style assigned to each classification code. Click a symbol
button to display the Pick Symbol Dialog Box, where you can edit the symbol type,
colour, and size.
Symbol options
Select the check box to use the same symbol type (for example, a circle or a
square) for all eight classification code values. Click the symbol button to modify.
296 Encom Discover User Guide
Select the check box to grade the symbol size automatically. Type the minimum
symbol size in the pts box.
(Font)
(Size)
(Colour)
(Symbol)
Often a dataset contains mixed sample populations such as soil samples taken
over different rock or regolith lithologies, stream sediment samples taken from
different mesh size fractions or samples analysed by different analytical
techniques. In these cases data should be levelled according to each distinct
value for a group.
Data levelling can be applied to either an entire dataset table or a subset (Query).
9 Data Processing and Statistics 297
3. In the Levelling Utility dialog box, in the Select table to classify box,
click the geochemistry table.
5. In the Fields to level box, select the assay fields to level. To select
multiple fields, click the first field and drag to select consecutive fields, or
hold the CTRL key to select non-consecutive fields.
6. In the Fields to level by box, select the fields that contain data such as
sample geology or regolith type, sample type or analytical method which
will be used in the levelling process to calculate values for each unique
attribute entry in these fields. As each field is selected the number of
distinct values in the column is automatically displayed. To select multiple
fields, click the first field and drag to select consecutive fields, or hold the
CTRL key to select non-consecutive fields.
7. In the Levelling operations box, select one or more operations. For more
information, see Levelling Utility Dialog Box. To select multiple operations,
click the first and drag to select consecutive operations, or hold the CTRL
key to select non-consecutive operations.
9. To change the output table name and folder, in the Output table box, edit
the default name or type a folder and file name.
The levelled data table is created and opened into a new browser window.
Note Levelled data values are calculated for each element and each selected
category. Use the Discover>Data Utilities>Select by Group menu option to
check unique field values and remove any duplicate or misspelled entries and
populate blank entries prior to running the Data Levelling utility.
298 Encom Discover User Guide
Note To see the source data fields after any data handling options have been applied,
in addition to the new levelled fields, select the Include working columns in
output table option in Data Handling Options. These fields are the data values
used to calculate the levelling operations. If all negative values in a field are
converted to zero, they are displayed as zero. Null values will also be displayed
as zero, but will be handled correctly internally (separately to true zeros).
Dialog Help
Use this option to ignore or replace negative, zero or non-numeric values in the
data table. See Pre-processing and Cleaning Data.
Fields to level
Select one or more fields that you want levelled. To select multiple fields, click the
first field and drag to select consecutive fields, or hold the CTRL key to select non-
consecutive fields.
Fields to level by
Select the fields that define subgroups of the population in which levelling will
occur. Typically, this will be a geology type, sample type, or analytical method.
The number of distinct values in each field selected is displayed. To select
multiple fields, click the first field and drag to select consecutive fields, or hold the
CTRL key to select non-consecutive fields.
Levelling operations
Mean: Divide each variable by the mean of the group it belongs to. This
method performs a linear transform of the data to give a response ratio or
times background measure. Suitable for normally distributed data.
9 Data Processing and Statistics 299
Log-mean: Log transforms each variable and divides by the mean of the
group it belongs to. This method performs a linear transform of the data to
give a response ratio or times background measure in log space. Suitable
for log-normally distributed data.
Adds columns to the output table showing when a channel is higher than the
threshold value after levelling and returns the raw assay values in the same
format.
Threshold
Type the threshold value used to filter the summary columns in the output
table.
Output table
The default output table is named by adding the extension _Levelled to the input
table name and is saved to the same directory. To change the output name, type
the name in the box. The levelled data table is created and opened in a new
browser window.
See also
... Normalizing or Levelling Data
Statistics can also be calculated based on attribute entries from another field in
the geochemical table such as geology. The results table will contain an entry for
each unique geological unit along with statistics calculated from the samples that
are located within each unit. Select the field to use from the Select Group Field
pull-down list.
To ignore or replace negative, zero or non-numeric values in the data table click
the Data Handling Options button. See Data Handling Options in this section
for more information on using this dialog.
Statistical Operations
Select one or more of the following statistical operations to calculate for the
geochemical data:
RMS (Root Mean Square) - Square root of the mean of the squares of
each assay value.
Geometric Mean - Used for positively skewed distributions. Nth root of the
product of the assay values. Negative or zero values in the dataset will
return a value of NA.
Count < 0 - Number of samples with assay values less than zero
The default Output Table is named using the original geochemical base table
with a _Stats extension and saved to the same directory. Enter an alternative
name and location if desired. Click OK. The statistics data table is created and
opened into a new browser window.
Dialog Help
Select table
Select fields
Click to select an assay field. To select multiple fields, click the first field and drag
to select consecutive fields, or hold the CTRL key to select non-consecutive fields.
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To calculate statistics by group, click the box and select a group field. Results are
reported for each unique value in the group field. To calculate statistics for the
entire population, click the box and select <No Grouping>.
Select statistics
RMS (root mean square): Square root of the mean of the squares of each
assay value.
Geometric mean: Used for positively skewed distributions. Nth root of the
product of the assay values.
Count < 0: Number of samples with assay values less than zero
Use this option to ignore or replace negative, zero or non-numeric values in the
data table. See Pre-processing and Cleaning Data.
Output table
The default output table is named by adding the extension _Stats to the original
table name and saved to the same directory. To change the output name, type
the name in the box. The results table is created and opened in a new browser
window.
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See also
... Computing Summary Statistics
For values in the Correlation Matrix that cannot be computed, due to one of the
Standard Deviations equalling zero, then a string NA will be written in the matrix.
Dialog Help
Select table
Select fields
Click to select an assay field. To select multiple fields, click the first field and drag
to select consecutive fields, or hold the CTRL key to select non-consecutive fields.
To calculate statistics by group, click the box and select a group field. Results are
reported for each unique value in the group field. To calculate statistics for the
entire population, click the box and select <No Grouping>..
9 Data Processing and Statistics 307
Correlation options
Output table
The default output table is named by adding the extension _CorMatrix to the
original table name and saved to the same directory. To change the output name,
type the name in the box. The results table is created and opened in a new
browser window.
Use this option to ignore or replace negative, zero or non-numeric values in the
data table. See Pre-processing and Cleaning Data.
See also
...Computing a Correlation Matrix
10 Coordinates and Projections 309
Updating Coordinates
Coordinate Transformations
Reprojecting Coordinates
The Distance Calculator can be used to measure the distance and angle
between points in two separate MapInfo tables. For example, determine an error
distance and bearing between control points in Local and UTM projection when
transforming point coordinates.
To effectively utilise this tool, the two tables must share a common field to create
the link or join between them; e.g. Control point number. The join must be a one-
to-one relationship. One point in the first table can only be linked to one point in
the second table.
Note This tool has been primarily designed to work with point datasets. Region or line
objects may be used, however the distance and angle will be calculated from the
object centroid which may not be satisfactory.
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Select the two tables to calculate the distance and angle between using the pull-
down lists. Make sure that the correct Key Fields in each table specifying the join
are selected.
The distance and bearing are calculated by measuring the object(s) in Table 1 to
the object(s) in Table 2 where the objects contain the same attribute in the Key
Field. The bearing is determined by using grid north as the datum. The results for
the calculation are stored in a new table containing the join key and the Distance
and Angle.
Output Options
By default, the output table is saved using the Table 1 name with a Distances
extension. To change the saved table name or location use the Save button.
When selecting the Output distance units, both metric and imperial units can be
used independent to the coordinate system convention e.g. distances between
points in a UTM projection can be displayed in miles (mi), yards (yd) or metres
(m).
10 Coordinates and Projections 311
Note Calculations for bearing and distance can be perform between most standard
MapInfo coordinates systems including geographical, UTM and local coordinate
systems.
Dialog Help
The distance and bearing are calculated by measuring the objects in table 1 to
the objects in table 2. Objects are matched by comparing values in the key fields.
Note This utility supports most standard MapInfo coordinates systems, including
geographical, UTM and local coordinate systems.
Select table 1
Key field
Select the key field in the first table, which is matched to vales in the key field in
the second table.
Select table 2
Key field
Select the key field in the second table, which is matched to vales in the key field
in the first table.
Output options
By default, the output table uses the extension Distances is added to the Table
1 name.
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File
Click the box to edit, or click the Save button to change the output file name and
path name.
Click to select the units of distance. The distances between points can be
calculated in any of the available units, regardless of the projection.
Note This tool has been primarily designed to work with point datasets. Region or line
objects may be used, however the distance and angle will be calculated from the
object centroid.
See also
... Calculating Distances Between Points in Separate Tables
Updating Coordinates
Discover>Data Utilities>Update Coordinates
Add or update map object coordinates into data columns in a browser or update
positions of existing points in a map window using coordinates from X and Y data
columns in a browser.
Use Update Coordinates to place the coordinate positions of map objects (for
example, sample points or collar locations) into data columns in the same
MapInfo table. Alternatively, if new survey data has become available, update the
position of existing map objects with new coordinates from X and Y data columns
in the browser.
10 Coordinates and Projections 313
To update the coordinates held in the table with the current object positions,
choose Map Object>Table Column. Coordinates may be added to existing
numeric columns or to a new column. To add new columns to store coordinates
choose New Column from the X Column and Y Column pull-down list. New
columns cannot be created if the column name contains spaces or special
characters.
To update map object locations in the map window with new coordinates stored
in the X and Y data columns, choose Table Column>Map Object and nominate
the X and Y columns containing the coordinates.
For either update mode, select the projection in which the coordinates are to be
updated. Auto (selected table) will calculate coordinate positions for the map
objects using the native projection of a table (the projection in which the original
map objects were created). Select User defined to calculate coordinates in any
other existing projection in the MapInfo or Favourite Projections list.
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When processing a large table, coordinates may be updated more quickly if the
table being processed is not displayed as a browser window.
Note The Update Coordinates utility is best suited to point data but coordinates for
polyline and polygon map objects can be calculated using the centroid X and Y
coordinates. Alternatively you can extract nodes and create points from polyline
and polygon objects using the Discover>Object Editing>Extract Nodes tool
(see Extracting Nodes).
Dialog Help
Table to update
Projection
Auto: Calculate coordinates using the native projection of the table, that
is, the projection in which the original map objects were created.
Update mode
Browser -> Mapper: Update object locations in the map window with new
coordinates from a table.
10 Coordinates and Projections 315
Field assignment
X Coordinate
Select the column in the table that contains the X-coordinate. If this column does
not exist, select <New Column> to display the New Column Name Dialog Box.
Y Coordinate
Select the column in the table that contains the Y-coordinate. If this column does
not exist, select <New Column> to display the New Column Name Dialog Box.
Note This tool is best suited to updating point data, but coordinates for polyline and
polygon map objects can also be calculated using the centroid X and Y
coordinates.
See also
...Updating Coordinates
Type the name for the new column. Names must not contain spaces.
See also
...Update Coordinates Dialog Box
Coordinate Transformations
Discover>Data Utilities>Transform Coordinates
Convert coordinates from one coordinate system to another based on either user-
specified parameters (such as a known shift, rotation and scaling) or based on a
set of control points between known and unknown (or non-earth) projections.
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The Transformation Table window lists all of the tables that are currently open
in MapInfo to use as the transformation table. Only native MapInfo or TAB files
connected to an editable source table can be transformed. TAB files connected
to Excel or Text files are Read-Only and will not be displayed in the Transform
Table list. Save these tables to native MapInfo tables using the File>Save Copy
As menu option and use the saved table for the transformation.
Note Raster images or Grid Surfaces cannot be transformed using the Transform
Coordinates utility. For image reprojection, use the Images>Reproject tool; for
grid surface reprojection, use the Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Reproject tool.
Note The control point table for a one-off affine data transformation must contain four
columns, which read in order from left to right as Nonearth_Easting,
Nonearth_Northing, UTM_Easting, UTM_Northing . The naming convention of
the column headings is not important, but the order of the columns is critical.
Note The control point table for a once-off data transformation can be used to
transform tables from local to UTM coordinates, but cannot be used to create a
custom affine coordinate projection line.
1. Open the table to transform into MapInfo; this should be located in a local
non-earth grid projection e.g. Non-earth (metres).
Note You can select any other transformation method form the list, apart from Plane.
4. Click on the Control Point Table button and browse to the control point
table. The selected control point table will be displayed on the Control
Point Button. This table does not need to be mappable.
Once the data has been transformed a new table will be created with the same
name as the original transformation table with a suffix _trans. This table is
automatically opened in MapInfo displayed in map or browser window.
10 Coordinates and Projections 319
Note The maptran.log Total RMS is the total Euclidean distance between the X and Y
residual components of the transformation. It does not directly relate to the
individual control point's RMSs, and a large value can still be a relatively
accurate transformation result depending on the scale and area of application.
The Standard deviation in X and Y indicate a better absolute measure of the
error in the transformation.
Note The transformed data table and the original data table cannot be displayed in the
same map window. The original table is still located in the local non-earth
coordinate system.
Plane Transformation
Select Plane from the Transformation Type pull-down list. The Plane
Transformation option should not be used to convert to or from Latitude/
Longitude coordinates. For data in a lat-long projection add two new columns to
the table and populate with coordinates in a system such as UTM or AMG using
the Data Utilities>Update Coordinates menu option. Make sure the table to
transform is open in MapInfo.
2. Select the transform projection from the Choose Projection dialog and
click OK. The Transform Coordinates dialog is displayed:
3. Select Add New Transform from the Choose a Grid Transform pull-
down list. Alternatively, load an existing transformation from the pull-down
list. When existing transformation parameters are loaded the dialog will be
populated automatically.
Note The new X and Y columns must already be available for selection in the
transformation table. To add new data columns to the table to store the
transformation values use the Table>Maintenance>Table Structure menu
option prior to running the Transform Coordinates utility.
If the plane transformation is defined by two pairs of coordinates, the scale factor
is implicit (as is the bearing offset) and should not be entered.
To save a plane transformation click on the Add button once all the
transformation parameters have been entered and supply a transformation name
to identify this transformation in the list.
When a previously stored transformation is selected from the list in the top left of
the Transform Coordinates dialog, the transformation parameters are applied
automatically but cannot be altered.
Note Saved transformation parameters can also be used with the Discover>Map
Grid and Scaled Output utilities to display a local (non-earth) grid and a map
(projected real-world) grid in the same map window.
Affine Transformation
The custom affine projection can be selected for use with tables or as the map
window projection just like any other existing projection. The custom affine
projection can also be used to map point datasets.
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The affine transformation method is based on using a Ground Control Point table
with a set of known points in both the non-earth and a known projection space.
The method will use these to determine a set of affine transformation parameters
which are the best fit for the given control points, using a least-squares method to
minimise the misfit.
The data created or saved using the custom projection is still displayed in the local
coordinates. The custom projection transformation parameters relate the local
grid to real-world coordinates, enabling MapInfo to overlay UTM or lat-long data
with data collected in the local grid system.
The affine transformation method is based on using a Ground Control Point table
with a set of known points in both the non-earth and a known projection space.
The method will use these to determine a set of affine transformation parameters
which are the best fit for the given control points, using a Least Squares method
to minimise the mis-fit.
Note In contrast to the once-off affine data transformation, the control point table for a
custom affine projection transformation must contain four columns which read
from left to right as UTM_Easting, UTM_Northing, Local_Easting and
Local_Northing. The naming convention of the column headings is not important,
but the order of the columns is critical.
3. Click on the Control Point Table button and browse to the control point
table. The selected control point table will be displayed on the Control
Point Button. This table does not need to be mappable.
5. Click OK.
6. Select the required standard projection for the UTM coordinate fields from
the Choose Projection dialog. This is the base projection the custom affine
is based on.
7. Discover will create the affine transformation and add the custom
coordinate system description to the MAPTRAN.LOG file.
9. Assign a new name for the custom projection and add a new projection
Category line above the protection . This projection category is used to
keep all your custom projections together, and should be in the format
below:
10. Optionally, for enhanced sub-centimeter precision, change the first two
numbers from "10xx" to "30xx"e.g. change 1008 to 3008. Add an
appropriate bounds add an appropriate bounds clause to hte projection
line. To specify bounds for the new projection enter the appropriate min_x,
min_y, max_x, max_y values for your data as per the example below.
Note The '_trans' table lists the Transformation Coefficents as used by the following
affine transformation equations::
x' = Ax + By + C
y' = Dx + Ey + F
Note The maptran.log Total RMS is the total Euclidean distance between the X and Y
residual components of the transformation. It does not directly relate to the
individual control point's RMSs, and a large value can still be a relatively
accurate transformation result depending on the scale and area of application.
The Standard deviation in X and Y indicate a better absolute measure of the
error in the transformation.
Use this custom projection to create points for data collected in local coordinates,
to save data collected in UTM or lat-long in local coordinates or to change the map
window projection to display local coordinates.
Dialog Help
Note This tool does not support transforming to or from a lat-long projection.
Note Raster images and grid surfaces cannot be transformed with the Transform
Coordinates utility. For image reprojection, use Images>Reproject Image; for
grid surface reprojection, use Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Reproject.
Transformation table
Select a table from the list of all open tables. Only native MapInfo or TAB files
connected to an editable source table can be transformed. TAB files connected
to read-only files (Excel or text files, for example) will not be displayed and must
be first saved to a native MapInfo table.
Transformation target
Note The new X and Y columns must be created before the transformation is
performed. To add new data columns to the table use
Table>Maintenance>Table Structure before running Transform Coordinates.
Transformation type
(Method)
The control point table for a simple affine data transformation must contain
four columns, which read from left to right are Local_Easting,
Local_Northing, UTM_Easting and UTM_Northing.
The control point table for a custom affine projection transformation must
contain four columns, which read from left to right are UTM_Easting,
UTM_Northing, Local_Easting and Local_Northing.
The naming convention of the column headings is not important, but the order of
the columns is critical.
The control table must contain at least 3 points located in both local non-earth grid
and real-earth projected coordinates. The greater the number of control points
provided, the more accurate the final transformation (depending on the precision
of the control points).
10 Coordinates and Projections 327
The affine transformation method is based on using a Ground Control Point table
with a set of known points in both the non-earth and a known projection space.
The method will use these to determine a set of affine transformation parameters
which are the best fit for the given control points, using a least squares method to
minimise the misfit.
Create a custom affine projection, which is available for selection when creating
and saving tables or setting the projection of a map window.
The custom projection transformation parameters relate the local grid to real-
world coordinates, enabling MapInfo to overlay UTM or lat-long data with data
collected in the local grid system.
To create a custom affine projection, make sure that the following options have
been selected:
Select a control point table suitable for a custom affine projection (see
above).
Discover will create the affine transformation and add the custom coordinate
system description to the MAPTRAN.LOG file.
See also
...Coordinate Transformations
328 Encom Discover User Guide
Define transformation by
Origin, bearing: Specify the coordinates of the origin in the current and
new coordinate systems and a rotation angle.
Transform coordinates
Calculate
To
Transform columns
(Available when the E, N data columns option was selected in the Coordinate
Transformation Dialog Box)
Into columns
(Available when the E, N data columns option was selected in the Coordinate
Transformation Dialog Box)
Select the X and Y data columns in which the new coordinates will be stored.
Scale factor
Type the scale factor. The scale factor is typically used to correct for curvature or
a change in the units of measurement. To convert feet to metres type a scale
factor of 0.3048.
Type the current origin coordinates in the Current coords boxes and the new
origin in the New coords boxes.
Bearing offset
Type the rotation angle between the two coordinate systems. Angle is positive
clockwise from the current coordinate system.
Type the current coordinates of the first point in the Current coords boxes and
the new coordinates in the New coords boxes.
Type the current coordinates of the first point in the Current coords boxes and
the new coordinates in the New coords boxes.
330 Encom Discover User Guide
Add
Click to name and save the transformation settings, which you can load from the
Choose a grid transform box. Plane transformation settings are saved to the
LGTRANS table (located in the Discover configuration folder). Transformations
can also be modified from the LGTRANS browser window.
Note Saved transformation settings can also be used with the Discover>Map Grid
and Scaled Output utilities to display a local (non-earth) grid and a map
(projected real-world) grid in the same map window.
Delete
See also
... Coordinate Transformations
Reprojecting Coordinates
Reprojecting a Table
Reprojecting a Table
In the Reproject TAB File dialog select the table to reproject from the Filename
pull-down list. Only tables currently open in MapInfo are available for reprojection.
The native projection of the table should automatically be populated in the
Projection window. If the utility does not recognise the native table projection a
warning message is displayed stating that the projection is not listed in the
Encom.prj file. See below for details on how to update the Encom.prj file.
Note The projection list available in the Discover Coordinate Reproject utility is
stored in a separate file to the MapInfow.prj file. Therefore not all the
projections in the MapInfow.prj will be available for selection in this utility. For
example, if you wish to reproject data using a custom coordinate system clause
which has been added to the MapInfow.prj file you will need to copy the
custom projection line into the Encom.prj file located in the .\Program
Files\Encom\Common\Projections folder.
By default, a new reprojected table is created using the original table name and a
_reprojected extension. To change the output file name click on the new name
and modify. Alternatively, click on the Browse button and select a new name and/
or location for the reprojected table.
Note Check the Use NTv2 grid-shift box when reprojecting images between NAD27
and NAD83 Canadian coordinate systems or AGD66/AGD84 and GDA94
Australian systems. If you are not familiar with this method see Encom NTv2
Transformation for more information about this option.
332 Encom Discover User Guide
Dialog Help
Input file
Filename
Projection
Note If the projection is not recognised, copy the projection from the MapInfow.prj
to the Encom.prj file, which is located in the (Windows XP) C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Application Data\Encom\Common\Projections or
(Windows 7 and 8) C:\Users\All Users\Encom\Common\Projections
folder.
Output file
Filename
Projection
Click Choose to display the Choose Projection Dialog Box, from which you can
choose a projection category and member.
See also
... Reprojecting Coordinates
10 Coordinates and Projections 333
Save multiple vector tables in another projection. All available open tables are
displayed in the Tables to Reproject list. Use the Open Table button to add
another table to the Tables to Reproject list if necessary. Select the tables to
reproject by placing a tick in the table checkbox or use the Select All button. Click
in the table checkbox to unselect a table or use the Unselect All button.
Click on the New Projection button and choose the new table projection. This
projection will then be displayed in the Target Projection column of the Tables
to Reproject window.
A number of options are available to save the reprojected tables. The existing
tables may be saved in the new projection or new tables may be created. These
new tables will be created in the original table directory unless a different directory
is specified. The new tables also have the option to be renamed with a
_reproject filename extension but this can also be modified to something more
applicable if desired. Click OK to reproject the selected tables.
Note Multi-Table Reproject uses MapInfos (9.0.2+) method for NTv2 - see
Projections and Transformations for more details. Alternatively you can use
Discover>Data Utilities>Reproject Coordinates to perform the NTv2
reprojection on an individual file.
Note To reproject multiple raster image tables, use Images>Reproject Image (see
Reprojecting an Image).
The Local Grid Layout option enables a user to quickly and interactively design
a local grid over an area of interest. A set of grid points (pegs) and traverse lines
with both map (real-world) and local grid coordinates will be generated; these can
then be used for geochemical sampling, drilling or geophysical surveys.
Note This routine is not designed to convert coordinates between coordinate systems.
For this task use the Coordinate Transformations option described in this
section.
10 Coordinates and Projections 335
4. From the Grid Parameters tab, click the Define Interactively on Map
button. In the mapper window, draw the initial traverse line by clicking on
its start point, and while holding down the mouse button, moving the
mouse to the end of the line. Release the mouse to complete the line.
5. Under Output Options, click Save to specify a name and location for the
output files. By default a mappable _Point table will be created detailing
every peg in both real world and local coordinates. Enabling the Create
Grid as Line File option will additionally create a _Line table comprising a
series of attributed grid lines.
7. The details of the traverse line are displayed: X and Y start coordinates,
traverse line angle, line length and the projection of the Map window.
These paramters can be manually changed in the dialog, or the line can
be redefined by clicking the Define Interactively on Map button again.
8. Specify the local grid coordinates of the start point e.g. 5000E and 10000N
9. As noted in step 1, specify the Baseline Length, and the required Line
Spacing (i.e. distance between grid lines). Press the Calculator button to
return the number of lines that will result.
10 Coordinates and Projections 337
10. Enter the required Peg Spacing: it is likely that you will need to manually
adjust the Line Length (captured automatically via Step 3) to
accommodate this value (e.g. from 1125.67m to 1200m). Check that the
line length is divisible by the peg spacing by pressing the Calculator
button
11. Click the Preview button at the bottom left of the dialog.
12. To change the dimensions, spacing or orientation of the grid, simply edit
the appropriate parameters in the dialog and press Preview again (this
may include redefining the initial grid cross line). Note that if the
generated grid lines have been placed on the wrong side of your initial grid
line, try changing the Grid Direction side at the top right of the dialog.
Also if the grid line you defined interactively is in the middle of the target
area, try setting this control to Both.
A Local Grid can be defined either by specifying the orientation, length and
position of:
Note The Local Grid Layout tool does not support Latitude/Longitude projections;
ensure that the mapper window is in a UTM projection system.
The user can specify any 2 of the following 3 parameters controlling the baseline
and the number of cross lines:
Number of cross-lines
To automatically calculate the 3rd parameter, select the toggle to the left of this
parameter: the Calculator button will move next to this parameter. Select the
Calculator button to return the adjacent parameter.
Note If the Baseline Length has been populated via interactive definition, it will
probably need to be manually adjusted so that it can be divided by the Line
Spacing. Check this by using the Calculator on the Number of Lines field.
Grid Parameters
The user can specify any 2 of the following 3 parameters controlling the grid cross
lines:
Line Length
Number of Pegs
To automatically calculate the 3rd parameter, select the toggle to the left of this
parameter: the Calculator button will move next to this parameter. Select the
Calculator button to return the adjacent parameter.
Note If the Line Length has been populated via interactive definition, it will probably
need to be manually adjusted so that it can be divided by the Peg Spacing.
Check this by using the Calculator on the Number of Pegs field.
Output Options
The Local Grid Layout tool will generate a table called tablename_Point, where
the tablename is specified using the Save As button. This mappable table will
contain a point for each output grid peg, attributed with the following fields:
If the Create Grid as Line File option is enabled, an additional mappable table
tablename_Line will be created, containing a series of attributed grid lines
attributed with the Line and LocalY fields.
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The output grid line file, labelled with the LocalY field.
If a map window other than the original mapper window is made active, enabling
the Add to Current Mapper Window option and pressing Preview will add the
local grid to this window. This can be useful when displaying different datasets of
covering the same area in different windows (for instance using the
Discover>Map Window>Map Linking and Cursor Position options).
Advanced Options
First Line No. allows the initial line number in the output Line field to be
set (default 1)
First Peg No. - allows the initial peg number in the output PegNum field to
be set (default 1)
Peg No. Prefix add a prefix to the peg numbers e.g. RH530, RH531,
RH532
10 Coordinates and Projections 341
Peg No. Suffix add a suffix to the peg numbers e.g. 34 west, 35 west, 36
west
Peg numbers can be set to increase up one line, then follow back down
the net line (i.e. zig-zag)
A triangular grid created using the Offset option under Advanced Options
Dialog Help
Note The Local Grid Layout tool does not support Latitude/Longitude projections;
ensure that the mapper window is in a UTM projection system.
Grid direction
Generate the traverse lines left, right, or on both sides of the defined baseline or
traverse line.
If grid is generated <Both> sides, type the no. of pegs/lines to the left of baseline/
traverse line.
Define the baseline or traverse line by a starting point and line bearing.
Define the baseline or traverse line by a starting point and a second point.
Specify any two of the parameters, and then click the calculator button to
calculate the third. Click the toggle button to move the calculator.
10 Coordinates and Projections 343
Baseline length
Line spacing
Number of lines
Grid parameters
Click and drag in the map window to define a baseline or traverse line. The
corresponding grid parameters are displayed in the X and Y, Baseline/Traverse
line angle, Line length and Projection boxes.
Map
Displays the map coordinates of the first point of the baseline. Click in the X and
Y boxes to edit.
Local
Displays the local grid coordinates of the first point of the baseline. Click in the X
and Y boxes to edit.
Baseline angle
Projection
Grid parameters
Specify any two of the parameters, and then click the calculator button to
calculate the third. Click the toggle button to move the calculator.
Line length
Peg spacing
Number of pegs
Type or calculate the number of pegs. If necessary, move the calculator to the
Line length box and recalculate the line length.
Advanced Options
Displays the Advanced Options Dialog Box, from which you can specify peg and
line numbering and other options.
Output options
Select to add the output tables to the current map window. If a map window other
than the original mapper window is made active, pressing Preview will add the
local grid to this window. This can be useful when displaying different datasets of
covering the same area in different windows.
Preview
Click to generate a preview of the resulting grid after changing the grid
See also
...Generating Traverse Lines and Peg Coordinates
Type the initial line number in the output Line field (default 1).
Type the initial peg number in the output PegNum field (default 1).
Peg numbers increase up one line then follow on down the next line
Type an offset of half the peg spacing to create a diamond peg pattern.
See also
... Generating Traverse Lines and Peg Coordinates
11 Working with Map Objects 347
Selecting Objects
See also
...Digitizing and Data Entry
...Selecting Table Records
...Working with Tables
See also
...Displaying Map Coordinates, Distances and Bearings
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If you have object descriptions other than points in a text file (in general a list of X
and Y coordinate pairs), the only way MapInfo can import these objects is if the
data is initially converted to a MapInfo Interchange Format (MIF) or Drawing
Exchange Format (DXF) file. In most cases this is impractical. Discover provides
the ability to create objects from a variety of coordinate types.
In order to use coordinate data with Discover, the text file should be opened as a
table in MapInfo. For large files, save the coordinate table to a native MapInfo
table for quicker processing.
For all import formats the coordinate system of the coordinate data must be
known. When importing polyline descriptions, there is the option to convert closed
polylines to regions for appropriate formats. Regions are then created with the
current pen and brush styles.
If the polylines are delimited by row then Discover must know whether to expect
a blank line or a line with a different value in the X or Y coordinate column. Use
the Row delimited Polylines to import objects in the Arc Line format, where the
start delimiter line is a sequential record number and the end delimiter line is
END.
11 Working with Map Objects 349
317822 6994520
317911 6999620
309400 7001427
309400 6994833
233410 7665412
236410 7665499
236410 7668390
233410 7668211
If the polylines are delimited by column, Discover must know which column
contains the delimiter and in what form the delimiter takes. Choose the Unique
Attribute option if each node in a polyline is identified by the same attribute value.
Use Start Keyword if the start of each polyline is identified by a word such as
START, or use the Start and End Keywords if both the start and end of each
polyline are identified. If using the start/end keyword options, enter the
appropriate keywords for Discover to search for.
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For both import options, Discover attempts to include any other values found on
the first line of the object description as attributes in the MapInfo table.
The Line on 1 row ASCII import format contains line descriptions with the
coordinates of the two endpoints of the line in one row of the import file/table, as
X1, Y1, X2, Y2. For example:
If there are any attributes in the ASCII file, they are not carried across to the
MapInfo table.
Create map objects by entering node coordinates from the keyboard. Edit the
node coordinates of a selected object.
Usually when creating map objects, you can draw them using a digitiser or
mouse. However, in some cases you may have an object description in
coordinates (such as a property or tenement boundary) or you may wish to create
a polyline or region from a distance/bearing/elevation traverse.
Using Discover, you can enter coordinates directly from the keyboard and build
simple objects, such as ellipses, points or lines, or more complex multi-node
polylines and polygons. You can also edit the shape of existing objects by altering
the node coordinates.
If you have a list of coordinates already in a text file, use the Discover>Table
Utilities>Build Objects from Table function to create objects automatically from
these coordinates.
If the object that you have defined lies outside the map window extents, the map
window is panned to show the object.
In the Key in Shapes dialog, select which map layer in which you wish to create
the new object (choose from any layers in the map window or choose to create a
new table). Discover then uses the projection of the current map window to draw
the objects. You can easily change projection by selecting a projection with the
Favourite Projections option.
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You should then nominate the type of object to draw, the units to use and how to
specify nodes for polylines and polygons. If the map window is in a lat-long
projection, the XY Units control is set to Degrees and disabled. If you are entering
coordinates in degrees, select between decimal degrees and degrees, minutes,
seconds (DMS). DMS format is dd.mmss, for example 47 17 23.45 would be
entered as 47.172345.
The dialog for entering the coordinate information depends on what type of object
you have nominated to draw.
Draw a Point
Select Point as the Object Type and use the Object Style button to select an
appropriate point symbol. Click on the Enter Coordinates button and key in the
X and Y coordinates into the Draw Point dialog. Click OK to create new point.
11 Working with Map Objects 353
Draw a Line
Select Line as the Object Type and use the Object Style button to select an
appropriate line style. Two options are available for drawing line objects: Enter
Nodes by Coordinates enables a user to enter the start and end coordinates of
the new line. Enter Nodes by Distance, Bearing enables the user to specify a
starting coordinate for the line and then a distance, bearing and inclination to the
end point of the line. Choose the Enter Coordinates button to enter the line
information into the Draw Line dialog:
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Draw a Polyline/Polygon
Select Polyline or Region as the Object Type and use the Object Style button
to select an appropriate line/region style. Two options are available for drawing
polyline or region objects: Enter Nodes by Coordinates and Enter Nodes by
Distance, Bearing. Once the appropriate option has been selected, click on the
Enter Coordinates Button.
Enter Nodes by Coordinates enables a user to enter a coordinate pair for each
polyline or region node. Use the Add button to add a coordinate pair to the list,
and the Edit/Delete buttons to modify the Current Nodes list. When you have
entered all the nodes for the object, click the Done button and the object is
constructed in the appropriate map layer.
Leave or enter the next distance/bearing/elevation value and click Add to place
the coordinates of the next point in the list. If you do not have measured
elevations, then leave these as zero. Otherwise, Discover uses negative
elevations for down and positive elevations for up.
Select Arc, Ellipse or Rectangle as the Object Type and use the Object Style
button to select an appropriate line/region style. Click on the Enter Coordinates
button.
If you have an object selected when you choose Key in Shapes, Discover allows
you to edit the existing node coordinates with the same methods described
above. When editing a polyline or polygon, the Add button allows you to add a
node at any position within the object. You are asked where to place the new
node, and the coordinates are then added to the node list. You cannot create or
edit multi-section polylines or regions using this tool in Discover.
Selecting Objects
Select by Proximity
Select by Proximity
Display map objects that are located within a specified distance from one or more
selected objects. Apply additional filter criteria to returned map objects to refine
proximity search.
1. Select the map object or map objects to search around, e.g. faults.
Note You can choose more than one object to perform the proximity search around.
To quickly select all map objects in a layer highlight the layer in the ELC and
choose Select All from the right-mouse click pop-up menu.
2. Choose the layer in the map window that is to be returned in the proximity
search (e.g. mineral occurrence layer). Enter a search buffer Width and
appropriate Units to use. The Resolution value relates to the number of
segments used to create the buffer. The higher the resolution, the
smoother the appearance of the buffer. To view the buffer check the Show
buffer box and choose an appropriate Line Style.
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The Proximity Search will only select map objects that are located within
this buffer zone. If a number of adjoining map objects are selected one
search buffer is created that covers all the adjoining objects.
3. To refine the selected map objects further check the Where box and use
the column and operator pull-down lists to create an expression similar to
that used in an SQL Where condition. This expression informs Discover
to only select map objects located within the buffer that meet the specified
selection criteria. For example, where the copper grade is greater than or
equal to 2 ppm the mineral deposit type equals Au, etc.
4. The search results may be saved to a user defined file name and location.
Otherwise the results will automatically be saved to a temporary table
named PROXSRCH. Selected records may be displayed in a browser
and/or added to the current map window.
Specify a unique map object style to display the selected objects in the
map window.
If the Show buffer box is checked the search buffer is placed into the Cosmetic
layer and may be removed at any time. Existing buffers are not erased by
Discover when the Proximity Search is run again.
See also
... Select by Graphical Style
Dialog Help
Select the map window layer containing the map objects that you want to select.
Buffer
Width
Type the buffer width within which the search is made. If search buffers around
multiple objects overlap, a merged boudary is created.
Resolution
Type the number of segments in the search boundary. Increase this value to
smooth the boundary.
Show buffer
Select to display the search boundary in the map window. The buffer is created
in the cosmetic layer. Buffers for previous searches are retained in the cosmetic
layer until either deleted or the map window is closed.
Line style
Selection refinement
Where
(Field)
(Operator)
(Value)
Output
By default, the search results are saved to the PROXSRCH temporary table.
Save to file
Select to display the Enter Output Table Name dialog box, from which you can
name the output table and select a path name. The output table name is
displayed.
Browse results
Add to mapper
Styles
Click the symbol, line and fill style buttons to set the style of the selected
objects.
See also
... Select by Proximity
Select by Graphical Styles allows you to select all objects from a table that have
the same graphical style attributes as the selected object.
The Select by Style Dialog Box displays the style of the selected object and allows
the selection criteria to be altered. By default, Discover selects all objects with
exactly the same style from the same layer as the selected object. You can refine
the selection criteria to request Discover to select, for example, symbols of the
same colour but of any shape or size, or regions of a particular fill colour
regardless of the fill pattern or line style.
1. With the Select by Style dialog box open, select a graphical object from
the map window - all object types are supported including symbol, lines,
polygons and text. An object in the cosmetic layer may also be selected.
2. Click Get Selected Object Style. The object's properties are displayed.
3. Select which properties to select by. By default all available properties will
be used.
4. Now choose which table to search for matching objects from the pull-down
list. This can be the same as the selection table or different table, but not
the cosmetic layer.
5. By default the output selection will be named the table name plus
"_selection" but this can be altered. The resulting selection can be
opened in a new browser and/or map window.
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See also
... Select by Proximity
Dialog Help
Match styles
Displays the style attributes of the selected object, which you can edit before
making a selection in the map window. Select or clear the check boxes to refine
the selection criteria to select, for example, symbols of the same colour but of any
shape or size, or regions of a particular fill colour regardless of the fill pattern or
line style
Select the table that you want to search for matching objects. This can be the
same as the selection table or different table, but not the cosmetic layer.
Output
Select the check box to name the selection. By default, the name is the table
name plus the extension "_selection. Click the box to edit.
Browse selection
Map selection
See also
...Select by Graphical Style
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Aligning Objects
Create up to 10,000 objects offset from the selected object by specific distances
in the X and Y directions. Enter X and Y offsets (positive values are up and to the
right, negative values are down and to the left) and the number of objects to
create in the X and Y directions (up to 100 in each direction). Discover then
creates a matrix of objects.
Check the Retain attributes from selection box to populate the new object
records with the browser attributes from the seed object.
11 Working with Map Objects 365
Offset
Use this feature to quickly create a table of mapsheet boundaries. You can create
the seed object by using the Discover Key in Shapes tool to enter exact
coordinates for the mapsheet object, and then use Offset Objects to create a full
coverage of mapsheets. The mapsheet boundaries can then be used in Scaled
Output to quickly produce a hardcopy map just for a specific mapsheet.
Note You can offset an object by degrees by setting the map units to degrees.
Note The order in which scaling and rotation operations are carried out may produce
differing results.
Shifting Specify the distance in the map projection units in the X and Y
direction to move each object by. Similar to map units, positive values
increase the eastings and northings.
Move
Scaling Specify the scaling factor for each object. Choose equal scaling
in X and Y to retain the object aspect ratio. You also need to specify the
basepoint position for each object, where the scaling is to be anchored.
11 Working with Map Objects 367
Scale
Base
Scaling an object uniformly by specifying equal X and Y axis ratios
Rotate
Base
Object rotation
The following points should be born in mind when using Object Transform:
If you want to scale and rotate objects relative to one common point, use
the Discover>Data Utilities>Transform Coordinates function.
Aligning Objects
The Discover Align Objects tool enables two or more map objects to be aligned
with respect to each other in a map window. Use the Align Objects tool to create
professional looking legends by aligning legend map objects and text
descriptions.
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Any type of map object or combinations thereof including points, lines, polylines,
polygons/regions or text may be aligned. To align map objects simply select the
map objects using any of the MapInfo selection tools and select the Object
Editing>Align Objects menu option. The Align Objects dialog is displayed:
Map objects can be aligned with respect to each other vertically or horizontally.
When aligning map objects all selected objects will be aligned with the map object
that has the greatest extent according to the alignment selected. For example, a
Left Vertical alignment will align selected map objects with respect to the
selected map object which is located the furthest to the left/east in the map
window. The opposite applies for the right/west of the map window for a Right
Vertical alignment. Vertical Centre alignment will align selected map objects
with respect to the centre of the selected map object with the greatest horizontal
extent in the selection.
11 Working with Map Objects 369
Align
Applying Vertical Centre and Horizontal Centre alignment options to map objects (left)
results in the smaller object aligning itself to the larger map object (right).
Map objects can also be aligned with respect to each other in a horizontal
direction. Top Horizontal alignment will align selected map objects with respect
to the selected map object which is located the furthest to the top/north in the map
window. The opposite applies for the bottom/south of the map window for a
Bottom Horizontal alignment. Horizontal Centre alignment will align selected
map objects with respect to the centre of the selected map object with the greatest
vertical extent in the selection.
To equally distribute a group of map objects along the Vertical or Horizontal axes,
use the Disperse Vertical and Disperse Horizontal options. For example, if 5
objects are selected to be dispersed horizontally, the 3 intermediary objects will
be distributed evenly between the X coordinates of the two end-member objects.
Note that for the Disperse option, coincident points (where the centroids of
multiple objects are identical) can either be treated as:
As a single point so they are not separated. This is enabled by the Keep
coincident points coincident when dispersing option.
If the position of the aligned map objects is not correct use the Undo button to
return the map objects to their original position. The Undo button will only undo
the last alignment and only if the original selection has not changed.
Thinning
Cutting
Joining
Inserting Nodes
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Clipping
Smoothing
The line smoother works by interpolating a spline curve through the selected
polylines and adding nodes where necessary.
Use of the Polyline Smoother: the original polyline of the left, and the smoothed output on
the right
Poor results are obtained when a minimum number of nodes define a polyline. For
example, if a polyline in the shape of a rectangle is defined by only four nodes,
the line smoother modifies the fundamental shape and produces an elliptical
shaped polyline.
11 Working with Map Objects 371
The polyline smoother can be used to overwrite a polyline with the smoothed line
or write the smoothed line to a separate table. If the smoothed polyline is written
to a different table, then data attributes are only carried across with the polyline if
the structure of the two tables is identical.
Thinning
You may wish to use the thin polyline options when you are using detailed data
at a much smaller scale than it was digitised at. For example, you may wish to
make a less detailed copy of a complex piece of coastline. Discover provides two
methods of thinning polylines and polygons as outlined below.
Select the polylines or regions to thin (use any of the MapInfo selection methods)
and then nominate a node thinning factor. Discover allows you to discard from 5%
(1 in 20) to 95% (19 out of every 20) of the nodes in the selected objects.
This method of thinning polylines and regions may not produce acceptable results
on some data sets such as geological boundaries and you may need to use the
second thinning method described below.
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Discover allows you to calculate statistics on the selection of polylines before you
nominate a thinning factor. If you wish to retain the original, more detailed, data
set make sure to save the processed data under a different name. Use the
MapInfo File>Save Copy As menu option.
Note Do not thin regions that have adjoining regions as common boundaries will not
necessarily remain the same.
Use this method of thinning nodes in a polyline or region for most natural and
geological map objects such as contours or geological boundary lines.
For the thinning scale, the same process is carried out with a thinning width
implied by the specified scale. The thinning width is calculated as 1 thousandth of
the specified map scale, so that for a map scale of 1:10,000 a thinning width of 10
m (or whatever current units are in use) is implied.
Use the Thin for scale option when you know what scale you are viewing your
data at. Otherwise, use the Thinning width option if you know what size features
and level of detail you need to retain.
11 Working with Map Objects 373
Cutting
Cut any object (except points and text) with a line that crosses the object. Select
the objects to cut, choose the menu option and select the cutting line to execute
the cut.
When you have selected the objects to cut, choose the Object Editing>Line Cut
menu option. Discover then prompts you to select the line to perform the cutting
operation. As soon as you have selected a line, Discover carries out the cutting
operation.
Joining
Another way of filtering the lines to join is to use an attribute field. Lines will only
be joined which are within the entered search distance and angle and which have
the same attribute value; e.g. drainage classifications or utility types. To use this
option check the Join lines by value in column box and select the attribute field
from the pull-down list.
The resulting concatenated lines may be created in the original line table or check
the Operate on copy of data box to create a new table containing the joined
linework.
11 Working with Map Objects 375
Note If the joined lines are created in the same table, the MapInfo File>Revert Table
menu option can be used to return to the original segmented line work so long as
the table has not been saved. If it looks like there are still joined lines after using
this menu option, zoom in the map window to refresh the view.
To remove deleted (grey) rows from the browser of the original table select
File>Save Table and then Table>Maintenance>Pack Table.
Inserting Nodes
Insert nodes at specified intervals from the beginning of a line or into polylines/
polygons at regular spacings between existing nodes.
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The MapInfo Add Node utility only allows one node to be added at a time to an
object. The Discover Insert Nodes utility enables multiple nodes to be added to
line, polyline or polygon objects in a single pass.
Nodes can be inserted into a map window selection or in all objects in a table. If
a map window selection is used, select the objects prior to choosing Insert Nodes
from the Object Editing menu.
Once you have selected the objects into which the nodes are to be inserted, the
Insert Nodes dialog is displayed.
11 Working with Map Objects 377
Use this option for line objects (lines with start and end nodes only). Enter
the desired interval into the Enter Maximum Node Spacing window and
choose the appropriate units from the pull-down list.
This option will initially measure the distance between the existing nodes
and if the distance between these nodes exceeds the distance entered
into the Enter Maximum Node Spacing window then a new node will be
inserted mid-way between these nodes. If the distance between the newly
inserted node and the nodes either side still exceed the maximum node
spacing then another node is inserted mid-way between the nodes. This
process will continue until the distance between all nodes in the object is
equal to or falls below the maximum node spacing.
To view the nodes once they have been created make sure the table it editable
in the map window. Select a single object and use the Reshape button to view
all the nodes in a table.
Note To create point objects from nodes within a map object use the
Discover>Object Editing>Extract Nodes tool. This is particularly useful for
creating points from nodes inserted along line at regular intervals.
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Use this feature to ensure that polyline coverage for drainage, roads etc. have a
consistent line direction. This is important for providing indications of direction of
flow, or when creating worm diagrams for stream sampling data.
Use the Donut Polygons function when a polygon map contains overlapping or
in-lying polygons to cut-out or excise the smaller polygons from the larger ones.
Imagine you digitize two geological boundaries into a layer, one within the other.
The outer one is a Cainozoic unit, the inner one a granite intrusion. If you use the
MapInfo Select tool to click on the Cainozoic unit, the selected region includes
the area of the granite. This inner boundary needs to be cut out or excised from
the outer boundary, so that the outer boundary appears like a donut.
When this is achieved and you ask MapInfo to report on all mineral occurrences
within the Cainozoic unit, it correctly ignores those occurrences that fall within the
in-lying granite polygon.
11 Working with Map Objects 379
Discover allows you to cut out all overlapping polygons for an entire polygon table
in one step. All the attributes that have previously been associated with the
polygons are preserved. The cutting is performed on the basis of polygon area
with smaller polygons always being excised from larger polygons.
All you need to specify are the names for the input and output files. As Discover
processes the polygons, it may come across some cases that cannot be
satisfactorily cut out. In this case a message is written to the file DONUT.ERR in
the temporary files folder.
The processing may take quite some time to complete. The more polygons and
the larger the polygons, the longer it takes to process the table. To decrease
processing time, you should ensure that the table to be processed is not open in
a map window (so that MapInfo does not spend extra time redrawing the window
each time an object is modified).
Note If the data being processed has not been accurately digitized (for example,
polygons overlap many times along a common boundary) then Discover may
take a lot longer than expected as it attempts to ensure that no overlapping
polygons remain in the map.
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Clipping
Discard data that lie outside a selected region, clipping the retained data at the
region boundary. The clipped data may be written to new tables in the same folder
or to a new folder.
Note Clip to Polygon does not clip objects contained in the Cosmetic layer.
You can use Clip to Polygon to create subsets of data from larger data sets. For
example, you may wish to keep all data for a particular tenement in one folder.
You can display all your data in a map window and select the required tenement
boundary. Discover can then discard all data that doesnt lie within the tenement.
This allows you to easily distribute the data for just that tenement or produce
maps showing only the relevant data. This can also be a great way of producing
vector data subsets for relinquishment reports.
Whilst this can be fairly straightforward to do in MapInfo with one layer, it is very
time consuming to do for multi-layered data sets. Discover works with an
unlimited number of layers, allowing unsupervised clipping to be performed with
just a few mouse clicks.
Note To clip Raster Imagery, use the Images>Clip Image tool. To clip Gridded
Surfaces, use the Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Clip tool.
Choose between clipping outside and clipping inside the selected polygon.
Clipping outside removes all data lying outside the polygon, whilst clipping inside
removes data lying within the polygon. Discover uses a combination of
techniques to discard the data that is to be clipped.
For clipping outside, objects that lie totally outside the selected polygon are
discarded. Similarly, objects that lie totally within the polygon are kept without
editing. For lines, polylines and regions that lie across the boundary of the
selected polygon, these objects are simply split. Other objects such as arcs,
rectangles and ellipses are converted to polylines or regions and then split. For
text objects, if the centroid of the text lies within the selected polygon, the text is
retained, otherwise it is discarded (text objects cannot be split).
11 Working with Map Objects 381
Discover lists all of the tables displayed in the map window that can be clipped.
Raster images and thematic layers are ignored. If you wish to leave a table out of
the clipping operation uncheck the checkbox to the right of the table name. The
table name is greyed out to show that it is not to be clipped.
By default, Discover suggests that you do not edit your existing data, but copy the
clipped data to new tables with similar names to the original tables. The clipped
tables contain the original file name followed by a _CLIP or user-defined suffix.
Clip Layer Dialog showing clipping options and default clip suffix
When you click OK, Discover asks which folder to save the new tables to (if
operating on a copy of the data). When the clipping operation is carried out, all
tables are packed and saved, and removed from the map window. Any thematic
layers in the original map window are discarded, so you should ensure that you
have a workspace saved prior to re-running the Clip to Polygon command. You
cannot undo a Clip to Polygon operation, and for this reason we recommend that
you operate on a copy of the original data.
Extracting Nodes
Use Discover to assign aggregate values using data attributes from map objects
in one table to the containing polygon map objects in another table. For example,
assign the median Au rock-chip sample value to the surrounding geological unit
polygon from which a number of rock chip samples are taken.
Alternatively, use the Assign Values function to assign polygon data attributes in
one table to contained map objects in another table. For example, assign the
underlying mapped geological unit to all soil samples that are taken within this
boundary.
Specify the Assignment relationship between the two tables. Choose the From
Table and from column via the pull-down lists for the table that contains the
value to assign. Choose the To Table and to column via the pull-down lists for
the table that is to be updated with the assigned value. The method of operation
is chosen in the Assign Direction control. Choose to assign from Contents to
Container or from Container to Contents.
Assigning values from one table column to another with a selectable operator
The chosen Assign Direction method will influence the Assignment operators
available for selection.
11 Working with Map Objects 383
Contents to Container
Frequency
Minimum
Maximum
Sum
Mean
Median
Standard Deviation
The Contents to Container method can be used calculate the mean assay value
of stream sediment samples weighted by catchment area or to construct a simple
density map by assigning the number of mineralised samples within grid squares
to the grid squares.
Container to Contents
Dialog Help
Assignment relationship
From table
Select the table that contains the data that you want to assign. If the assign
direction is Contents to Container, this is typically a point or sample data table.
If the assign direction is Container to Contents, select a polygon data table.
From Column
Select the column that contains the data values you want to assign, or select
<Expression> to create an expression from the Expression Construction Dialog
Box.
To table
Select the table that you want the attributes assigned to. If the assign direction is
Contents to Container, select a polygon data table. If the assign direction is
Container to Contents, this is typically a point or sample data table.
To column
Select the column that you want to assign the values to, or select <Expression>
to create an expression from the Expression Construction Dialog Box.
Assign direction
Assignment operation
Frequency
Minimum
11 Working with Map Objects 385
Maximum
Sum
Mean
Median
Standard Deviation
See also
...Assigning Values to and from Polygons
...Assigning Values from a Grid to Map Objects
This feature is useful when analysing tables containing linear map objects such
as faults, fold axes or creeks where no directional attributes exist. Use the
Discover Line Orientation utility to easily obtain the orientation of a line or
polyline and add the direction as an attribute into a selected column in the table.
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Select the column to add the line orientation attribute from the Add Line
Orientation to Column pull-down list. The direction is generally the average
orientation for each polyline although options to record the orientation of the First
segment or Last segment are available. In the Use Angles in Range choose
the desired angle range from 0-360, 0-180 or 180-360 for recording the line
orientation attribute. Select a Round By interval from the pull-down list.
Dialog Help
Polyline orientation by
Select if you want to average the orientation for each polyline, or use the
orientation of the first or last segment.
Round by
See also
Calculating Line Orientation
Extracting Nodes
Nodes or line segments from a polyline or polygon can be extracted using the
Discover Extract Nodes utility. For Example, extract nodes from contour lines
and re-process the 3 dimensional point data to create a new interpolation grid.
Extracted node coordinates from polylines or polygons are added to a new table
as attributes with the option to display the node point objects in a map window.
Extracted line segments are automatically displayed in a map window.
Select the polyline or polygons to use in the extraction and choose the Extract
Nodes menu option. The Node Extraction dialog is displayed:
Select the Extraction Type. If the Extract Points option is selected the
Extraction Options will become available. Check the Create point objects box
to display the extracted nodes in a map window and select an appropriate symbol
style. The extracted node points are created in the same projection as the base
polyline or polygon table. All columns in the base table will be added to the
extracted node table but only the column selected as the Get attribute from
column will display attribute data.
For very detailed linework it may not be necessary to extract every node as a
point. In this case enter a number greater than 1 in the Extract every n nodes
control. For example, Extract very 4 nodes will extract every 4th node in the
selected objects. Enter a file name and location to store the extracted nodes.
Note Nodes cannot be extracted from map objects in the Cosmetic layer.
Dialog Help
Note Nodes cannot be extracted from map objects in the cosmetic layer.
Extraction type
Extraction options
Symbol style
All columns in the base table will be added to the extracted node table. Select the
column used to display attribute data.
11 Working with Map Objects 389
A value of 1 will extract all nodes. Type a value to sample every Nth node.
See also
...Extracting Nodes
Area Change dialog set-up to perform a detailed comparison between the two areas.
Regions that have changed in size and shape is displayed in different patterns as areas
gained and lost
Select the two tables to compare from the Table1 and Table2 pull-down lists.
Select the polygon (line or point) attribute column to compare. Discover
automatically assigns a default report table and map table name and destination.
Use the Report Table and Map Table buttons to assign new names and locations
if desired. A tab-delimited text file export option is also available: the text file is
saved to the same directory as the Report Table, with the same name.
The report produced by Discover lists for each unique attributed code:
If the Show codes lost to/gained from box is checked, a Change field will
additionally report on which attribute codes have either lost or gained in area.
11 Working with Map Objects 391
In order for Discover to display the area change information visibly in a map, the
Lost area style and Gained area style should be set. Discover can use the
original colour of the polygons and apply a different pattern to show whether area
has been lost or gained. Alternatively, Discover can retain the original pattern of
the polygons and use a different colour to show area change. With either of these
two options, the display of the changed area retains some of the display attributes
of the original data. The user can also specify a new style to show all gained areas
and a different style to show all lost areas. In this case, all lost areas are displayed
in the same style, regardless of their map code.
Map window opened on completion of Area Change computation. Note area gained or
area lost displayed in different patterns
Dialog Help
Table 1
ID column
Select the polygon attribute column that you want compared. The values in this
column must match the corresponding values in the ID column of the second
table.
Table 2
ID column
Select the polygon attribute column that you want compared. The values in this
column must match the corresponding values in the ID column of the first table.
Report Table
The file name and path name of the report table is displayed next to the button.
Click the button to edit.
Select to export the report as a tab-delimited text file, which is saved with the
same name to the same folder as the report table.
Map Table
The file name and path name of the map table is displayed next to the button.
Click the button to edit.
11 Working with Map Objects 393
Select to add a Change column to the report, which reports the areas lost or
gained for each code.
Options
Area units
Distance units
Show changes in same colour, new pattern: Retain original colour and
apply new patterns to lost and gained areas.
Show changes in same pattern, new colour: Retain original pattern and
apply a new colours to lost and gained areas.
Show changes in new colour, new pattern: Apply new colour and
patterns to lost and gained areas.
Click to change the fill style used to identify lost areas. The colour and pattern
applied will depend on which option is selected to show changes (colour, pattern,
or both).
Click to change the fill style used to identify gained areas. The colour and pattern
applied will depend on which option is selected to show changes (colour, pattern,
or both).
See also
...Calculating Area Change
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Note The Polybuilder tool has been upgraded and added to the MapInfo Professional
Menu. It is advisable to use this upgraded version of the tool. It can be at
accessed by opening a map or a workspace and choosing Map>Polybuilder.
Map window on left showing flagged errors including duplicate lines, intersections and free
end points. Map window on right showing completed polygons.
1. Check Linework
In order to create polygons from linework datasets, the linework must be
free of any lines which are duplicated, extend past or fall short of other
lines. This tool flags all such errors.
11 Working with Map Objects 395
2. Correct Linework
The linework dataset is then cleaned, removing all identified errors. All
the overlapping linework is broken down into individual line segments.
This tool can be run in either an automated and manual mode.
3. Create Polygons
All cleaned line segments that enclose an area are joined together,
creating polygons.
Digitize Linework
The digitzing utility allows source linework to be created from scratch. This
tool enables the storage of feature linestyles to aid in consistent data
capture. It also allows features to be added as attributes during the
linework creation process.
In each of the PolyBuilder processes the original files are always maintained.
Any new files created contain the results of each procedure/tool plus any
unprocessed data from the original file, leaving the original files intact. In this way
the PolyBuilder output files can be checked and re-processed if necessary
before saving the final linework file. The projection of the original file is also
retained in any new files created.
Note Polybuilder cannot edit read only tables, and these cannot be selected. Save a
native copy first using File>Save Copy As. Polybuilder will also automatically
save any changes on an unsaved input table.
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PolyBuilder Dialog
The dialog can be expanded using the Arrow button. It is necessary for the
dialog to be expanded in order to view the results after cleaning data or to view
available digitizing styles.
Linework Layer
The Linework pull-down list displays the current layers in the active map window.
Select the linework layer to check and clean or the polygonized layer to attribute
from this pull-down list.
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Text Layer
The Text pull-down list displays the current layers in the active map window. The
text layer which contains annotations to be used to attribute polygons is selected
from this pull-down list.
Menus
PolyBuilder Toolbar
Digitize Linework
Select a line style and manually digitize linework into a MapInfo window.
Linestyles can be selected from predefined styles and feature names can be
automatically added to an column in the table.
Check Linework
Check digitized linework for free endpoints, overlaps and duplicates according to
options set in the Preferences dialog. Errors are flagged in the map window and
reported in the PolyBuilder dialog.
Create Polygons
Join together all adjacent line segments which form continuous enclosed
boundaries to create a series of polygon objects.
Attribute Polygons
Use labels from a separate text or annotation table to add attribute data to the
newly created polygon map objects.
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Linework Tools
Additional line tools that can be run as separate processes to Break all existing
linework at intersections, Join adjacent linework together or Filter to simplify
complex linework and reduce file size and processing time.
Fix Linework
Used in conjunction with the View Previous/Next error flags this tool enables
linework errors to be fixed manually by extending lines.
Preferences
Edit>Preferences
Linework
The Linework controls are primarily used when running the Check Linework
process to initially detect problems in the linework dataset.
Endpoints Check to flag all free endpoints (lines which do not intersect
with another line)
Gaps smaller than Check and enter value to flag all free endpoints that
lie within the specified distance of another line.
Gaps larger than Check and enter value to flag all free endpoints which
lie outside the specified distance from another line.
When Gaps Smaller than or Gaps Greater than is selected for use, the
options to manually select Overlaps and Duplicates is greyed out.
Therefore when checking linework using these options, only Free End
Points are flagged.
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Extend Distance Value used in the Extend and Break Linework process
to extend free endpoints the specified Extend Distance. End points
which are extended and make contact with another line will be broken
whereas end points which do not make contact with another line will be
restored to their pre-extension distance once the process is complete.
Note The units used in the Gaps smaller than, Gaps larger than and Extend
Distance are taken from the current map window distance units. To change the
units click on the map window, select Map>Options from the MapInfo menu bar
change the Distance Units in the displayed dialog.
Polygons
Field Information
Digitize Linework
1. Select the layer to digitize the new linework into from the Linework Layer
pull-down list. The new linework table must already be created in MapInfo
and added to the active map window in order for it to be available for
selection in this list. The table must contain a Character column to contain
the digitized feature name. The Digitize Linework button will not be
active if this column is not present.
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Linework Styles
Before digitizing linework using the PolyBuilder utility a linework Style must be
selected. A Style is a predefined line style, colour and thickness combination
which represents a particular linear feature. e.g. Drainage, creeks, roads, faults,
folds, etc. These Styles can be saved and re-used in the future when digitizing
future linework to ensure consistent data displays between similar linear features.
The Style name can also be added into a designated field in the digitizing table
as attribute information. For example, all lines digitized using a linework style
called River will have River added as an attribute into a specified column in the
table.
3. When the Digitize Linework button is selected in Step 2 the Field pull-
down list becomes available. Choose a field (columns) from the linework
layer to store the name of the linework Style used for each digitized line
as an attribute.
Note Linework Styles can only be stored in fields which are of a Character data type.
Make sure that the field selected is wide enough to store the Style name
otherwise it will be truncated without warning. Use the MapInfo Table>
Maintenance>Table Structure utility to add or modify fields in the linework table
if necessary.
4. To select linework Styles from a previously saved list select the Import
Styles option from the Edit menu. The saved Styles are listed in the
window at the bottom of the PolyBuilder dialog. To create a new linework
Style go to Step 5.
6. In the Digitizing Style dialog enter a name for the new Style.
7. Click on the Line Style button. Choose a line style, colour and thickness
for this Style. Click OK to add the new Style to the PolyBuilder dialog
window. Repeat steps 4 to 6 to add more linework Styles to this list.
11 Working with Map Objects 403
8. To edit a linework Style highlight it in the list and then right-mouse click
and select Edit from the pop-up menu. Alternatively, to delete a linework
Style select Remove from the pop-up menu.
9. To save a new or edited Styles list, select the Export Styles option from
the Edit menu and enter a file name and location. Linework Styles are
stored in an ASCII file with a .DAT extension. To reuse saved linework
Styles see Step 4.
Digitizing
10. To digitize linework highlight the appropriate Style from the Styles list in
the window at the bottom of the PolyBuilder dialog. PolyBuilder should
automatically make the selected layer editable.
11. Choose the Polyline drawing button from the Drawing toolbar and
digitize the line in the map window.
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Check Linework
Check Linework is usually the first process to be run on line data when it is
going to be used for polygon creation or to create a linear network. The purpose
of this procedure is to check all the linework in a table and flag all instances of
the following:
Free Endpoints Lines which do not intersect with any other lines
The Check Linework utility will only process lines and polyline strings. Other
elements such as arcs will be ignored and multi-segment elements will report an
error. The Check Linework process will therefore flag a line as a free endpoint
where it joins an arc element. It is recommended that all multi-segment linework
is disaggregated into individual elements and to avoid using arc elements before
running the Check Linework procedure.
The Check Linework utility will also return an overlap error when a line string or
shape contains multiple vertices that are the same. This problem can be fixed by
removing the offending vertex.
2. In the PolyBuilder dialog, select the Linework Layer from the pull-down
list.
Error Flags
After the Check Linework process is run all endpoints, overlaps and duplicates
are marked using a different type of flag in order for them to be easily
distinguished in the map window. The PolyBuilder window displays the total
number of line segments (elements) in the table, the number of flags created for
Free Endpoints, Overlaps and Duplicates and the time it took to process the
table.
These error flags are placed in a temporary file called PolyBuilderErrors and is
added to the original linework map window. This error table is continually
overwritten during the various processes in the PolyBuilder utility and is
permanently deleted upon exiting MapInfo.
In the map window Free Endpoints are denoted by a circle, Overlaps where two
lines intersect are marked by a square and Duplicates are indicated by a thick
red line defining the extent of the duplication.
To fix the flagged errors follow the steps outlined in Correct Linework. When the
errors are corrected rerun the Check Linework process to ensure that all the
linework problems are fixed. It is not unusual for the Check Linework process to
be run multiple times before a dataset is free from errors.
11 Working with Map Objects 407
When checking linework in a linear dataset e.g. a road or drainage network, free
end points may be legitimate and not just lines which have fallen short of
intersecting with other lines. The user may first check the dataset for Overlaps
and Duplicates before controlling the method of checking for free end points.
This is done by modifying the Edit>Preferences settings to only flag those errors
with a gap smaller than or larger than a calculated distance.
For example, If the Gaps Smaller than option in the Edit>Preferences dialog is
selected and the desired distance is set to 10m, PolyBuilder will only flag the free
end points with a gap smaller than 10m from another line. In a road network where
roads often stop short of another road, selection of the correct distance will result
in error flags being created only for those roads which are intended to intersect
another road. See Preferences for more information on setting these Check
Linework options.
Note The units used in the Gaps smaller than, Gaps larger than and Extend
Distance are taken from the current map window distance units. To change the
units click on the map window, select Map>Options from the MapInfo menu bar
change the Distance Units in the displayed dialog.
Correct Linework
To correct lines which have been flagged as being erroneous in the Check
Linework utility there are two processes available in PolyBuilder:
During the Extend and Break Linework process duplicate line segments are
removed, undershoots are extended, overshoots are removed with all
intersecting linework broken down into separate line strings ready for use in the
Create Polygons utility.
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The corrected linework data file is named using the original linework file with a
_clean extension. i.e. if the original file is Linework.TAB, the file containing the
corrected linework will be named Linework_clean.TAB. The new file is created
using the same projection as the original linework table and is added to the map
window. The original linework table is removed from the map window and closed
and the cleaned table is added as the Linework Layer into the PolyBuilder
dialog.
An Undershoot error occurs where a line does not quite reach the point intended
on a nearby line whereas an Overshoot (or dangle) is the result of a line
extending too far past a line when it should be terminated.
To correct undershoot and overshoot errors the Extend and Break utility extends
all Free Endpoint lines by a user-defined distance and then a linework break
process is run to cut all intersecting linework. The aim of this process is to leave
the clean linework free of undershoots with only a possible small overshoot as a
result of the initial extension distance being slightly too large.
After all the Free Endpoint lines are extended all lines now have a length which
is less than the Extend Distance are deleted and all Free Endpoint lines that are
longer than this distance will be reduced by the Extend Distance. This should
result in the removal of any small overshoots created in the extend process and
the return of all lines that did not overlap any other linework to their original length.
See Extend Distance for more information.
Finally, the process which deletes lines with a free endpoint of length less than
the original user defined distance is repeated to account for any overshoots in the
original data. Upon completion of this procedure all undershoots and overshoots
should have been removed and the data should be free of overlaps and
duplicates.
11 Working with Map Objects 409
Re-run the Check Linework utility as the Extend and Break Linework process
does not fix all errors and some manual correction is generally required. See Fix
Linework for more information. One of the most common errors is where two
parallel or near-parallel free end point lines remain and must be corrected
manually as they will not join when extended by the nominated distance.
Extend Distance
The Extend Distance option is set in the Preferences dialog and is used to
automatically control the extend search distance. The Extend Distance needs to
be chosen carefully and with a good understanding of the data. The distance
should be large enough to fix as many undershoots/overshoots as possible but
not so large as to cause a lot of unwanted intersections. Any errors that remain
will be identified and need to be corrected manually using the procedure outlined
in Fix Linework.
Fix Linework
The Fix Linework correction utility is used in conjunction with the View Previous/
Next Error Flags buttons and the Delete Error Flag option. It has been
developed to assist in the correction of errors flagged during the Check Linework
process and not corrected using the automated Extend and Break Linework
process.
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After running the Check Linework tool, any errors not automatically fixed will be
marked with an error flag. To manually find and fix these errors, it is necessary to
scroll through the dataset using the View Previous/Next Error Flag buttons.
The map window will centre the error flag in the view and make it available for
correction. As each error is corrected, the user can proceed to the next error flag
by selecting View Next Error Flag. It is also possible to view the previous error
flag by selecting View Previous Error Flag.
Note It is only possible to view the previous error flag if the Automatic Error Flag
Deletion option is unchecked in the Delete Error Flag menu.
These options can be used to delete the currently selected error flag, any
particular type of error flag or all error flags. The flag deletion type is selected from
the Delete Error Flag menu.
To delete single or multiple error flags select them in the map window and click
on the Delete Error Flag button.
To delete all error flags of a particular type e.g. intersections or endpoints select
the appropriate option from the Delete Error Flag list.
11 Working with Map Objects 411
The Automatic Error Flag Deletion option will automatically delete flags as they
are moved through for correction using the View Next Error Flag button.
If after running Check Linework two lines intending to finish at the same point
overshoot by a small distance this will result in two free end points and an overlap
as shown below.
If the Extend and Break Linework utility is run on this data the overlap error will
be automatically fixed and only the free end point errors will remain.
There are two types of Free End Point errors which are flagged:
Free End Point Dangle - Before and after deleting the dangle
In the example above the Free End Point error flag is placed on the line segment
which is the dangle. This short line segment was created after going through the
PolyBuilder processes (Check Linework and Extend and Break Linework).
The original line has been broken, correcting the overlap error and the Free End
Point error flag placed at the end of the dangle.
To correct this dangle, the line segment should simply be deleted using the
keyboard Delete button. Click on View Next Error Flag to move to the next error
flag.
Note It is only possible to view the previous error flag if the Automatic Error Flag
Deletion option is unchecked in the Delete Error Flag menu.
2. Undershoot - A line falls short of its intended finish position and a gap is
present. Gaps within linework used to create polygons restrict the creation
of areas and must be repaired.
11 Working with Map Objects 413
Free End Point Undershoot - Before and after extending the undershoot
In the example above the Free End Point error flag is placed on the line which
requires extending to remove the gap. Using the MapInfo Selection tool from
the Main Toolbar, highlight the line to intersect. Then select the Fix Linework
tool from the PolyBuilder toolbar. The line will automatically be extended to the
selected line and close the gap. The selected line is also automatically broken at
the point where the lines intersect.
Click on View Next Error Flag to move to the next error flag.
Note It is only possible to view the previous error flag if the Automatic Error Flag
Deletion option is unchecked in the Delete Error Flag menu.
Overlap
The error flag and overlapping linework are highlighted. This error is automatically
fixed using the Extend and Break Linework utility and should not require manual
intervention.
Duplicates
The error flag and the elements that contain the duplicate section are highlighted.
This error is automatically fixed using the Extend and Break Linework utility and
should not require manual intervention.
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Create Polygons
Create Polygons is a procedure that joins line segments which enclose an area
and then converts the closed linework strings to a region or polygon object. The
new polygon data file is named using the clean linework file with a _polygon
extension. i.e. if the clean file is Linework_clean.TAB, the file containing the
polygons will be named Linework_clean_polygons.TAB. The new file is created
using the same projection as the clean linework table and is added to the map
window.
1. In the PolyBuilder dialog select the cleaned linework from the Linework
Layer pull-down list.
AREA - Float
CENT_X - Float
CENT_Y - Float
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The POLY_ID field for each polygon is populated with "*" until it is attributed using
the Attribute Polygons with Text utility. The AREA field is populated with the area
of the polygon and the CENT_X and CENT_Y are populated with the X and Y
coordinates of the centroid of the polygon.
To create an additional table that contains the centroids of each newly created
polygon make sure that the Place Polygon Centroids option is checked in the
Preferences dialog.
Polygon Errors
When creating polygons it is possible to get a polygon loop error. This error
occurs when the line loops back on itself while tracing out a polygon. The error is
flagged by a red triangle symbol and it may be difficult to determine the cause of
the loop.
Generally a polygon loop error may indicate unnecessary or missing linework. For
example, in the figure below a possible line is missing which is need to divide the
larger polygon into two regions a and b. PolyBuilder will create polygons
irrespective of polygon loop errors but it is important to later locate the cause of
these errors and either delete unnecessary linework or add linework until all the
errors have been corrected.
Another error that may be encountered in this process is the centroid error which
will occur if a polygon is too small to contain the calculated centroid. It is possible
to construct shapes that are so small that no possible centroid point falls inside
them. This normally indicates extreme circumstances such as 'sliver' polygons,
which are usually small and safe to ignore. Later processing is not normally
inhibited.
11 Working with Map Objects 417
Donut Polygons
Where a polygon is created that falls entirely within another polygon it will be
excised (or donuted) from the larger polygon.
Attribute Polygons with Text enables polygons created from a linework file to
be assigned an attribute from a piece of text which is located within the enclosed
polygon object. The text is added as an attribute in the browser for each polygon
object into a column named POLY_ID.
The location of the text used to attribute a polygon is always the bottom left hand
corner irrespective of its justification. The text can be any size and length provided
that the bottom-left corner of the text label is located within the designated
polygon. When the text is added to the polygon table the POLY_ID column will
automatically be adjusted to the width of the longest text string in the text file. To
attribute polygons using text:
2. Open the table that contains the text data into the same map window.
3. In the PolyBuilder dialog select the cleaned linework from the Linework
Layer pull-down list.
4. Select the text layer from the Text Layer pull-down list.
6. To see the Attribute Polygons with Text results expand the PolyBuilder
dialog.
After running the Attribute Polygons with Text process a number of possible
error conditions can result which are displayed in the PolyBuilderErrors layer
which added to the map window.
11 Working with Map Objects 419
No Node Polygon does not contain any text strings and a red hollow
diamond shaped symbol is placed at the centroid of each polygon for
identification in the map window.
Multiple Node Polygon contains more than one text string. A red filled
diamond shaped symbol is placed at the centroid of each polygon for
identification in the map window.
Node Outside Text strings which do not fall within a polygon. A red
circle is placed at the text centroid for identification in the map window.
All polygons that are properly identified will have their POLY_ID field updated in
the polygon table. Any polygons which fall into any of the above error categories
will have an attribute entry of "*****" in the polygon table.
If there are polygons which are to be attributed with the same text make sure that
the Allow Duplicate IDs option is checked in the Preferences dialog. If this option
is unchecked and there are multiple instances of the same attribute in the text
table a large number of entries and symbols are added to the PolyBuilderErrors
table and a message such as "114 duplicate text id's" will be displayed. Check this
option in the Preferences dialog and rerun the process to correct.
All of these processes create a new file containing the results of each procedure
plus any unprocessed data from the initial file, leaving the original files complete.
This enables the output files to be checked, corrected and re-processed if it is
found to be unsatisfactory before finally saving the new file to the original file
name.
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Break Linework
Break Linework takes linework from the selected linework file and breaks it into
individual line segments where an overlap occurs. Any duplicated lines are
removed and the resulting lines are saved to a new file. The new broken data file
is named using the original linework file with a _break extension. i.e. if the
original file is Linework.TAB, the file containing the broken linework will be
named Linework_break.TAB. The new file is created using the same projection
as the original linework table.
Unlike Extend and Break Linework, the original file is not closed and the new file
is added to the current mapper window. After the Break Linework is completed
the Check Linework process is run on the new linework file. This should produce
no errors other than free endpoints, if applicable.
The Break Linework utility can only be used with line and polyline data and does
not support arc or multi-segment elements. Any arc or multi-segment elements
will be copied to the output file so that this file will look the same as the original
linework table except that all the linework errors, other than free endpoints, will be
removed.
If the Honour Symbology option is checked in the Preferences dialog only lines
with the same symbology (line style, colour and thickness) will be broken. If this
option is unchecked then overlapping lines with different symbology will be
broken. All linework must be in the same file for it to be broken.
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Join Linework
Join Linework takes linework from the selected linework file and joins it into
continuous line strings where elements are adjacent. Joining lines can
significantly reduce the number of elements in a file and result in a reduction in
file size.
The new joined data file is named using the original linework file with a _join
extension. i.e. if the original file is Linework.TAB, the file containing the joined
linework will be named Linework_join.TAB. The new file is created using the
same projection as the original linework table. The Join Linework process does
not introduce any new linework errors.
The Join Linework utility can only be used with line and polyline data and does
not support arc or multi-segment elements. Any arc or multi-segment elements
will be copied to the output file so that this file will look the same as the original
linework table except that all the linework errors, other than free endpoints, will be
removed.
All the joined linework will be open even if the strings have a common start and
end vertice. To convert closed polylines to polygons check the Close option in the
Preferences dialog.
If the Honour Symbology option is checked in the Preferences dialog only lines
with the same symbology (line style, colour and thickness) will be joined. If this
option is unchecked then adjacent lines with different symbology will be joined. All
linework must be in the same file for it to be joined.
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Filter Linework
Filter Linework is used to simplify complex linework and reduce file size and
processing time. Linework is filtered by removing vertices that are within the
tolerance or Filter Distance which is set in the Preferences dialog. The new
filtered data file is named using the original linework file with a _filter extension.
i.e. if the original file is Linework.TAB, the file containing the joined linework will
be named Linework_filter.TAB. The new file is created using the same projection
as the original linework table.
Filtered linework is guaranteed not to deviate from the original linework file by
more than the tolerance set and the start and end points will remain the same. If
all the vertices are less than the tolerance distance from the first point the element
is removed. If a tolerance of 0.0 is chosen only duplicate vertices i.e. consecutive
vertices with the same coordinate value and co-linear points (points lying on a
line) are removed.
After filtering linework the output file may consist of many elements each with
only a small number of vertices. It is recommended that the Join Linework utility
is run to join all adjacent linework together.
The Discover RGB Colourizer utility enables map objects to be coloured based
on RGB colour schemes entered as attributes in a table. The RGB Colourizer
can also be used to extract RGB values from point, line or polygon map objects
and save them into a table as attribute data.
1. Select the table containing the map objects from the Select Table pull-
down list.
Update Column Values - extract the RGB colour values from each
map object and save them back to the table
3. The Colour Mapping options determine the RGB format to be used. The
Discover RGB Colourizer can read colour values stored in either single or
multi column format. The columns that store the RGB values can be
numeric or character data types. Discover can also read or store colour
values in BGR format.
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Multi Column format - Red, Green and Blue values are each
stored in a separate column, e.g. Red (199) Green (181) Blue
(181).
Note When extracting the RGB values from map objects the single or multiple RGB
columns must already exist in the table. If the table does not contain these
column(s) use the MapInfo Table>Maintenance>Table Structure utility to add
the required columns to the table.
4. The default output option is to create a new table with the updated
coloured map objects or extracted RGB values. The new table is named
using the original source table with a _Colourized extension. To change
the output table name or location, click on the Save button.
The map objects or columns in the original table may be directly updated
by selecting the Change Source Table output option. This option will
cause the map objects in the table to be permanently coloured according
to the Colour Mapping column or columns selected.
Warning The Change Source Table option is irreversible. Make sure that the RGB
column or columns selected for colouring map objects are correct as map
objects can be coloured according to any numerical values in the selected
columns. It is recommended that a copy of the source table be saved prior to
using this utility or the Create New Table output is used.
Discover can display velocity/flow data as oriented vectors with either a fixed
vector length or with a length proportional to a magnitude attribute in the point
source table.
11 Working with Map Objects 425
1. Select the table to create the vectors from the pull-down list.
3. From the Vector Type control, choose Vector to create vector arrows that
will be proportional in length to the magnitude of the selected data column
or Scalar to create vector arrows of the same length.
4. Select a vector Scale and Arrow Style. Adjust the length and aspect ratio
of the Arrow Head and adjust the distance units, to suit the map scale in
which you are working.
Discover will create orientated arrows at each point location according to the
column information specified. You can elect to output the vectors to either the
Cosmetic layer (default option), create a New Table to hold the vectors or to
overwrite the existing points in the current vector table. If the original point
symbols are overwritten and you wish to restore them, re-run Plot Vector utility
and select the Re-create Points option. Adjust the vector scaling by again re-
running the utility on the same data.
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The soil creep data is displayed as oriented arrows, the arrow length being proportional to
the soil creep magnitude
Dialog Help
Vector table
Re-create points
When re-running with new settings, select the check box to re-create the vector
display.
Columns
Select the vector data columns defining the position, orientation and magnitude
of each vector.
Easting
Northing
Azimuth
Magnitude
Output table
Select the cosmetic layer, the input vector table (to overwrite the current table),
another vector data table, or <Create a table> (to write the vectors to a new table).
Vector type
Vector: Use the Magnitude column to modulate the length of the vector
arrow.
Distance units
Vector style
Scale
Arrow style
Arrow head
Length
Type the length of the arrow head (to suit the map scale).
Width
See also
... Formatting Vector Objects
The Clone Style tool will copy the style of a selected point, line, polyline, region
or text object. This style can then be applied to selected map object/s in the
current or another mapper window.
Open the Clone Style dialog. In a map window. select the object to copy the style
from, and press the Copy Style button. The Clone Style tool will automatically
detect and display all style attributes for the selected object.
To apply the style to other objects, check or uncheck the parameters to apply in
the Paste Style Options pane. Select the target object/s to apply the style to (in
the same or another map window), and press the Paste Style button.
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Clone Style dialogs for line, region, symbol, and text objects
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Note Discover providea a number of tools and shortcuts to assist with setting up and
using Mapinfo Profesisonal hotlinks within TAB file layers. For more informaiton
on using hotlinks, see Specialized Topics in Mapinfo Professional in the
Mapinfo Professsional User Guide.
Click on a map object and display external documents or files associated with that
map object. For example, Link Documents can be used to display drillhole core
or location photographs when a collar is selected in the map window or open a
tenement report when a tenement polygon is selected.
Text files Files with the extension .TXT are opened using Notepad.
Larger text files will be opened using WordPad.
If the linked document is an image that has not been registered, Discover will
automatically register the image in a non-earth projection and then display it in a
new map window. This feature can be used to display photos of mineralization,
thin sections or field sketches by clicking on sites of interest in the map window.
If the image is registered in an area that lies within the current map window, then
the image is loaded into this map window. If this occurs, the projection of the map
window may change as MapInfo adjusts the map window projection to the image
base projection. The projection of an image overrides any other file type
projections within the map window. Therefore any vector data present within the
map window will be warped to fit the image projection.
If two or more images are displayed in the same map window, the projection of
the larger image will take precedence. If an image has already been registered,
but does not fall within the map window (such as a location photo already
registered into a non-earth projection), the image is opened in a new map window.
Using Discover with registered images allows the creation of a graphical imagery
index. For example, the outlines of a series of remote sensing images may have
been saved as polygons. Each of these polygons can be associated with the
name of the image file that it represents. When a polygon is selected, the
associated image can be displayed in the map window.
Any number of images can be linked to one map object and these can all be
displayed simultaneously. The images can then be added to the layout window
and printed out alongside the map objects to which they are associated.
Setting Up Hotlinks
Note Alternatively, use the Hotlink options in the MapInfo Professional Layer Control.
To link a document with a map object the full document file path must be entered
into a field in the table next to the corresponding map object record. Select the
Table Utilities>Document Hotlink Setup menu option and in the HotLink
Setup dialog choose the table and the column(s) to store the file path information.
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The hotlink field may be created prior to entering the file path details using the
Table>Maintenance>Table Structure menu option. Alternatively, click on the
New Field button to add a new hotlink field to the selected table. By default the
new field is named HotLink and is 255 characters in size although these
parameters can be changed if desired. Make sure all hotlink fields are checked
and click OK to proceed.
Creating a Hotlink
Select one map object from the table in the map window to enter the linked
document details. Choose Table Utilities>Hotlink Documents. The Select
document to associate with map object dialog is displayed.
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Browse to the desired directory and select the document to link to the map object
and click Open. In the Hotlink Selection dialog choose the hotlink field to store
the document file path.
Click OK to finish. To permanently save the linked document file path, use the
File>Save Table menu option.
To link multiple documents keep the map object selected, choose Hotlink
Documents and browse to the location of the new document to link. Choose a
different Hotlink field to store the file path details.
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The only limit to the number of documents that can be linked to an object is the
maximum number of columns that a MapInfo table can contain (240). The same
document can be linked to any number of map objects.
Note You can also manually enter document names into appropriate record fields.
Note Alternatively, use the Hotlink options in the MapInfo Professional Layer Control.
Select a map object in the map window and either click on the Display
Documents button on the Discover toolbar or select Table Utilities>Open
Hotlinked Documents. If there is only one linked document the document will
be opened into MapInfo or a separate application. If there is more than one
document linked to the map object select the desired document and the
Preferred View from the list in the Display Document dialog.
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12 Map Making
Creating Scaled Maps
MapShop
Insert a correctly sized and scaled frame of the front map window (with map grid)
into a layout. Alternatively use a layout from an existing workspace or use a
mapsheet boundary to size and scale the frame. Additional frames for scalebar
and title block are added to the layout.
The Discover Scaled Output function gives you a wizard-style interface to simplify
the creation of hard-copy output from a map window. The process can be
summarised as follows:
Step 1 Size and scale Select the output map scale and
size, and paper size required
Step 3 Refine the size and scale Refine the map position, scale and
size
To produce an accurately scaled map using Discover, open a map window, add
all the required layers and change layer settings as appropriate.
Select Scaled Output from the Discover menu, or click the Scaled Output button
on the Main Button bar. Discover displays the following dialog, from which a map
scale and frame size can be specified.
A range of pre-set map scales are available, or a custom scale can be specified.
Selecting a pre-set scale will modify the Map Size dimensions (real world extents)
displayed in the Actual Map Size box (the units of measure are defined by the
Options>Preferences>System Settings parameters). The Map Size value will
also be altered by the frame size (see Frame Setup) selected. If a custom scale
is specified, the Map Size will not update until the Preview button is clicked.
The Set Map Position button allows you to accurately define the position of the
map, see Position Scaled Output Map for more detail.
Frame Setup
Selecting a frame size from the Frame Setup list defines the size and position of
the frame that Discover places into the layout window. This frame contains the
map window and the size (in centimetres) is shown in the Actual Map Size box.
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The frame size and orientation set here (for example, A3 Landscape) does not
change the Printer Setup. Select the MapInfo File>Print Setup menu option to
alter printer settings. When the Layout window is opened, it will be apparent
whether the Print Set-up matches the selected frame size.
Alternatively, you can select a rectangle form the Map Window before selecting
Discover>Scaled Output. Scaled Output will then use this rectangle as the
Paper Frame size.
Note The page size for the Layout window can only be altered after the Layout window
has been created. If you would like to set a preferred printer and page size use
the Options>Preferences>Printer menu item.
Discover is shipped with a list of frame settings for full page frames for all the
common page sizes. You can view, edit and add to the list of page settings by
choosing the Configure button on the Scaled Output dialog.
Discover allows you to set up and maintain a list of Frame Settings that define
where on a particular size of paper, or a particular printer, the map should appear.
When creating a new frame setting, select the page size on which you wish to
base the frame and then alter the margins and frame positions. Discover allows
you to base the frame on any page size in the groups A0-A5, B1-B5, C1-C5, and
A-F.
You generally need to adjust your frame size to account for non-printing margins
(which are different on different printers and different page layouts).
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The Non-Printing Margins define the area around the page edge which your
printer cannot use (refer to set-up information for your printer). In the layout
window, these are the light grey margins. The Map Frame Position offsets define
the position of the lower left corner of the map frame within the printing area.
Choose Save Settings and give your new settings a name (for example, A4 Top),
then choose OK to return to the Scaled Output dialog.
Note The Non-Printing Margins settings are separate to the Map Frame Position.
Therefore, if you increase the margin size, you will need to reduce the
corresponding frame height/width to maintain a total frame size/position that fits
within the paper size.
To remove a Frame Setting from the list click on the Remove button under the
Maintain Frame Settings List control and select the frame to delete from the
pull-down list.
Note The Printer Setup is not stored with the Discover Page Setup list.
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The Maintain Titleblock List control enables custom title blocks to be available
for selection when using Scaled Output. Custom title blocks are configured to
user-defined specifications and may contain company logos. Click on the Add
button to add a new title block to the title block list. Use the Remove button to
delete a title block from the list. See Add a Title Block and Scale Bar and
Customising Title Blocks for more information on creating your own title blocks.
During the Scaled Output process the map window is re-sized relative to the
layout window. Depending on the screen resolution of your computer the resulting
map window may appear very small or parts may even appear off screen. To
change the dimensions of the scaled output map window enter new width and
height values into the Max Windows Dimensions.
Map Extras
By default, the Draw Grid option is checked. To produce a map with no map grid,
uncheck this option. When Discover draws a map grid, the grid is sized to fit the
frame, and grid text labels are sized appropriate for the output scale.
Title block and scalebar styles can be selected from the available lists. The list of
available title blocks can be maintained using the Configure option. The scalebar
styles are pre-set in Discover and cannot be modified.
The Add frame border option will place a frame border around the selected title
block in the Layout window. This can be useful if the title block linework is
obscured by the edges of the mapper window.
From the Scalebar list, select the desired scalebar style you wish to include in the
Map. If no title block is selected, the Scalebar is displayed separately and saved
to the default Discover temporary directory. For details on how the different
scalebars appear see Add a Title Block and Scale Bar.
When the Preview button in the main Scaled Output dialog is pressed, Discover
draws a rectangle in the current map window. If the size is not appropriate, the
scale and frame settings can be altered in the dialog, and the preview MapSize
updated by clicking the Preview button again. Once the size is suitable click the
OK button. A text box will also pop-up inside MapInfo displaying the current
Scaled Output size and scale.
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The Scaled output text box showing current map size and scale
This rectangle (which is in a temporary table called MapSize) shows the area that
is covered by the map, and is always drawn in the centre of the window. You can
zoom and pan the map window as required, and drag the map size rectangle to
the exact position required by selecting it. You cannot change the size of the
MapSize rectangle as this will alter the predefined map scale.
If you decide that the map should be produced at a different scale or with a
different frame size, choose Scaled Output>Re-Specify Parameters to display
the main dialog again and change the settings.
Alternatively, the position of the Scaled Output map rectangle can be accurately
specified by entering coordinates for either the centre or one of the corners of the
map. Use the Set Map Position button (bottom right of the Scaled Output dialog)
to ensure that the map is accurately positioned for consistent output.
When the MapSize rectangle covers the area you wish to print, choose Scaled
Output>Accept Map Position. Discover now resizes the map window to the
required area, and displays dialogs requesting input for grid generation and title
block information.
Note If you change the view (pan or zoom) in any of the map windows after accepting
the map position, the map scale and the appearance of the map in the Layout
window is altered. Whilst Scaled Output is still running you can use the Scaled
Output>Restore Map Window menu option to restore the map window to the
correct aspect ratio and scale.
The map grid is constructed as described in Add a Map Grid, with the important
difference that the grid label font sizes are appropriate for the specified output
scale. You can preview the grid appearance by clicking the Preview button.
When the map grid is drawn, the labels often appear very small on the screen, but
are correctly sized for hardcopy at the nominated scale. You can draw multiple
map grids by checking the Overlay Another AutoGrid option.
If you want to use the map grid as part of a workspace later on, then use the Save
As button to save the map grid to a specific table name.
When map grid settings have been entered, click OK to proceed. The map grid
is added to the map window.
Discover prompts you for details to insert into the title block, which is then
displayed as a separate frame within the layout window. The title block is stored
as a template in a non-earth "cm" based table and can be customized. The dialog
displayed for data entry of title block details depends upon how the title block table
is customized. See Add a Title Block and Scale Bar and Customising Title Blocks
for more information on creating your own title blocks.
Select the position of the title block in the layout window. Also for larger paper
sizes you may wish to increase the scale of the title block.
By default, the title block is saved in the Discover temp folder as TITLEBLK.TAB.
If you are going to use this title block in the future (as part of a workspace) you
should use the Save As button to save the title block to a new table.
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The default title block will include the Data and Projection of the map, as displayed
at the top of the dialog. Fill out title blocks title text and information text details
as appropriate.
Choose to show the ScaleBar separate to the title block or to not display it in the
Scaled output layout window.
A list of the various layer names of the source map can also be displayed. You
can select the No List option if preferred.
You can also open a Layout template from a saved workspace file. See Add a
Title Block and Scale Bar and Customising Title Blocks for more information on
creating your own title blocks.
When title block details have been entered, click OK and the scalebar and title
block are drawn. If you wish to cancel adding a title block to the scaled output,
click No title.
The title block (and optionally scalebar) is created as an individual map window
and added to the layout as a frame. This means you can switch to the title block
map window and edit the details as required.
Note Be careful not to zoom in or out or resize the title block map window - this could
change the size of the scalebar drawn on the hard copy map.
You can also change the positions of the title block and map window frames in
the layout window. Use the MapInfo Select tool to select the frame and drag to a
new position.
To re-align the title block frame with the map frame select both frames using the
Select tool and holding down the SHIFT key. Right-mouse click in the layout
window and select the Layout>Align Objects command from the pop-up menu.
This is useful when the title obscures required details on the map.
You can add extra frames to the layout using the Discover Map Making>Add
Scaled Frame to Layout tool.
The Frame Object in a Layout Window is dynamically linked to its source mapper
window. Zooming/panning or resizing this mapper window will have a direct (and
possibly detrimental) impact on the Frame Object view.
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If you intend altering the mapper window scaling or extents (for example, in order
to zoom in and resize labels or change object styles), the following options are
available for saving or returning to the mappers original settings:
If the Scaled Output menu is open and active for the current layout, use
the Scaled Output>Restore Map Window command to return the
mapper window to its original scale and extents
To save the current mapper's state before making any changes to the
mapper scale/ size, enable Discover's Map Window>Save Mapper State
option. To restore this saved setting, select the Map Window>Restore
Mapper State option. Note that this is a one-off save and restore option
that only applies to the mapper that was current when the Save Mapper
State option was selected.
For further tips on added and changing a Scaled Output Map see Scaled Output
Hints.
To obtain a hardcopy print once Discover has generated the Layout, choose
File>Print from the MapInfo menu.
If you wish to make additional maps of the same area, but using different data to
that currently displayed in the map window, add, remove or customise the layers
in the map window. The changes to the map window are reflected in the layout. If
you want to make another map for a different area or for a different scale without
quitting Scaled Output, then choose the Scaled Output>Re-Specify
Parameters menu option. The size and position of the frames in the layout are
not changed, but the map window is zoomed to fit the new scale.
Note If you alter the size, position or zoom width of the map window at any time, the
scale of the map in the layout window changes. Whilst Scaled Output is running,
you can use the Scaled Output>Restore Map Window menu option to reset
the map window size, position and zoom level. You should always save a
workspace to ensure the layout settings are saved.
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Discover ships with MapInfo tables containing the 1:100,000 and 1:250,000
mapsheet boundaries over Australia. These tables can be found in the
Discover\Discover_Tutorial\Other Data directory. Each sheet is a discrete,
attributed, transparent polygon. You can use these boundaries, or other standard
sheet boundaries that you create yourself (e.g. using the Discover>Object
Offset function); to have Discover produce correctly scaled standard map sheets.
Open the appropriate mapsheet table and display it in your map window with the
data that you wish to print. Then select the mapsheet you wish to use, using any
of the MapInfo selection techniques, and run Scaled Output.
Discover displays the same dialog as that shown above for User-Defined Output,
however Discover detects and estimates an output scale. Because the aspect
ratio of the map is defined by the selected map boundary, you cannot change the
frame height and width in the frame settings configuration, but you can alter the
position of the frame on the page, and change the scale that you wish to print at.
Ensure your printer set-up has the correct paper size, and then click OK. Discover
correctly scales the map, and insert both the map name and number, if available,
into the title block. If you wish to create your own standard mapsheet layers,
ensure that they have fields called Name and Number so that the mapsheet
name and number is recognized by the title block.
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The scale that Discover suggests for your selected polygon is based on the area
that it covers. You should always check the scale to ensure that it is what is
required.
If any polygon is currently selected in the front map window when Scaled
Output is run, the dimensions of this polygon are used to size the map
window. The selected polygon does not need to be a regular shape like a
map-sheet.
You can use the MapInfo Set Clip Region command with Scaled Output
to quickly produce a plot of just that map data which lies within a given
tenement.
You can use Discover>Map Grid to overwrite or add to the Map grid
added during the Scaled Output process.
Use the MapInfo Tools>Tool Manager North Arrow tool to quickly add a
north arrow to your map or layout.
When running Scaled Output on a data set that takes a long time to
redraw the screen, use the ESC key to interrupt the MapInfo redraws. Be
careful not to cancel from dialogs for map grid and title block details.
Alternatively, set complex or large layers to invisible until ready to print.
Use the Page Settings dialog to define other frame sizes such as
oversized A0 for large maps, or wide margin A4 and A3 for printing small
maps on large format printers (with large non-printing margins).
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If you need to make changes to the map window after it has been inserted
into a layout, then you must use the pan/zoom functions with great care,
otherwise the positioning and scaling of the frame in the layout is not
correct..
To quit Scaled Output, select the Scaled Output>Exit Scaled Output menu
option. Discover then asks whether you would like to save the TitleBlock,
ScaleBar and Map Grid (if these tables are open) and a Workspace that
includes the layout, for future use. The title block, scalebar and map grid tables
need to be saved under new names or they will be overwritten the next time that
Scaled Output is used.
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Dialog Help
Map scale
Select a map scale for the frame, or select <Custom scale> and type the scale in
the box below.
Frame setting
Select from the available map frame settings. This defines the frame size, position
and orientation in the layout window, and margins. Note that you may also need
to change the printer settings on File>Print Setup before printing.
Configure
Standard frame settings for A0-A5, B1-B5, C1-C5, and A-F page sizes are
shipped with Discover, which define the frame size, position, orientation, and
margins. Click the button to display the Scaled Output Configuration Dialog Box,
from which you can modify, save or create a new frame setting.
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Map extras
Draw grid
Select to display a map grid. The grid and labels are sized to suit the current
frame.
Title block
Select a title block from the list of available title blocks, or select <No title block>.
To maintain the list of title blocks, under Frame setting, click Configure. See
Customising Title Blocks for information on creating new title block tables.
Scale bar
Select a scale bar from the list of available scale bars. For information on scale
bar styles and how to create a custom scale bar, see User Guide: Map Making.
Displays the frame size in page coordinates and the map size in real world
coordinates for the selected map scale and frame setting. If you selected a
custom scale, click the Preview button to update.
Displays the Scaled Output Map Position Dialog Box, from which you can set the
coordinates of any corner or the centre of the frame. If a frame has previously
been displayed, you can also select the frame in the map window and drag it to a
new position.
Preview
Select, edit and save standard frame settings. After you have modified the frame
setting, click OK, and then you will be asked to save the settings or create and
name a new frame setting.
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Frame setting
Select the frame size from the list of standard page sizes, and then select either
a Portrait or Landscape frame orientation. The frame width and height is
displayed.
Type a new Width or Height to change the dimensions of the scaled output map
window.
Non-printing margins
The left, right, top and bottom printer margins (which your printer cannot use).
These are shown shaded grey in the layout window. Changing the left or bottom
margins will also move the map frame position.
The porition of the lower-left corner of the map frame relative to the printing area
(within the non-printing margin).
Click Add to add a new title block to the list of available title blocks. See
Customising Title Blocks for information on creating new title block tables.
Draw a map grid in any projection to the front map window. This function is also
available as part of the Scaled Output map-making wizard (see Creating Scaled
Maps).
Accessed from the button bar or menu, the Map Grid function allows you to add
a map grid to the current map window in any of the MapInfo standard projections
or in a user-defined custom projection. The style of the map grid is fully
customisable and you can overlay multiple grids on one another (for example a
Lat/Lon grid on a UTM grid). The map grid is drawn into a temporary table called
AUTOGRID, which is located in the Discover temporary directory unless you
nominate a different table name and location.
By default (Auto option) the map window projection is automatically detected and
used to construct the grid. To change the projection of the map window, use the
Discover>Map Window>Favourite Projections function (see Map Projections).
If you wish to draw a map grid in another projection from the current map window
projection, choose the User Defined option. A list of projections from the Discover
favourite projection list is displayed. Select the projection that you wish to use
from the list or use the pull-down list to select another projection. The map window
projection is not changed, however the grid is drawn in the selected projection.
You can also display local (non-earth) grids and real world grids together. To
display local and real world grids together, you should define and store a grid
transformation setting (see Coordinate Transformations.)
With one or more grid transformation settings saved, choose the Custom
Coordsys option from the Projection control and select the appropriate
transformation setting.
Grid Spacing
Discover suggests a rounded grid spacing based on the width of the map window.
The grid spacing is in the coordinate units of the grid projection - usually metres,
but degrees for Lat/Lon coordinate systems.
You can override the Discover suggested grid spacing by typing in your preferred
value. For Lat/Lon grids, choose between grid spacing in decimal degrees or
degrees, minutes, seconds by clicking the checkbox.
Lines
Points
Edge ticks
These basic styles may be altered by changing the line, symbol type and colour.
Additionally, you may choose to have grid labels placed in a mask outside the
map frame.
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For a grid drawn as lines, each grid line is a polyline with normally one node
placed at each grid line intersection. Where the grid lines show substantial
curvature (for example, when a Lat/Lon grid over a large area is displayed in a
projected coordinate system) you may need additional nodes for each grid line.
Set this value in the Other Label Options button.
Grid line labels are, by default, drawn at the left and top margins of the map
window. In a map window with metres labels, choose a small font size (9 or less)
so that the labels do not appear too intrusive. The grid label font size is relative to
the current map window scale.
You can also draw grid labels to the bottom and right margins of the map window.
You may wish to use this option when overlaying grids in different projections, for
example so that labels for a UTM grid are drawn at top and left, whilst labels for
a Lat/Lon grid are drawn at right and bottom.
Other options available allow you to control the frequency of grid lines labels
(choose from no labels, every line labelled or an intermediate setting), and what
prefix or suffix to add to the coordinate label (for example, choose to label as
E5000 or 5000 mE etc). You can simply re-order the arrangement and add
spaces or characters in between them, or remove the value altogether.
When you choose to have the grid labels drawn in a mask around the edge of the
map, Discover creates an extra table (called AUTOGRID_MASK) to hold the
mask. The map window is enlarged slightly so that the visible area of the map
window (inside the mask) remains the same. In some cases the page margins
accessed via Print Setup may need to be adjusted for the map to fit correctly on
the page.
To save the Map Grid Style settings as default, tick Save as default settings, and
when Preview or OK is clicked the style settings will be saved as default.
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The three basic styles of map grid that can be generated by Discover
Save the map grid using a unique table name with the Save As button, otherwise
the map grid is written to a table named AUTOGRID in the Discover temporary
folder. If you then wish to save the map grid for use later on, you need to use the
Table>Maintenance>Rename Table menu option or the File>Save Copy As
menu option to save AUTOGRID with a new name.
If you use the Save As button to specify a table name for the map grid, then
MapGrid does not overwrite the existing map grid. Use this option when you need
to save a map grid to disk for later use.
If there is already an AutoGrid table in the front map window, Discover overwrites
it unless the Append to Existing AutoGrid option has been selected. If there is
an AutoGrid table open but not in the front map window, Discover prompts you for
a name to save this table to. If you do not want to save the old grid, click Cancel.
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If you wish to overlay another grid with a different projection, choose the Overlay
another AutoGrid option. After drawing the first grid, Discover displays the map
grid dialog again and you should choose different parameters (different projection
and probably different grid style).
When the Preview button is clicked, Discover constructs a temporary grid and
then displays it as a layer in the front map window with the current gridding
options. If you wish to adjust any display settings, click Preview again to apply
the changes to the preview grid.
When the OK button is clicked, Discover constructs the grid and then displays it
as a layer in the front map window.
Dialog Help
Map projection
The map window projection is displayed. To change the map window projection,
see Map Projections.
Projection
Auto (current map window): Draw a map grid using the current map
window projection.
Custom coordinate system: Draw local and real world grids using a
custom transformation. To create a custom transformation coordinate
system, see Coordinate Transformations.
Grid spacing
The default grid spacing is calculated from the width of the map window. Type a
new grid spacing in the units of the map window projection (typically metres or
degrees).
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Grid style
Choose Lines, Points, or Edge Ticks grid style. If grid lines have significant
curvature, you can smooth the grid lines using Label Options.
Aa (text style)
Displays the MapInfo Text Style dialog box, from which you can change the label
font, font size, colour, background style and colour, and ornamentation.
Symbol style
(Point style grids) Displays the MapInfo Symbol Style dialog box, from which you
can change the grid point symbol, colour, size, and other effects.
Line style
(Line and edge-tick style grids) Displays the MapInfo Line Style dialog box, from
which you can change the line style, colour and line width.
Label size
Displays the grid label font size. Type a new value in pts, or select the text style
(Aa) button. Text size will change with the scale of the cuurent view.
Map scale
Select to draw grid labels in a mask outside the map frame. Clear to draw grid
labels in the map window margins.
Display labels at
Select or clear check boxes to show and hide labels at the top, bottom, left, and
right of the map window.
Label Options
Displays the Grid Label Options Dialog Box, from which you can smooth curved
grid lines, add a label suffix and prefix, set the frequency of grid labels, and
change the number of decimal places.
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Select to save the settings and use as the default for new grids. This will cause
the AUTOGRID table to be overwritten.
Options
If there is already a grid drawn in the active map window, select the check box to
add the new grid to the existing grid. Clear the check box to replace the existing
grid.
Select to overlay a second grid with a different projection and style. After you click
OK, the first grid is drawn, and thenthe Map Grid dialog box is displayed again so
that you can define the second grid.
Save As
Click to save to a user-defined table instead of the default AUTOGRID table. You
can also save the AUTOGRID table to a new table later using File>Save Copy
As.
Preview
Draws or redraws the grid in the active map window using the defined settings
without overwriting the existing grid.
Smooth curved grid lines, add a label suffix and prefix, set the frequency of grid
labels, and change the number of decimal places.
X-axis label
Define label suffix and prefix using the following building blocks:
For example, the label string <coord> <units><eorn> will display a label in the
form 140000 mE. Other fixed characters can be used in the label string.
Y-axis label
Define label suffix and prefix using the following building blocks:
For example, the label string <coord> <units><eorn> will display a label in the
form 52000 mN. Other fixed characters can be used in the label string.
Change the frequency of grid labels. Type a value of 2 to label every second grid
line.
Restore Default
Decimal places
This tool allows a scaled frame to be added to the layout window for the front
map window. The scaled frame is added to a newly created layout window if one
is not currently opened.
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Use this tool in conjunction with Scaled Output to add additional frames, such as
an overview or legend, to the layout, with the Make Custom Titleblock function
or on its own when a scalebar and title block are not required.
Dialog Help
Frame parameters
Scale
Frame width
Frame height
Poistion in layout
If a layout is open, select this check box to add the new frame to the existing
layout.
Position in map
Select a position relative to the map border (Centre, Top-left, Bottom-left, Top-
right, or Bottom-right), or type the map coordinates of the top-left corner of the
frame (Easting and Northing).
See also
... Add a Scaled Frame to the Layout
Use the Make Custom Titleblock tool to open a custom title block, add details
to that title block and optionally create a scalebar to add to the title block. The
title block map window is sized to fit the extents of the title block so that it can be
easily added to a layout window.
When the Make Custom Titleblock tool is opened, an initial dialog prompts you
to select the title block template to edit and the scalebar and scale to use. For
information on adding and removing custom title blocks from the selectable list
see Customising Title Blocks.
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Scale Bars
The title block shipped with Discover contains a range of scalebars to choose
from. Both metric and imperial measurement system scalebars are available. The
scalebar can be drawn in one of the six selectable formats.
The main scalebar formats that can be selected from the initial dialog are as
follows:
Scalebar 1
Scalebar 2
Scalebar 3
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The title block is stored as a template in a non-earth cm based table and can be
customized. The dialog displayed for data entry of title block details depends
upon how the title block table is customized. See Customising Title Blocks for
details on customizing the title block.
The default title block shipped with Discover presents a dialog similar to that
shown below. The five Title Lines are concatenated (and centre justified). The
details (Author, Reference etc.) are placed in the appropriate positions within the
title block. The font styles used are defined in the title block template table on disk.
Titleblock Position defines where in the layout window the title block frame is
placed. The default is in the lower right corner of the main map frame. Normally,
the title block is displayed in the layout as a frame on top of the map window
frame. However, for customized title blocks, you may wish to have the title block
behind the map and you should check the Send Titleblock to Back check box.
By default, the title block is saved in the Discover temp folder as TITLEBLK.TAB.
If you are going to use this title block in the future (as part of a workspace) you
should use the Save As button to save the title block to a new table.
When entering title block information, you can specify a scale for the title block.
By default, if the map to be printed is more than 50 cm wide, the title block is
displayed at a scale of 1:1; otherwise the display scale is 1:2. Use this control to
enter the scale required for the title block.
By default the Scalebar in the format that was selected on the initial dialog will be
displayed embedded in the title block.
If you choose Dont Show Scalebar the scale bar will not be opened.
Other Options
When creating a layout template to be used in this way, be careful that only those
tables and windows required for your layout are actually open when you save the
workspace. You may also need different workspaces for each different map
format (paper size, orientation etc) that you wish to produce.
Display list of layers in map will display a list of the various layer names of the
source map at a selectable location. Note that by default this list is produced, but
you can select the No List option if preferred.
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Dialog Help
Select a template, scale bar and map scale, and then click OK. The Title Block
and Scale Bar Options Dialog Box is displayed.
Click to select a template. For information on adding and removing title block
templates, see Customising Title Blocks.
Both metric and imperial scale bars are available. Three scale bar styles are
available. Click to select a scale bar style:
Scalebar 1
Scalebar 2
Scalebar 3
See also
... Scale Bars
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Type or select the options for the title block placeholders defined in the title block
template. The font styles are also defined in the template table.
Title lines
Position
Click to select the position of the title block when it is added to a layout.
Scale
Type the plot scale of the title block. At a scale of 1:1 the default template creates
a 50 cm wide title block.
Save As
Click to save the title block to a new table. By default, the title block is saved in
the Discover temp folder as TITLEBLK.TAB.
Send to back
Select to display the title block behind other frames in the layout.
Scale bar
Save As
Click to save scale bar to a new table. By default this will be saved to the
Discover temp folder as SCALEBAR.TAB.
No scale bar
Options
Layout
When creating a layout template to be used in this way, be careful that only those
tables and windows required for your layout are actually open when you save the
workspace. You may also need different workspaces for each different map
format (paper size, orientation etc) that you wish to produce.
Click to select the position where the list of layers is displayed, or select No List.
Cancel
See also
... Title Block and Scale Bar Options
... Add a Title Block and Scale Bar
... Customising Title Blocks
Picklist tools are available from the Data Entry menu. For information about
creating picklists and applying styles, see:
The Discover Create Map Legend utility is used to create detailed legends where
individual map objects contain attribute data in one or more columns. For
example, a geological polygon map may contain attribute columns for geological
unit, group or formation and age. The Create Map Legend menu option can
create a legend using up to three of these attribute column entries in the map
legend.
As the Discover Create Map Legend tool requires the map objects to contain
attribute data which can be grouped according to graphical styles it is not suitable
for use with some tables. For example, a collar table may contain collars with the
same graphical style but attributed with the Hole ID. The Create Map Legend
utility will create a legend with every Hole ID listed as an individual entry. If there
was a second attribute column which contained an entry for each collar such as
Drillhole then this column could be used to create a legend with only one entry.
To create a simple legend for map objects based purely on map object style
regardless of attribute data use the MapInfo Map>Create Legend menu option.
The legend window created using this method is not a true MapInfo table and can
only be edited by double-clicking in the legend window.
In order to create a Discover legend the active or front map window must contain
the layers to include in the legend. Select the tables to display in the legend from
the Create Legend 1 Dialog Box.
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The selected tables are displayed in the Create Legend 2 Dialog Box.
Dialog for legend creation. The user has already selected 4 layers to incorporate into this
legend.
The tables selected are displayed in map layer order. Legend items from each
table are displayed in the legend according to record order within the table. To
alter the order of the legend items in a table check the Specify Order option. This
will enable legend items to be sorted alphabetically or by a user-defined order
such as geological age.
Choose the primary column from each table to be used for legend creation from
the Legend Column 1 pull-down list. The column (or field) that you nominate for
each table from the Legend Column 1 defines what objects are drawn on the
legend. For example, if the nominated column is RockCode then Discover will
create a legend entry for each unique RockCode. If then nominated column is
Age then a unique legend entry is created for each Age grouping. The data held
in Legend Columns 2 and 3 is added as supplementary text.
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The legend tool only produces sensible results if the data is structured
appropriately. That is, all records containing a specific value in Legend Column 1
should have the same graphic style. In the above example, all polygons having
RockCode = Czc should have the same colour. If this is not the case, the legend
may be not be created properly as the legend graphical style is obtained from the
first record in the table that has each value.
Two additional columns containing text may be displayed in the legend. Make
sure the text in these columns is structured correctly in relation to the column
specified in Legend Column 1. The text selected for columns 2 or 3 may be
obtained from a related lookup table. Select Lookup from the list of available
columns and browse to the location of the look-up table. Match the column in the
look-up table with the corresponding column from the Legend Column 1.
Legend Style
By default, Discover generates the Legend in one column with the title at the top
and legend items at 2 cm spacing. Discover provides the option of creating the
Legend in 2 columns with a user-defined line spacing. Legends can be easily
edited once they are created using the MapInfo and Discover editing tools. The
font style for legend titles and each text column can be set by clicking the Style
button. The option to display a Legend Box Border is also available.
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By default legend items will only be created for map objects that are currently
visible in the map window. To include all map objects from the selected tables
uncheck the Legend from objects within map window only option.
Legend Order
The order of individual items in the legend can be specified in one of the following
ways:
No ordering - items are placed into the legend in the same order that they
are read from the table.
For each layer that the Specify Order option has been checked, the Legend
Order Dialog Box is displayed. A list of the legend items for that layer is displayed
and the Re-Order options. With the Re-Order Mode set to Custom, use the Up,
Down and Delete buttons to alter the list. Alternatively, set the Re-Order Mode
to Alphabetical, either ascending (A-Z) or descending (Z-A).
When using a Look-Up Code to re-order legend items the Legend Order from
Column Values Dialog Box is displayed, from which you can select a column from
either the same table or a different one. In this instance the legend item is
matched to a numeric value which Discover can use to determine the order of the
legend items. These options could be used to re-order geological units by Age.
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Dialog Help
Select the tables that you want to create legends from. You can create legends
for up to three attribute column in each table. Click OK to display the Create
Legend 2 Dialog Box.
The legend tool only produces sensible results if the data is properly structured:
Make sure that records with the same value in the primary column have
the same graphic style.
Make sure the text in the supplemetary text columns relates to the primary
column. You can also use a lookup table.
See also
...Add a Map Legend
...Legend Tables and Columns
Legend tables
Specify order
Legend items are displayed by record order in the table. Select the check box to
allow legend items to be sorted alphabetically or by a user-defined order, such as
geological age. The Legend Order is displayed when each selected legend is
created.
Column 1
Select the primary legend column. This column defines which objects are drawn
on the legend. For example, if the nominated column is RockCode then
Discover will create a legend entry for each unique RockCode.
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Column 2 and 3
To use a lookup table, select <Lookup> from the list of available columns and
browse to the location of the lookup table. Match the column in the lookup table
with the corresponding column from Column 1.
Legend style
Line spacing
Legend title
Subtitle
Select check box to restrict legend items to map objects that are visible in the map
window. Clear to include all map objects from the selected tables.
Styles
Click to select text style for title, subtitle and legend items, and the legend border
style.
See also
... Legend Tables and Columns
... Legend Style
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...Legend Order
Order by
The order of individual items in the legend can be specified in one of the following
ways:
Custom: Select an item and use the Up, Down, and Delete buttons to
reorder and delete.
See also
...Legend Order
When using a Look-up code to re-order legend items select a column from either
the same table or a different one. In this instance the legend item is matched to a
numeric value which Discover can use to determine the order of the legend items.
These options could be used to re-order geological units by Age.
Ascending, Descending
See also
... Legend Order
Formatting Text
Frame Titling is a Discover feature available for the Layout window to enable
automatic labels to be added to map frames. To add Frame Titles to a map in the
Layout Window, right click on the layout window to display a pop-up menu and
select Add Frame Titles. The Add Frame Titles Dialog Box is displayed, which
allows you to control the placement and text style.
Adding a Frame Title in the top left insde corner of the map.
Dialog Help
Vertical alignment
Horizontal alignment
Text style
Create
See also
...Adding Titles to Frames
Label Creator is a powerful tool for creating text labels at a specified scale (i.e.
labels at a fixed size) for professional quality map production. With this tool you
can label:
1. Ensure the target dataset to label (e.g. a polyline table of survey lines or a
polygon table of boundaries) is open in the current map window. This table
requires an attribute field from which the labels will be created (e.g. 'Line'
or 'Zone').
Note A selection is not required for adding labels dynamically to individual objects
using the Add Single Label button.
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4. Select the target table or *Selection* in the Label Source Table pull-down
list. If using the Add Single Label button, specify the source table instead
of *Selection*.
5. Select the attribute field to create labels from in the Label Source
Column pull-down list.
6. Set the desired Style options (colour, font and size, etc). Labels are sized
according to scale. This can be either by the scale of the current Window
Scale, or a user-defined Map Scale (recommended)
7. For polylines and polygons, labels can be either centred on the Object, or
aligned with the First or Last point (Object node) using the Options Label
control. The Angle of the label can also be set as either Parallel to the
object (recommended for polylines) or Fixed. A fixed angle allows the user
control over the label display angle. A number of Advanced Labelling
Options are available for more precise label control.
The Advanced button on the Label Creator tool allows the following options:
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Control the Vertical position of the label with respect to the object. The
vertical position of the label can be positioned Above, Centered and Below
the object centroid. If set to either Above or Below, the Perpendicular
Offset can be set (in mm) from the map object centroid.
Offset Labels East and North (in mm) of their initial position. Use negative
values for West and South displacements
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Control how labels are wrapped along polyline with Label Splitting:
Filter the size of Line and polygon Region objects that are to be labelled.
To only label line objects over a certain length select the Process Lines
option and specify a length in metres.
To only label polygons 'less than' or 'greater than' an area, select the
Process Regions option and specify an area in metres squared.
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Formatting Text
Set the current font size, or resize selected text, for a specified output scale.
Use Format Text to set the text font size for a specified output scale. You can
also resize any selected text objects to prepare a map for printing at a new scale.
Often you want to change the font size of existing text to prepare it to be displayed
at a different scale. With the standard MapInfo text tool, you must have the
window at the correct scale in order to get the text size correct. Using the text
formatting utility in Discover you can adjust the text size by entering the font size
that you want and the map scale that this size refers to. Additionally you can
change the angle at which the text is displayed.
You should have a map window open and active. If you have selected text, it is
altered to the style that you select. The Format Text Dialog Box is displayed.
Enter the Font Size and angle and the map scale at which this size is correct.
The map scale defaults to a rounded value of the current Map Window scale.
The Font Size defaults to 10 point at the current Map Window scale, but accepts
any valid numeric input. The Text angle defaults to 0, i.e. left to right horizontal
(normal text orientation).
Note MapInfo text angles increase anti-clockwise from this direction so that 90 is
vertically up and 270 is vertically down. Also, when you change the scale/zoom
of the map window, you need to reset your text size using this menu option.
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Dialog Help
Font size
Map scale
Type the map scale. The text size is correct when printed at this scale.
Aa (text style)
Set the text style. Displays the MapInfo Text Style dialog box.
Angle
See also
...Formatting Text
This feature alters the label angle for a specified map layer.
Discover uses the current label settings (such as label column, zoom layering and
font) for the specified layer, but alters each label so that it displays at the required
angle. If the labels for this layer are not already displayed, then Discover causes
them to be displayed. If you wish to store the labels for later use, you must save
a workspace for the map.
Dialog Help
Layer
Angle
If the labels for this layer are not displayed, they are displayed. To store the labels
for later use, you must save a workspace for the map.
See also
... Modifying MapInfo Label Angles
Discover provides a range of functions for modifying text labels that are already
on your map. Commonly text labels are stored in a table used just for map
annotation purposes, and it does not contain data. Once the label has been
created, the link between the data and the label is based on location only.
You may wish to alter the text labels for a number of reasons, such as:
Having adjusted the position of sample labels to avoid over posting, you
want to change the label text from the Pb assay value to the Zn assay, but
keep the new label positions.
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Colour code sample assay labels using the same colour patterns as in the
drillhole display module.
Note Note that these functions work with text objects and not MapInfo labels. If you
need to convert MapInfo labels into text objects use the MapInfo
LABELLER.MBX tool.
Use this option to update the text in text objects according to the values in a
nominated column. This column can be in the same table or a different table.
When updating with values from a different table, Discover joins the two tables
simply by record number in the two tables. If the record order in the two tables is
not appropriate then you need to join the two tables using SQL.
See also
...Updating Labels an Tables
...Updating Table from Text Labels
Updating the table from text labels provides a simple method of adding the text
label string into a column in the browser window. This feature is especially useful
when dealing with DXF files containing sample number labels.
See also
...Updating Labels an Tables
...Updating Text Labels from Table
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Use this option to recolour text labels with colour patterns defined in the drillhole
display module. Discover allows you to use any colour pattern that has been
defined in the drillhole display module, and to colour the text objects based on the
text string or alternatively, based on the value in a column.
If you want to colour the text objects using the colour definitions stored in a
Discover colour table, then use the ColourMap tool (see ColourMap).
See also
... Updating Labels an Tables
Dialog Help
The table containing the text column that you want to update.
Column
Column
See also
... Updating Text Labels from Table
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Column
See also
...Updating Table from Text Labels
Column
Colour pattern
To colour text objects using the colour definitions stored in a Discover colour
table, use the ColourMap tool.
See also
...Colouring Text Labels with a Legend
The Add Line and Point Labels option in Discover enables a user to apply text
labels to point data that has been collected along regular lines such as soil
geochemistry samples or ground geophysical readings. This function can be very
useful for annotating detailed survey data i.e. a survey of ground magnetic
readings collected at 1m intervals can be annotated at 10m intervals (display
every 10th reading).
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Each line number and selected point locations can be annotated at the same time.
Line labels can automatically be placed at the start and end of each line and
sample points can be labelled with a value from a selected column at a user
specified interval.
Select the Add Line and Point Labels option from the Map Making menu. The
Line and Point Labels Dialog Box is displayed:
Select the table to use as the base for the line and point annotations from the pull-
down list. The table must contain a text column that stores the line number or line
name for each sample point. Select this column from the Select Line column
pull-down list. Select the column to use that contains the sample point number
(must be a numeric field) from the Select Point column pull-down list.
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The line and point labels may be added to the cosmetic layer, to another open
table or into a new table. By default, the start and end of every line is labelled with
the line name or number. Uncheck the relevant box to only display line labels at
the start or end of a line, or to not display any line labels at all. The Label points
box is also checked by default. Enter the desired point annotation spacing (for
example, label every 10 points to annotate every 10th sample).
Use the Sort point column to make sure the point data column is sorted so the
sample numbers are listed in numerical order in the original data table. Select to
either filter by Row Order or Point Column. Discover automatically determines
the Line label size and Point label size based on the scale displayed in the map
window or you can enter your own label parameters.
Note Discover annotates the first and last sample in each line irrespective of the
sample point annotation spacing defined.
Dialog Help
Annotation table
Select table
Create labels
Select the layer the labels are stored in. The line and point labels can be added
to the cosmetic layer, to another open table or a new table.
Label points
Type the point label interval. The first and last point in each line are always
labelled.
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Filter by
Label style
Map scale
Type the map scale. The text size is correct when printed at this scale.
Type the offset distance from the line start in mm at the specified map scale.
Aa (text style)
Set the line text style. Displays the MapInfo Text Style dialog box.
Type the offset distance from the line start in mm at the specified map scale.
Aa (text style)
Set the point text style. Displays the MapInfo Text Style dialog box.
See also
...Adding Line and Point Labels
The Discover SeeThru Shading patterns are composed of lines, stripes or points
that fill a polygon at a nominated spacing. Once a seethru shade has been
defined, it can be saved as a named Pattern.
You can easily select an existing pattern from the list. You should specify a map
scale to apply this pattern. This allows you to use the same pattern at a variety of
display scales.
Choose between a Line, Point or Stripe Pattern Type. A line, brush or point style
can be selected from the normal MapInfo range of line, brush and point types and
colours.
You can select symbol styles from any of those available, including custom
bitmaps. If you have used a custom bitmap to fill a region, then note that the
bitmaps are placed as the bottom layer in the map and may be obscured by other
non-transparent region fill styles.
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Stripe patterns are made up of equal width stripes in alternating brush styles.
Choose the stripe brush styles from the full range of MapInfo brush colours and
fill patterns.
For line and stripe patterns, choose an orientation between 0 and 180 degrees for
the line to be drawn at (0 is vertical, 90 is horizontal). For point patterns, this
option is unavailable.
You should then choose a Pattern Density or Width. The value suggested by
Discover depends upon the current scale level of the map window, and is
specified in the distance units of the map window. The closer the spacing, the
longer time the pattern takes to generate.
You should also note that the pattern is suitable only for the current scale of the
map. If you zoom in or out, the pattern spacing remains the same in map units,
so that the pattern appearance changes (it becomes more dense as you zoom
out, and vice versa).
By default, Discover places the shading in a new layer called SEETHRU, stored
in the Discover Temporary folder. When you run SeeThru Shading, the existing
SEETHRU table is overwritten. If a table named SEETHRU is in the front map
window, you may append the new shading to it.
Use the Save As button to save the shading to a table that can be used later with
a workspace.
You can easily store seethru pattern definitions in the Discover SeeThru Pattern
Library. Click on the Add button from the main dialog to store a new pattern, or
select an existing pattern to edit or delete.
For added flexibility, you can combine line and point patterns to provide a polygon
fill of complex appearance. Simply select a different pattern style and click the
Add button.
Note If you combine stripes with other pattern types, the appearance of the pattern is
unpredictable as Discover cannot control the order in which MapInfo draws the
different elements in the pattern. To display these patterns together, select 2
seethru pattern layers, the lower one containing stripes, and the upper
containing the other pattern.
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Dialog Help
Click the box to select an existing pattern from the pattern library, and then click
OK to apply the pattern to the selected polygons.
Add
Edit
Delete
Displays the open table dialog box from which you can select a different
pattern table. The default table STPatts.TAB is stored in the Discover
Config folder.
When applied, displays Apply Patterns to Selection dialog box from which
you can select the column in the selected table which contains the pattern
name. Matching patterns from the pattern library are applied to the objects
in the table.
Specify pattern
Select this option to create and apply a new pattern. Define the pattern and then
click OK to apply to the selected polygons.
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Pattern type
Select a Line, Point or Stripe pattern type. A line, brush or point style can be
selected from the normal MapInfo range of line, brush and point types and
colours.
You can select symbol styles from any of those available, including custom
bitmaps. If you have used a custom bitmap to fill a region, then note that the
bitmaps are placed as the bottom layer in the map and may be obscured by other
non-transparent region fill styles.
Stripe patterns are made up of equal width stripes in alternating brush styles.
Choose the stripe brush styles from the full range of MapInfo brush colours and
fill patterns.
Note If you combine stripes with other pattern types, the appearance of the pattern is
unpredictable because Discover cannot control the order in which MapInfo
draws the different elements in the pattern. To display these patterns together,
select two seethru pattern layers, the lower one containing stripes, and the upper
containing the other pattern.
Angle
For line and stripe patterns, type an orientation between 0 and 180 degrees (0 is
vertical, and 90 is horizontal).
Spacing
Map scale
The map scale at which the pattern density is correct. If you zoom in or out, the
pattern spacing remains the same in map units, so that the pattern appears more
or less dense.
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Options
By default, the shading is stored in the SEETHRU layer, which is stored in the
Discover Temp folder. When you run SeeThru Shading, the existing SEETHRU
table is overwritten. If a table named SEETHRU is in the front map window, you
can append the new shading to it.
Save As
Save the shading to a table that can be used later with a workspace.
See also
... Apply SeeThru Shading
Alternatively, check the Use Line Direction box to place the annotations on the
left or right according to the direction in which the line has been digitized. To place
the annotations on the left make sure the Left/Facing Up box is checked as well.
Note If the structural or geological linestyle spacing is not appropriate for the map
scale at which the map is to be plotted, use the Discover>Map Making>Line
Annotation utility to create your own custom spaced line annotations.
Dialog Help
Placement
Place every
The annotation tool will be displayed with which you can place the annotation
at any position on any line.
Annotation type
Non-text
Select a non-text annotation style from the Line annotation box. Includes line
styles for faults, synclines, shear zones, and such.
Text
Select a character from the Character to place box. ASCII codes 32 to 255 from
the standard text font are available.
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Symbol
The current symbol is displayed on the Symbol to place button. Click the button
to select an different symbol from the MapInfo Symbol Style dialog box. In
addition to the MapInfo symbols, special symbol fonts supplied with Discover,
such as ET GeoExplore and ET Structural, can be selected. For more information
on special symbol fonts supplied with Discover, see Geological Symbol Font,
Structural Symbol Font, Hydrographic Symbol Font, and Environmental Symbol
Font.
Annotation style
Map scale
Type the map scale. The text size is correct when printed at this scale.
Facing left/up
Annotation is placed on the line facing out towards the side or top of the map
window.
Annotation is placed on the left or right according to the direction in which the line
has been digitized. Select this option and Facing left/up to always place
annotation on the left of the line.
Clear the check box to change the line and fill styles shown on the adjacent
buttons. Click the buttons to display the MapInfo Line Style and Fill Style dialog
boxes. Additional geological and structural line styles installed with Discover can
be selected from these dialog boxes.
See also
... Apply Geological Line Styles and Annotations
... Styles and Symbol Fonts
MapShop
The MapShop module automates the generation and printing of multiple map
sheets covering a region. Simply select a layout template and a map series
(comprising polygons outlining each required map boundary), and MapShop will
do the rest, automatically batch creating and printing professional maps for each
polygon boundary.
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Open Map Series open an existing map series for batch printing (see
Open Map Series)
Generate Map Series create a new map series covering the area of
interest (see Creating a New Map Series)
Print Key Map provides the user with a visual guide to the
location and extents of each map sheet in the series (see Key
Maps)
Print Standard Map quickly print the map window area using a map
template (see Printing Standard Maps)
Label Creator creates customizable text labels for line objects, including
density controls and character field case sensitivity (see Labelling Tools)
Setup
2. Ensure a map template exists that meets your layout requirements. See
Templates for creating and editing templates.
3. Select the Print Map Catalog> Print Map Sheets menu option.
4. In the Map Catalogue Plot dialog, set the input Map Series from the pull-
down list. If a subset of the map series polygons has been selected, the
Selection Only option will be ticked: the whole series can be generated
by ticking the Do All Maps option.
5. Enter a Map Title as required, otherwise each map Sheet will by default
use the Map name as the title (recommended).
9. Printing order and adjacent map labeling options (for the keymap) are
available, as well as a toggle for vieiwing each layout prior to printing. The
Styles button provides controls for detailed formatting and spacing of
gridlines and grid numbers.
10. Press OK. Any template or key in scale prompts will now be displayed.
11. If the View/Edit layout before printing the Plot option was enabled, a
layout will be generated for preview using the specified template and first
map series polygon. Layout components can be moved if desired.
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If satisfied with the layout preview, press the Print button to print
the layout.
When ready, Generate the next map with the Map Output toolbar
button.
12. If the View/Edit layout before printing the Plot option was disabled, the
map series (or the selected subset) will be automatically generated and
printed with no user layout preview.
Note If batchprinting to PDF files, you can suppress the prompt for PDF file name by
using the Mapinfo Professional PDF Printer. Navigate to File>Print to PDF, and
open the Proprieties for the Mapinfo Printer. On the Destination tab, open File
System>Options. Select a default directory, and specify to Append to the
existing document.
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Styles
The Styles button at the bottom left of the Map Catalogue Plot dialog allows
customization of the grid and reference numbering styles. These include:
The Neatline is the line that is drawn around the map sheet but it fits the
map edge exactly (0 mm offset). Later we will see when we might use an
offset. You can also change the style of the line it draws if you like (the
thick dashed casement style looks good). Obviously there is no spacing
on a neatline so the last column is n/a.
The Join Edge and Corner Marks are disable here but we will look at
them in an example later.
The Grid Ticks are enabled and have a size of 4 mm on the final output.
You can see them on the sample map to the right. Also notice that they
are 200 apart. 200 what you ask. The values used in the Spacing column
are the map units (e.g. metres on metric projections) of the projection the
map series is in. So in this case they are 200 metres apart. You can also
see that the grid tick are 200 apart because the bottom line is at 6,143,800
and the next is at 6,144,000.
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The Grid Crosses are also disabled but all they give you are crosses are
the intersection on internal grid lines. You can use Grid Crosses with or
without grid lines.
The Grid Lines are enabled on this map. They appear as dotted lines as
the style was set on the dialog. Grid lines would typically have the same
spacing as the grid ticks. They have no size because they got right across
the map sheet to the neatline.
The Ref# are enabled above so we see them on the map around the
edge. These are the A,B, C etc and 1, 2, 3 etc. The style for this item is a
font picker. The offset is the distance out from the real neatline.
The Corner # are also enabled above and are only 1 mm out.
As shown in the sample map above, we are showing grid numbers but only the
ones at the bottom left are full numbers. The rest are cut back to avoid clutter. To
set this look, go to the bottom section of the dialog and turn off the Add Full check
box. Then above this use the Position and Size buttons to set the position.
The normal map convention is to show the digit that is changing plus the next digit
as well. In the above example we are using 200 metre space, so I want to show
o,oo0,0oo which is the third and fourth digits.
The 2nd last control on the dialog is a radio group that allows you to set the
Reference # to be either aligned to the Grid or at the fixed spacing set in the INI
file. The above setting is set to align to the grid so the 1 and the A are placed
evenly between the grid numbers.
The final setting rotates the reference number to face inwards on the map.
There are a lot of settings that you can change. Almost all are logical in their use,
so its not too difficult to get the results you want.
In the next example you can see that the map looks very different. This time, the
neatline is offset 20 mm and added a join edge of 10 mm. This means that more
detail is shown than the on the real map (this is sometimes called a bleed edge.
The third line in is the actual neatline and the true edge of the map.
Notice also that the lines between the reference numbers are the actual grid tick
but a negative value means the come inwards 10 mm to achieve the results
below. In this case no grid numbers are shown.
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The Print Standard Map option allows the user to simply print the visible map
window area using a selected template: it does not utilize a map series (in
contrast to the Print Map Sheets option).
The Standard Map Setup dialog box is displayed with which you can set up
parameters for printing a standard plot:
Map Title: Type in a title that will appear in a specified position on your
printed map. This title usually is a description of the map being printed.
You may specify no title at all if you wish.
Template: Select the template to use from the drop-down list of available
templates. This is the template that the map will be added to for printing.
The templates available for use are specified by your system
administrator.
Plot Scale: Select the scale to print the map at from the drop-down list of
available scales as specified by the system administrator. Choices here
include:
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1:500
1:1000
1:2500
1:5000
...
Key In Scale
Same zoom width as on screen
Zoom Layers: Select the zoom layering setting option with 1 of 3 possible
choices:
Turn all zoom layering off: Remove all zoom layering settings
when generating the map.
Printer: If you click on this button, the standard Page Setup dialog is
displayed on which you can specify settings such as the printer to print to,
the paper size, paper source, paper orientation and margins.
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Once you have specified all options on this dialog and clicked on the OK
button, the layout will be generated according to the options chosen on
the dialog. If you chose to edit the layout before printing, the layout will be
displayed so that you can check it before you print it. While this layout
window is open, you still have access to all of the standard MapInfo
commands and tools. Therefore you can zoom in or out on the layout as
well as move around it using the grabber hand tool. You also have access
to the drawing tools in MapInfo so that you can add text or other MapInfo
objects, such as circles, rectangles and rounded rectangles.
Note that:
If more than one map windows currently opened and the template you
selected contains more than one map, a dialog is displayed with a drop-
down list for each map area. The first entry in the list is <None> and the
rest of the entries are all the map windows currently opened. In this dialog,
select the map that will be placed on the template at print time. For
example, if your template contains a Pink map and a Blue map then the
dialog will only display the drop-down box for Blue Map Area. The Green
Map Area and the Red Map Area drop-down boxes are greyed-out.
Map Series
1. New map series polygons can be either added to an existing map series
table (opened via the Open Map series option) or created in a new map
series.
2. For either situation, select the Generate Map Series menu option. If no
map series table is open, select Yes in the following dialog to
automatically create a new map series.
3. Specify an appropriate name for the new map series (for example,
incorporating the intended scale/extents and location e.g.
Yukon_100200). It is recommended to leave the new table in the default
Discover>MapShop>MapSeries directory location.
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4. In the Set Map Series Style dialog, select the appropriate map series
template and desired Series Scale.
The user can also create a custom Special Map Series defined by height
and width in the appropriate Units. This can involve a % Overlap between
the sheets (where 0 = no overlap (i.e. adjacent map sheet boundaries). A
special map series can also be rotated along a selected line.
5. If multiple map series tables are open in MapInfo Professional, select the
target series at the bottom right of the dialog (Draw into).
6. The line style of the map series polygons can be set via the style button at
the bottom left of the dialog.
7. Press OK; the Map Series toolbar will appear. . With the Add Map Sheet
button selected, click on the location in the map window for the first map
sheet polygon location; a polygon will be placed at the specified scale/
size.
8. Repeat this process for each additional required map sheet boundary. If
creating a large number of map sheet polygons, Save the Changes to the
map series occasionally (on the Map Series toolbar). The File>Revert
Table menu option can then be used to undo incorrectly positioned
polygons.
9. Each new map sheet polygon is attributed with a sequential number (in
the Map# field) as well as a Name (e.g. Map Sheet12) and the scale.
These attributes can be edited.
10. When complete, press the Finish button (on the Map Series toolbar) to
complete the Map Series table and close the Map Series toolbar.
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Map sheet production and printing (Print Map Catalog> Print Map Sheets)
requires a map series to be open in MapInfo Professional. Use the Open Map
Series menu option to open an existing map series from the available list (in the
default map series location Discover>MapShop>MapSeries as set under
Discover>Configuration in the File Paths>MapShop Files section).
Templates
What are templates? Templates are simply MapInfo workspaces which contain
a layout window showing the map edge details. When a template is created,
features such the map area, scale bar size and location, and Index to Adjoining
Map Box location, are specified with special coloured boxes. Specific text items
such as map title, map scale, map number, current date, etc are specified with a
reserved word which defines the text location and scale.
When the end user produces a map with a specific template, these special boxes
and reserved words are replaced with the actual mapper, scale bar, current date,
etc. Without having to do anything else, the user will be able to produce a map to
the same quality and detail as if it was created by someone with many years of
training in MapInfo. The map would also be produced in a matter of seconds and
would look exactly like town planning maps produced by all other users in your
organisation.
Creating Templates
First you can use the MapShop Generate New Template command. This
function opens a new layout window and displays a tool bar containing
buttons to place the standard items on the template. The user then draws
the skeleton for the map specifying where all items are to go on the page.
The last command on this button pad saves the template and adds it to
the list so end users have access to it.
The second method is to close all files that are currently opened and
create a Layout window using the standard MapInfo commands. Then use
the standard MapInfo commands to draw the components you need.
The third and final method is to copy (or Save As) an existing template to
a new name then make any minor adjustments that are needed. This way
is probably the easiest once you already have one or two templates
looking and working the way you want them to.
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1. Choose the MapInfo File>Close All command to close all open layers so
that when we save our template as a workspace, there are no other layers
open.
Note If you already have a layout window open when you choose this command, it will
ask you if you want to use the current layout or create a new one.
On this layout window, the grey area represents the paper size and the
white area is the printable area on the paper. This is where you can draw
your template objects. We want to create an A4 Portrait template, so we
will have to check the Page Setup command.
3. Choose the MapInfo File>Page Setup command and set the paper size
and orientation to A4 Portrait.
To make drawing on the layout easier, resize the layout window so that it
fills most of the page (do not maximise it as this will cause problems later).
Also choose the Layout>View Entire Layout command. Your layout
window should now look like the sample shown below.
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Notice that the Template Toolbar has also been displayed. We will be
using the buttons on this button pad to create the rectangular objects and
reserved words mentioned earlier. To create your template, you will also
need access to the standard MapInfo Drawing button pad, so display it if it
is not currently shown.
Firstly, we want to specify on the paper where the map will be located.
The cursor should appear as a small black cross. Click in the top left
corner of the page and hold the mouse button down. Drag the mouse to
the right and down to about three quarters of the way down the page.
Leave a little bit of room at the top for a title which we will add later. When
you let go, your page should look like the one shown below.
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This pink box will tell MapShop where the map will go on the printed
output. MapShop will recognise the box by its line style and colour. You
should only ever need to add one of these per template. This box is just a
standard MapInfo rectangle object, so you can move it and resize it as
required.
Note that it is VERY important that when you create a template to be used
with the Map Series command, that you know in advance the ratio of
height to width that the map series sheets have. You should then try to
make sure that the pink box you just added is roughly the same ratio (in
this case about square will do). If their shape differs greatly (especially the
map being taller), then you will have trouble later trying to get the map to
appear correctly on the page. If the map template is being used for the
other print commands, this is not a concern.
Next we will specify where the Index to Adjoining Maps box will sit. IAM
Boxes should only be drawn on Map Series templates as Series Maps are
the only time that MapShop can determine if there are adjoining sheets or
not.
6. Choose the button from the Template toolbar and draw a smaller
square at the bottom right of the page.
7. Choose the button and drag out a rectangle representing the scale
bar location and size.
This rectangle should be long and flat and about half the width of the
page. See sample below.
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Notice that the three boxes all have a different line style. Once again,
these styles are important and should not be changed. You can however,
change their position and size.
Finally, we will add some reserved words to place the map's title and
scale. As we don't know these in advance, MapShop accepts reserved
words to define the text style and position on the page.
8. Choose the button and click once on the map just under the scale bar
box.
9. Select Map Scale as the reserved word to add and then click on the Add
button.
The command will then place a piece of text on the layout with the letters
"<L>MapScale". This is one of the 9 allowable reserved words. Whenever
MapShop finds a piece of text with one of these spellings at print time, it
replaces it with a real value. In this case it will be the scale of the map it is
about to print.
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11. Click again at the very top centre of the map and this time, select Map
Title as the reserved word to add.
These reserved words are just text objects, so you can move them or
change their text style, etc by double clicking on them. Your page should
now look something like the sample below.
This is all we are going to add to this template. We must now save it into
the Templates database and give it a user-friendly name.
You will be asked to specify the name for the new template and the
directory to save it into.
13. Save the template as Test.WOR and save it into the MapShop\Template
directory.
Note Remember that no other files should be open at this point, otherwise your
template will include these as well and this may cause a fault later when called
up by the end user.
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You will then be asked if you wish to add this template to the list of
templates that are used in the print commands in MapShop.
Even though you have saved the template as a workspace, it has not
been added to the template database yet for the end users to have access
to.
You will then be asked for a user-friendly name for the template as shown
below. The name that you enter should be meaningful to the end user.
16. Enter a description such as "Test using A4 Portrait" and then choose the
OK button.
Your layout should then be closed and you will be left with a blank screen.
You are now ready to use this template.
17. Restart MapShop again by selecting MAPSHOP.MBX from the bottom of the
File menu.
You should see the town again with the custom map series over it.
18. Use the MapInfo select tool to select the Coconut Grove map sheet (top
left) and then choose the Print Map Series Map command from the
MapShop menu.
19. Select your new template (e.g. "Test using A4 Portrait") as the Template to
use.
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20. Leave the rest of the settings as they are and choose OK.
The map to be printed will be created using your new template. It should
look similar to the one shown below.
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If you compared the map shown above to your template, you would see that the
pink boxes have been replaced with the graphical objects (e.g. map area, IAM
Box and scale bar). The Map Title has been changed to "Coconut Grove" which
is the name of the map sheet selected, and the Map Scale has changed to
"1:12,731" which is the scale of the map when it is printed.
This section has shown us how to create a template to match how you want your
output to appear. We have also made this template available to all users so
everyone can produce the same types of maps.
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Template Toolbar
Use the Add Map button to add a rectangular object to the template that will be
replaced at print time with the actual map being printed. To use this tool, select
the button on the button pad and the cursor will become a cross hair. Use this
cross hair to click in one corner of the area where you wish the map to be placed,
and, holding down the mouse button, drag out the cursor out to the opposite
corner of your map area. When you release the mouse, a default rectangular
object will be drawn on the template in a specific region style. Do not change this
style as the application is looking for a rectangular object of that particular style
at print time to know where to place the map. You can move and resize this
rectangular object using the standard MapInfo Select tool.
Note Only four maps can be added on the template. If you try to put more than
four maps it will give a warning message.
If one of the maps is removed from the template (e.g. the Pink map), the
next time you add a map area it will be the lowest colour (Pink).
Use the Add Browser button to add a rectangular object to the template that will
be placed at print time with a browser. Only one browser can be added on the
template. If you try to put more than one browser it will give a warning message.
Use the Add IAM Box to add a rectangular object to the template that will be
replaced at print time with the Index to Adjoining Map Box.
Use the Add Scale Bar to add a rectangular object to the template that will be
replaced at print time with a scale bar reflecting the maps true scale.
Use the Add Legend button to add a rectangular object to the template that will
be placed at print time with a legend. Only one legend can be added on the
template. If you try to put more than one legend it will give a warning message.
Use the Add Graph button to add a rectangular object to the template that will
be placed at print time with a graph. Only one graph can be added on the
template. If you try to put more than one graph it will give a warning message.
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The Field List Box will add a rectangular object to the template that will be
replaced at print time with a field list box. This will only work with templates used
for printing custom maps. The field list box will contain a list of every field in the
custom map table and the value of that field for the selected object that the
custom map is being printed for. (Note: In MapShop version 1.1 the icon of this
button was . This icon is now used for the new button - Add Legend as this icon
is more logical to use for this button. The function of the Field List Box button
stays the same as it was, the only difference is the icon).
Use the Quit button to close the template creation process without saving.
Use the Add Text to add text objects to the template that will be replaced at print
time with actual words based on the printed map. To use this tool, select the
button on the button pad and the cursor will become a cross hair. Use this cross
hair to click on the spot on the template where you wish to add the text. After
clicking on the layout, the following dialog is displayed.
On this dialog you must select which type of text to place. When the Add button
is clicked, the following dialog will appear asking for a justification value for the
text. After choosing OK the required text will be placed on the layout.
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Note For justification purposes, choosing left justify will justify the default text using
the position the left hand side of the text object. Choosing center justify will justify
the default text using the center position of the reserved word. Choosing right
justify will justify the text to the position of the right hand side of the text object.
The current MapInfo text style is used for text objects. If you wish to
change this style, you can double click on this text object with the MapInfo
Select tool and you will be presented with the standard MapInfo Text
Style dialog. On this dialog, you can click on the Style button to change
the font style, colour, size and attributes such as bolding, italics and
underline. The style used for this text object is the style that the actual title
is displayed in when printed using the Print Map Series Map and Print
Standard Map commands.
You can also move text objects around by clicking on it with the standard
MapInfo Select tool and, holding down the mouse button, drag it to a new
location. Release the mouse button when the text is in the correct
position.
Most of the add text options are self explanatory, however some of them do
require explanation:
Sheet X of X: Shows the sheet number for the current batch print. For
example, if 10 maps were being printed, the 3rd map would be Sheet 3 of
10.
Sheet X: Shows just the sheet number for the batch print.
OrderNumber: This shows sheet number for the current sheet without the
word "Sheet".
Custom Map Field Label: This will prompt the user to enter the name of
a field in the table being used for the custom map. It will return the value in
that field for the selected custom map object.
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Map Series Label:This will prompt the user to enter the name of a field in
the map series layer. It will return the value in that field for the map series
sheet being printed.
The above tools are used to add special objects to your template which will be
replaced at print time with the appropriate information. You can also add standard
MapInfo objects to the template using the tools on the MapInfo Drawing toolbar.
Keep editing your template until you have it looking how you want it to. Your
template should look something like the example shown below.
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Use the Finish Template to save your template and add it to the list of templates
that can be used in the Print Map Series Map and Print Standard Map
commands. When you select this button, a dialog is displayed on which you
must specify the location and name for the new workspace file that your template
will be saved as. It is recommended that you store all of your templates in the
default directory (Discover>MapShop>MapSeries). All templates are stored as
MapInfo workspace files (.WOR file extension).
When you have specified the file to save it as and clicked on the Save button,
you will be asked if you now want to add this template into the list of templates
that are available in the Print Map Series Map and Print Standard Map
commands.
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If you choose No, the template will only be saved as a workspace file and
not added in to the list of templates. You can add it later by using the
Configure Map Templates command.
If you choose Yes, you is displayed another dialog on which you can
specify a description for the template that is displayed in the dialogs for
the plotting commands when referring to this template. This description
can be up to 40 characters long and may contain spaces.
Once you choose OK on this dialog, the details about your new template are
added to the Template setup table and the layout window is closed down.
Use this dialog to add new templates and delete redundant templates from the list
of available templates. It also allows the template list to be reordered, for instance
to place commonly used templates at the top of the list.
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Indexes
A Map Index is a summary listing of an entire feature set within a table (for
instance, streets and roads or localities such as mine locations and townships),
with each feature referenced by both map sheet name/number and map sheet
coordinates (e.g. F12). An example of this is the street index in a city street
directory.
Map indexes consist of a minimum of three columns, but may contain up to five
columns of information. It must contain:
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The name of each feature being indexed (Feature Name e.g. street name
or mine sight),
The map reference (indicating the position of each feature in the map
sheet area that it falls in), and
Either the name of the map sheet that each feature is in (Map Name) or
the number of the map sheet that each feature is in (Map Number).
Optionally it may also contain the Locality that each feature falls in (for
example, if creating an index of road names, you could list the suburb that
each road falls in).
Map indexes are created with the MapShop>Generate Map Index option, which
creates a DBF format file storing the index information.
They are then printed using the MapShop>Print Map Catalog>Print Map Index
option.
Creating a map index requires at least one mapper layer (containing the target
features) and one map series layer open.
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Set the source Feature Name field (from the Feature table)
Set the Locality Name field (e.g. suburb) if a Locality table was
assigned,
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4. In the Map Sheets section, select whether to build the index for all maps
in the map series, or just the selected maps.
5. Press OK. Set a name and destination directory for the output Index DBF
file
Note The DBF file can be opened in MapInfo Professional (via its TAB header file)
and edited at any time prior to printing. For example, if a Locality column was
considered unnecessary in the index, this field could be removed.
1. Once a map index has been created, select the MapShop>Print Map
Catalog>Print Map Index option.
2. Browse for and select the .DBF file created in step 5 above.
Rename the Feature Type to the object type (e.g. Land Parcels or
Street Names.
Use the Set Margin option to customise the output field widths to
prevent overprinting
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4. Press OK. The Map Index will be generated onto multiple layout pages.
A map index created using land parcels as features, suburbs as localities, and referencing
map sheet numbers.
Layers
Feature: The layer to create the index from, such as streets or mine
locations. Each object in this layer is stored in a new row in the DBF file.
The list of layers shown in this setting is a list of all currently open layers. If
you have not yet specified a Feature layer, this setting will read "- - Not
Selected- - ". Examples of the types of features you may wish to index
includes roads, cadastral parcels, rivers and school locations.
Locality: The region type locality layer. This layer must contain region
objects, such as postcodes, suburbs, shire boundaries, exploration
licences/tenements, etc. This layer is used to specify the locality that each
feature falls in. Shown here is a list of all currently open layers. If you have
not yet specified a Locality layer, this setting will read "- - Not Selected- - ".
Map: The map series layer created using the Generate Map Series
command. This layer is used to provide the number and name of each
map sheet, and the reference number, that each feature falls in.
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In the Fields group you must specify the fields that will be used to create
the columns in the index. The settings are:
Feature Name: Compulsory field from the Features layer specified above;
used to create the Feature Name column in the index.
Locality Name: Optional field from the Features layer specified above;
used to create the Locality Name column in the index.
Map Number and Map Name: You must select at least one of these two
fields for each index, but may select both if required. They are both
extracted from the Map Series layer specified above; and are used to
create the Map Number field in the index and the Map Name field in the
index, respectively.
Note The default field value for Map Number is "Map#" if there is one available,
otherwise it defaults to "1".
Note The default field value for Map Name is "Name" if there is one available,
otherwise it defaults to "1".
Note The other compulsory column that is created - the Reference # column, does
not need to be specified here as the reference number as it is generated from
the location of each feature in the map sheet.
Key Maps
The Map Shop module can generate a Key Map for a selected map series: this
provides the user with a visual guide to the location and extents of each map
sheet in the series.
1. Select the Print Map Catalogue>Print Key Map command and you will
see the following dialog.
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2. Ensure that the Template is set to Standard Map (A4 Portrait) and
uncheck (turn off) the Show Map Number control. Click on the OK button.
(Note: User must key in title.)
3. Click the Print Current Map button to send the layout to the current
printer.
4. Click the Stop Outputs of Map button to close Key Map layout window
and return to your original mapper.
Labelling Tools
The MapShop module includes a powerful labelling tool that produces label
objects in a new layer at a specified scale. This allows precise control of the label
sizing for professional quality map production. A number of advanced labelling
controls, such as density filters, multi-attribute labelling and character field case
sensitivity, provide excellent labelling results.
This tool can also be accessed from the Map Making menu. For more
information, see Adding Text Labels.
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Configuring MapShop
Note You must close and restart the MapShop menu before any changes to the
MapShop dialog box will take effect.
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The number of divisions across the page (X axis) and up the page (Y axis)
can be controlled either by the appropriate slider bar, or by entering value
directly. These options will only be utilized if the Space Ref #'s using
across and ... up the sheet option is enabled in the Print Map
Sheets>Styles>Set Map Style dialog. These options control the
SetIndexRangeX and SetIndexRangeY settings in the MAPSHOP.INI file.
The axis and direction of the character and numeric components of the
reference system can be specified using the pull-down list of options. This
option controls the RefNumMode setting in the MAPSHOP.INI file.
Scale bar units can be specified as either Metric or Imperial. The scale of
the final map will govern the magnitude of the units (for example if metric,
whether the displayed units or metres or kilometres). Auto will set the units
to metres for Cartesian map projections, and Imperial for Lat/Long map
projections). This option controls the ScaleBarUnit setting in the
MAPSHOP.INI file.
The scale bar type can be set as one of three styles. This option controls
the ScaleBarType setting in the MAPSHOP.INI file.
Scale bar labels (i.e. text objects) can be limited to the extents of the scale
bar (recommended). This option controls the ScaleBarWithin setting in
the MAPSHOP.INI file.
The various tools that access and create these files (e.g. MapShop>Open Map
Series and MapShop>Edit Existing Template) will therefore automatically go
these locations.
1. Ensure the appropriate directories exist in the target location (to setup, we
recommend simply copying the MapShop directory and its contents from
the Discover installation path to the destination directory)
3. In the Configuration dialog, alter the MapShop Files path to the new
MapShop folder location and press OK.
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Additional tools for creating registered raster images are described in Raster
Imagery. For information on editing, reprojecting, registering and other image
functions, see Working with Images.
The Convert Map to Registered Raster tool will convert the select map window
view into a raster image in a number of compressed formats, including ECW, at
the selected level of detail and resolution.
To convert any data into a registered raster, open a new map window in MapInfo
Professional that contains the required tables or make an existing map window
the active window.
1. Set the window dimensions and scale so the map window contains the
information to save. Whatever is visible within the map window will be
saved as the raster image.
3. Select the window you to wish to convert to a raster image from the Select
Window to Save list.
4. Select the raster format from the Image Type drop down list. Available
formats include .ECW, .PNG, .BMP, .JPEG, .TIF, .GEOTIFF (note though
that Discover Mobile does not support .PNG). For best compression, save
the window as an ECW. For compatibility, GEOTIFFs are also
recommended as they contain an embedded EPSG code for the
projection system.
5. Use the Detail drop-down list to increase the level of detail in the image
from the fixed screen resolution (96 dpi). By default Discover will save an
image which is double (2x) the size (width and height) of the map window
on the screen.
Note This tool will only work on a default normal text size (96 dpi).
Note Background transparency only applies to PNG and TIFF format images and is
embedded in the image file.
8. Check the Create World File box to create an associated world file for the
image which contains the registration information this is useful for
opening in programs without using the TAB file.
See also
...Supported Data File Formats
Dialog Help
Preview
Output options
Image type
Select a raster image type: ECW, BMP, PNG, JPEG, TIF, or GEOTIFF. Note that
Discover Mobile does not support PNG. For best compression, use ECW.
Detail
1x saves the map at screen resolution (96 dpi). 2x will save the map with the same
dimensions but at twice the resolution. Increasing the detail level increases the
display size and file size of the image.
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Transparency
Creates the georeferenced raster image in a portable world file format that can be
read by third-party application software. A world file is a six-line text header file
that contains information relating to the image pixel size in X and Y direction,
rotation of row or columns and the X and Y coordinates of the centre of the image
top left pixel. Depending on the raster type selected for the registered raster
image, a world file may have one of the following file extensions: .PGW, .JEW,
.BPW or .TFW. Third-party software programs can read and use this information
along with an entered projection to view the raster image in the correct
geographical location.
Note You can add a black border around the raster image with
Options>Preferences>Output Settings.
Note Problems may be encountered when saving a map to registered raster if the
operating system display adapter DPI settings are customised and specify a
scale percentage greater than 100%. This may result in the raster image being
offset some distance from the original map window data. Setting the display
adapter DPI scale percentage back to 100% should correct the problem.
See also
... Supported Data File Formats
... Saving a Map Window as a Registered Raster Image
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To optimise the animation file or movie created using the Discover Windows
Animator utility adhere to the following rules:
1. Make sure that the map window containing the data to be used in the
animation is NOT maximised. If the map window is maximised, i.e. the
map window fills the entire MapInfo screen, use the Restore Down button
to display the window as floating.
2. An animation file can only be created from within a single mapper window.
3. Do not adjust the extents or size of the mapper window at anytime during
the animation creation.
Play - Load a saved animation file or play the animation file through a
mapper window in MapInfo.
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The Frames section displays the created frame records (Captured window
layers) along with buttons to capture, update, delete and save an animation or
movie file.
The Preview section displays a preview of the captured mapper window. The
Lock Window Size box should be checked after creating the first frame so that
the map window dimensions are the same for all subsequent frames in the
animation. To view a created frame in the Preview window select the frame in
the Frames section and click the Preview Selected Frame button.
1. Open a mapper window and adjust the window dimensions to the desired
size. Arrange the data layers in the map window to display the first capture
view.
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2. Select the New button to capture the current mapper window view. This
view is added to the Frame list and is assigned the default name of
Frame 1 and a default timing of 2.0 seconds. To change the default frame
name click in the name cell and overwrite with the new name.
The Timing value entered is how long the captured mapper window view will be
displayed in the animation or movie playback. If the animation is to move rapidly
through a series of views, a short time frame should be selected. Alternatively, for
an animation to change between views more slowly, longer timing values should
be selected. A different timing value can be entered for each frame.
Note Do not adjust the mapper window dimensions using the cursor while creating the
frame views as this will adversely affect the animation or movie file generation.
3. In the map window set up the view for the next frame capture. This may
involve zooming, panning, adding new map layer(s), turning on a thematic
layer or annotating map objects. Once the view is ready for capture, select
the New button again and modify the frame name and timing values.
Continue to update the map window view and create animation frames as
required.
4. Once the created animation is completed, select the Save button and
navigate to a selected folder to save the animation. The animation file is
suffixed with a *.ani extension.
The Tables button allows the selection and ordering of multiple tables to be
consecutively displayed in your animation. Any tables not selected in this dialog,
but present in the map window, will be displayed statically as the 'base map'
layer.
This is a quick and easy way of automatically configuring many tables for
display, such as tens or hundreds of gridded surfaces depicting salinity variation
over time.
On clicking OK in the Table Series dialog, the tables are added as individual
frames to the Window Animator dialog.
Instead of iterating through tables, the Fields button allows the user to specify a
field within one vector dataset to create a series of groups: the animator can then
sequentially display these groups. For instance, this may be a company or mesh
size within a geochemical dataset, a date or time field within environmental
monitoring data, or a lithology field in a geological map.
The Field Value Series dialog requires a Table, Field and grouping Method to be
specified. This functionality supports numeric, character, date, time and date/time
field types; the available Methods will depend on the selected field's format. For
instance, numeric data (assay values, sample counts, etc) will have a range of
statistical methods listed, as well a custom option (see numeric example above).
Character fields will present a list of unique entries (see character example
below). Date, time and date/time fields will present a range of temporal options
(see date example below) as found in many other Discover tools, such as
grouping by year, month, day of the month, day of the week, etc.
If a date or date/time field is present in the dataset, a date range of interest can
additionally be set (regardless of what field was set as the primary grouping field).
In the example below, data grouped by day of the week has been limited to a date
range of interest, set as illustrated below. Note that all the components of the Start
and End range dates can be typed directly into the interface (for example, select
the month, and type '11' to set November).
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On clicking OK in the Field Value Series dialog, the groups are added as
individual frames to the Window Animator dialog.
Animation files can be loaded and played in order to review the final animation
sequence, perform modifications to an existing animation e.g. adding new layers,
adjusting timing or to save the animation as a movie file.
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To load an animation Browse the Play tab of the Windows Animator dialog,
select the Browse button and navigate to the folder where the animation file is
stored. Once the animation file is loaded, use the following Playback Controls to
review the animation:
Play Play animation file from start to finish. Note that the animation file
will play from whichever frame is highlighted in the Create/Edit tab. If this
is not the first frame then the animation may not be played in full.
Note If the Hide dialog during playback box is enabled, the Stop and Pause buttons
will not be accessible.
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Animation frames can be modified during creation or after the animation file has
been saved and re-loaded into the Windows Animator utility.
1. In the Create/Edit tab click on the frame to be modified in the Frames list.
2. With the frame selected, click on the Preview Selected Frame button.
The frame view is displayed in the current map window.
4. Click on the Update button to update the selected frame with the current
mapper window view. Alternatively, use the Delete button to delete the
selected frame.
The Window Animator tool can save an animation as a movie file. Movie files
can be viewed in a number of different media software applications, e.g. Microsoft
Media Player.
To generate a movie file select the Create Movie button and enter a name for
the movie file and location. A video compression dialog is then displayed. It is
recommended to choose a compression option when saving a movie file, as
even simple animations can have an uncompressed size of ten to hundreds of
MB.
One of the oldest and still most commonly found video file formats available today
is the AVI format. This was the early Microsoft file format that allowed content
producers to combine audio and video into a single file. The acronym AVI stands
for Audio/Video Interleave-Microsoft video format. Microsoft has since given up
development of the AVI format, instead preferring to develop its own video
compression technology in the form of Windows Media Video (WMV).
The AVI format has a simple architecture which means it can be run on many
different systems like Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Unix. In fact many media
players such as WMP, Real and QuickTime can play AVI files. As the AVI format
is not suited for Internet playback, AVI files are downloaded to a PC and then
played locally rather than trying to stream the content.
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Since the AVI format is so simple, many vendors and individuals have created a
Codec that can work with AVI files. Codec stands for COder/DECoder. It is a small
piece of software that allows you to create or play compressed movie/audio files.
MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX ... are all examples of a Codec. AVI, ASF,
WMV are file formats that can be used with a Codec. AVI is also a container
format, meaning it can be made using many different codecs. MPEG-4 is a new
international standard from the International Organisation for Standardization
(ISO). The MPEG-4 Video is closely related to ISO H.263.
Note After creating a movie file (*.avi) the playback may appear distorted or pixelated.
This may be due to incorrect Codecs loaded on your computer. If you require a
CODEC update, many resources are available on the Internet.
See also
... Supported Data File Formats
Dialog Help
Create/Edit Tab
Play Tab
Follow these guidelines to get the best results when creating animations:
Make sure that the map window containing the data to be used in the
animation is not maximised. If the map window is maximised, click the
Restore Down button to float the window.
An animation file can only be created from within a single mapper window.
Do not adjust the extents or size of the mapper window at anytime during
the animation creation.
Create Animation File: Create new and edit existing animation files.
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Play Animation File: Load a saved animation file or play the animation file
through a mapper window in MapInfo.
For instructions on creating, editing anf viewing animations, see Making Movies
and Animations from Map Windows.
Create/Edit Tab
Frames
Name
Timing
The time interval the frame is displayed in an animation. Click the controls to
increase or decrease.
New
Captures the active mapper window and adds the frame to the Frame list.
Important Do not adjust the mapper window dimensions using the cursor while creating the
frame views as this will adversely affect the animation or movie file generation.
Update
Delete
Click a frame and then use the controls to change the frame order.
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Save
Saves the frames in the defined order and with the defined timings as an
animation (.ANI) file.
Create Movie
Saves the animation in AVI Movie File Format, which you can replay in most
Windows movie players. Displays the Video Compression Dialog Box, from which
you can choose a video compression option.
Preview
Select after creating the first frame so that all subsequent frames are the same
size.
Note The animation file is similar to a MapInfo Workspace. The animation file stores
information such as the map window dimensions, full file paths for all layers open
in the map window, zoom parameters, amount of time each view is displayed
along with details relating to thematic map layers, labels, style overrides, and
such. When the animation file is first loaded, Discover opens each of the tables
from the file path listed when the animation was created. Therefore, if any of the
tables referenced in the animation file are moved or delete, the animation will not
load correctly.
See also
... Making Movies and Animations from Map Windows
Play Tab
Loads and plays an animation file. Use this tab to review the animation sequence.
File
Click the Open button to locate and select the animation (.ANI) file.
13 Capturing Maps as Images and Movies 557
Playback controls
Play
Plays the animation file starting from the frame selected on the Create/Edit tab.
Stop
Pause
Note If the Hide dialog during playback box is enabled, the Stop and Pause buttons
arenot available during the playback.
See also
...Making Movies and Animations from Map Windows
Select a compression option when saving a movie file. Even simple animations
can have an uncompressed size of ten to hundreds of MB.
See also
...Making Movies and Animations from Map Windows
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Discover 3D, which is installed with Discover, allows you to rapidly visualize,
model and analyze your drillhole and related datasets in 3D, and then dynamically
plan follow-up drilling to test your theories. It is designed to work seamlessly with
Discover and requires an upgraded licence to activate its full functionality.
Users without a Discover 3D licence can nevertheless access the viewer mode of
this application. The viewer mode allows you to drape map windows views over
gridded surfaces in 3D and existing 3D sessions from other users can be viewed..
Session and models created by a full licence DIscover3D can also be shared with
non-Discover users by installing the free Discover 3D Viewer available from the
Pitney Bowes Encom website.
Drillhole projects can be viewed in 3D, with multiple downhole data displayed on
the drillhole trace.
See Discover>3D Help for more information on preparing data for viewing and
working within the Discover 3D environment.
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Time-Series Graphs
Stacked Profiles
The GraphMap module can provide solutions to a diverse range of industries and
their datasets. Some examples of use include:
Sales, demographics and marketing (histograms, pie charts, line & bar
graphs such as age vs. income or expenditure)
Save selections to either a Boolean field (i.e. attributed True or False) and
apply these as a filter to subset your data. Alternatively save selections to
a Group field.
GraphMap>Start GraphMap
GraphMap is accessed via the Start GraphMap item on the GraphMap menu.
The tool can be started with or without a dataset being open in MapInfo. If an
appropriate dataset is already loaded in MapInfo when GraphMap is started, a
selection dialog will be presented for you to choose a dataset to load into the
utility. Alternatively if no dataset is open in MapInfo then you can load a data file
directly using the GraphMap File menu.
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The GraphMap user interface consists of several key components. These are
summarised below and described in detail later in this chapter.
Menu Tabs a range of menu specific ribbon bars containing the main
graphing utilities
Graph Windows and Tabs main graph area to display graph windows.
Graph Tabs across the top enable the individual graph windows to be
brought to the front
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GraphMap has been designed to work with either spatial or a spatial datasets of
a univariate or multi-variate nature. Spatial datasets are represented internally in
GraphMap as point locations, however these can be linked back to more complex
objects (such as lines and polygons) that are open in MapInfo through the use of
selections.
The following exercise explains the basics of using GraphMap. The GraphMap
module contains significantly more functionality, which is described in Using the
GraphMap Tool.
2. On the Create tab, click the Builder button to open the Graph Builder
dialog.
3. The bottom portion of the dialog will change to display the required axis
assignments (X, Y and/or Z) appropriate to the graph type. Use the pull-
down menus to assign the required data fields (e.g. X and Y fields for
Scatter and Stereogram graphs, Y field for Probability graphs, X or Y fields
for Bar, Histogram and Rose graphs, etc).
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4. Additionally, a Group field can be assigned for any graph type, allowing
the data displayed to be separated based on each unique attribute in this
designated field. If required, set this using the Group pull down list on the
right of the dialog. Within the following Select Groups dialog, the user can
choose to display either:
Single graph window for all the data with each group coloured
separately
The user must also select which groups to display from the list provided,
allowing only those groups of interest to be plotted. Examples of the use of
groups include separating geochemical data by geology, sampling or
assay method or date; analysing sales data by suburb or product; or
assessing demographic data by age group, occupation or salary levels. It
is not generally recommended to use a numeric field as a Group field.
5. Press OK to generate the graph: a new graph window (or windows) will be
displayed. Experiment with the graph types to create a number of graph
windows.
6. To pan around a graph window, hold down the right mouse button whilst
moving the mouse (or activate the Pan button on the Quick Access
toolbar at the top of the GraphMap window). Use the Zoom buttons to
control the view level, or the mouse wheel.
7. To make a selection from the graph window, use one of the three selection
tools on the Quick Access toolbar at the top left of the GraphMap window.
Once a selection is made, change to the View Menu tab, and press the
Statistics button. This will open a new window displaying the statistics for
the current selection, which will update with each new selection.
8. If multiple graphs based on the same dataset are open, a selection made
in one will be highlighted simultaneously in all graph windows. This is an
excellent way to visualise different aspects of the same selection easily.
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Set Colour 9. To change the symbology of the current selection, change to the Modify
Menu tab and select new display options from one of the Colour, Size or
Symbol pull-down menus. The selection will adopt this new style in all
Set Size open graphs. Multiple selections in multiple graphs can thus be identified
with user-defined symbology.
Set Symbol
Time-Series Graphs
Discover>Data Utilities>Temporal Trends Menu
The Discover Temporal Trends menu can be used to display temporal data (data
collected at a specific time) from one or more monitoring locations. The data may
be viewed as labels, bar graphs or linegraphs.
GIS has traditionally been used to display spatial relationships between data.
However, in some situations such as environmental monitoring, there is often a
requirement to view data from a single location as a function of time. The
Temporal Trends utility enables parameter variations, such as those observed
in water quality, to be displayed in this manner.
In order to display temporal data Discover must first make a copy of the data. This
copy is then modified into a specific format organised by time from which the
temporal trend plots are displayed. The temporal data can then be displayed in a
number of different ways depending upon user requirements.
Note You can also use GraphMap to display temporal data as GeoLocated Graphs.
Graphmap provides date-time field support, including various graph types and
data conditioning and selection.
For Discover to display the temporal components of data, the data format needs
to conform to some simple guidelines.
Columns for the date of measurement and sample identifier are mandatory while
a column for time of measurement is optional. The sample identifier should
exactly match the corresponding entry in the map table. You may have as many
measurement columns as are required (to the limit of 250 columns in a MapInfo
table), though only one column can be used at a time to display trends.
15 Graphs and Profiles 571
Temporal Trends>Setup
Select the Map table (sample locations) and Attribute table (date/time
measurements) from the Data Tables pull-down lists. Specify the columns to use
to join the data from the Map and Attribute tables together. This will generally be
the sample number or sampleID. Select the column where the Date data is stored
and Time data column if required. Highlight the Attribute column(s) containing
the measurement data.
When Discover processes the attribute data, it can either aggregate values based
on a constant time interval (e.g. per day or per week) or use the raw date values.
The Use date values from table option is recommended if the data is already
aggregated. Alternatively, select the Use date ranges option to specify a time
interval and an optional start and end time/date. Click OK to close the Temporal
Trends Setup dialog.
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Select the Graph Display option from the Temporal Trends menu to open the
Temporal Trends Linegraph Display Parameters dialog:
To determine the vertical scale, divide the maximum value by the vertical scale to
give the maximum graph height for the specified map scale. The Minimum value
option may be used to show only part of the y-axis range. If the measurement
readings varied between 450 and 750, you may wish to set the minimum value to
be displayed on the linegraph at 300, for example, rather than 0.
The linegraph will be placed by default above and to the right of the sampling
point. The Horizontal and Vertical offsets may be altered to adjust this position.
There are a number of different display methods available for a Temporal Trend
Linegraph. Up to two axis values may be allocated to display as threshold or
compliance levels. In the Display Options controls, the user has the choice to
display the axis labels for each measurement variable in the map window, display
a separate legend window or to display no legend or labels at all.
Use the Save As button to save the newly created Linegraphs to a new table. To
alter a linegraph parameter, simply re-generate the linegraphs from an existing
table or create a new table. The options selected in the Temporal Trends
Linegraph Parameters dialog may be saved using the Settings button. To apply
these settings to a data file at a later date simply select the appropriate setting
from the pull-down list.
Temporal Trend Linegraph showing water quality raw date measurements with separate
legend
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If temporal data for one or more sample points does not plot out as expected,
check that the sample point identifier is exactly the same in the attribute table as
in the map table. For example PointA is not the same as pointa. Make sure the
identifiers match in case and number of spaces as well as having the same letters
and numbers.
If you have produced a linegraph with the wrong scaling, open the Temporal
Trend Linegraph Parameters dialog again and re-specify your linegraph
parameters. Discover will then quickly re-draw the linegraphs and save them to a
new table.
Discover cannot display temporal trends for more than 248 date intervals at once.
If the attribute table has more than this number of date intervals, specify start and
end dates to subset the data.
Use the Graph Query option to click on the linegraph and display the date and
measurement value in the Temporal Trend Graph Query dialog:
Dialog Help
Choose the tables containing the mapped objects and sample measurements
(including time data), join the tables with common ID columns, and select the time
axis settings. Measurements can be aggregated into regular time intervals or can
use the recorded times.
Data tables
Map table
Attribute table
Select the attribute table containing the date and time measurements. The format
of this table is described in Temporal Data Format.
Join column
Make sure the values in the join columns match exactly. Any differences in case,
extra spaces, or additional characters will be treated as different values.
Map ID join
Select the column in the map table to be joined to the attribute table.
Attribute ID join
Select the column in the attribute table to be joined to the map table.
Date column
Select the column in the attribute table that contains date values.
Time column
If required, select the column in the attribute table that contains time values.
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Attribute columns
Select the columns in the attribute table containing the measurements. Click and
drag or hold the SHIFT key to select a group, or hold the CRTL key to select
individual columns.
Time axis
A maximum 248 date intervals can be displayed. If the attribute table has more
than this number of date intervals, specify start and end dates.
Use date values from table: Use the time values from the attribute table.
Use this option if the measurements have already been aggregated.
Start
End
Interval
See also
... Setting Up Temporal Trends Graphs
... Temporal Data Format
A linegraph is constructed for each monitoring location, which allows multiple date
readings to be displayed. The linegraph shows the trend in the measurement over
time and can optionally include a threshold value and axis labels. The linegraph
display type can be customised by the horizontal and vertical scale, and axis
labelling options.
Graph dimensions
Type the length of the linegraph in map units for a specified map scale. For
example, a linegraph length of 10 mm at a map scale of 1:20,000 produces an X-
axis which is 200m long in map grid coordinates.
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Vertical scale
Same scale: Type the vertical scale in attribute data units per map unit.
For example, if the maximum attribute value is 1200, a scale of 100 will
create a vertical graph height of 12 mm at the defined map scale.
Same height: Type the height of the vertical height in map units.
Minimum value
Type the minimum Y-axis range. For example, if data values ranged between 450
and 750, a minimum value of 300 would create a Y-axis range of 300 to +750.
Type the horizontal distance in map units that the graph is offset from the sample
point. Distances are positive to the right.
Type the vertical distance in map units that the graph is offset from the sample
point. Distances are positive up.
Axis style
Click the text style and line style buttons to change the axis label and line styles.
Threshold options
1st line
Type the threshold value in data units for the first threshold line. Click the line style
button to select the line style, width and colour.
2nd line
Type the threshold value in data units for the second threshold line. Leave blank
to display one line. Click the line style button to select the line style, width and
colour.
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Display options
Select to ignore zero date values. These values will not be displayed or included
in aggregated values.
Display axis labels in map: Display axis labels for each attribute.
Save As
The output table is displayed. Click to change the table name and path name.
Graph settings
Available settings
Save Setting
Save and name the current linegraph settings. The settings will then be available
from the Available settings list above.
Delete Setting
See also
... Creating Temporal Trends Graphs
Displays the attribute values and date from a temporal linegraph query.
Stacked Profiles
Discover>Data Utilities>Create Stacked Profiles
Trends and anomaly correlation between lines can be subtle and easier to
identify or display in profile data compared with contouring or imagery
Multiple data channels can be displayed at the same time with identical or
varying scaling
Various filter operators can be applied to line data and the results
optimally displayed in stacked profile form
In order to generate a stacked profile the data table must contain a column with a
unique line identifier attribute (e.g. line number) and at least one numeric data
column on which to create the profile. Open the data table to use in the stacked
profile generation in a map window.
1. Select the Create Stacked Profile option from the Data Utilities menu
and highlight the data table from the list displayed in the opening dialog.
Click OK to display the Stacked Profile dialog:
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2. Select the table to use for the stacked profile from the Dataset pull-down
list. Select the data column to display in the profile from the Field pull-
down list. Select the column containing the unique line identifying
information from the Line pull-down list.
Note Stacked Profiles assumes that the data points grouped by Line field are sorted
linearly along the line (e.g. by northing and easting). To sort the table, see
Discover>Table Utilities>Sort a Table.
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3. Check the Draw Across Nulls box to enable Discover to continue to draw
a profile when a blank data field is encountered. In the event of larger
gaps in the sampling interval within the one sample line, check the
Distance Threshold box and enter a distance. When the distance
between two sample points is greater than the value entered as the
distance threshold, Discover starts a new profile on the same sampling
line. If a distance threshold is not entered, a continuous profile for the line
is displayed.
Scaling of the field data can be linear or logarithmic and comply with
the Scale Factor of the map in which the stacked profiles are
displayed or in units per centimetre.
The baseline or x-axis may be displayed with the profile. Use the
Baseline pull-down list to select from the range of baseline options.
A baseline may be created according to the minimum, maximum,
average or median value of the data column. A user-specified
baseline value can also be entered.
In the Line Style control check the Show Base Lines box to
display the base line or x-axis of the profile. Check the Show Field
Lines to display the profile for the selected data column. Use the
line style buttons next to each option to select the desired line style
and colour.
The stacked profiles are output to a single table and added as a new layer to the
mapper containing the source data. If you have elected to fill above or below the
baseline, the fill is written to a separate layer as a series of polygon objects.
Dialog Help
Input
Dataset
Displays the selected data table from which the stacked profile is generated. Click
to select another table.
Field
Line
Select to continue the graph line when null values are present. Type the numerical
value that represent a null in the box.
Distance threshold
Terminate the line graph when the distance between points exceeds a threshold.
Type the threshold distance in the box.
Scale
Log/linear
Type
Scale factor:
Map scale
Scale
Auto
(Scale factor) Clear the check box and type the graph scale factor in the box.
Baseline
Line style
Select the check box to show the graph line for the selected field. Click the style
buttons to set the line colour and line style.
Fill
Above
Select the check box to colour fill the area above the baseline or a user-defined
value. Click the colour button to set the fill colour. If <Value> is selected, type the
value in the box.
Below
Select the check box to colour fill the area below the baseline or a user-defined
value. Click the colour button to set the fill colour. If <Value> is selected, type the
value in the box.
Clip
Above
Select the check box to clip the graph line above a user-defined value. The
maximum field value is shown in the box.
Below
Select the check box to clip the graph line below a user-defined value. The
minimum field value is shown in the box.
Output
Profiles are saved to a table and added as a layer to the map window. Click to edit
the table name and path, or click the Open button to select a folder and file name.
See also
... Stacked Profiles
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Creating Graphs
Preconditioning Data
Multi-Table Relationships
GeoLocated Graphs
Displaying Statistics
GraphMap Settings
See Graphs and Profiles for an overview of the GraphMap tool and other graphing
tools.
Starting GraphMap
1. On the Discover menu, click GraphMap menu.
Menu Tabs
Sidebar Windows
File Menu
Open from File opens a MapInfo .TAB, Comma Separated Value .CSV,
SQL Express .MDF, or MS Access database file directly from the file
system.
Save Data As - outputs the current dataset to a new MapInfo TAB file or a
comma-delimited text file (.CSV), including user defined filter fields and
derived-columns
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Save Legend to MapInfo outputs the Legend window (see Load and
Save Styles from Legend) to a MapInfo TAB file, and opens it into
MapInfo.
The Quick Access toolbar is automatically docked at the top of the GraphMap
dialog. The toolbar contains a number of icons relating to the selection of sample
points in a graph window and general graph navigation functions as follows:
Selection
Select Live Rectangle - as the selection rectangle is drawn, all graph sample
points within the selection region are highlighted within all graph windows
automatically.
Navigation
Zoom In and Zoom Out by either left-mouse clicking within a graph window or
draw a rectangle to zoom to the contents.
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Pan enables the graph view to be moved by clicking and dragging with the left-
mouse button
Customise Toolbar
The Quick Access Toolbar can be customised by selecting the pull-down menu
at its right end, and selecting Customise Quick Access Toolbar from the drop-
down menu.
Select the User Customise option, and populate/reorder the right hand
window with the desired tools from the left-hand pull-down list of
categories. Note that some tools are mouse-button specific. Press OK to
apply.
Select either the Wheel Mouse, Laptop Pad or All Tools (default) Preset
options and press OK to apply
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The Quick Access Toolbar can also be placed below the Menu Tab ribbon bar
by selecting the appropriate option either from this dialog, or from the Quick
Access Toolbar drop-down menu.
The Menu Tab ribbon bar can be minimised so that it only appears when a menu
tab is selected (e.g. Create, Modify, etc). Select the pull-down menu at the right
end of the Quick Access Toolbar, and select the Minimise the Ribbon option.
Menu Tabs
Create Toolbar
The Create tab ribbon bar contains buttons for all the different available graph
types, a simple graph builder wizard and the ability to assign fields in the source
data table as graph axes, group or filter fields. For more information, see User
Guide: Creating Graphs.
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Modify Toolbar
The Modify tab ribbon bar contains buttons for enhancing the appearance of
graph selections with a range of colour, size and symbol options. For more
information, see Changing the Style of Graph Objects.
Data Toolbar
The Data tab ribbon bar contains buttons for making and saving graph selections.
Selections can be made and viewed in both the graph window and in the source
data table in MapInfo. Buttons for creating derived columns to graph from existing
columns, data preconditioning to remove nulls or negative numbers and set up
table relationships to link data in one table with another are also available. For
more information, see Selecting Data in Graphs.
Settings Toolbar
The GraphMap Settings ribbon bar contains options to enable the programming
of mouse buttons for various graph functions and modification of global settings
for general and selected graphs and axes.
View Toolbar
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The View menu tab ribbon bar contains buttons to control how individual graph
windows are displayed and also the ability to view graph windows outside of the
GraphMap module. Visibility of the side bar Data, Legend, Statistics, Relations
and Properties windows can also be toggled on and off.
The Current Graph menu tab contains buttons for customizing the graph display
and modifying axis lines and labels,
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Sidebar Windows
Data Window
The Selecting and Tranforming Data Columns displays the properties of the
current dataset including field names and current field assignments. It allows
switching between multiple datasets. Preconditioning Data to remove nulls or
replace below detection level samples will result in the creation of new
transformed columns. Mathematical calculations can also be performed on
existing data fields to created new derived columns (see Creating Derived
Columns). The visibility of this window is toggled on/off via the View Menu tab.
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Legend Window
The Legend Window displays the currently assigned symbol, colour and size for
graph selections (see Load and Save Styles from Legend). The visibility of this
window is toggled on/off via the View Menu tab.
Table Window
The Table Window displays the attribute data of the current dataset in a tabular
format (see Selecting Data in Graphs). The visibility of this window is toggled on/
off via the Data Menu or Create Menu tabs.
Statistics Window
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The Selection Statistics Window displays various standard statistics for the
current graph selection (see GraphMap Settings). The visibility of this window is
toggled on/off via the View Menu tab.
Relations Window
The Table Relations Window displays the relationships between linked tables
which enable graph data to be selected from one table and the associated records
in a linked table will automatically be highlighted in another graph (see View menu
tab). The visibility of this window is toggled on/off via the View Menu tab.
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Properties Window
The Graph Properties Window contains options to set the font, colour, scale,
offset and styling options applicable to each parameter of the graph (i.e. each axis
as well as the graph background area). For more information, see Selecting Data
in Graphs. This visibility of this window is toggled on/off via the View Menu tab or
the Current Graph tab.
Creating Graphs
The Create Menu tab provides the tools for creating an extensive range of Graph
Types. Most graph types have a number of compulsory Axis/Field Assignments
(e.g. a Y field for a Probability plot): if these fields are not assigned, the user will
be prompted to assign them before the graph can be created. Graphs are created
by setting the required Axis/Field Assignments and then pressing the desired
Graph Types button. Alternatively, the Graph Builder presents an intuitive wizard-
style dialog to guide the new user through graph creation
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Graph Builder
The Builder button on the Create tab opens the Graph Builder dialog, which
provides an intuitive wizard-style interface to guide the user through graph
creation.
1. Graph buttons are presented on the side of the dialog. Select a Graph
Type.
2. The main area of the dialog will display the compulsory (dark blue) and
optional (light blue) Axis/Field Assignments (X, Y and/ Z) for the
selected graph type as pull down lists. Use these pull-down lists to assign
the required fields, and a preview of the graph will be displayed.
3. If satisfied with the graph type and field assignments, set a Group field if
required. See the end of the Axis/Field Assignments section for
information on the options available within the Select Groups dialog.
Selecting either a Multi- or Layout Window display type will update the
preview screen accordingly.
Axis/Field Assignments
Each Graph Types button has a tooltip (hover the cursor over the relevant graph
button) to detail the axis/field assignments required for that graph type. If
unnecessary fields are assigned (e.g. Z field for a Histogram graph), then they will
be ignored during graph creation.
Select the desired assignment button from the Axis Assignment control
on the Create tab and from the pop-up list, choose the required field or
Select/highlight the field in the Data window and then press the
appropriate keyboard shortcut: e.g. the X key for the X axis, the G key for
the Group assignment or the O key for the data Ordering field.
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Select/highlight the field in the Data window and then press the right
mouse button within the Data window to display the data pop-up menu;
select the Axis Assignment option and choose the appropriate
assignment
The Order field can additionally be specified by dragging the target field
in the Data window onto the Order area at the Data windows base. This
area will then indicate the Order field assignment until it is cleared/reset.
Note It is possible to select multiple fields (by holding down the left mouse button and
dragging over multiple items) or by using the normal SHIFT/CTRL key
combinations, and assign them the same Axis/Field Assignment (e.g. to assign
multiple Y fields, or to clear existing assignments)
Note For many graphs requiring for example a single Y field assignment, assigning
multiple Y fields will result in the creation of multiple separate graphs, one for
each Y field assignment.
If a Group field is assigned (whether manually or via the Graph Builder), a Select
Groups dialog will be presented when a graph is created. This dialog allows the
user to select one or more group items and display the graphs using one of three
display options:
Layout Window - multiple plots are created in a single graph window, with
plot representing one of the selected groups.
The Groups to be displayed must be highlighted in the list before pressing OK.
The graph(s) will then be created for only those items which are selected.
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The Select Groups dialog displayed when a non-compulsory Group field is assigned.
Graph Types
The following table lists the available graph types and their compulsory field
assignments:
Normal Graphs
Map opens the dataset as a map using the existing mapped fields (either the
fields assigned using the MapInfo Table>Create Points menu option, or the
Obj_X and Obj_Y fields if the data has spatial objects but no spatial columns).
Alternatively, different X and Y fields can be assigned (e.g. for an Access table
or for unmapped data) using one of the X & Y field assignment methods.
Scatter scatter plots produce an XY point plot and require an X and Y field to
be assigned. If only one field is assigned, the opposing unassigned axis will
default to the Key or record index field (row ID of each data entry) of the
dataset. This graph type allows a Regression line to be plotted, and therefore a
Residuals graph to be created; see Selecting and Tranforming Data Columns.
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Line line plots produces a continuous line profile using either an X and/or Y
field assignment. If the opposing axis is unassigned it will default to the Key or
record index field (row ID of each data entry).
Bar this utilises only an X or Y field assignment, setting the unassigned axis as
the Key field. It produces a series of individual vertical bars representing the X or
Y field value of each data entry. Its output is comparable to setting only the same
field in either the Scatter or Line graphs.
Table opens a browser view of the current dataset. See Viewing Data Values
for further information.
Grouped Graphs
Histogram displays a graph of the count of records that fall within a predefined
bin. The unique attributes are displayed as bins along either the X or Y axis, and
the count is displayed on the unassigned axis. The bin size can be modified
through the Graph Properties dialog (see Selecting Data in Graphs).
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Statistics Graphs
Scatter Matrix uses multiple X and/or Y fields to create multiple scatter plots
in a matrix pattern, allowing multi-element analysis/comparison. This graph type
allows Regression lines to be plotted, and therefore Residuals graphs to be
created; see Graph window tools (see Selecting Data in Graphs).
Other Graphs
Bin data ranges are set as greater than or equal to the lower bin value and less
than the bin upper value. For instance, the 330 to 360 bin would have the
following data range:
Clock - uses a two-axis display within a circle, with the X field bins incremented
on the outside segments of the circle, and the Y field bins incremented within the
circle as concentric rings. Sections within the circle are coloured accoridng to
their frequency.
The Data window on the left off the GraphMap window lists all fields in the current
dataset. Its primary function is to display the variables from the current dataset
and to set Axis/Field Assignments for the various graph types. The pull-down list
at the top of the Data Window allows the user to switch between open datasets.
The Data window is subdivided into sections depending on the field type:
Numeric lists all numeric fields (e.g. float, integer, decimal). It is not
recommended to numeric fields as a Group assignment.
Ranged Columns lists any ranged columns derived from other fields.
The Show Table button opens a browser or table view of the dataset. See
Selecting Data in Graphs for further information on this view type.
Add Derived Column allows the creation of a new field based on calculations
performed on existing fields; e.g. the addition of the values of two fields to
produce a new field. See Creating Derived Columns for further information.
Save Selection as Filter Column this will save the current selection to a new
Boolean field with a user-specified name. The Boolean field records the
selection with a True flag, whilst the unselected data is flagged as False. The
selection fields can be assigned as a Filter field, allowing graphs to be created
for only the filtered portion of the data set. For more information, see Axis/Field
Assignments.
The Views button provides a number of options for visualising the data fields.
Options include Tiles, Icons, List and Details. The Details view display a full
range of summary Statistics for each field in the dataset.
The Data window can be moved by clicking and dragging its title bar, or by
double-clicking on the title bar to undock it. To return the Data window to its
default location, select the Reset Layout option on the Settings tab. The
AutoHide icon at the top-right of the window allows the Data window to be
toggled between a window view and tab in the left margin.
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Right mouse clicking in the Data window will open up the data pop-up menu. This
contains the following functionality:
Create Ranged Column requires two existing columns of the same type
to be selected. It then creates a new Ranged column based on setting the
first selected coulmn as the minnimum bounds of the range, and the
second selected column as the maximum bound for each row. This is
useful for a start and end time or date, or the minimum and maximum
value measured over a time or sample range. This Ranged column can
then be used in graphs or exported back to MapInfo.
The Preconditioning Data option allows null and negative data in the
selected field to be handled correctly
Break Date/Time into parts allows a selected Date and/or Time column
to create a new column base don chronological groupings, such as Month
of Year, Day of Week and time of Day. A user can select to construct the
new column on a combination - for example grouped by both the Month of
year, then the Day of Week, as well as any user entered text.
To remove an existing column, use the Delete Column option. Note this
does not alter the underlying MapInfo table, but simply removes it from
view within GraphMap.
The Data window at the left of the GraphMap utility will display all fields present
within the current dataset. Use the pull-down menu at the top of the Data window
to change between open datasets.
Preconditioning Data
The Precondition Data option allows the effective handling of negative, non-
numeric and zero values. It can be accessed either:
via the Precondition Data button in the Data tab. This opens a list of the
current datasets fields - select the target fields from this.
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The Data Handling Options dialog, accessed via the Precondition Data option
Either option will open the Data Handling Options dialog. The default new output
fields will utilise the source field name and apply a _PC suffix; this can be altered
in the top text window. The following options are provided:
Check the Multiply negative values box by -0.5 to convert each negative
value to a new positive assay value which is half the detection limit.
Alternatively, multiply all negative values by a single user-specified value.
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Zero Values - To ignore zero values in a data table check the Set all zero
values to box and leave the default Null entry. Alternatively, set all zero
values to a single user-specified value.
Data Type Conversion - To convert the data type of the columns, tick the
box and select the target data type from the list. For example, converting
dates in a string column into a date column will improve their display in
graphs.
Once the required preconditioning is applied, the new fields will appear in the
Data Window under the Transformed Columns section. Set this as the required
field assignment rather than the original source field for graph creation to utilise
the applied preconditioning. To save the new column, use the To save this table,
use the File>Save Data As>MapInfo table menu option
The Add Derived Column tool in either the Data Window or the Data Menu tab
enables a new column to be created and populated based on mathematical and/
or logical operation on existing columns. It opens the following dialog:
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Formulae for a derived column are entered in the Expression pane. A name for
the new derived column can be entered in the Column Name control above (if no
column name is assigned, it will default to the expression syntax).
To enter an expression, place the cursor at the required insertion point within the
Expression pane, and type the formula. To assist in the construction of a formula,
items can be chosen from the Function, Operator, Value or Column assignment
lists in the bottom half of the dialog. The expression pane also provides colour
syntax highlighting and intellisense to assist with the construction of valid
formulas, enabled with the Auto Complete option.
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Each field in the dataset can be inserted into a formula as either a Value or
Column parameter by selecting them from the appropriate pull-down lists:
A Value parameter references an individual cell value in the data set and
must be surrounded in the Expression pane by square brackets (e.g.
[Value]). A value parameter is used in functions that operate on individual
values e.g. [Cu]+[Zn] or Log10([Pb]).
([theValue]Mean({theValue}))/StDev({theValue})
The ZScore function description, including required parameters and other functions
[Cu]/Mean{Cu}
[Pb]+[Zn]
ZScore([Zn],Mean({Zn}),StDev({Zn}))
Once a new derived column is created, it will be listed within the Data Window.
An existing derived field can be edited by right-clicking on the icon, and selecting
the Edit Derived Field option form the pop-up menu. This will reopen the Add
Derived Column dialog and the expression for the column will be displayed.
The Table window also incorporates any derived columns or Saved Selection
columns that have been created, as well as a Selected column. The Selected
column indicates any currently selected records with a tick mark. Pressing the
Show Selected Only option at the top of the Table window, will show only the
selected entries in the list. This is an excellent way of viewing the browser records
for a graphical selection.
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Individual records can be selected within the Table window by ticking the
appropriate row within the Selected column. To select multiple records, highlight
the records of interest (using SHIFT or CTRL key combinations) right-click in the
window and choose the Assign Selection option from the pop-up menu.
Deselect multiple records by highlighting them and use the Clear Selection
option (right-click menu in the Table view).
The Show Background Colour option will shade rows in the Table view using
the current colour scheme (as applied using the Colour controls and displayed in
the Legend window ).
Multiple columns can be filtered using the Filter button. This adds a row of filter
controls above the table. Multiple fields can be filtered simultaneously.
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Numeric fields will have an operator and value control. Select an operator
and enter a value: the table window will update to display only data
matching the specified criteria. The asterix * functions as an exact match
operator; it will convert the data and search values into strings and try to
find an exact match.
String fields will have a single string control; type a search string in this to filter the
table view. This is a dynamic operation: the view will be refiltered with each
successive character entered. The asterix * functions as a wildcard e.g. *zoic will
find entries of Cainozoic and Mesozoic.
Arranging Graphs
Displaying Legends
The View tab provides options for the display and positioning of graph and other
windows. By default individual graphs are created as floating windows which can
be identified by name in the graph titlebar or via tabs along the top of the main
graph display area. These tabs can be hidden using the Show Tabs toggle
(below). Individual graphs can be selected using these tabs or via the Window
List. The arrangement of graph windows can be controlled using the Tile,
Cascade or AutoTile menu options.
Closing Graphs
Using the Close All option will close all graph displays,
Using the Windows option under the Windows List button will present a
dialog listing all the open graphs. Multiple graphs can be selected in the
list and closed at once.
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The Close option under the File menu allows selected datasets to be
closed. All graphs associated with a selected dataset will be closed.
Using the individual close button at the top right of each graph
Graph Windows
Automatically retiles all graph windows after each new graph created. This is a
toggle button.
Toggles the display of the current graph window inside or outside the GraphMap
application. Graph windows can also be toggled in and out by pressing I on the
keyboard when the mouse is placed over a graph window.
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Sidebar WIndows
Graph Windows
Toggles whether the Graph tabs are displayed or not. If not select from the
available open graphs using the Window List option (below). This option helps
increase the available space for graph window display.
Opens a list of all open graph (and table) windows. Selecting a list item will bring
that graph window to the front.
MapInfo
Arranging Graphs
Multiple graphs can be opened into the graph window display area. Each graph
has a tab which, when selected, enables the corresponding graph to be displayed
at the front of the other graphs. Graph windows can be dragged to new locations
by clicking on the titlebar of the graph window and dragging the window to a new
location.
The View Menu Tab contains additional window arrangement options as follows:
Automatically retiles all graph windows after each new graph created. This is a
toggle button.
Toggles the display of the current graph window inside or outside the GraphMap
application. Graph windows can also be toggled in and out by pressing I on the
keyboard when the mouse is placed over a graph window.
Toggles whether the Graph tabs are displayed or not. If not select from the
available open graphs using the Window List option (below). This option helps
increase the available space for graph window display.
Opens a list of all open graph (and table) windows. Selecting a list item will bring
that graph window to the front.
In Tabbed Window this option will display all graphs in a single window
with tabs to switch between the individual graphs
Panning
Hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse to reposition the
graph content
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Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to pan the view in the direction of the
arrow.
Select the Pan button from the top customisable Quick Access Toolbar.
Depress the left mouse button in the graph window whilst moving the
mouse to pan the view.
Zooming
Use the middle mouse wheel to increase or decrease the zoom level.
Rolling the mouse wheel in a forward direction will increase the zoom and
rotating the wheel in a backwards direction will decrease the zoom level.
3D graph rotation
Depress and hold the middle mouse wheel and move the mouse to rotate
the view.
Hold down the SHIFT button and use the keyboard arrows to rotate the
view around each of the axes.
To continuously spin the graph around a fixed axis hold down the CTRL key while
using the keyboard keys. Pressing the T key on the keyboard whilst part of the
dataset is selected will re-center the rotation point on the center of the selection,
rather than the center of the dataset.
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The following options are provided for changing individual graph windows:
Click in a graph window and use the arrows on the X and Y axes to increase,
decrease and restore the axis extents.
Reset Graph resets the graph view to the full data extents
Create Residuals Graph : if the graph has a Regression Line plotted, this
option creates a new Residual graph.
The Current Graph tab contains the following controls for customising the current
graph:
Grid Lines toggles the display of grid lines for either the X or Y axes
Graph Titles inserts the graph tile into the graph window (useful when
exporting the graph as an image or MapInfo table)
Colouring Numerous controls for the colour of axes, grid lines, labels,
tick marks and backgrounds
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The Properties window of the current graph is displayed on the right side of the
GraphMap display, and can be accessed via two options:
1. Right-clicking in the graph window and selecting Properties from the pop-
up menu.
2. Selecting the Properties option from the Current Graph Menu ribbon bar
This window contains a multitude of font, colour, scale, offset and styling options
applicable to each layer of the graph (i.e. each axis as well as the graph
background area). The last layer listed (named after the source dataset) also
contains controls specific to the graph type: for instance Stereograms have
options for dataset plotting (PoleToPlanes or Lineations), whilst Rose &
Histograms graphs allow control of the Bin size.
To make a graph selection use one of the selection tools on the top customisable
Quick Access toolbar:
Select Live Rectangle - as the selection rectangle is drawn, all data within the
selection region is highlighted within all graph windows automatically.
Additional selection tools are available in the Data Menu tab menu ribbon:
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Selection tools
Selects all data points not currently selected (i.e. inverts the selection)
Saving Selections
You can reuse these Filter and Group columns in a future session by saving
them to a new dataset. Use the GraphMap File>Save Data As>MapInfo table to
save the dataset, including Filter fields and any derived columns permanently.
The attributes for an individual graph object can be viewed by right-clicking in the
graph window and enable the Object Info option. Place the cursor over the
target object: a pop-up dialog will appear displaying the objects attributes. An
Object Info toggle is also in the Current Graph tab.
Clearing Selections
The current selection can be removed from Map, Scatter and 3D Scatter graphs
using the Remove Selection option under the Current Graph tab. This will not
affect the records in the dataset.
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Using the Create overlay selection region button (on the top customisable
Quick Access toolbar or the Current Graph tab), multiple selection polygons can
be created and saved for a particular graph. This tool functions in a similar
manner to the Select Region tool; once activated, each vertex of the selection
region can be added by left-mouse clicking at the desired coordinate. A double
mouse-click will complete the region (or press the keyboard ESC key to cancel
the region)
The New Overlay dialog displayed when a polygon selection region is created
Upon completion of the polygon, the New Overlay dialog will be displayed. The
graph name is assigned as the default Overlay Name; this is the file into which
the polygon will be saved. It is not recommended to use the same overlay
between different graphs, unless the axes values (and the type of graph) are the
same, as it will result in the incorrect display of data and selection polygons.
Individual polygons can be assigned a unique name using the Polygon Name
field (e.g. ZoneA, ZoneB, etc). A boundary line Colour for the region can also be
set.
The X and Y coordinates for each vertex can be viewed and modified in the dialog
before saving the polygon. Extra vertices can be added by entering their
coordinates in the last blank row. Unwanted vertices can be deleted by
highlighting the required rows (by selecting their marker cell - grey cell to the left)
and pressing the keyboard DEL key.
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Pressing OK will complete the selection polygon definition and display it in the
graph window.
If an Overlay region file already exists with the same name, a dialog will be
presented to either Overwrite or Append to the existing overlay file. Overlays are
stored as .xml files on a per user basis in the C:\Documents and
Settings\username\My Documents\Encom GraphMap folder.
To select all data points that fall within a selection overlay region, enable the
Select Rectangle tool on the main toolbar, and click once within the polygon.
Clicking within the overlap of two or more overlapping regions will select the
contents of all those regions. Holding down the SHIFT button allows the selection
of multiple regions.
Pre-existing overlays can be added to a graph via the graph pop-up menu Set
Selection Overlay option. Choose an appropriate overlay for the current graph
and press OK.
Note It is recommended that you do not mix overlays created in different graphs due
to possible differences in axes range and scales and the potential for it to distort
the graph. To remove an overlay from a graph, choose the None option from the
Set Selection Overlay pop-up menu.
With the polygon map open in MapInfo (it can also be a selection, but cannot be
polygons in the cosmetic layer), select the Manage Selection Overlay option
from the GraphMap menu.
The Manage Selection Overlay dialog will open. Ensure the source table is
selected in the Input MapInfo Table pull-down list (or *Selection* if appropriate).
If required, assign a field to name individual selection regions using the Polygon
Details pull-down list (e.g. lithology). Ensure the GraphMap XML Output Option
is enabled, rename the output if required, and press OK.
Switch to the destination graph in GraphMap, and use the Set Selection Overlay
option (pop-up menu or Current Graph tab) to choose the newly created
selection overlay. If it doesnt appear, check that the projection of the polygon
table matches the dataset and that the output region colour set is visible (i.e. not
a white region on a white graph background).
Multi-Table Relationships
GraphMap allows relationships to be created between multiple tables. This allows
graph data to be selected, and the associated records in a linked table will
automatically be highlighted in another graph.
Examples of use:
Multi-Table Relationships setup between drillhole data tables and a parent collar table.
1. Ensure that all required datasets are already open within GraphMap.
2. Select the Setup Multi-Table Relationships button either from the Data
Window or the Data tab. The Table Relationships dialog will open.
3. Assign the Parent Table from the pull-down list (e.g. the drillhole collar or
sample site table). Then set the Parent Key, the identifier allowing a
single record to be linked to multiple records in the Child Table. This
might be a Hole_ID or Sample_Site field.
4. Assign the Child Table from the pull-down list (e.g. downhole_assays or
water_quality), and the associated Child Key field.
6. Ensure the Active tick box is enabled. This turns the selected relationship
on; a GraphMap session can contain a number of Multi-Table
Relationships, but these do not have to be all active at any point.
Activating table relationships after they have been created is possible,
either by re-entering the Table Relationships dialog, or via using the
Table Relations window (accessed via the Relations button on the View
tab).
7. The Must Match tick box is an optional data validation routine; enabling it
will check that every Child record has an associated Parent record, and
return a warning if this is not valid.
GeoLocated Graphs
The GeoLocated graph functionality in GraphMap enables graphs to be created
and displayed next to the geographic location of their data source. For example,
downhole data can be displayed adjacent to a drillhole collar location or water
monitoring data next to a sample site.
Global Options
As there are likely to be many analytical values per location the data is generally
stored in two separate tables. The point or sample site locations are stored in one
table while the associated analytical data values are stored in another table.
You will firstly have to select the table and fields and graph type for each
geolocated graph by the following steps -
1. Open both the point location and analytical data tables into the GraphMap
module using the File menu.
2. Choose the table which contains the analytical data from the Data window
pull-down list.
3. Select the Graph Builder from the Create menu. In the Graph Builder,
choose the type of graph from the sidebar to use for each geolocated
graph. GeoLocated graphs can be created for the following graph types:
Scatter Plots
Line Graphs
Bar Charts
Histogram
Pie Charts
Probability Plots
4. Select the columns to be used for X and/or Y axes for the desired graph
type.
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6. The Select Groups dialog is displayed. This dialog will list each individual
entry in the selected Group column and the number of analytical records
associated with each location. Geo Located graphs can be created for a
selection or all of the groups in the list.
Select Geo Located as the Display Type and click OK to create the graphs. A
message dialog will appear prompting you to setup geolocated graphs. Click
Yes.
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The Geolocated Setup dialog will open. This will setup the necessary
relationships between the Parent or Map Location table, and the Child or
Attribute data tables.
The Map location is the table which contains the geographic point location
information for each sample. This table must be a mappable table and have a
primary key column such as Sample_ID, Site_ID or similar which directly matches
an identical column in the Attribute table.
Select the location table from the Map Table pull-down list and choose the X and
Y location column from the Map X and Map Y Location pull-down list.
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The analytical data table is referred to as the Attribute Table. Select this table
from the Attribute Table pull-down list.
The primary key columns in both the Map Location and Attribute tables must
match exactly for the geolocated graphs to display correctly. Select the primary
key from the Map Key pull-down list, and choose the matching primary key
column from the Attribute Key pull-down list. See Multi-Table Relationships for
more information.
Note To view the current table relationships select Relations from the View tab of the
ribbon. A separate Table Relations window will be added to the GraphMap
interface.
Click OK to close the Group selection dialog. A message dialog may appear with
an option to colour each individual Geolocated graph using a different colour.
Select Yes or No on this dialog as desired.
The individual graphs are displayed on a larger graph which is based on the X and
Y coordinates of the point location table. The Axis names reflect the analytical
fields chosen for display at the Obj_X and Obj_Y location of the points.
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Use the Zoom and Pan tools on the Quick Access Toolbar to zoom in on a
particular graph for viewing or to move about the window. Alternatively use the
middle mouse wheel to zoom in or out. When the zoom level becomes high
relative to the individual Geo Located graphs, a set of axis labels will
automatically become visible. These axes are displayed for reference only and
cannot be disabled.
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To view individual graphs in more detail, place the cursor over a graph so that it
is highlighted and then right-mouse click and select Zoom from the menu to zoom
to the extents of the selected graph. To view the selected graph in a separate
graph window, select the Show in Separate Display menu option.
Global Options
When working with GeoLocated graphs a number of options can be set in the
GraphMap Global Options dialog. This dialog is accessed via the Global
button on the Settings tab of the ribbon bar. Alternatively the Global Options can
be accessed via the File>Options button. The default Size of the GeoLocated
graphs (in Pixels), the relative Graph Positioning and the Offset in map units
can all be set from this dialog.
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Displaying Statistics
The Selection Statistics window can be undocked from its default position on
the main window so that it floats above the main GraphMap window by clicking
on and dragging its title bar. The window can be resized in the normal way or
docked to any sides of the main application using the onscreen docking control.
The AutoHide icon at the top-right of the Selection Statistics window allows it to
be toggled between an always open window and an auto hiding window which is
accessible via the Selection Stats tab in the margin of the application.
Note The Modify tab will only affect raw data objects, such as scatter and line graphs.
It will not affect graphs of grouped data, or statistical bins.
Colour
Size
Symbol
Visibility
Displaying Legends
16 Using the GraphMap Tool 637
Colour
To apply a single colour to a selection, click on the Set Colour palette and select
the required colour. Custom colours can be created via the More Colours option
at the base of the Colour palette dialog.
The Colour tab of the Displaying Legends (bottom left of GraphMap dialog) will
be populated with each groups description and its corresponding colour. These
colours can be changed by double-clicking in the appropriate colour box and
selecting a new colour from the colour palette.
Both the Colour and Size control panels on the Modify ribbon bar contain
Advanced buttons which open an Advanced Display Options dialog. These
options provide a means to apply a number of custom or statistically-determined
symbology schemes (e.g. standard deviation, log, and percentile etc) or creation
of a user designed scheme. The Size and Colour dialogs have only minor
differences so only the Colour option will be used as the example in this section.
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The Colour Column pull-down list allows selection of the field on which to base
the Colour range. The Colour Method pull-down list contains an extensive
number of colour mapping methods (and a custom option) to apply to the chosen
data field:
Custom allows the creation of a custom series of data ranges. Using the
Add
controls at the base of the dialog, new rows can be added by clicking the Add
Remove button, or deleted by selecting the row(s) and clicking the Remove button. All
rows can be removed in one pass by clicking the Remove All button. The
Remove All description, data range and colour can be edited directly in each rows grid cells
by double clicking in the appropriate cells. The Count and % columns are
computed automatically from the range values in the >= and < cells.
Note Entering a ranges >= and < values prior to using the Add button ensures that the
new row automatically populates its >= value from the previous rows < value.
Linear - creates colour using a linear colour scheme, with each colour
encompassing a data range of approximately equal magnitude i.e. the
difference between the lower and upper values in each range is similar. By
default this creates 10 data ranges.
16 Using the GraphMap Tool 639
Group assigns a unique colour to each unique group within the selected
field. This replicates the functionality of the Group button in the Colour
panel. It is not recommended for continuous numeric fields (e.g. assay
fields) unless a unique colour is required for each numeric value.
Mean creates two data ranges, separated by the mean data value (the
second data range is >= the mean value).
Size
To apply a single symbol size to an entire selection, select the required size from
the Set Size pull-down list.
To apply a different size for each unique attribute within a field (e.g. Company or
sample type), press the Group button and select the field from the pop-up list.
The Size tab of the Displaying Legends (bottom left of GraphMap dialog) will be
populated with each groups description and its corresponding size. These sizes
can be changed by double-clicking in the appropriate size column and selecting
a new size from the list displayed.
To create a continuous size range based on a linear scale (e.g. assay field),
press the Linear button and select an appropriate numeric field from the pop-up
list.
The Advanced button allows symbol size to be applied using a variety of custom
or statistically-determined data mapping techniques (e.g. standard deviation,
log, and percentile etc) or creation of a user designed scheme. This option is
detailed further under Advanced Sizing Options.
The Advanced Sizing Options dialog replaces the Colour LUT list with Size
Minimum, Maximum and Step controls. These can be used to control the
symbol Size scheme across a series of data ranges. Alternatively, the symbol
size for an individual data range can be altered by editing the corresponding size
cell.
16 Using the GraphMap Tool 641
The Advanced Sizing Options dialog, displaying a 5 Range Percentile-derived data spread
Symbol
To apply a unique symbol type to an entire selection, select the required symbol
from the pull-down Set Symbol list. Note: in order to view the newly assigned
symbol in the graph it may also be necessary to increase the symbol size.
To apply a different symbol for each unique attribute within a field (e.g. Company
or sample type), press the Group button and select the appropriate field from the
pop-up list.
The Symbol tab of the Displaying Legends (bottom left of GraphMap dialog) will
be populated with each groups description and its corresponding symbol. These
symbols can be changed by double-clicking in the appropriate symbol box and
selecting a new symbol from the list displayed.
The current display settings can be removed using the Clear button within the
Modify tab. This allows removal of either individual display attributes or all
attributes. The Clear button can also be accessed in the Displaying Legends.
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Visibility
To apply visibility filtering based on a field, firstly select a field from the Field drop-
down list. This will automatically sort the unique values in the selected field.
Then use the + and - buttons control to scroll through various groups in the field.
The current visibility group value will be displayed below the slider bar.
By default, only the values that match the current value set on the scroll bar will
l be displayed. Alternatively, all values below or above the current value can be
displayed by selecting the left or right arrows.
The Advanced Visibility Options dialog replaces the raw field values displayed on
the Visibility slider bar, with processed values depending on the Group Method
selected. For example, selecting a numerical Column to Group on will provide the
option to use Percentile method grouping. These percentile groups will then be
displayed on the Visibility slider bar.
16 Using the GraphMap Tool 643
The Load Legend option allows you to browse for and load a previously saved
GraphMap legend file (.gml). Loading and applying a legend file will override any
existing styling that is applied to the current graphs.
The Save Legend menu saves the current legend scheme to a file so that it can
be subsequently reused. The legend files are saved in a .gml format.
These options are duplicated within the Advanced Colour Options and Advanced
Sizing Options dialogs.
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Displaying Legends
The Legend window displays the current point symbol, size and colour options.
Individual style attributes can be edited by opening the appropriate tab, selecting
the appropriate cell and choosing from pull-down palettes/lists for the colour and
symbol fields, or using the sizing arrows.
If editing within the Custom tab of the Legend Window and the required
attribute field is not displayed, use the Display Description, Colour, Size or
Symbol buttons.
To remove a style option from all data points, press the Remove Styling button
and choose from the available options:
The Legend window can be moved by dragging its title bar, or by double-clicking
on the titlebar. To return the Legend window to its default location, select the
Reset Layout button under the Settings tab. The AutoHide icon at the top-right
of the window allows the data view to be toggled between a window view and tab
in the left margin.
The Load Colour from Column option provides a means to colour data points
using an RGB colour value. An RGB colour value is an integer value which
represents a specific combination of Red, Green and Blue colours. RGB colour
values can be extracted from existing MapInfo data (see Colour Map Objects by
RGB Values) or computed manually from individual RGB colours values using the
following formula:
To apply colour by column, open the Modify tab; choose Load Colour from
Column from the Column Operations menu and select the field containing the
colour values you wish to colour by.
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GraphMap Settings
Mouse Buttons Settings
Global Settings
Reset Layout
The functionality of the various mouse buttons (Left, Middle and Right) can be
customised using the appropriate buttons under the Settings menu.
Global Settings
The Global button on the Settings tab opens the GraphMap Global Settings
dialog. This has both General and Axis-specific controls, as well as controls
applicable to All Graphs and specific graph types. Making changes within this
dialog will affect all open and new graphs.
General Options
Reset Layout
The Reset Layout button on the Setting tab resets all windows (Data, Legend,
etc) and the Quick Access Toolbar to their default layout configurations.
In Tabbed Window this option will display all graphs in a single window
with tabs to switch between the individual graphs
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Processing Images
Some useful information and tips about working with image files.
Reprojecting an Image
Reproject raster images into a new coordinate system.
Clipping an Image
Clip a raster image to a region.
Enhancing an Image
Adjust image contrast and brightness and modify colour and gamma Red,
Green, Blue channels.
Rotating an Image
Rotate image by specified angle
Processing Images
Images and Memory Size
Multi-image Processing
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The Image Reproject and Image Clip tools can process unlimited size images.
They also support processing of ECW files.
The Image Rectify and Image Tools (convert, enhance etc.) require at least four
times the uncompressed (i.e. bitmap) image file size in free memory in order to
process an image. For example if an image is 200 MB in size (uncompressed), at
least 800 MB of free memory is required to process the image.
2. Ensure that no other large files are open in MapInfo (including images,
grids and tabular data). Try closing MapInfo down, reopening and then
opening just the image to be processed.
Note Mapinfo/Discover does not utilize the extra memory available in a 64-bit
environment and is limited to a 4 GB.
Note The Images Rectify and Image Tools decompresses all images prior to
processing. Many file types such as PNG, TIFF and JPG utilize extensive
compression algorithms; their uncompressed file size is likely to be significantly
larger than the compressed size. You can check the uncompressed size of an
image under Images>Image Properties.
Multi-image Processing
All image tools (except for Rectify Image) can process multiple images. Use the
Select option at the top of the various dialogs to highlight the target raster images.
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The Rectify Image tool is a powerful utility that enables the registration of raster
images in geographic real-world coordinates. Unlike image registration using
MapInfo, the Discover Rectify Image tool can register and modify images that
have been stretched, skewed or rotated. This process, known as warping
enables portions of an image to stretched or warped to fit the entered control
points. The tool determines an averaged best-fit transformation (projection) to
match image pixel XY coordinates to the target Map XY coordinates.
Image Selection
To open the Rectify Image utility select the Discover>Images Menu option and
choose Rectify Image from the new Images menu that is added to the MapInfo
menu bar. In the following Rectify Image dialog, two options are available:
1. Select an image from the Current Image list of open raster images. For
an image to be in this list it must already have an associated TAB file.
2. Use the Load an Image File button to browse for the raster image to be
rectified
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Note The following image formats can be rectified: .PNG, .BMP, .GIF, .TIF, .TIFF,
.JPEG, .JPG, and .JP2. ECW images are not supported.
Note When an image is selected using the Load an Image File button Discover will
search for an existing TAB file related to the selected image. If a TAB file is found
(i.e. the image has been opened and/or registered using MapInfo), the Rectify
Image dialog will be automatically populated with this registration information.
Similarly, if an open image file is selected Discover will automatically populate
the rectification dialog with the existing registration information.
If the Load an Image File button is used to open an image without an existing
TAB file, a Loading Control Points dialog will appear.
Click the Yes button to automatically create a control point at each corner of the
image. This option is only useful if the real earth coordinates of these corner
positions is known. To create custom control points click the No button.
The Rectify Image dialog is displayed with either no control points listed or
control points listed in non-earth coordinates.
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The Image Control Point list details the Image XY coordinates and Map XY
coordinates for each control point along with the resulting RMS and Residual
values. Additional Control Point tools are included such as control point creation
and deletion buttons, positioning options and control point file tools.
2. Select projection.
5. Rectify.
To rectify an existing Image with a TAB file that has been registered by
Mapinfo:
4. Visual check the Control Points in the map window and note the Residual
errors.
Use the Projection button to specify the rectified image projection. The
projection is displayed at the top of the Ground Control Points list. The image
projection can also be specified when using the Map button to capture Map X
and Y values using an existing data table in an open map window.
To add a new blank row to the control point list, press the New Point button.
There are two options for specifying the Image X and Y coordinates:
Click in the Image_X or Image_Y cell and enter the image pixel
coordinate. Note that the image pixel X coordinates increase to the right,
whilst the Y coordinates increase downwards from the origin (0, 0) in the
top left of the image.
Click on the control point row to be edited. An icon will appear to the left of
the row to indicate the selected row. Click on the Image button and move
the cursor to the map window containing the image to rectify. The cursor is
now displayed as a cross-hair (+). Click on the control point location in the
image map window. The location of the X and Y pixel coordinates in the
image are automatically updated in the control point Image_X and
Image_Y cells.
The last change applied to a control point row can be reversed using the Undo
Change button
To specify the Map (real-world) X and Y coordinates for a control point two
options are available:
Click in the Map_X or Map_Y cell and enter the map coordinate. The map
coordinate is the real-world projection coordinates for the corresponding
image pixel XY location.
Use an existing table in an open map window to locate control points. This
map table may be a TAB file containing a simple polygon whose vertices
correlate to the corners of the image or other vector data such as roads or
features which can be used to locate the image control points.
Click on the control point row to be edited. An icon will appear to the left of
the row to indicate the selected row. Click on the Map button and move
the cursor to the map window containing the image to rectify. The cursor is
now displayed as a cross-hair (+). Click on the control point location in the
map window. The location of the X and Y coordinates in the map window
are automatically updated in the control point Map_X and Map_Y cells.
If this is the first coordinate information to be captured from the map window for
an unregistered image and no projection has been specified in the Rectify Image
dialog, the following message is displayed with a request to use the current
window projection. Select Yes to use the current map window projection for the
rectified image.
If the image is already registered, and the current map window is in a different
projection to the image registration, the following warning message will be
displayed.
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Image and Map control points can be saved to a separate TAB file using the
Save Control Points button. By default, the output file name is the image name
with a _gcp suffix. Saving control points is recommended especially when a
large number of control points are used to rectify an image. To use a saved
control point table use the Load Control Points button.
To view the location of either loaded or newly created ground control points in
the Image or Map windows, use the View GCP button. To view, simply select
the particular ground control point/s you wish to observe and press the View
GCP button.
If you have performed any modifications on the existing ground control points
such as updating Image or Map X and Y coordinates and you wish to update the
modifications on either the unregistered Image or existing Map layer, simply
press the Sync GCP->Map button.
If you have moved any of the control point locations in either the unregistered
Image or existing Map layer, and you wish to update the ground control point
coordinates in the Rectify Image dialog, simply press the Sync Map->GCP
button.
17 Working with Images 655
Rectify
Press the Rectify button to start the rectification process. Note that at least three
control points with both image and map coordinates are required for this
process. The more control points specified the more accurate the rectification
process will be.
A Save As dialog will prompt for an output file name and location. By default the
output rectified table will contain the original image file name with a _rectified
suffix. The rectified image table is automatically saved to the same directory as
the original image. When the Save button is pressed, a status bar is displayed at
the bottom of the Rectify Image dialog showing the rectification progress status.
When the rectified processing is completed, the rectified image is displayed in a
new map window.
Click on the Options button to open the Rectify Options dialog. This is used
during the reprojection of the image to the new location. Use the Interpolation
pull-down list to select an interpolation method from the following options:
Bilinear the value of a grid cell in the new image is assigned the
weighted value of the four surrounding image cells in the original image.
To allow automatic sequential movement between rows when using the Image or
Map buttons to capture point coordinates, check the Automatically move to
next record box.
Accuracy
The RMS, residuals and standard deviations are dynamically calculated based on
the best-fit transformed set of Map XY compared to the target MapXY at each
pixel (Image XY) location. However, you cannot see the transformed Map XY
used for these residuals.
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The standard deviation for X and Y, indicate the dispersion between the set of
transformed Map X/Y coordinates.
Note You cannot actually see the transformed Map XY coordinates in the dialog.
These change depending on the transformations method and Image XY control
points used.
Transformation Methods
Conformal
Conformal transformation is a special case of Affine projections.
Conformal transformations preserve shapes and angles and may include
a rotation, a scaling and a translation. Straight lines and parallel lines
remain straight and parallel in the transformed image. A minimum of three
control points are required for a conformal transformation.
Affine
Affine transformations enable the x and y dimensions to be scaled or
sheared independently and may also include a translation. Straight lines
and parallel lines remain straight and parallel in the transformed image but
rectangles become parallelograms. A minimum of three control points are
required for an affine transformation.
Projective
Projective transformations map lines to lines. Straight lines remain straight
but parallelism may not be preserved. A minimum of four control points
are required for a projective transformation.
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Polynomial Transformations
Polynomial transformations are higher-order non-linear transformations
which can handle more complex local distortions. Polynomial
transformations are smooth and are also known as rubber-sheet
transformations as they enable parts of an image to be stretched or
warped to fit the control points. A minimum of six control points for 2nd
order polynomial and ten control points for 3rd order polynomial
transformations is required.
In all cases the transform is attempting to map the location of the source control
points to their equivalent position in the chosen target projection.
A Ground Control Point table provides the source control points in both the non-
earth (Image Pixel X/Y) and a known projection space (Map X/Y). The method will
use these to determine a set of transformation parameters which are the best fit
for the given control points, using a Least Squares method to minimise the misfit
for these control point locations.
Note that the Auto select best method option will choose the best
transformation method based on the number of control points provided. The
current auto-selected transformation is displayed at the bottom of the Rectify
Image dialog.
When the Rectify button is pressed, the image is reprojected based on the
custom best-fit transformation method currently selected/displayed. Any residual/
misfit errors are removed from the output image file registration.
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Reprojecting an Image
Images>Reproject Image
The Reproject Image tool reprojects one or more images registered in one
coordinate system into a new coordinate system. For example, images registered
in Australian AGD84 coordinates can be reprojected into GDA94 coordinates.
Images can be reprojected between projected (e.g. UTM), geographic (e.g. lat-
long) and custom coordinate systems. A range of interpolation methods are
provided to adjust the pixel locations in the image between the two coordinate
systems.
In the .TAB file associated with a registered image, the coordinates for the image
extents are stored as both real-world coordinates and image pixel coordinates,
along with the coordinate system details. When an image is reprojected to
another coordinate system, a new image and .TAB file is created containing the
real-world coordinates in the new projection and the new coordinate system
details.
4. The pixel dimensions of the selected image is shown in the Size box. If
the input image is very large, e.g. hundreds of gigabytes, the input can be
resampled. The Resample Input value (default 100%) will automatically
adjust on large images to speed up processing.
6. The Projection Method toggles between the default and NTv2 Grid Shift
methods of reprojection. If the MapInfo default method is selected, the
reprojection will be either a three- or seven-parameter translation. If the
NTv2 Grid Shift method is selected, the NTv2 grid shift method is used.
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Note The Discover projection list is stored in a separate file to the MapInfow.prj file.
To reproject images into a custom coordinate system in the MapInfow.prj file,
copy the custom projection line into the Encom.prj file located in the
.\Encom\Common\Projections folder. For more information on NTv2 grid
transformations, see Encom NTv2 Transformation.
Bilinear the value of a grid cell in the new image is assigned the
weighted value of the four surrounding image cells in the original
image.
8. Select a Background colour from the palette. This colour is used for all
null image cells around the reprojected image.
By default, a reprojected image file and .TAB file are created using the
original image name and a "_reproject" suffix. To change the suffix modify
the File Suffix option.
The image file type will default to PNG. To change the output image type,
select from the extension drop-down box.
Clipping an Image
Images>Clip Image
The Clip Image tool clips one or more raster images to a region, such as a project
area or tenement boundary. The clipping boundary is defined by a polygonal map
object, such as one or more polygon or rectangles in an existing table or in the
cosmetic layer. The clipping map object can also be a multi-polygonone
polygon comprised of two or more non-contiguous polygons. The image can be
clipped eithjer inside or outside the polygonal map object
2. Open or create the polygonal clipping object in the map window and select
the object.
5. The pixel dimensions of the selected image is shown in the Size box. If
the input image is very large, e.g. hundreds of gigabytes, the input can be
resampled. The Resample Input value (default 100%) will automatically
adjust on large images to speed up processing.
6. Under Clip Options, in the Polygon Table box, select *Selection* to use
the selected clipping object.
8. Under Output Options, select Source Folder to save the clipped images
into the same folder as the input tables. Or select Custom Folder and
type the new location in the Folder box.
By default, a clipped image file and .TAB file are created using the original
image name and a "_clipped" suffix. To change the suffix modify the File
Suffix option.
The image file type will default to PNG. To change the output image type,
select from the extension drop-down box.
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Image Tool
Note The following image formats can be loaded in the Image tool: PNG, BMP, GIF,
TIF, TIFF, JPEG, JPG, and JP2. ECW images are not supported.
Aside from the Rectify Images, Image Reproject and Image Clip utilities, all the
other Image menu options open the Image Tools dialog. Raster images must
have an associated TAB file and be open in MapInfo in order to be available for
selection in this dialog. All open raster images are listed in the Select Image pull-
down list. Each images utility is located in a separate tab and the selected image
is displayed in the preview window on the right of the dialog. The image is
displayed by default in the preview window using the image height/width aspect
ratio. To fill the entire preview window with the image uncheck the Match Aspect
box.
Note All Image tools (except Rectify Image) can process multiple image files. Use the
Select option at the top of each dialog to highlight the target raster images.
The Images Properties tab displays information about the selected raster image
such as:
Size
The number of rows (X) and columns (Y) in the image are recorded along
with the Total number of pixels in the image. The Compressed Size of
the image on disk and the approximate Uncompressed Size of the image
in memory. The image Type (PNG, JPG, etc) is also displayed.
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Registration
The name of the raster image coordinate system and the parameters as
listed in the MapInfo projection file are displayed along with the minimum
and maximum image X and Y coordinate extents.
Metadata
Some images may contain metadata or information about the image which
is hardcoded into the image file. If a raster image contains this type of
metadata it will be displayed in the Metadata in Image window. Note that
this feature does not read metadata which has been entered into the .TAB
file of the image.
Enhancing an Image
Images>Enhance Image
Use the Enhance Images tab to modify the appearance of a raster image.
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Contrast/Brightness
Adjust the lightness of an image by changing the Contrast and
Brightness levels. The original image contrast and brightness level is set
to 0. Positive values will lighten and increase the contrast whereas
negative values will darken an image and decrease the contrast.
Grey Scale
Convert a coloured image to black, white and 254 shades of grey.
Invert Colours
Each RGB pixel value is subtracted from 255 and replaced with the
corresponding colour to create a negative image.
Colour
Add or subtract a value to each RGB colour.
Gamma
Adjust the overall brightness of an image using the individual red, green
and blue channels. Positive gamma values will lighten each channel of the
image and negative gamma values will darken each channel of the image.
Apply one or more filters to a raster image to remove extreme values or enhance
linear features. When a filter is selected it is added to the Apply Order window.
To change the order in which a filter is applied use the Up and Down arrow
buttons. To remove a filter from the list, use the Remove Filter button. For
selected filters a weighting or threshold value can be applied.
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Sharpness Filters
Smooth
Apply a mean smoothing filter over an image to reduce noise or high pixel
values. Each pixel is replaced by the RGB mean values of the central and
surrounding pixels using a 3x3 kernel. To increase smoothing, add a
selected Smooth Weight value to the central pixel value.
Sharpen
Gaussian Blur
Quick
Vertical
Horizontal
Sobel
Prewitt
Kirsh
The Quick filter applies a vertical and horizontal edge detection over an image
and then merges the two resulting images together to create the final filtered
image.
The Vertical and Horizontal filters are 3x7 and 7x3 kernels designed to enhance
vertical and horizontally trending edges.
The Sobel, Prewitt and Kirsh filters are all horizontal filters which apply a
negative weight along one edge of the 3x3 kernel and a positive weight on the
other edge with the middle pixels with no or negative weighting (Kirsh). Using the
difference between the central pixel value and its surrounding pixels in the kernel
a Threshold Value can be applied whereby a pixel with a value less than the
threshold will be assigned the threshold value. This enables greater contrast
between edges by displaying below threshold pixels in the same colour.
Other Filters
Mean Removal
This is another sharpen filter with a 3x3 kernel which filters in a diagonal
direction as well as the horizontal and vertical direction. The degree of
sharpening can be increased by adding a Mean Removal Weight to the
central kernel pixel.
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Rotating an Image
Images>Rotate Image
To rotate an image, select one of the pre-set rotation options or Custom Rotation
to manually select the desired rotation angle using the Rotation slider bar.
Alternatively, select Custom Rotation and manually enter a rotation angle
between 0 and 360.
Choose the desired raster format from the Convert image to pull-down list. If a
JPEG format is selected use the Quality slider to determine the degree of
compression in the output image. The lower the quality the more compressed the
output image will be resulting in a loss of image detail.
If you wish to open the converted raster image in a third party software program
that cannot read .TAB files then check the Create World File when Saving box.
A world file is a six-line text header file that contains information relating to the
image pixel size in X and Y direction, rotation of row or columns and the X and Y
coordinates of the centre of the image top left pixel. Depending on the raster type
selected for the registered raster image, a world file may have one of the following
file extensions: .PGW, .JGW, .BPW or .TFW. Third party software programs can
read and use this information along with an entered projection to view the raster
image in the correct geographical location.
To create a world file for the image which is currently loaded in the Image Tools
dialog, click on the Create World File For Current Image button. The world file
is automatically created and saved to the same directory as the current image.
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The Modify Image tab enables a transparency level to be set for an entire image
or the selection of a single colour in the image to be set to transparent. Single
colour transparency is generally used for images that are surrounded with
coloured null areas that obscure underlying data layers when the image is added
to a map window.
This tool does not alter the original image file. Transparency is only applied when
displayed in MapInfo Professional via its TAB file.
4. Choose the image from the Select Image pull-down list if it is not already
displayed.
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4. Choose the image from the Select Image pull-down list if it is not already
displayed.
5. Click on the arrow next to Transparent Colour and select from the colour
palette. Click More Colours to enter specific RGB or HSL values to create
a custom colour to make transparent.
Data Formats
Legend Editor
Interrogating Drillholes
Downhole Compositing
Generating 3D Coordinates
To create drillhole sections and plans, use the following steps as a guide:
1. Format all drillhole data and import into MapInfo. File formats such as
Access, Excel, and CSV should be first imported into MapInfo to create
.TAB files (see Importing and Exporting and Data Formats).
3. Create a new drillhole project and assign the correct table and columns as
required (see Creating a New Drillhole Project).
8. Add sections and plans to a layout window at the correct scale with
section grids and title block ready for printing (see Adding a Map Grid to
Sections and Adding Sections to a Layout).
Data Formats
Drillhole Data Formats
The Drillholes module in Discover can use drillhole data captured in a number of
different formats. Discover can use drillhole data stored in any database format
that MapInfo can read, including Access and other ODBC linked databases.
Discover does not need to make any alterations or additions to the source data.
The project collar, survey, and downhole tables must contain a Hole ID field,
which is the primary key between these tables. The following data tables can be
used to define a drillhole project:
Collar Table
The collar location table is a mappable table (use MapInfo Table>Create Points)
containing point objects for each drillhole collar. The collar table must include the
following columns:
Note The field name and order of the mandatory columns is not important. These
columns are specified during project setup.
If a separate downhole survey table is not present, the collar table must contain
two additional numeric columns for the drillhole collar; Azimuth and Dip. Dips can
be expressed as positive or negative values, e.g. 90 or 90, and are measured
from the horizontal: a 0 degree dip represents a horizontal hole, and 90 or 90 will
result in a vertical drillhole.
All mandatory columns must be numeric, aside from the HoleID must be a
character field. For native MapInfo tables it is recommended that coordinates are
stored in columns with a Float (Floating Decimal) data type.
The downhole survey table is an optional, non-mappable table that contains a list
of downhole depth, dip and azimuth inflections for each drillhole; for example, as
measured with a downhole survey camera. The table must contain the following
columns:
Note The field name and order of the mandatory columns is not important; the
columns are specified during project setup.
All mandatory columns must be numeric, aside from the HoleID, which must be a
character field. Depth, Azimuth and Dip columns must be numeric; dip values can
be positive or negative.
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Note Drillholes with no downhole survey table are displayed as straight lines using the
Dip, Azimuth and Total Depth values from the Collar table.
Downhole data tables are optional, non-mappable tables that can contain
sampled and logged interval information such as geochemical, geological or
geophysical data values. A drillhole project can contain multiple downhole data
tables. Downhole data tables must contain the following columns:
All mandatory columns must be numeric except the HoleID, which must be a text
field. Depth From and Depth To columns must be numeric. For point (non-
interval) data, the Depth From and Depth To values are equal.
Important The position and name of the mandatory HoleID, From, and To columns must be
identical in each downhole data table, because this is how data from separate
tables are indexed. If the field names are not identical in all downhole data
tables, it will try and match the column position. If it cant do this, the drillhole
module will produce an error. Most importantly, the data type of the mandatory
fields must match. Use Discover>Table Utilities>Multi-table Structure
Manager (see Multi-table, Multi-field Editing) to compare and modify the
structures of multiple downhole data tables.
Other data columns such as sample number, rock type, grades etc. can be
present, if required.
Sample intervals must not overlap within a downhole data table: see Validating a
Drillhole Database.
An example of a geophysical (point sample) downhole data table: the From and To fields
must be identical for each measurement
Note The Collars, Surveys, Assays, Samples and Lithology tables in the
.\Discover_Tutorial\Drillholes folder can be used as a template to
create tables for use in a drillhole project.
Structural data tables are a special type of downhole data that define the
intersection of structure planes, such as bedding, faults, shears, and joints.
Structural data can be displayed on drillhole sections using the Structure Ticks
display option.
To display structure ticks, downhole structural data tables must contain the
following columns:
Like a geophysical point measurement, the Depth To and Depth From values can
be equal, defining the point (depth down the hole) at which the structure intersects
the drillhole trace. This defines structures of zero thickness, such as joints and
bedding. If the Depth To value is greater than the Depth From value, the structure
is located at the midpoint. This defines infilled zones, such as shears and faults.
The Dip values must be between 0 and 90 . If not recorded, the Dip field must
be nulla zero value is read as horizontal.
Dip Direction values must be between 0 and 360. For non-oriented (dip only)
core, the Dip Direction is left nulla zero value is read as 0 north.
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If the structural data file contains alpha-beta core angles, they must be converted
to dip and dip direction before plotting as structure ticks (see Converting Alpha-
Beta Core Angles), after the table is added to the drillhole project.
The requirements for structural downhole data tables are otherwise the same as
Downhole Interval and Point Data Tables.
Discover can extract sectional profile information from gridded and contoured
surfaces (such as surface topography, soil geochemistry or pit profiles) to display
in the drillhole section.
The topographic surface can also be used to extract elevation values for costean
collar and survey tables.
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Surface Geology
Section Lines
This table can be populated in a number of ways, and provides significant time
savings for multiple section generation and automatic naming in the Define New
Section tool, and minimises section duplication and regeneration issues:
Use Local Grid Layout (see Generating Traverse Lines and Peg
Coordinates) to generate systematically spaced section lines.
Attribute the sections with the required envelope widths (e.g. the
Table>Update Column tool).
Any sections defined manually in the Define New Section dialog are
automatically added to the SectionLines_ProjectName table during
section generation, including all specified names and envelopes.
The user can import an existing attributed table of lines into this
SectionLines_ProjectName table. This is performed via the
SectionLine (last) tab of the Project Manager Create or Modify sequence
(with name and envelope field matching options).
For existing or imported legacy (pre-2012) drillhole projects for which you
have no section lines, go to Section Manager>More>Sync Section
Lines. This will automatically populate the
SectionLines_ProjectName table with lines/polylines (and associated
attributes) for all existing sections within that project (i.e. whatever is listed
in the section manager).
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The data tables required to create trench/costean views are very similar to those
required for drillholes:
1. Collar position
The start point must be stored in a separate collar file. This can be done
by opening the map survey file and copying the first row of each trench
into a new file (see Costean Collar Tables).
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The distance field is not the interval length. It is the distance along the
trench from its collar. This defines the position at which bearing and
inclination is measured along the trench. This can be done by massaging
the bearing/distance vector data in the map survey and shifting the
distance values down one row (see Costean Survey Tables).
The trench collar file must be mappable (as with drillhole collar files) using the
MapInfo Table>Create Points option, and requires the following fields:
The Elevation field can be populated from an RL field in the trench collar table,
or alternatively elevation data can be captured from a topographic grid associated
with the drillhole project. If no topographic grid is present and no Z field has been
selected, the Z value will default to zero for all survey points.
The Bearing field is compulsory if no survey table is present (i.e. for a straight
trench). It is not required for XYZ or Bearing and Distance Segment survey
tables. If a Bearing and Distance Cumulative survey table is used, the bearing
field is optional (the collar bearing can be incorporated into either the collar file or
the survey file).
The Total Length field is optional if a survey table is provided. For a Distance and
Bearing derived trench, if the total length specified in the collar is greater than the
survey length another survey segment with the same bearing as the last survey
segment will be created to the total length specified. If no Total length field is
specified the last survey segment will complete the Trench trace.
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If the trench is not linear i.e. it has a number of azimuth changes/inflexions along
its length, a survey table is required. This requires a Trench ID field matching that
in the Costean Collar Table.
The Trench survey table can be constructed in the following three formats:
XYZ
XYZ Survey
The table for an XYZ survey contains the following additional compulsory fields
that define the locations of inflexion points along the trench. This table must
include the trench endpoint X/Y coordinates.
The Order field requires numeric values that list/control the order of the survey
points: for example, 1, 2, 3, 4 An excellent alternative is to use a cumulative
trench length field (equivalent to a drillhole survey depth field): for example with
values of 0, 22.5, 65, 89.1, etc.
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Elevation data can either be supplied in a Z field, or z values can be captured from
a topographic grid associated with the drillhole project at each defined survey
point (by setting the Elevation pull-down to None: (Zero based or topo grid)). If
no topographic grid is present and no Z field has been selected the Z value will
default to zero for all survey points.
Note When using an XYZ survey table the Total Length and Bearing fields in the
Trench Collar table are not used to define the Trench trace, and should be set to
'None'.
Note The Z specification can be different to that in the collar file; it is possible to assign
a Z field in the collar file, whilst Z values in the survey table setup are captured
from a DEM grid file (or vice versa). If XYZ information for the collar itself is
specified in both the collar and survey files, the survey file information will be
utilized preferentially.
An example of XYZ trench collar and survey tables. These include elevation data (but if
this information is not present, a DEM grid could be utilized). RP0132 has one inflexion
point, whilst RP0133 is a straight trench. Note the Order field in the survey file stipulating
the order in which the inflexion points are handled: a cumulative trench length field could
just as easily be used.
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The table for a Cumulative Survey contains the following additional compulsory
fields that define the locations of inflexion points along the trench.
If no zero survey is contained in the survey table the trench collar Bearing will be
used as the first survey segment and the Distance from the first survey table
segment.
A dip of zero will be used for the first survey segment when no zero survey is
contained in the survey table.
If a zero distance is contained in the survey table the Distance from the second
survey table segment will be used, along with the Bearing and Dip from the first
survey segment.
If the Total Length in the Trench collar exceeds the cumulative length specified in
the Trench survey table a trench segment with the same bearing and inclination
as the previous segment will be created.
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The table for a Segment Survey contains the following additional compulsory
fields that define the locations of inflexion points along the trench.
The Order field requires numeric values that list/control the order of the survey
points: for example, 1, 2, 3, 4.
The segment trench survey doesn't need to contain a zero distance or survey
origin, the origin is extracted from the Trench collar.
The Trench Bearing, Distance and Inclination are sequentially extracted from the
Trench Survey table.
If the Total Length in the Trench collar exceeds the segmentlength specified in
the Trench survey table a trench segment with the same bearing as the previous
segment will be created with an inclination of zero.
The Inclination value is only used to define the elevation of the inflexion when no
topographic grid is available. If a topographic grid is present the Z value will be
obtained from this, at the XY location defined by the the combination of Distance,
Inclination of Distance measurement, and the Bearing of the Distance
measurement.
Note Elevation data will only be captured for each measurement point in a Costean
Survey table, as well as the Costean collar location. This may be insufficient for
regions of undulating topography; trenches composed of solely a start and end
point will not follow the topographic profile. To rectify this, assign extra survey
points to increase the frequency of elevation measurements.
An example of Bearing and Distance trench collar and survey files. Note that trench
MCS0025 will plot as a linear horizontal costean as it has no survey information. Also, there
is no elevation information in the collar file, thus collar elevation data will need to be
automatically captured from a DEM grid associated with the drillhole project. The Distance
field in the Survey file will need to be set as a Cumulative distance.
Trench data such as assay, magnetic susceptibility and lithological data need to
be in the same table format as required for drillholes. They are also shared
between both Drillholes and Costeans, such that a Downhole table can contain
data for both Drillholes and Trenches. They require the following fields:
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Note The position and name of the mandatory HoleID, From, and To columns must be
identical in each downhole data table. If this isn't the case, in each downhole
table, an error message is displayed. To continue, adjust the table structure
using the Multi Table Structure Manager.
Interval data (e.g. composite chip samples, lithological units) must have a To
value greater than or equal to the From value. The trenching tool (as with the
drillhole module) cannot handle overlapping downhole data intervals within the
same field (e.g. zinc chip samples over the intervals of 121125 m and
124130 m in the same trench will cause display errors). Geophysical point
measurements (e.g. magnetic susceptibility) must have the same From and To
values to plot correctly. For example magnetic susceptibility readings taken at
38 m, 39 m and 40 m will have the following format:
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An example of a geophysical (point sample) downhole data table: the From and To fields
must be identical for each measurement
As indicated previously in the collar and survey sections, elevation data for trench
collar points as well as any inflexion points can be captured from a topographic
grid associated with the drillhole project (as opposed to having elevation data
supplied in RL/Z fields in the collar and/or survey files).
Additionally, you can import drillhole datasets from other databases or formats
using the extensive array of import tools available, and manually build the drillhole
project as required. You can also import a wide variety of surface grids, raster
images, and other spatial data.
For information on importing and exporting data for drillhole projects, see
Importing and Exporting.
You can also import a complete Encom Discover Drillhole Project from another
location. For more information, see Sharing Discover Drillhole Projects.
Session Manager
Drillholes>Project Manager
When creating a drillhole project, a wizard-style interface assists with data entry.
1. On the Drillholes menu, click Project Manager, and then, on the Project
Manager dialog box, click New.
Note The project name and folder name must not contain any special characters,
such as *, %, $, #, @ 'or ?.
Note The user must have write permission to the drillhole project folder. Set the
necessary permissions in Windows before proceeding.
3. Next to the Path box, click the Browse button and navigate to the folder
containing the drillhole tables. Click OK to save the project path. All drill
sections, plans and log displays will be saved to this folder.
4. Select the Project Units for the elevation and downhole units. The Depth/
Length Units are the units of measurement for all downhole depth and
from-to fields, collar elevations, and surface topograhic DEM.
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Click the Open Tables button and select the collar table and/or
survey tables.
Select the required field mappings for the collar table and/or survey
table.
Note The collar table must be mappable with points already created for the easting/
northing fields in the correct projection. To do this, use Table>Create Points.
Note The HoleID field for both Collar and Survey tables must be of type Character.
Note The collar table must be packed. If an unpacked row is found in the collar table,
an error message is displayed. Click Yes to pack the table, or Cancel to abort
opening the project.
Note If both negative (down holes) and positive (up holes) dips are used in the project,
select the Down dip is negative option and ensure that dip values are correctly
signed in the data tables.
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Click the Open Tables button and select the downhole data tables.
Note During the drillhole project setup, the mandatory columns are assigned from the
first downhole table selected. The position or name of the mandatory HoleID,
From, and To columns must be identical in each downhole data table to create
correct sectional displays. If not, an error message is displayed. To continue,
adjust the table structure with the Multi Table Structure Manager or remove the
table from the project.
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10. Click Next. The Drillhole Project Setup Surfaces dialog is displayed.
If required, click the Open Tables button and select the surface and
polygon tables and field mappings:
12. Click Next. The Drillhole Project Setup Section Line dialog is
displayed.
13. Choose to create an empty section line table or import an existing section
line table:
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Section Name
Envelope Width
Description
Note The column format of the section line table to be imported must be:
Section Name Character
Envelope Width Float/Integer
Description Character
Note The section line table has no mandatory fields; however it is strongly
recommended that all section lines are labelled with a section name to help with
organising data.
Once the Drillhole Project files have been selected and imported into the project,
the the drillhole data is validated. Data validation options can highlight data that
can cause problems later, when creating drillhole sections and plans. Some of the
main sources of the failure to plot all downhole data successfully on a section can
be attributed to drillhole name or total depth mismatches and overlapping sample
intervals within the collar and downhole data tables.
Automatic Validation
Validate Collars
Validate Surveys
Validate Downholes
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Note During the validation process, all available options must be defined before the
validation can proceed.
Use the Filter button to restrict the validation to a subset of drillholes in the
project. The validation will otherwise be performed on the entire project.
Automatic Validation
Note Automatic validation is not run each time the project is opened or the cache/data
is refreshed and updated. Errors or incorrect results can still occur when creating
sections with new data or holes. If this occurs, go back to the Project Manager
and select to Validate the project.
The following compulsory checks will be run (see following sections for more
details):
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Table structure all set fields are presents and appropriate datatypes etc
Validate Collars
Duplicate collar IDs Checks for duplicate hole IDs in the collar table
(compulsory).
Rows with duplicate locations Checks that no two collars have the
same location (optional).
On clicking Next, the collar validation is run. If any errors are detected, a
Validation Report is displayed. If there are no errors, the Validate Surveys dialog
is displayed.
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Validate Surveys
Duplicate depth values Checks that no two survey entries for the same
drillhole/trench have the same depth value (compulsory).
Survey EOH depth greater than Collar EOH Matches the survey file
EOH and the collar file EOH, and makes sure that the survey file isnt
longer. If downhole data exists below the total depth specified in the collar
table, it will not be displayed in section. This can occur due to data entry
errors or if the collar data was entered before the drilling was complete
(compulsory).
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Collar name mismatch Checks the survey file collar names match the
names in the collar file. Common problems occur where the drillhole name
is specified differently in the collar table and the downhole tables (e.g.
DDH007 and DDH7 are considered by Discover to be different drillholes).
Drillhole project files linked to Excel spreadsheets might contain spaces
before or after entries, which causes drillhole name mismatches
(optional).
Dip sign discrepancy Checks if dip values differ from the dip value
positive/negative selected in the drillhole project setup (see Creating and
Managing Drillhole Projects) (optional).
Note Dip sign discrepancy assumes that all holes have been drilled downwards. If the
project contains up-holes (as in an underground array), the dip sign discrepancy
check will assume that these holes are erroneous.
Dip out of range Checks that dips are in the range -90 to +90 degrees
(optional).
Azimuth out of range Checks that azimuths are in the range 0 to 360
degrees. (optional)
Large dip curvature changes Data entry errors in survey readings can
cause significant problems that are difficult to pick up. This validation test
will detect abrupt changes of dip between consecutive survey readings.
The default degree change tolerance is 5 degrees (optional).
Note Discover 2013 validation is stricter than in previous versions. This might cause
drillhole projects produced in previous versions that had passed validation to fail
in Discover 2013.
On clicking Next, the survey validation is run. If any errors are detected, a
Validation Report is displayed. If there are no errors, the Validate Downholes
dialog is displayed.
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Validate Downholes
On clicking Next, the downhole validation is run. If any errors are detected, a
Validation Report is displayed. If there are no errors, the message Project
Validation is Complete is displayed.
Click OK to return to the Project Manager dialog. You can then select the
drillhole project and click OK to open. All the project tables selected in the setup
stage will be opened. The project is now ready for sectional creation and analysis.
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Validation Report
The status of the validation, including the number of errors detected, is displayed
at the top of the Project Validation dialog. If errors are detected at any and each
of the three stages, a validation report is produced:
All three validation report types have the same table structure:
Error Reports the error type produced by a validation rule being broken.
Table Reports which table the error has been found in (collar, survey or
a downhole table).
From For collar and downhole file errors, refers to the downhole
distance the error occurred at. For survey table azimuth and dip change
errors, refers to the initial azimuth and dip before the change is made.
Amount The value (distance, azimuth, dip) the error occurred ate.g.
sample interval amount is the distance of the sample interval.
To view and correct an error, click the Show button. The corresponding table is
opened and the rows that contains the error are selected. Edit the table values
as required and save using File>SaveTable. You can also auto-fix errors (see
below).
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After corrections have been made and saved, click the Refresh button to rerun
the validation and regenerate the report. If the error has been fixed, it will be
removed from the new report.
All three validation report types can be filtered by Error or Table type by using the
pulldown menus at the top of the table.
Type
Table
Collar
Rows
Date Time
All three validation reports (collar, survey and downhole) are appended to the
one file.
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Note If the report CSV file is open and another validation report is run, an error will be
reported and you will be asked to close the file.
Click the Auto Fix button to display errors that can be automatically fixed by
Discover:
The error types and table they occur in can be filtered with the pulldown menus
at the top of the dialog. Select the errors that you want to autofix, or click Select
All to fix all errors. On the Auto Fix dialog, click Auto Fix to fix the selected
errors..
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The collar file validation can produce the following error types (see Validate
Collars).
Duplicate collar
Field null
The survey file validation can produce the following error types (see Validate
Surveys):
No survey records
Dip sign mismatch This will check that the dip sign selected in the
project setup +/- (see Check dip fields orientation button) will match what
is in the survey file. If the user has indicated that the downhole dip is
assigned (-) negative. The autofix will look for any (+) positive dip values
and change them to negative.
EOH longer than collar This checks if depth values in the survey file are
longer than the total depth in the collar file. Autofix is available if the error
is less than a meter. What will be fixed can be set with the Gap Check
precision. If Gap precision is set at one any error smaller than one will be
fixed. If Gap precision is set as .1 any error less than .1 will be fixed..ect.
When autofix is clicked the values is the survey table will be adjusted to
the EOH value in the collar table of the associated drillhole.
Note Dip sign discrepancy assumes that all holes have been drilled downwards. If you
project has holes drilled upwards (as in an underground array) the dip sign
discrepancy check will assume that these holes are erroneous.
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The downhole file validation can produce the following error types (see Validate
Downholes):
Sample gap
No downhole records
Overlapping sample
EOH Longer than Collar -- This checks if depth values in the survey file
are longer than the total depth in the collar file. Autofix is available if the
error is less than a meter. What will be fixed can be set with the Gap
Check precision. If Gap precision is set at one any error smaller than one
will be fixed. If Gap precision is set as .1 any error less than .1 will be
fixed..ect. When autofix is clicked the values is the downhole table will be
adjusted to the EOH value in the collar table of the associated drillhole.
When the validation process is complete, you are now ready to use your new
drillhole project.
1. At project Creation.
2. For projects comprising only native MapInfo tables, if they are edited/
modified, the next time it is Opened via Project Manager.
3. For non-native MapInfo tables, every time it's Opened via Project
Manager (because there is no way of knowing if a non-native file has been
changed or not).
4. After any use of the Modify button in the Project Manager (which will also
trigger automatic compulsory re-validation of data).
However, if the database does get out of sync with the MapInfo Pro source
tables, the Refresh Cache button at the bottom of the Project Manager allow the
user to force a database refresh on-demand. For example, appending new
drillholes/assay records to project collar/assay source tables whilst the drillhole
project is open would require the Refresh Cache button to update the
background database, unless the project was reopened. In contrast, adding a
new downhole table to the project mid-session would not require a manual
syncing; the third auto-cache routine (above) will automatically detect this.
Encom Discover Drillhole Projects (version 2011 or later) can be shared with
other users using the Import/Export menu on the Project Manager dialog.
Discover 2013 drillhole projects use an XML file to store the metadata created
during project setup. This allows Discover 2013 projects to be shared by either:
Importing an existing project XML file (for example, replicate the project
directory and import the duplicate project's XML), or
On the Project Manager dialog, click the Import/Export button to display the tools
available:
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Import Import projects created in Discover 2011 (or later) into the
Drillhole Project Manager. Browse to the project XML location, and
rename the project if desired. This functionality can either directly import
an existing (unexported project), or an exported project; importing an
exported project will give the user a choice of legends to import.
Note Importing projects from an earlier version of Discover might produce validation
errors because of changes to validation rules between versions. If a validation
error occurs, correct the error in the corresponding data table.
Share Discover drillhole projects with other Discover users via the Project
Manager's Import/Export options.
For information about importing and exporting drillhole (and other types of data)
in other formats, see Importing and Exporting .
Note Drillhole project files created prior to Discover 2011 may have an associated
XML file; however, the XML file structure is different to the Discover 2011 project
XML files, and so cannot be imported using the XML file. Drillhole projects
created in Discover 12 (or earlier) must be exported with a .DXP file to be
imported into Discover 2013.
Drillholes>Project Manager
Use the Drillhole Project Manager to open, modify and delete existing drillhole
projects.
2. Click the Select Drillhole Project box and select the project, and then:
To open the project, click Open, and then use the Section Manager
(see Managing Sections and Plans) to view sections and plans
defined in the project.
To delete the project, click Delete. The project tables and sections
are preservedonly the project references are removed.
Note Because of the metadata links created in drillhole projects, you cannot reopen a
drillhole project using a MapInfo Professional workspace.
Costean collar and survey tables are assigned to any existing drillhole project
from the Project Setup menu.
1. Open the Project Setup dialog and select the Modify button.
2. Open the collar and/or survey table by using the Open Tables button on
the bottom of the Drillhole Project Setup dialog.
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3. Select the collar table from pull-down list. Set the various required and
optional fields in the Field Mappings, as detailed in the Apply Downhole
Trench Data section.
4. Select the survey table from pull-down list. Tick either the XYZ or Bearing
& Distance format option as detailed in the Costean Survey Tables
section, and set the required Field Mappings.
5. For both the collar and survey tables, if elevation data is to be captured
from a DEM/DTM, set the appropriate fields to None: (Zero based or
topo grid) rather than the collar Elevation field.
The Z offset will only apply to the Z/RL value sourced from the topographic
surface grid. If the values are set to table fields, they will not be offset.
Assigning the trench downhole data tables (in this case assay and lithology tables
Drillholes>Project Manager
2. Click the Select Drillhole Project box and select the project, and then
click Open.
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3. Use the Section Manager to view sections and plans defined in the
project.
Session Manager
Instead, the current open drillhole project, including any open layout windows, title
blocks, associated section and plan map and browser windows, etc, can be saved
as a Project Session using the Drillholes>Session Manager menu option, and
then click New to create a new session. This will create a .DWOR file with the
specified Name in a new Sessions subdirectory under the current drillhole project
data folder, along with a standard MapInfo Professional workspace. Descriptive
and comment fields can also be saved in this session file.
Existing session files can also be loaded using the Drillholes>Session Manager
menu option. Selecting a drillhole project will list any associated sessions; each
session's information (description and comments) can be examined prior to
loading. Upon pressing Open, the drillhole project will be opened as well as any
ancillary workspace components (layout windows, title blocks, legends, section
windows, etc) saved with the session. This is an alternative method of opening a
project to using the Project Manager
Note All existing open tables within MapInfo Professional must be closed before you
can open an existing session. Make sure to save any cosmetic layer objects etc
before using the tool.
Note Project Sessions are not currently supported by the Import/Export function on
the Project Manager dialog.
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Drillholes>Subset Project
The Subset Project tool allows an existing open drillhole project to be subsetted
based on a selection of drillholes. This will create copies of all the relevant
drillhole tables (collar, survey, downhole data, topography, etc) subsetted to the
drillhole selection, automatically creating a new drillhole project using these new
tables.
The Subset Drillhole Project dialog displays a list of the open projects drillholes,
with the current selection highlighted. Holes can be selected manually from this
list (use the CTRL keyboard button in combination with the left mouse button to
select non-adjacent holes). Alternatively a selection can be made in MapInfo prior
to opening this dialog, using tools such as graphical selection, an SQL query or
the Discover>Data Utilities>Select by Group option(see Select by Group). This
selection will then be automatically highlighted when the Subset Drillhole Project
dialog is opened.
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The Optional Files list allows selection of project files to incorporate into the new
project (by default all tables are selected). For example, if the current project
included 10 downhole data tables, this option could be used to select only three
tables of interest. If a survey table is associated with the current project, it is
recommended to ensure that this is selected.
Note Grid and Image files associated with the current project will not be subsetted, but
simply copied in their entirety to the output directory with the _subset (or other
user-defined) suffix attached.
Once this dialog has been configured, press the Subset button. When completed,
a text report will be displayed detailing each table created and any issues that
may have arisen.
The Subset Project Report indicating the success of each table subset.
Desurveying Method
Discover does not plot the raw survey data. Instead an interpolation method
known as mid-point tangential averagingor back calculation is used. This is the
only method offered in Discover and is the default method in Discover 3D.
Although it is a simple method, it does produce reasonable results.
Each survey point is considered to lie in the middle of a drillhole segment which
has the dip and azimuth of the survey location. The dip and azimuth of the hole
changes automatically halfway between each survey point. This has the affect of
intersecting a midpoint in between the actual survey points, and may not actually
intersect a survey point. It also means that the first and last interval of the trace
will be half their expected length.
Note If there is no survey measurement at the start (0 m depth), the first record's
Azimuth and Dip values are used for the initial segment. Similarly, at the end of
hole, the last measured azimuth/dip is continued for the final segments.
Put simply, if your collar is at 0 m and finishes at 40 m and you have down hole
surveys at depth intervals of 10 m, 20 m and 30 m, then Discover will compute
the the end X,Y,Z coordinate of the first line segment using the midpoint distance
between each depth interval (e.g. 0 m to 5 m). It then uses corresponding dip and
azimuth values from the surveys (10 m measurement), to project the second line
segment (5 m to 15 m). At this point it then uses the next Survey dip and azimuth
record (20 m) to generate the next segment.
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Note If a record exist is in both the Collar and Survey tables for 0m, the Survey table
data is used preferentially.
This has the effect of making curved holes more curved and a hole will diverge
further from the straight line (called segments in Discover3D) location at
increasing depth. If you have a high frequency of survey data (1 m intervals or
less), then the effect of the interpolation will be negligible.
A cross-section can be generated for a vertical plane at any location and in any
orientation. A plan may be generated for a horizontal plane at any elevation.
A vertical section or plan is defined on the Section and Plan Creator dialog. All
the parameters for selecting the drillholes to plot, the downhole data tables to use,
displaying other grid surfaces, annotating with collar name and depth ticks,
drawing topographic profiles, creating multiple sections and applying downhole
display settings are available in this dialog.
Horizontal Plan
Vertical Section
Horizontal Plan
It is advisable to firstly create a horizontal plan of all collars you wish to display in
vertical section to assist in defining appropriate parameters for vertical section
production. The entire length of each selected collar will be displayed on the
horizontal plan.
2. Select the collars in the collar map window to include in the horizontal
section and click the Load MapInfo Selection button to load selected
collars. Otherwise leave the default option to display all collars in the
drillhole project.
Note Collars can be selected either graphically from the map window or using a
textural attribute query. For example an SQL query of all RC drillholes, or using
Data Utilities>Select by Group tool. Alternatively, collars can be manually
selected from the Holes to Show in Plan control.
3. Navigate to the Annotate tab and select the appropriate options for
displaying text labels and depth ticks.
5. If any immediate changes are required to the section such as text label
size etc. simply modify and click the Generate button.
2. Select the collars in the collar map window to include in the flitch section
and click the Load MapInfo Selection button to load selected collars.
Otherwise leave the default option to display all collars in the drillhole
project.
Note Collars can be selected either graphically from the map window or using a
textural attribute query. For example an SQL query of all RC drillholes, or using
Data Utilities>Select by Group tool. Alternatively, collars can be manually
selected from the Holes to Show in Plan control.
3. To activate the flitch plans check the Use elevation range option and
specify a central elevation and envelope height. The elevation plan will
display only the portion of any drillholes that are intersected by the
horizontal section envelope.
4. If multiple section levels are required, navigate to the Offset Multiple tab.
Options for controlling the number of plans, offset distance and direction
along with plan naming conventions are located on this tab.
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5. Navigate to the Annotate tab and select the appropriate options for
displaying text labels and depth ticks.
7. If any immediate changes are required to the section such as text label
size etc. simply modify and click the Generate button.
Vertical Section
Vertical sections are categorized into two main types; envelope and long.
Envelope sections are defined by specifying a width from a section plane and
display all downhole traces contained within the envelope. Long sections display
the entire drillhole project from a defined section plane (i.e. they have an infinite
width).
Note The Section name and/or Envelope width can be specified from a field within a
MapInfo table. The Section name column in the table must be of field type
character. This is useful when selecting multiple section lines and/or wishing to
display variable envelope widths.
3. Under the Select Collars to Display option on the Define tab, observe
the collars which will participate in the section production. To refine this
selection you may need to adjust the Envelope width to encompass more
collars, or filter collars in the envelope you wish not to display.
Note When defining a section envelope a temporary MapInfo layer is presented on the
collar map window called _envelopePreviewOverlay. This layer will assist
creating a section to encompass the desired collars.
5. Navigate to the Annotate tab and select the appropriate options for
displaying text labels and depth ticks. A particularly useful option Show
distance infront/behind of section plane, defines the distance a depth
interval is infront or behind the section plane. Enable this option to give the
drillhole trace a depth perspective.
6. Navigate to the Downhole Data tab, if a downhole data setting has been
previously saved under the Drillholes>Display Downhole Data option,
select the appropriate setting to apply during the section creating.
9. If any immediate changes are required to the section, such as text label
size, adjust the required parameters in the dialog and click the Generate
button.
This functionality is designed primarily for vertical drillholes such as water bores
and engineering drilling.
By selecting the Table option on the Define tab and defining the
sections from SectionLines_Projectname table.
2. Select a line from the collar map window and click the Populate from
Selected Line(s) button. Section envelope parameters will be
automatically populated from the line including start E and N, orientation
length and view direction.
4. Navigate to the Annotate tab and select the appropriate options for
displaying text labels and depth ticks. A particularly useful option Show
distance infront/behind of section plane defines the distance a depth
interval is infront or behind the section plane. Enable this option to give the
drillhole trace a depth perspective.
5. Navigate to the Downhole Data tab, if a downhole data setting has been
previously defined under the Drillholes>Display Downhole Data option,
select the appropriate setting to apply during the section creation.
8. If any immediate changes are required to the section such as text label
size etc. simply modify and click the Generate button.
2. Select a line from the collar map window and click the Populate from
Selected Line(s) button. Section envelope parameters will be
automatically populated from the line including start E and N, orientation
length and view direction.
3. Under Select Collars to Display option on the Define tab observe the
collars which will participate in the section production. To refine this
selection you may need to filter collars you wish not to display.
4. Navigate to the Annotate tab and select the appropriate options for
displaying text labels and depth ticks. A particularly useful option Show
distance infront/behind of section plane defines the distance a depth
interval is infront or behind the section plane. Enable this option to give the
drillhole trace a depth perspective.
5. Navigate to the Downhole Data tab, if a downhole data setting has been
previously defined under the Drillholes>Display Downhole Data option,
select the appropriate setting to apply during the section creation.
8. If any immediate changes are required to the section such as text label
size etc. simply modify and click the Generate button.
Dialog Help
Define Tab
Annotate Tab
Surfaces Tab
Options Button
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Define Tab
Display Type
Select the style of drillhole section to create. Types of sections in include plan and
vertical.
Section
Plan
Load Parameters
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Load settings for section creation from an existing open or closed section within
the currently loaded project.
Select either an open or closed existing section from the current project to
populate the section parameters.
Define Section
Select the style of section creation. Types of sections include envelope and long.
Envelope Section
Long Section
Display all drillholes from the current project from a defined section length.
Output
Define the section name. A section can be named with either freehand text or
sourced from a field from the selected definition line.
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Section Envelope/Plane
Capture vertical section parameters from a selected straight line/s in the collar
map window.
Define an envelope width with either freehand text or sourced from a field from
the selected definition line.
Section start mE
Section start mN
Section orientation
Plan Options
Subset all downhole data tables in plan section to enable the display of downhole
data. If this option is disabled downhole data cannot be displayed in a plan,
however, the drawing time of the plan will improve.
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Enable this option to display plan view sections from a specified elevation or RL.
Use this option for the display of levels in a mine or pit. For example, if you wish
to view in plan view a level at 250m and wish to display 10m either side of this
height level.
Define the elevation or RL for the center point of the plan section
Define the envelope dimensions around the defined central elevation height.
Define which collars will be displayed on the envelope defined vertical section.
Collars can be selected or deselected for display on a section.
Filter collars you wish to display defined in an envelope section. Select either
manually or interactively which collars to display on the section.
Filter and display only the collars selected in the collar map window.
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Edit Filter
Display the entire drillhole trace, if this option is not checked the drillhole trace will
terminate at the envelope boundary.
Display drillhole traces which intersect the envelope boundary below the section
surface.
Define which collars will be displayed on the vertical long section. Collars can be
selected or deselected for display on a section.
Filter and display only the collars selected in the collar map window.
Define which collars will be displayed on the plan section. Collars can be selected
or deselected for display on a section.
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Filter and display only the collars selected in the collar map window.
The Offset Multiple tab enables multiple sections to be created from a single
definition section line. This option is only available for vertical sections defined
using an envelope.
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Number of sections
Offset distance
Distance offset between each section, the default will be double the Envelope
width specified on the Define tab.
Offset towards
Bearing/orientation the sections lines will be created. The offset bearing will be
perpendicular to the section plane.
Annotate Tab
The Annotate tab displays controls for scaling, labelling and depth ticks on
sections.
Scaling
Scale 1:
Define a numerical scale value for defining a section. The section label sizes are
dependent on the initial scale of the section. When creating a section you need to
be mindful of the final page size or zoom level you will view the section.
Text style
Font size that the sections label will appear at the defined map scale.
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Labels
Configure settings for section labels. Drillholes and trenches are annotated
separately.
Collar Label
Enable this option to display a label at the collar intersection point on the section.
Default is [Hole_Name]
EOH Label
Enable this option to display a label at the end of hole (EOH) termination point.
Default is [Hole_Name]
Enable this option to display a label where a drillhole enters a drillhole envelope.
Default is [Hole_Name] [Depth] [Depth_Units] (i.e. the depth of the holes entry
intersection with the section envelope in downhole units)
Enable this option to display a label where a drillhole exits a drillhole envelope.
Default is [Depth] [Depth_Units] (i.e. the depth of the hole's exit intersection with
the section envelope in downhole units)
Ticks
Depth interval
Specify the numerical interval to display a depth tick down the drill trace.
Show labels
Option to display depth labels between every one and tenth label.
Label offset
Specify in millimetres the label offset from the right of the drillhole trace.
Display label at the depth interval a distance the drill trace is either infront or
behind the section plane on a vertical section.
Expression
Syntax for defining the collar label. Either freehand text or predefined expressions
under the Universal Items or Project Collar Columns can be used.
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Universal Items : [ ]
Label collar with key fields from the drillhole project. Default label expressions
include:
[HOLE_NAME]
[HOLE_COLLAR_EAST]
[HOLE_COLLAR_NORTH]
[HOLE_COLLAR_RL]
[HOLE_BOTTOM_DEPTH]
[HOLE_AZIMUTH]
[DEPTH_UNITS]
[UNITS]
Label collar using selected fields from the project collar table, these will include
an listed under the Universal Items plus any additional fields defined in the project
collar table.
Auto complete
The Downhole Data tab displays controls for downhole data schemes and which
downhole datasets are used for section creation.
18 Working with Drillholes 747
Select from the available list of downhole data display settings, created using the
Drillholes>Downhole Data Display tool, to apply to a section.
Surfaces Tab
The Surface tab displays controls for displaying additional surface profiles and
sections surface trace.
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Topographic Profile
Enable this option to display a surface trace line at the collar intersection points.
Line Style
Additional Profiles
Absolute Position
Display additional surface in the absolute or true profile height position. This
option should be selected when the surface units can be correlated to the section
height units e.g. water table, weathering horizon.
Relative Position
Display additional surface in relative units by scaling or offsetting from the original
values. This option should be selected when the surface units are not elevation
or require correcting e.g. geochemical grid
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Specify Offset
Specify Scale 1:
Manually specify a scale to display a surface on a section. Can only be used when
Relative Position is selected.
Line Style
Options Button
Sections
Vertical exaggeration
By default this is 1:1. Enter a the desired exaggeration value for all sections being
created. The exaggeration is applied as:
Where Zvalue is the Section window's Y value, the RealZ the raw elevation, the
SectionTopZ is the Maximum collar elevation in the particular section window,
and Scale the Exaggeration value entered.
Vertical dashed lines will appear in a polyline section window indicating the node
points where the polyline bends.
Draws a square grid pattern over areas around a polyline node inflection point,
where the buffer/envelope is distorted.
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Preview
Show envelope
Enables the red box preview in the collar map window while the Section and Plan
creator is open.
Enables the center line in the collar map window while the Section and Plan
creator is open.
Open Sections
Regenerate Sections
Rename section
Close Sections
Delete section
Note All sections and plans created for a drillhole project can be managed using the
Section Manager. Refer to Creating and Managing Drillhole Projects section for
Section Manager configuration.
The most commonly used section manager tools are displayed directly on the
dialog:
Select the Show section image previews option to display a thumbnail when a
section is selected.
The less commonly used functions are located under the Advanced button.
For information about using these other tools, see More Section Manager Tools.
The parameters for each section are displayed spreadsheet-style, and can be
sorted by clicking the column name.
Section Type
Open
Name
Orientation
Width (+/-units)
The Envelope width of the section. Note that the width is symmetric about the
centre, and the total envelope width is twice the value displayed.
Easting
Northing
Length
Length or distance of the drillhole section line, the units of measure are
determined by the collar table projection system.
Modified
View
View direction of the section in degrees (as set in the Define New Section dialog).
Open Sections
All sections and plans created for the drillhole project are listed in the Available
Sections and Plans window. Select the sections to open and click the Open
button to display previously created sections or plans. Alternatively, sections can
be opened by selecting the check box or by double-clicking the section in the list.
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Close Sections
The Close button will close the selected sections and associated tables. You
can also close section by clearing the check box next to the section name.
Regenerate Sections
Note that this tool also allows an alternative Downhole Display template to be
applied. This can be useful if the original display settings have been updated. For
example with display preferences for new downhole data (such as new magnetic
susceptability readings).
Note Sections can also be regenerated with more customisations using the
SectionLines_Projectname table via the Table option of the Define New
Section or Plan dialog in tandem with the Downhole Data tab.
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Note Polyline sections and horizontal plans are not supported by this option.
The Display 3D Models button allows you to load DXF or Feature database
vector models and display intersection polygons or polylines on the selected
sections. The 3D Vector to Section dialog is displayed. Click the Open 3D
Vector Model button to select one or more 3D vector files. On the Open dialog,
select the 3D vector file type. You can load either DXF or Feature database
(.FDB) files but not both.
Note If you have a 3D vector file in other formats, such as Vulcan, Surpac or GoCAD,
many of these can be converted to a 3D DXF using Discover>Import and
Export>Transform Vector File.
For each 3D vector model, click the Style button and select the line colour and
style of the corresponding intersection lines. Click OK to apply to the selected
sections. The format of the displayed intersection depends on the types of objects
contained in the 3D vector file:
Note Any embedded colour styles in the 3D Vector files are discarded and overwritten
by the selected style.
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The intersection lines and points created by this option are stored in MapInfo TAB
files in the Section folder in the drillhole project. These TAB files are named
Sectionname _Modelname. Any attributes in the model file are carried over to
the intersection table.
The following functions are accessed from the More button on the Section
Manager dialog:
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The copy option is useful for making duplicates of a series of existing sections
with a user-specified suffix. This can be a powerful way of creating different
displays of the same sectional data, for instance a geochemical vs geophysical
focused sections using the Display Downhole Data tool.
Rename section
Rename the selected section including all component tables and metadata.
Delete section
This will permanently delete the selected section and associated tables from the
Section Manager and the project folders.
The Add Section Layer button allows the addition of new layers to sections.
Once section layers are created, geological or ore boundaries can be interpreted
visually. Add Section Layer allows the following functionality:
Section layers can also be used to restrict the area over which sectional
resource calculations are interpolated.
ID
Feature Code
Resource
Layers can be added simultaneously to all sections that are highlighted in the
Section Manager. As many layers can be added as desired.The produced layer
can be suffixed with text defined by the user; however, the default suffix is a B to
produce a B layer.
The new table will be saved into the section folder(s) that are stored in the drillhole
project folder.
Note The Section Resource Calculator and Discover 3D>View Section Layer
tools will only use layers from a section suffixed with a B.
The Delete Section Layer button allows the deletion of layers that have been
added to sections with the 3D Object to Section tool, Add Section Layer tool or
any other layers created within a section.
To delete layers, select the sections you want to delete layers from in the Section
Manager, and then click the Delete Section Layer button.The Delete Section
Files Dialog is displayed. Expand each section and select the layers to be
deleted. Click Delete.
To show the location of selected sections on the collar map window, click Preview
section lines under the More button.
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A drillhole cross-section displaying geochemical assay values as both text labels and a
histogram plot, as well as geology presented as a trace shade.
Once cross-sectional or plan traces have been created (Creating Sections and
Plans), you will want to start visualising your downhole data graphically. This
might include data such as assays, geology, regolith, geophysics, water table
depths and structural measurements.
The Display Downhole Data tool allows these detailed downhole datasets to be
effectively visualized (even in complex sections or plans) using a number of
display types, including Text Labels, Downhole Graphs, Trace Shade and
orientated Structure Ticks.
Display data from any appropriate column in any downhole data table.
1. Open a drillhole project (see Opening Drillhole Projects), and open one or
more cross-sections or plans (see Managing Sections and Plans)
3. Ensure that the Global Map Scale at the bottom of the dialog is set to the
intended output scale. This will generally be the same as the Preferred
Scale as set in the Define New Section or Plan tool under the Annotate
Tab.
4. Choose a display type from the icons at the top of the dialog:
5. In the settings dialog, select the source Table and Field to use for the
display type, e.g. DH_geology and LithCode for trace shades, or Assays
and Cu for a linegraph.
6. Each display type can be positioned precisely where the user wants it,
either to the left or right of the drillhole trace. This is important to prevent
different display types overprinting each other (e.g. multiple text labels).
The Offset parameter in each setting dialog controls this positioning in
millimetres:
a negative offset value places the display type to the left of the hole
trace
The Set Offset button has a number of preset options to get you
started (Near Left, Far Right, etc).
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Note The offset of each display type can also be controlled in the main dialog by
altering the values in the Offset column
8. Back in the main Downhole Data Display dialog, repeat steps 4-8 for each
additional data field to be displayed.
9. Existing display types listed in the main dialog can be easily modified and
edited:
10. Once satisfied with your display settings, it is worth saving this
The Offset of each display entry can be altered from the listing by
modifying the values in the Offset column. This is a powerful way of
'tweaking' display positioning to prevent overlaps, practically once
the listings have been reordered (i.e. from -ve to +ve offsets).
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11. In the Sections listing on the right of the main dialog, highlight a section
to apply your display settings to. Before continuing, it is recommended to
move the dialog to one corner of the screen (possibly even minimising the
section listing using the minimise button ) and ensure that the target
section/plan map window is visible in its entirety. Press the Apply button.
Your downhole display settings will now be applied to the selected section/
plan. The time taken by Discover to render your settings will be controlled
largely by the following:
text labels are significantly slower to render than other display types
12. Once the section/plan has been rendered, zoom and pan within its map
window to check offsets, scaling, text sizes, etc. If any issues are
apparent, simply modify the necessary parameters in the still open Display
Data Display dialog (either in the main display listing, or in individual
settings dialogs). Then resave the setting template (e.g. overwrite the
previously saved tempate), and reapply to the target section.
Note It is strongly recommended that when first creating a setting template for a
drillhole project, work only with one section ( to minimise the rendering time: see
the first bullet of step 12 above), and choose one of the more complex sections
(typically in the heart of the orebody / mineralisation). This section will likely have
the highest density of drilling, scissor holes, splay/daughter holes, etc. If your
downhole display scaling/offsets/text sizes can be configured satisfactorily for
this section, the resulting template is likely to be viable for most other sections in
the same project. Of course, a complex section will be slower to render than an
emptier section, so a compromise may be necessary here.
18 Working with Drillholes 765
13. The downhole settings applied to your section/plan are now saved with
that section: next time you open the section/plan (using the Section
Manager), the last display settings applied to it will be displayed.
Downhole display settings can only be applied to downhole data that was
associated with the cross-section/ plan during the process of Creating Sections
and Plans. If the downhole data table/s were not selected during this step,
Discover will not have included these tables in the section data. Some indications
of this issue:
An error such as " Error plotting data for section - Table not found in the
section. Regenerate the section to include missing data" is displayed
The three primary situations where downhole data tables may not be associated
with your cross-section/plans (and how to resolve them) are:
For drillhole plans, the "Plot survey traces only" option is by default
disabled in the Define New Section or Plan tool (see Define Tabl) to help
speed up plan generation time for typically larger datasets (often all holes
in the drillhole project). If you wish to display downhole data on your plan,
regenerate the plan (i.e. rerun the Define New Section or Plan tool) with
this option disabled.
If new downhole tables have been added to a drillhole project after its
creation (e.g. downhole geophysics conducted a month after drilling, or
assays composited to 5m intervals), open the Drillholes>Project Setup
menu option, select the Modify button for the target project, and ensure
that under the Downhole tab the new downhole table/s are on the
Selected side of the dialog.
If new downhole tables have been added to a drillhole project after cross-
sections or plans were created, first check options 1 and 2 above. The
sections/plans will also need to be regenerated to desurvey the new data
tables. Rerun the Define New Section or Plan tool, but first check that
the new data table/s are selected under the Downhole Data button of this
dialog.
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Text Labels
The Text display option displays data in numeric or character attribute fields as
labels for each sample or interval down the drillhole. The Text Labels Settings
dialog contains options to modify the data range displayed, text styling,
positioning, orientation and formatting of the labels on the drillhole section or
plan.
Source Data
As with all downhole data setting dialogs, the Table and Field pull-downs need
to be first populated with desired targets.
18 Working with Drillholes 767
The Data Handling Options dialog enables the capping of values and sample
decimation.
The Cap to minimum... and maximum values will be auto-populated with the
selected data field's minimum and maximum values (these will be greyed out if a
character field has been selected). If this data range is modified, intervals with
values outside the new range will not have a text label displayed. (e.g. an initial
data range of 5 -> 5000, modified to 100 -> 5000 will only display labels for this
new range). These values can be reset using the adjacent reset buttons, which
provide options for using either the data range of the entire table (i.e. the whole
drillhole project) or just the selected section/s.
Select the Decimation option and specify the sampling input. Data can be
decimated, by using only every nth sample. For example, to use 1 in 10 samples
(10%), set the nth sample value as 10. This can be useful when processing
massive datasets of very small-scale data, such as centimetre or decimeter-scale
geophysics.
Style
When configuring the appearance of text labels on sections or plans, the primary
parameter is the Size (pts). As with many Discover tools, text labels are created
as map objects at a specified scale to facilitate professional-looking hardcopy/
printed output. By default the drillhole text labels utilise the Global Map Scale set
in the main Downhole Data Display dialog.
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Note Do not override the Map Scale between different display settings.
Generally the label size will need to be smaller when downhole intervals are
smaller to prevent overprinting over adjacent intervals. For instance, text labels
for 3m assay intervals may display without issues with a font size of 5pts for a map
scale of 1:1000, but 1m assay intervals will likely require a font size of 3pts or
smaller at the same scale to prevent overprinting issues.
Alternatively, enable the Autoscale labels to fit intervals option to create text
labels scaled to the smallest downhole interval.
The Font Style button provides additional text formatting options such as colour,
font type, background and effects.
Note Legends are applied to the same field used for the text labels. Note that the field
type must match the legend type, e.g. numeric legend can be applied to float and
integer fields, and text legends can be applied to string or date fields.
a negative offset value places text labels to the left of the hole trace
The Set Offset button has a number of preset options to get you started (Near
Left, Far Right, etc).
The Vertical Position of the text labels within their intervals can be controlled by
selecting from Top, Centre or Bottom icons.
Horizontal: text labels are uniformly horizontal with respect to the map
window (i.e. independent of hole trace orientation)
Custom angle: labels are aligned at a user specified angle with respect
to the map window (i.e. independent of hole trace orientation), with
positive values rotating the labels anti-clockwise. Thus 0 degrees is
identical to the Horizontal option above, and 45 degrees angles labels
towards the top right of the map window.
Format
Assay laboratories will often return null values such as sample not received /
(SNR), or <0.01 / (BDL). In order to keep the assay values in a numeric format
(rather than a character field), many databases will therefore store these null
values as a negative value (in the numeric assay field) to clearly indicate their
status (e.g. -9999 or -0.01).
The user may not however want to see these negative values displayed as text
labels in their cross-sections, but instead replace them with a more meaningful
text string. Discover allows the user to build a list of their database's null values,
and their related text strings in the d_abbrev table, accessed via the browse
button to the right of the option.
Enabling the Replace numbers with alias from d_abbrev option in the Text
Labels Settings dialog will then replace any occurrence of a value in the
Number_Code field with the Alpha_Code field value in the d_abbrev table. For
example -5 may be replaced by BDL. The entry in the description field is for user
comments only (it is not used by Discover).
Discover will (by default) present numeric data to the number of significant figures
in each data value. The user can however specify the number of Decimal Places
displayed by enabling this option. This can be set to between 0 and 5 decimal
places. For example, 0.08 displays as 0 when formatted to 0 decimal places, and
as 0.1 with 1 decimal place.
Downhole Graphs
Linegraph finds the mid-point of each interval, and assigns this location the
interval's data value. The size of the linegraph at this position is then a function
of both the data value and a user-defined scale (below). A linegraph / profile is
then created by joining these mid-point size locations. Linegraphs are therefore
very effective for high density downhole datasets such as decimetre- or even
centimetre-scale geophysical measurements. They work best with regular/
homogenous downhole interval sizes; if there is a large variation in downhole
interval sizes (e.g. 1m vs. 10m), linegraphs can misrepresent the data as the
actual interval thickness is not represented graphically.
18 Working with Drillholes 771
The Data Handling Options dialog provides a range of options for dealing with
null values, missing intervals, extreme values, and dense data.
The Cap to minimum value and Cap to maximum value options cap the
linegraph at the specified minimum and/or maximum values. A line is drawn at the
cap value, unless the Cut option is selected, which leaves gaps.
The default cap values are auto-populated with the selected data field's minimum
and maximum values.
The cap values can be reset using the adjacent reset buttons, which provide
options for using either the data range of the entire table (the whole drillhole
project) or just the selected sections.
For interval data (From < To), null values and missing intervals are shown as
gaps. To fill in gaps, select the Use max gap option and set the max gap value.
A line is drawn between the values either side of the gap if the gap length is less
than the max gap value.
For point data (From = To), null values are shown as gaps. Select the
Continuous line option to ignore all nulls. A line is drawn between the non-null
values either side of the gap.
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Log scale
The Log(10) transform option changes the linegraph plot scale to log10. This
can be useful when the sample population includes occasional very large values,
which would obscure the rest of the data (plotted along the trace).
The Decimation option reduces the number of values displayed by using every
nth sample. For example, set the nth sample value as 10 to use every 10th
sample (10% of all samples are displayed). The values between the nth values
are ignored (no averaging is performed). This can be useful when processing
massive datasets of very small-scale data, such as centimetre or decimeter-scale
geophysics.
If the drillhole contains null values or missing intervals, a gap in the line occurs
between the last nth point before the null interval and the first non-null interval
after the null interval.
If the Cut to minimum value or Cut to maximum value options are also
selected, a gap in the line occurs between the last nth point before the cut interval
and the first non-null, uncut interval after the cut interval.
Null value
The Numeric null value option treats a specified numeric value (e.g. -999) as
null.
18 Working with Drillholes 773
Downhole Histograms
Histogram presents each downhole interval as a separate bar with the same
size as used in the linegraph, but with the bar 'thickness' correlating with the
interval length. As each bar is a polygon, histograms can also be colour and/or
pattern modulated using a legend. Thus histograms can be very useful for
datasets with variable interval lengths, but can get cluttered for very small
interval lengths. Histograms are also slower to render than linegraphs.
Source Data
As with all downhole data setting dialogs, the Table and Field pull-downs need
to be first populated with desired targets.
The Data Handling Options dialog enables the capping of values and sample
decimation. Linegraphs and Histograms have a number of options for source data
handling:
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The Cap to minimum... and maximum values will be auto-populated with the
selected data field's minimum and maximum values. If this data range is
modified, intervals with values outside the new range will be capped to the
appropriate limiting value; this can be used to visually cut high grade assays
(e.g. removing nugget values). These values can be reset using the adjacent
reset buttons , which provide options for using either the data range of the entire
table (i.e. the whole drillhole project) or just the selected section/s.
Numeric input data can be decimated, by using only every nth sample. For
example, to use 1 in 10 samples (10%), set the nth sample value as 10. This can
be useful when processing massive datasets of very small-scale data, such as
centimetre or decimeter-scale geophysics.
Note that Decimation can misrepresent the data and should be used with care.
Scale
The scale section of the dialog allows the width of your linegraph/histogram to be
controlled. This is important for ensuring that linegraphs/histograms do not
overprint other data displays and adjacent drillholes, whilst having sufficient width
to discern subtle trends.
A precise Scale in millimetres per data unit (e.g. 1:200 or 1:0.001 mm/
ppm), for the Global Map Scale specified in the main dialog. This is
generally of most use when wanting to simultaneously compare the
absolute values of multiple data fields (for instance, setting Cu, Pb & Zn
linegraphs to all have a scale of 1: 0.001). It also allows the accurate
measurement of downhole values from the graphical display on a print-out
using a scale ruler. This option can take some experimentation to get right
with respect to the actual resulting width of the displays and offset/overlap
issues.
18 Working with Drillholes 775
Style
Linegraphs can have their line style, width and colour modified using the provided
buttons; this is particularly useful for displaying and identifying multiple linegraphs
per hole.
Note Legends are applied to the same field used for the histogram. Note that the field
type must match the legend type, e.g. numeric legend can be applied to float and
integer fields, and text legends can be applied to string or date fields.
Note Note that applying a legend to a field with the log(10) transform option (see
Source Data) enabled will utilise the transformed values, not the raw data.
Therefore the legend will need to be built using appropriate log(10) values.
Position
a negative offset value places the display to the left of the hole trace
The Set Offset button has a number of preset options to get you started (Near
Left, Far Right, etc).
Clever use of offsets and scales can allow multiple linegraphs and histograms to
be placed adjacent to each other, or even coincident, as displayed below.
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If the dataset being displayed involves valid negative values (e.g. magnetic
susceptibility or EM (electromagnetic) data), the facing option will control the
orientation of positive data. Therefore setting a linegraph or histogram to display
to the right of the hole trace will display positive values (if any) to the right of the
trace, and negative values to the left of the trace. When displaying datasets
encompassing both valid negative and positive values, it is recommended to not
apply any offset (i.e. set the offset to 0mm), as this position effectively acts as
the origin for the display.
Trace Shade
The Trace Shade display type is designed for displaying downhole data such as
lithology or regolith attributes. This is achieved by displaying a polygon of set
width for each downhole interval shaded by a specified colour legend.
As with all downhole data setting dialogs, the Table and Field pull-downs need
to be first populated with desired targets.
The Width of the trace shade polygons are specified in mm relative to the Global
Map Scale specified in the main dialog. By default the trace shade polygons are
centred on the hole traces; therefore a 2mm wide trace shade will display 1mm
either side of the hole trace.
The Default Style options allows the user to select what is the default style for a
trace shade if it isn't contained within the bounds of a Legend. The default setting
for this is transparent which will make the object appear invisible.
The position of the trace shade can also be specified as an Offset from the
drillhole trace. The offset is relative to the centre of the trace shade, so that a trace
shade 2mm wide, offset 1mm to the left of the drillhole (i.e. -1mm) is displayed
with its right margin flush with the drill trace.
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Colour and/or pattern modulate the trace shade by selecting a legend from the list
available. Legends can be created and edited using the adjacent Legend Editor
button . If the attribute value for an interval does not match any of the values in
the legend, no trace shade polygon is displayed for that interval.
Note Legends are applied to the selected field for the trace shade. Note that the field
type must match the legend type, e.g. numeric legend can be applied to float and
integer fields, and text legends can be applied to string or date fields.
Structure Ticks
Displaying downhole structural data using true dip and azimuth information. Tick marks in
this example will be coloured by a legend using the Type field.
18 Working with Drillholes 779
True Dip for oriented core: this requires a Dip Direction (e.g. azimuth)
field to be specified.
Note To convert core alpha-beta values to dip and dip direction, see Converting
Alpha-Beta Core Angles.
Apparent Dip for unoriented core. This will display two structure ticks
symmetrical about the drill trace. Zero dip can be set either as measured
parallel or perpendicular to the core axis.
Note Apparent dip is only valid for displaying data on cross-sections, not plan views.
Display
Enter an appropriate Tick Length (mm) for the Global Map Scale the drillhole
section is to be viewed or plotted.
Structure ticks can be placed at the top, centre or bottom of the measured
structural interval.
Note Note that the field type of the colour by column must match the legend type, e.g.
numeric legend can be applied to float and integer fields, and text legends can
be applied to string or date fields.
If a legend is not used, the default tick display can be modified using the Line
Style button.
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Depth Labels
A Depth Labels display type is automatically populated (as the first row entry) for
any new section in the Display Downhole Data dialog. It will display all depth/
EOH/collar label styles and tick mark spacings as specified in the Annotate tab
during section creation.
Opening this display type's Settings dialog allows the user to easily customise
these styles and parameters, particularly to prevent issues such as histogram/
trace shade overprinting of these primary labels.
The Settings dialog presents the exact same options as available in the Define
New Section or Plan>Annotate Refer to Creating Sections and Plans for further
information.
Selected during the Define New Section or Plan process, making section
plan creation a one-step process.
When all of the display settings have been configured in the Downhole Data
Display dialog, and you are satisfied with the resulting section/plan display, press
the Save button in the Settings area. Enter an appropriate setting template name,
and press OK.
18 Working with Drillholes 781
Setting templates are saved by default in a user settings directory. If you are
creating multiple setting templates per drillhole project (e.g. the Challenger and
Titania prospects each have a number of project-specific settings templates being
used, such as geochemistry, regolith, etc), templates can be stored in sub-
directories (e.g. named by project) using the New Folder button. These sub-
directories are coloured blue, whilst the settings templates are black.
2. From the list of settings available select the required setting and either:
Select the required setting and press the Apply button to populate
the main dialog but keep the Load Settings dialog open. This is a
useful way of quickly previewing the parameters of each existing
setting to find the precise one you are after.
In addition to the User Settings saved by the user (see Saving Setting
Templates), you can select from two additional setting template types:
3. Once the setting template is loaded (and modified if required), select the
section/s to apply it to from the Sections list in the main dialog and press
Apply.
Simply copy and paste the templates to be shared between the different user's
Downhole Data Display Settings subdirectories (e.g. via a shared network
or portable storage device).
When drillhole projects are exported and imported (see importing and exporting
Discover Drillhole Projects), only the section-specific setting templates are
exported and imported (i.e. those auto-created in each section's sub-folder, as
detailed Using Existing Setting Templates). Any settings templates in the user
settings directory applied to the project are NOT exported and imported.
To create a Log Display select one or more drillholes from the collar map
window. If multiple drillholes are selected a separate drillhole log is created for
each drillhole. The drillhole log is saved to a mappable table in a Non_Earth (cm)
projection and named according to the selected drillhole. The drillhole log table
can be further annotated and added to the layout window for printing.
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The log display is defined by choosing a downhole data table, selecting the
columns from the table to display and selecting how each of these columns is to
be displayed. The log can display up to 24 columns, with column 1 being at the
left of the log, and column 24 at the right.
18 Working with Drillholes 785
Defining the tables, columns and Display Type in the Drillhole Log Display dialog.
Select a downhole table containing attribute data columns from the Select
columns from Data Table pull-down list. The log display may be made up of
attribute data from more than one data table. For each downhole table select the
attribute columns and the assigned column positions from the Columns to
Display in Log dialog.
To change the column position for an attribute column click on the Reorder
Columns button. Use the Up and Down buttons to move the attribute columns to
their correct positions. Remove an attribute column using the Delete button.
Choose a Display Type for each data attribute column. Click the Settings button
in either the Columns to Display in Log or Drillhole Log Display dialog. The
following Log Types are available:
Text Numeric and non-numeric data. By default the Text Style scale
box is checked to autoscale text within drillhole log intervals. To modify
text size and colour click on the Text Style button. Display text using a
Legend or check the Replace numbers with alias from table d_abbrev
box if required.
Linegraph Numeric data only. Linegraphs may be filled with plain colour
using the Brush style colour or from a Trace Shade Legend displayed in
another drillhole log column.
The width of each log is set to a 2 cm default but can be modified for each log
column. Numeric data can be displayed as log values or between selected
minimum and maximum data values. Logs can be scaled by a defined Horizontal
Scale. Numeric data options are also available to show or ignore negative values,
set negative values to 0 or multiply negative values by -0.5.
When the log display settings have been setup for each data attribute they can be
saved and re-used for other drillhole log displays. Click the Save button and enter
a name for the setting. To use a saved setting select the setting from the Saved
Settings pull-down list. Use the Remove button to delete a saved setting from
the list. By default the Last Settings Used are automatically displayed whenever
the Drillhole Log Display dialog is opened during a current work session.
18 Working with Drillholes 787
Global Settings
A number of log display parameters can be set up as global settings and defaults.
Many of these settings, such as the column width and graphic styles, can be
overridden in the individual log settings either when the data attribute column is
first selected or from the Drillhole Log Display dialog. The following Global
Settings and Default Style may be set:
Default Log Styles - numeric and character default log styles, linegraph
fill, text style, linegraph pen style, fill style, Log(10) transform, log scale
from minimum value
Legend Editor
Drillholes>Legend Editor
Downhole numeric and textual data can be displayed using pre-defined legends.
For example, assay values displayed as text labels or histograms coloured by
specific data ranges can allow the easy identification of high or low values and
trends. Lithological data displayed in a trace shade can have standard colours
and/or patterns assigned for each lithological unit. Legends can also be applied
to textual data displayed as text labels or structure ticks.
18 Working with Drillholes 789
Drillhole legends are created and modified through the Discover Legend Editor,
accessed via the Drillholes>Legend Editor menu option.
Available legends are listed in the Legends window on the left hand side of the
Legend Editor dialog. When a legend is highlighted in this window the Legend
name, Description, Filename and Data Type are populated with the associated
legend entries displayed in the main legend window.
Three operational buttons are located at the base of the Legends List:
To save a new or modified legend click on the Save button on the right-hand
side of the Legend Editor dialog.
2. To use an existing field in a drillhole downhole table as the basis for the
new legend check the Populate legend from dataset or feature
database box. Select the downhole table from the Dataset pull-down list
and the data attribute column from the Field pull-down list.
If an existing field is not used to create the legend, the number of rows and
data range will need to be selected manually.
To create a legend with an even colour spread, select the option Use
histogram equalization.
18 Working with Drillholes 791
Note The option for creating a legend from a feature database is only available from
within the Discover 3D application.
To condition or filter data from the automatic assignment select the Data
Conditioning option.
5. Enter the Data range to use for numeric legends. The data range
determines the minimum and maximum data values to display in the
legend. The data range is divided by the number of rows to create the
initial legend from and to values. If a numeric field is selected from a
downhole table as a Data source the Data Range is automatically
populated although this value can be changed manually.
6. Enter a Legend name for the output table. If a field is selected from a
downhole table as a Data Source the Legend name is automatically
created by concatenating the downhole table and attribute field name
together. This name can be overwritten with a user-defined name.
String Text legend entry field. Double-click with the mouse in the string
column to modify entry (Only available for Text Data type).
From (>=) Numeric legend minimum range value. Double-click with the
mouse in the From (>=) column to modify the entry (Only available for
Numeric continuous Data type).
Colour palette
MapInfo patterns.
LCol (Line colour) Line colour used for trace shade or histogram
boundaries and structure ticks. Left-mouse click in the LCol box in the
legend entry to display the colour palette. To copy the Foreground colours
to use as the line colours highlight the Fg column entries and press Ctrl-C.
Highlight the corresponding lines and press Ctrl-V.
LStyle (Line style) Line style used for trace shade or histogram
boundaries and structure ticks. Left-mouse click in the LStyle box in the
legend entry to display the available styles.
Line styles.
Comment Descriptive text entry for each legend row can be stored with
the legend.
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Note The Auto-populate From fields option selected will automatically populate
the From (>=) field with the To (<) value for modified or newly entered data
values
RGB interpolations can be used with any of the legend colour columns Fg,
Bg or LCol. To select the rows to shade either left-mouse click in the first
colour cell and drag the mouse cursor to the last colour cell or left-mouse
click in the first colour cell and hold down the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the
last colour cell. Click the RGB Interp button. The intermediate rows show
continuous shading between the first and last selected colour cells.
HSL interpolations can be used with any of the legend colour columns Fg,
Bg or LCol. To select the rows to shade either left-mouse click in the first
colour cell and drag the mouse cursor to the last colour cell or left-mouse
click in the first colour cell and hold down the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the
last colour cell. Click the HSL Interp button. The intermediate rows show
continuous shading between the first and last selected colour cells.
Note The columns in the Legend Editor can be automatically sorted by clicking the
column name. The sort can be toggled between ascending and descending
(successive clicks).
Warning If rows are deleted from a legend they cannot be restored once the modified
legend is saved.
Export Legends
Legend Configuration
Use the Settings button to view the current file path for the legend and pattern
directories. Legends are stored as .LEG files in the Encom\Common folder. The
Settings dialog also displays the MapInfow.pen path.
Add one or more sections to the layout window. Select the scale and layout page
size for a section and add a section grid, title block and scalebar. Create a
section collar plan and add to the layout in a separate frame.
18 Working with Drillholes 797
The Add Section to Layout dialog enables a user to specify a map scale and
page size frame for a drillhole section in the same way as Creating Scaled Maps.
1. Select the section to add to a layout from the Select Section window.
Only one section can be selected from this window and the layout frame
parameters will be based on this section and applied to any additional
sections selected in the next dialog.
2. Choose a scale from the Map Scale pull-down list. If the desired scale is
not available then choose Custom Scale at the bottom of the list and
manually enter a map scale.
3. Select a page size and orientation from the Frame Setup list. To add a
new page size see Frame Setup for more information on creating and
saving page frames. The page dimensions and map window area covered
by the chosen frame are displayed at the base of the dialog.
4. Click the Preview button to check the Map Size frame in the selected
section's map window. Adjust the paper and scale size if necessary, and
click OK once satisfied. A new menu named Section Output is added the
the MapInfo menu bar.
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5. Whatever is displayed within this frame in the section map window is what
will appear in the layout. If the frame does not appear in the correct
location then select the frame in the map window and drag to cover the
desired window contents. Do not resize the MapSize frame as this will
affect the map scale in the layout. When the MapSize frame is correctly
positioned choose Accept Map Position from the Section Output menu.
6. If the MapSize frame is too big or too small for the section map window
contents then choose Section Output>Re-Specify Parameters and
select a different Map Scale or Frame Setup. Continue this process until
an acceptable MapSize frame is created and choose Accept Map
Position from the Section Output menu.
Once the section map position is accepted the scale, frame width, height,
top RL and frame left details are displayed under Frame Parameters in
the Add Section to Layout dialog. Click the Preview button to re-size the
section map window to frame parameters. The frame parameters can be
modified manually if required.
Note Raster and Grid Images and Structural Symbols are not supported by default in
the collar plan.
Note Drillhole collars projected using a custom affine coordinate system (see Affine
Transformation) cannot be displayed using the Add Plan of Collars to Layout
option.
Note Collar plans are added to the top of the map frame in the layout which may result
in a layout bigger than the original page size selected. Select larger page size or
create custom map frame as a workaround.
Note This menu option is specifically for cross-sections. If there are multiple plans to
print use the Discover>Map Making>Add Scaled Frame to Layout menu
option. With either of these functions, frames can be added to existing layout
windows, enabling a user to add accurately scaled frames for sections and plans
together in the one layout.
The section grid tool will draw a map grid of the front most drillhole section map
window. The grid drawn will reflect the real easting and northing coordinates
along the X axis, and also the correct vertical exaggeration. If you wish to draw
a map grid using the non-earth in-line distance coordinates, use Dsicover>Map
Grid.
Select an appropriate X and Elevation Grid Spacing. The section grid may be
displayed as Lines, Points or Edge Ticks. Use the style buttons to modify grid
linestyles, point symbols, colour and font. Make sure the Label Size is
appropriate for the Scale at which the section is to be viewed or plotted.
18 Working with Drillholes 801
Section grid labels may be displayed in a polygon mask outside of the map frame
and at the top, bottom, left and right in the map window. Use the Other Label
Options to modify the text displayed in the grid label or to label only selected grid
intervals. The grid file is automatically written to section directory and named
using the section name with a G extension. To save the grids to a different
location or under a different name use the Save As button.
Click on the preview button to preview the map grid and make changes as
necessary. Click OK to produce the final map grid.
Use the Drillholes Create Section Collar Plan menu option to create a section
collar plan without having to run the Add Section to Layout utility. The collarmap
plan can be added to a layout using the Frame Tool from the MapInfo Drawing
Toolbar.
Note If you experience issues generating section collar plans, see this troubleshooting
Knowledge Base article:
http://encomkb.encom.com.au/questions.php?questionid=21
Interrogating Drillholes
Select the Downhole Info tool from the Drillhole toolbar and click on a drillhole
collar. The Downhole Info dialog displays all the data in the collar table along
with downhole survey data. To view information from any downhole tables select
the table from the downhole data pull-down list.
802 Encom Discover User Guide
Section grids are created over the entire section, and can be clipped to within a
digitized section Boundary layer (use Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Clip). Once this
grid is created you can also add contours by using Surfaces>Contour a Grid.
The Sectional Resource Calculator then calculates a tonnage (metric tonnes)
based on the formula:
The Tonnes or Area is recored with "@ value", where the value is the mean
(average) of the valid grid cell values.
Note Ore resource values generated by the Discover Sectional Resource Calculator
are approximation only and should be used in conjunction with other resource
calculation applications.
The resource grid is stored as a table named with the section (or plan) name plus
a suffix to show it is a resource grid, and stored in the section folder.
Once the resource grid has been generated it may be contoured, queried or re-
coloured using the functions in the Discover Surfaces module (see Working with
Surfaces).
804 Encom Discover User Guide
The sectional resource will generally be contained within a boundary that has
been interpreted based on geological or geochemical restraints. Drillhole assay
results that lie within the selected boundary are used in the resource interpolation.
3. Use the From Table pull-down list to select the assay table to use in the
resource calculation. Highlight the appropriate assay column in the From
Column list.
18 Working with Drillholes 805
5. Check the Convert area to tonnes box to more accurately calculate the
resource tonnage. The Width value is the total distance from the section
line in either direction to include in the resource calculation. For example,
a resource calculation width of 20 m is comprised of a +/-10 m envelope
either side of the section line. Effectively this value is twice the envelope
width specified in the Drillholes Define New Section or Plan dialog.
7. Uncheck the Ignore zero data values or Ignore negative data values
boxes to include zero or negative data values in the section resource
calculation.
18 Working with Drillholes 807
8. The Weight power determines the rate at which the influence of each
data point declines with increasing distance from the grid cell being
interpolated. Increasing the weighting power reduces the influence distant
points have on the calculated value of each grid node. The weighting
value defaults to 2 (i.e. the weight of any data point is inversely
proportional to the square of its distance from the grid cell) which is
appropriate for most situations. If required, the weighting value can be
altered to any positive value.
9. Enter a Min points per cell value. This value represents the minimum
points required within the search ellipse before a grid cell value can
be interpolated and controls the appearance and smoothness of the
output grid.
Note If the minimum number of points is set greater than 1, some cells may report a
null value as they do not contain sufficient data points within the search ellipse.
10. For a simple search with no bias in the search orientation use the default
Search Ellipse Orientation of 0 degrees. Set the Ellipse Long Radius
and Ellipse Short Radius to the same value to create a circular search
ellipse.
When the mineralisation orientation such as the dip or plunge of the ore
body is known, alter the search ellipse parameters accordingly. The
search ellipse orientation may be between 90 and 90, where 0 is
vertical and -90 and 90 orientations are horizontal search orientations in
the left and right hemispheres respectively. For example, a section with
the mineralisation plunge/dip 50 to the right on section requires a search
orientation of 40. The long axis (major) and the short axis (minor) define
the search ellipse used by the grid algorithm.
11. The sectional resource grid is saved by default with the section name plus
Resource suffix in the drillhole section directory. The grid can be saved
with a different name and location if required. Choose a colour look-up
table to shade the new sectional resource grid from the Image Shading
pull-down list.
12. Click OK to create the sectional resource grid. The grid is automatically
added to the section map window and the tonnage and grade displayed in
a message window. The tonnage and grade is also written to the
Resource column of the boundary table if this option was selected.
808 Encom Discover User Guide
Downhole Compositing
Drillholes>Downhole Compositing
For descriptions and general settings that are common to all three compositing
tools, refer to:
The drillholes selected for compositing are displayed in the Drillhole box. By
default all drillholes in the project are selected.
Note The project From and To columns must be Float or Decimal. If these columns
are Integer, then the composite From and To depths will be rounded to the
nearest whole number.
18 Working with Drillholes 809
Downhole assay data is often received in a format that requires some manual
manipulation before the data can be used in downhole analysisfor example,
zero values or negative values representing null or below detection limit
values.The Data Handling Options tool provides a number of standard data
transformations to deal with the most common data exceptions.
Numeric null value Use this option to set a Null data value, e.g. -999.
Set negative values to Use this option to set all negative values to zero
(multiply by zero) or to a positive value (multiply by a negative number).
For example, if the detection limit (DL) is 0.01 and assay values below the
DL are entered as -0.01, multiplying all negative values by -0.5 will convert
each DL value to 0.005 (half the DL).
Set all zero values to Zero values can be set to a single valuefor
example, to half the detection limit.
The drillholes selected for compositing are displayed in the Drillhole box. By
default all drillholes in the project are selected. To change the selection, see
Selecting Drillholes for Compositing.
When compositing by cut-off grade, the following settings and options are
displayed:
Table Input
Table
Select the input table containing the grade data that will control
compositing (the primary column). All downhole tables in the drillhole
project are displayed in the drop-down.
Column
Select the primary column containing the sample values by which the cut-
off grade is determined. All numerical columns in the input table are
displayed in the drop-down.
Composite Grade
Minimum grade
Any sample grades below this value are excluded from the
downhole running average grade.
Any sample grades higher than high cut grade are cut to the high cut
grade.
812 Encom Discover User Guide
Composite Distance
None
The full length of all drillholes are composited, including short holes and
short composites.
Composites (above the cut-off grade) shorter than this downhole length
are excluded.
Composites (above the cut-off grade) shorter than this vertical height are
excluded.
Internal Dilution
Internal Dilution
Samples above the cut-off grade are often separated by samples with low
grade assay values. Due to restrictions such as minimum mining width, it
can be necessary to include this material as part of a composite interval.
An internal dilution length and grade can be set so that low grade material
can be included in a composite under specified conditions. If the low
grade material is above the internal dilution grade, it will be included as
part of the composite as long as it is less than the specified internal
dilution thickness (downhole length). Low grade material is not added to
the end of a composite interval.
If the diluted composite grade is above the cut-off and the total
contiguous length of dilution does not exceed the maximum dilution
length, add to the current composite. Get the next interval.
Start the next composite at the next interval above the cut-off grade.
Edge Grade
GM = 500 ppb
GD = 50 ppb
GE = 250 ppb
TE = 5 m
Assuming that the running grade is >= 500 ppb across the composite, the
following interval would be treated as a continuous composite:
Table Output
Interval column
Table suffix
Select this option to automatically add the composite table to the current
drillhole project. Composite data can then be viewed on a section using
the Display Downhole Data tool (see Displaying Downhole Data).
Compositing by elevation
The drillholes selected for compositing are displayed in the Drillhole box. By
default all drillholes in the project are selected. To change the selection, see
Selecting Drillholes for Compositing.
Downhole depth composites are calculated using the From and To intervals in the
downhole table. Elevation and RL composites are calculated by converting the
From and To intervals in a drillhole to the corresponding downhole XYZ
coordinates and using the Z value for each sample to determine which composite
interval it falls within or intersects.
18 Working with Drillholes 817
When compositing by depth or elevation, the following settings and options are
displayed:
Table Input
Select the input table containing the data that will be composited. All
downhole tables in the drillhole project are displayed in the box.
Elevation Parameters
Composite interval
Downhole depth
To limit the depth range of the composites, type a Start Depth (max) and/
or End Depth (min). If no start or end depths are specified, the first
composite will start at the collar of each drillhole and the last composite
will end at the end of each hole.
Elevation (RL)
Table Output
Interval column
818 Encom Discover User Guide
Table suffix
Select this option to automatically add the composite table to the current
drillhole project. This is needed to subsequently calculate 3D coordinates
for the table. Composite data can then be viewed on a section using the
Display Downhole Data tool (see Displaying Downhole Data).
This adds six new columns to the composite table with the corresponding XYZ for
the From value (XF columns) and To value (XT columns). The XFR and XTR
columns contain the RL values for the upper and lower composite interval.
Composite by Attribute
Compositing by attribute using assay data in one table with lithology data in another table.
When compositing by attribute, the following settings and options are displayed:
Attribute Table
Table
Select the input table containing the attribute data that will control
compositing. All downhole tables in the drillhole project are displayed in
the drop-down.
Column
Select the column containing the attribute values by which the composite
intervals are determined. The attribute column must be a text field
(alphanumerical).
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Data Tables
Select the downhole tables containing the assay data that will be
composited (length-weighted average). All downhole tables in the drillhole
project are displayed in the box.
Table Output
Interval column
Table suffix
Select this option to automatically add the composite table to the current
drillhole project. This is needed to subsequently calculate 3D coordinates
for the table. Composite data can then be viewed on a section using the
Display Downhole Data tool (see Displaying Downhole Data).
The Discover downhole merge utility combines multiple downhole data into a
single table with From-To intervals derived from all the input tables. For example,
you can merge an assay table with a lithology table, which will apply the lithology
to each assay interval.
For example, the following downhole tables have different From-To intervals:
18 Working with Drillholes 821
Which, when merged, produce the following From-To intervals and values in the
combined output table:
Merged Table
From-To Mo Lith_code
98-105 m GNS
105-106 m 702 GNS
106-110 m 702 PEG
110-115 m 89 PEG
115-120 m 400 SUL
120-125 m 550 SUL
125-178 m SUL
1. Open the drillhole project containing the downhole tables you want to
merge.
3. The downhole tables available in the current project are displayed in the
Downhole Data Table box. By default, all downhole tables are selected.
Select or clear tables as required.
4. The available columns (in the selected downhole tables) are displayed in
the Unselected Fields box. Use the controls provided to move the
required columns to and from the Selected Fields box, as shown below:
822 Encom Discover User Guide
Referring to the diagram below, the discontunity surface forms an ellipse, referred
to as the apical plane, with apices at either end of the major axis of the ellipse.
The alpha angle is the acute angle of intersection between the apical plane and
the core axis measured along the major axis of the ellipse (BB). The alpha angle
is always a positive angle between 0 and 90.
The beta angle is measured clockwise looking in the direction of drilling (the right-
hand thumb rule) around the circumference of the core from the top-of-core or
bottom-of-core reference line (A) to the apex furthest from (B) or nearest to (B)
the collar.
824 Encom Discover User Guide
The measuring convention (bottom or top of core and nearest or furthest apex)
must be consistently applied on all drillholes. The diagram shows the furthest
from convention.
Measuring alpha and beta core orientation angles showing bottom-of-core reference line
(A) and apex furthest from collar (B).
Note Take care to ensure that the alpha and beta angles are measured as shown and
whether the reference line is scribed at the top or bottom of core. Practice does
varyfor example, the alpha is sometimes measured as the angle between the
normal to the apical plane and the core axis i.e. 90 alpha.
The structure table contains (at least) HoleID, Depth From, Depth To,
Alpha, and Beta fields. The field names in the structure table must match
the corresponding field names used in the project. For more information,
see Downhole Interval and Point Data Tables. Additional fields in the input
table are preserved.
The Depth From value must be equal to the Depth To value (forming a
surface of zero thickness, such as a joint or bedding plane) or greater than
the Depth To value (forming an infilled structure, such as a shear or fault).
The apical plane is defined at the midpoint of the from and to depths.
The Alpha and Beta fields must be numeric. If present, Dip and Dip
Direction fields must be Float type.
The alpha and beta values have been measured according to the
convention defined above.
Note that zero alpha and beta values are valid and are treated as zero angles (not
as null values). When the file is processed, if zero values are detected, the
number of records with zero values is reported, and the user is asked to confirm
before proceeding to process the file.
Note If the data is imported in CSV format from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Excel
converts blank cells into zeroes. To preserve null values, enter 999 in all blank
cells before saving as a CSV.
Workflow:
2. Load the structure table into the drillhole project from Structure tab on
Drillhole Project Setup dialog box (Drillholes>Project Manager>Modify).
The project must contain at least the collars and survey tables required to
compute the drillhole trace. This associates the HoleID, Depth From, and
Depth To fields with other drillhole tables in the project.
3. Convert the structure table with Convert Alpha Beta tool (see below).
The converted structure table can be viewed in the table browser.
4. The structure data can then be displayed on drillhole sections using the
Structure Ticks display option.
1. Open the structure TAB file containing alpha and beta values.
18 Working with Drillholes 827
2. From the Drillholes menu, select Convert Alpha Beta. The Create Dip/
Dip Direction from Alpha Beta Angles dialog box is displayed.
4. Under Source Columns, select the Alpha Angle and Beta Angle fields
from the input file.
5. Under Output Columns, if the structure table already contains dip and dip
direction fields (from a previous conversion, for example), select the Dip
and Dip Direction fields. Otherwise select <New Column> and, when
prompted, type the name of the new column.
Generating 3D Coordinates
Drillholes>Generate 3D Coordinates
The resulting mappable MapInfo Professional table can also be queried (e.g. with
Select by Group or SQL Select) to select a subset such as only fault intercepts
or copper values above 10,000 ppm).
To generate 3D coordinates:
3. Select the target Downhole Data table from the top pull down list.
828 Encom Discover User Guide
Top
Bottom
5. The output file is automatically placed into the Drillhole Projects root
directory, and includes a suffix indicating which interval position was
selected in step 4.
6. Press OK.
7. The new table will be auto-opened into MapInfo Professional, with the
following components:
XYZ coordinate fields will be created and populated within the table
for each intervals:
Top (FromX/FromY/FromZ)
Both the populated coordinates and the table mapping utilise the
drillhole collar table's projection.
The Drillholes Queries tool enables the extraction of both maximum downhole
grade and end-of-hole (EOH) data values for selected elements. The Maximum
and EOH values are saved to new tables which can be added to a drillhole project
for analysis e.g. enrichment zones or mineralized trends, or subsequently
analysed.
18 Working with Drillholes 829
Analysis of maximum downhole grades for selected elements, for each individual
drill collar, is achieved by selecting the Max Values tab. Maximum downholes
grades will only operate on numerical data fields.
Define the Downhole Table to analyse the maximum values from the dropdown
list available under the Input option. By default a Hole ID and maximum downhole
grade will be displayed in a MapInfo Browser format. To display the respective
interval where the maximum grade exists select the Display From and To
values option.
830 Encom Discover User Guide
To prevent numerous entries when the maximum value is zero, check the option
Only one max value when it is zero. Numerous options exist for selecting
elements to interrogate.
The unique field attributes will initially populate the Unselected pane. Move the
Select
required attributes to the Selected pane using the selection buttons. To select
Unselect consecutive attributes hold the left-mouse button and drag or use the SHIFT key
in combination with the mouse control. To select non-consecutive attributes use
the CTRL key in combination with the mouse control.
The Output table for the maximum values analysis will automatically be saved
into the drillhole project folder; and alternate path can be defined if desired.
Analysis of EOH downhole data for selected elements, for each individual drill
collar, is achieved by selecting the EOH Data tab. EOH downhole data will
operate on both numerical and character data fields.
18 Working with Drillholes 831
Define the Downhole Table to analyse the EOH values from the dropdown list
available under the Input option.
By default a Hole ID, From, To, EOH and selected elements columns will be
displayed in a MapInfo Browser format.
The unique field attributes will initially populate the Unselected pane. Move the
Select
required attributes to the Selected pane using the selection buttons. To select
Unselect consecutive attributes hold the left-mouse button and drag or use the SHIFT key
in combination with the mouse control. To select non-consecutive attributes use
the CTRL key in combination with the mouse control.
Two options exist for analysing EOH data; either Use deepest sample/interval
or EOH Check.
When selecting Use deepest sample/interval the values for the selected column
report the interval at which the last downhole data value appears.
When selecting EOH Check the values for the selected columns, by default
report an EOH depth as specified in the collar table. A data value may or may not
exist at the reported depth. If no data values exist at the EOH depth two text boxes
No sample string and No sample value are available to populate user defined
null values. The numerical toggle box for the EOH Check option allows a fault
tolerance value to be set. For example, if the total depth for a drill hole was 100m
and the last sample interval was 99m the EOH values would be a null. If a fault
tolerate value of 1 was set the EOH routine would report the EOH value at 99m.
The fault tolerance only applies to EOH values which are null or are not populated
with an interval value.
Note The EOH column will be populated with either a T or F indicating if the EOH
displayed is the actual EOH value. A T indicates a true result; therefore the EOH
depth is the actual collar EOH. An F indicates a false result; therefore the EOH
depth is either shorter or longer than displayed.
The Output table for the maximum values analysis will automatically be saved into
the drillhole project folder; and alternate path can be defined if desired.
19 Working with Surfaces 833
For information about the grid types supported and grid handlers, see Introduction
to Surface Gridding. For information on importing and exporting grids, see
Importing and Exporting.
Create Grids
Large and Multi-file Gridding: Interpolate multiple large data sets with
millions of points or polylines to build a massive grid using methods such
as minimum curvature, inverse distance weighting, and triangulation.
Import grids
Contouring a Grid
Create, format and label contours from a surface grid.
Outline
Outline grid bounds or non-null regions as polygons.
Interrogating a Grid
Interactively query grid cell values and report summary statistics for the
entire grid or within polygonal bounds.
Classify, Viewshed
Classify grid regions by data ranges. Determine line of sight (view shed)
regions.
Manipulating Grids
Clip grid extents to a region or the bounds of another grid. Reproject into a
different projection. Convert between formats. Any manipulation is
possible including flip, merge, replace, resample, rotate, shift, split, fill
holes, and more.
19 Working with Surfaces 835
Filtering Grids
Apply Convolution smoothing, enhancement, sun-angle or geophysical
FFT filters to a surface grid.
Edit, Overlay
Edit individual grid values or overlay a region of grid cells with a new
value.
Grid Geometry
Interpolation Methods
836 Encom Discover User Guide
A surface grid is a rectangular array of points that have one or more assigned
values. Often the attribute values are referred to as the "Z" value. When rendered
on screen, the points are the centre point in a filled rectangular area, called a cell
(or pixel). Generally the cells are square (equal in X and Y dimensions). If viewed
in a 3D window, they would appear as a smooth continuous 2D surface with
varying elevation (Z values), hence the name "surface".
The Z values for a grid can represent any type of numerical data, such as
elevations, assays, rainfall, integer class codes for vegetation or lithology types,
solar flux, trace element concentration, etc.
Note Although surface grids cell values are assigned to the entire cell area in a map,
generally when using the various processing tools in the Surfaces menu, only
the cell centre is used to determine if the cell is within or outside of a vector
object that transects the cell areafor example, when clipping or assigning cell
values.
Square grid cell centres and their corresponding cell edges. Using the colouring metadata,
in a map each square would be colour relative to their attributed value.
19 Working with Surfaces 837
Note In MapInfo Professional, the grid cells must be square and orientated parallel to
the coordinate system (projection) grid north axis.
The colour of each cell is calculated based on the value of the cell, and a colour
look-up table (see Modify Grid Colours and Shading). Note that the colour
information is not stored in the grid file itself, but in separate metadata files.
If there is more than one value or attribute per cell, these are called "bands", and
it forms a multi-banded grid. Some grid file formats include names for each band.
Surface grids are also known as TINs (triangulated irregular networks), grid
images, or raster images. They can contain a wide variety or numerical data,
either in floating point (decimal) or integers. Datasets that are commonly stored
in surface grids include:
Raster images (such as photographs, JPG, BMP, ECW, etc.) are a special type
of grid, where there are three bands (red, green, blue) and each contain integer
values between 0255. This means that the colour lookup RGB values are
contained in the file, but importantly, there is no quantitative measured data in the
file. Because they do not contain meaningful numerical attributes, and already
contain embedded colour information, they are generally not opened or treated
as surface grids.
Alternative display methods for grids are as vector polygons (see Surfaces>Grid
Utilities>Vectorize); or as contours, which are interpolated lines between cell
centre points (see Contouring a Grid).
Input data points with a surface grid mesh overlayed. An estimate (interpolation) is
calculated at each centre from the surrounding input data. Note that when the value from
the nearest point is assigned, the process is called "stamping (see the Convert Vector File
to Grid tool).
4. Save the grid file containing the interpolated (estimated) values at each
cell centre.
The interactive gridding tool will automatically estimate or default many of the
parameters for the grid geometry and interpolation method.
Grid Geometry
Cell size
Grids bounds
As a rule of thumb, the cell size for evenly spaced data should be half the mean
distance between data points. This will, on average, put one data point in each
cell, and so preserves the resolution of the raw data. For clustered or dispersed
data, the cell size value requires careful consideration.
Interpolation Methods
Triangulation
Minimum Curvature
Spatial Neighbour
Kriging
Density Grid
Distance Grid
Triangulation
This method is relatively simply, and joins input data points by lines to other
neighbouring points, thereby creating triangles. Note that this is similar in concept
to Voronoi polygons, but Voronoi assigns the point value to a polygonal area,
whereas triangulation (TINs) assigns the value only at each corner of the triangles
by the points the triangle joins to. The triangles therefore form a flat plane in 3D
with different elevations at each corner.
840 Encom Discover User Guide
This illustrates the TIN (triangulation) of the same points compared to Voronoi. The solid
triangles have different attributes at each corner, whereas the Voronoi has one value for
the entire region.
This closely honours the data, but it is still unlikely that a cell value will exactly
match an input data point that is within the cell. This is because there is generally
always a small separation distance between the exact centre of the cell (where
the value is taken from the TIN).
19 Working with Surfaces 841
This illustrates the conversion of the triangulation (TIN) to the surface grid mesh. The only
value used to calculate each cell is the "height" of the triangle exactly underneath the cell
centre point. The height within each triangle is calculated by the value and location of each
of the three corners. If the cell centre is not inside a triangle, no value will be saved to the
grid cell.
Minimum Curvature
Minimum curvature is the default method but generally is not a good choice. It is
designed for smoothly varying data, such as geophysical surveys measuring an
unbounded potential field.
It works by fitting a smooth elastic curve through the data points and attempts to
"touch" each data point, but without bending the surface too much. At the edges
of the data it tapers to the mean value of the data points, around the grid bounds.
Between the data points, the Interior Tension controls how taught or loose the
elastic surface is. High values are a "tighter" surface, so will create a smooth
surface but less closely matching the input data points.
Outside of the data, when tapering to the mean value, the Boundary Tension
controls how quickly or smoothly it reaches the mean value (boundary condition).
The smooth surface is then calculated at each grid cell centre (as it is a surface
defined by equations at any XY) and saved in the grid.
The IDW method is optimal when the data has a fairly uniform distribution of input
points across the area to be gridded, and some degree of smoothing is beneficial.
With this type of data, a repeat measurement at a point does not necessarily give
the same results as the first measurement. If the input data points are not evenly
distributed then using an oriented search ellipse may produce a more
representative grid.
Spatial Neighbour
This method is similar to the Inverse Distance Weighting method described above
but does not use the search radius to interpolate data values from surrounding
cells. For each grid cell, neighbouring input points are located based on a spatial
neighbours selection criterion. The value of the computed grid cell is the average
of the neighbours, weighted such that the closer the neighbouring point, the
greater the influence than points further away.
Kriging
The main advantage of Kriging over simpler interpolation techniques such as IDW
(Inverse Distance Weighting) is that it uses a weighting model which is adaptive
to the inherent trends in a data set rather than imposing a set of fixed conditions
upon them.
Density Grid
The Density gridding method produces a grid which records a measure of the
point density at each grid node. The density at each grid node is determined
independently using an estimator function: Radial Density Estimator or Kernel
Density Estimator (KDE).
The Radial Density Estimator method returns a true measure of the point density
at each grid node (measured as the number of samples per square area unit
usually metres). It is a simple method that counts the number of input samples
within a specified radius of the grid node position and then normalizes that count
by the area of the search.
Distance Grid
The Distance gridding method produces a grid which records the minimum
distance to the input data features at every grid node. A distance envelope can
be specified to clip the grid at a maximum distance from the nearest feature. Any
grid node that is outside this envelope will be assigned a null value.
Note Many of the grid formats created in Discover cannot be opened in MapInfo
without Discover installed.
When importing a grid with File>Open, you may be asked to select a projection
for the grid file; this should match the registration points embedded in the grid file,
if known. If the registration of the grid is incorrect, you can use
Table>Raster>Modify Image Registration to correct the TAB file registration
information.
844 Encom Discover User Guide
Discover adds support to MapInfo Pro for direct reading of numerous standard
grid types. Discover's grid handlers also support opening, modifying,
manipulating and editing multi-gigabyte grid files.
In addition, there are dedicated import tools under the Surfaces>Import Grid
File menu to import the following:
ASCII files (.TXT, .CSV, .XYZ) - converts delimited grid coordinates and
values into a standard grid file format which can be subsequently opened
Multi-banded grids are by default opened and displayed by only their first
band. Use Surfaces>Modify Grid Display to enable multi-banded
colouring.
You can define the default appearance of grids, and enable or disable various
handlers used by MapInfo Professional using the Grid Handler Preferences tool.
19 Working with Surfaces 845
A preferred default output grid format for all Surface module tools can be set with
the Grid Handler Preferences tool.
Once a grid format has been selected, all grids created from this point use the
specified format unless an interface option exists to override the setting. You can
alter the preferred Grid Handler used by Discover by selecting another at any
time.
Creating Grids
The Surfaces module provides two powerful gridding options:
Create Grid
The Gridding Tool in Encom Discover has an optimised internal data interrogation
system that automatically analyses the spacing and distribution of the input data
and computes an optimal set of gridding parameters. If the default parameters
and gridding method are not acceptable, these settings can be overwritten by
entering a user-defined method, grid cell spacing, search criteria etc.
846 Encom Discover User Guide
Define a set of input data points to be included in the gridding process. The points
to grid can either be from a nominated table or from a selection made using the
MapInfo Professional selection tools. Irregular or regular shaped collections of
data points can be gridded.
Encom Discover Gridding Tool dialog showing grid image and tab options
The gridding tool is controlled via a series of tab pages to the left of the preview
window. The number of visible tabs in the dialog varies depending on the gridding
method selected.
19 Working with Surfaces 847
On the bottom left side of the dialog are Save, Close and Help buttons. The Save
button creates an output surface as specified on the Output tab. The preview
window does not have to complete drawing before saving the output grid file. If
the initial appearance of the grid is satisfactory click the Save button and the grid
is saved in the same folder as the input data points. The saved grid is then loaded
automatically into MapInfo Professional and placed in the same window as the
input data points. The Close button dismisses the grid tool without creating an
output surface and the Help button displays the on-line help.
Two additional controls at the base of the dialog determine the operational mode
of the Gridding Tool. An Auto Preview mode is set by default; however this can
be deactivated by the checkbox control. In this mode Encom Discover
automatically updates the appearance of the grid after each parameter change.
The Preview button allows you to manually select when to preview the gridding
parameters changes to the preview grid. The two operational modes are
described below:
Note The Gridding tool will automatically switch to On Demand mode if a large
dataset is loaded. In this mode, select a field to grid and press the Preview
button to display the grid before proceeding beyond the Input tab page.
A vertical progress bar is displayed next to the preview window in both modes and
will show the percentage progress of the gridding operation. The progress can
also be monitored by observing the grid re-draw in the preview area.
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The appearance of the preview display can be controlled by four toggle buttons
and a pull-down list located above the preview window. Alternatively, a custom
colouring setting saved from the Modify Grid Colours and Shading tool can be
used. The appearance of the preview window can then be saved and applied to
the output grid.
View input points in the preview window. Click button to remove input points
from view.
View search ellipse in the preview window. Only available if Inverse Distance
Weighting, Kriging, Density, or Distance methods are selected.
Apply a sun illumination to the image in the preview window. This can be used
to enhance detail within a gridded image. The sun angle is fixed from the north-
east direction.
Select either a colour table or select a custom saved colouring setting created by
the Modify Grid Colours and Shading tool. The chosen colour table will be
applied to the gridded image when loaded into Encom Discover. For information
on look-up tables and legends, see Display a Colour Legend.
A pop-up menu can also be accessed by right-clicking with the mouse in the
preview window:
The Zoom and Pan controls enable the grid to be examined prior to saving. To
zoom in (by 4 times magnification) on an area position the cursor over the area of
interest and click the left mouse button. Click the left mouse button again to zoom
out. The zoom factor can be changed by selecting the Zoom Settings menu
option.
Pan a zoomed image by selecting Pan Mode and holding down the left mouse
button. The cursor will change to a hand when in Pan Mode. When the button is
released the image redisplays at the panned location. Other options include
Show Value at Cursor when the cursor is placed over a grid cell and View Input
Points to display the original data point locations.
Input Tab
The Input tab summarises the input data and provides a selectable list of all
numeric data columns that are available for gridding in the source Tab file or
query.
Numeric data columns from the Input tab file are listed in the Fields (bands) to
grid list. To change the column to be gridded select the column name so it is
highlighted. Multiple fields (or bands) may be gridded at the same time. The data
range for the selected column(s) is automatically displayed in the text boxes to
the right and if the Auto Preview option is enabled the grid is regenerated for the
new column. If the Auto Preview option is turned off then click the Preview button
to display the grid in the preview window. To view multiple gridded fields select
the field from the pull-down list displayed above the preview window.
For information about how to use the functions available from this tab, see:
Data Conditioning
Grouping
Breaklines
Coincident Points
Statistics Explorer
Data Conditioning
The Data Conditioning button allows the user to either clip the spatial extents of
the input dataset, or remove null values/ranges and implement data capping (e.g.
removing outlier effects).
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Note Data conditioning in Large and Multifile gridding is applied with OR logic
between fields/bands. This means a null in one field will not cause other fields
being gridded to become null.
Spatial Conditioning
Note This does not clip the input data; only the output grid is clipped.
The X/Y values can be reset to the initial dataset extents by pressing the Reset
extents to input button.
Before selecting the Data Conditioning tool, choose either a field (band) to
condition, or select the Use global data conditioning check box to condition all
fields
19 Working with Surfaces 851
The central part of the Data Conditioning dialog allows the specification of
invalid data and/or data ranges. All invalid data will be converted to the default null
value -1e+032 (-1.01032).
To specify an invalid data Value enter the value in the window on the left hand
side and use the Cross button to add it to the Invalid Data Value list in the right
hand window.
Use the Delete button to remove the highlighted invalid data value from the list.
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Specifying individual invalid data values. This is appropriate for removing negative values
representing BDL (Below Detection Limit), SNR (Sample Not Received), etc
In instances where there are a number of invalid data values it may be easier to
specify an invalid data range. For example, for a dataset that contains -9999, -
8888, -5, etc an invalid range from -9999 to -5 could be entered instead.
To specify an invalid data Range enter the lower and upper values in the
windows on the left hand side and use the Cross button to add it to the Invalid
Data Range list in the right hand window.
Use the Delete button to remove the highlighted invalid data range from the list.
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Specifying an invalid data range to remove a range of negative values in the dataset from
the gridding process
The maximum or minimum values of the dataset can be capped to a fixed value
by enabling Cap Values below or Cap Values above options.
Invalid values can be converted to a background value, rather than a null value,
by selecting the Convert null values to a background value option.
The Save and Load buttons at the top of the dialog enable Data Conditioning
settings to be saved and loaded from files. The Statistics button open s the
Statistics Explorer (see Statistics Explorer for details).
Grouping
Datasets can be split by a selected attribute, defined by the Select Group field
option. This allow multiple grids to be generated based on grouping:
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Once groups are selected, Multiple Fields are automatically generated based on
the the Input Field prefix with the group name suffix, e.g. Field1_Group1,
Field2_Group2, Field2_Group1 etc.
Note When grouping is enabled, you will not be able to edit the output grids name,
only the output folder location. The output grids will be set to the default Input
TAB file name, plus the Input Field and Group name suffix.
Breaklines
Breakline data can be read from multiple MapInfo Professional TAB, DXF, and
ESRI shape files. Break lines are defined as multi-segment lines in which the
slope is monotonically increasing or decreasing along each segment. Examples
of breaklines include stream or river traces, cliff faces, dredged channels,
topographic ridge lines, or roadways. By incorporating break lines into the
gridding process the output grid can be forced to conform to certain slope
requirements in critical areas.
Use the Add button in the Breaklines Advanced Options dialog to browse for
and select one or more breakline files (.TAB, .DXF and/or .SHP files).
DXF and .SHP files natively support undulating/variable Z-value breaklines (i.e.
with a different Z value for each node/vertice), and require no extra setup. To
utilise MapInfo Professional TAB files for undulating breaklines, both Line and Z
fields need to be specified:
All vertices from all objects with the same Line identifier will be considered
to be a single break line. In this way a collection of MapInfo point objects
can be grouped into polylines for delineating breaklines with a variable Z
component. However this also means that polylines (with a single Z value)
will each need to have a unique Line identifier if they are to be considered
unique.
A numeric Z field (e.g. RL) must also be specified for TAB files, whether
they are comprised of points, polylines or polygons. By defining the break
lines in MapInfo Pro as a collection of points with a common Line identifier,
it is possible to represent complex 3D geometries such as streams, slope
ridgelines or cliffs.
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Coincident Points
The Coincident points pull-down list controls the handling of multiple data points
at the same location. Coincident points may be averaged, the first or last point
value that does not contain a null value used, the minimum or maximum point
value taken or all points kept.
In the case of a selected subset of a table, the east and north data values indicate
the selected data coverage and not the data range of the original table.
Statistics Explorer
The Statistics Explorer is a utility for examining and understanding the spatial and
statistical aspects of a data set. It has been designed in a way that allows for
intelligent interrogation of a data set to help identify spatial and frequency
relationships which may be important when choosing and configuring an
appropriate gridding method. The operation and functionality of the Statistics
Explorer is described in the Statistics Explorer section later in this chapter.
Method Tab
Seven gridding methods are provided by Encom Discover. The methods can be
selected via the Method tab on the gridding tool dialog. The gridding method
chosen will determine the number of additional dialog tabs and control properties
that are displayed along the top of the gridding tool.
Located on the Method tab is an option to save the grid parameters or to apply
pre-defined parameters.
The Load Settings button will present you with a list of user-defined grid
parameters. The grid configuration file GridTool.set, containing these settings, is
located in the user configuration folder (refer to Configuring Encom Discover for
further information).
The Save Settings button is used to save numerous settings from the existing
Create Grid session. The grid configuration file GridTool.set is located in the
user configuration folder (refer to Configuring Encom Discover for further
information).
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The Load From Existing Grid option is designed to load gridding parameters
from an existing grid file. By default an Encom Discover created grid will have an
associated XML configuration file located in the same folder as the parent grid. If
you wish to load these settings navigate to the associated XML file. Note that this
option should only be used on the same dataset.
Minimum Curvature
Kriging
Triangulation
Spatial Neighbour
Density Grid
Distance Grid
Minimum Curvature
The minimum curvature algorithm attempts to fit a surface through all of the data
points without putting any abrupt kinks in the surface. Between the fixed
observation points, the surface bends according to the Interior tension. This
parameter is used to control the amount of distortion on the interior with the higher
the tension, the less the distortion. The Boundary tension controls the amount
of distortion at the edges. By default, the boundary tension is set to 0.
Kriging
Over the past several decades kriging has become a fundamental tool in the field
of geostatistics. The method of interpolating a surface using kriging is generally
performed as a two stage process:
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The first step in kriging is to construct a variogram (or semi-variogram) from the
input data which describes the spatial correlation between the sample points. A
variogram generally consists of two parts:
1 n
( h) =
2n i =1
[ z ( xi ) z ( xi + h)]2
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Where h is the distance or lag between sample points, n is the number of samples
separated by h and z is the attribute value of interest. The computation of (h) is
performed in two steps. First pairs of sample points are grouped together by
distance. For example, if the distance interval (or lag) is 1000 m then pairs of
points separated by less than 1000 m are grouped together into a 0-1000 m lag,
samples separated by a distance of between 1000 and 2000 m would be grouped
into a lag of 1000-200 m and so on. Next the average distance h and the average
semi-variance (h) are calculated for each group. If spatial dependence exists
among the samples, then pairs of points closer together will have more similar
values than pairs that are further apart. The semi-variogram is a plot which has
the average semi-variance (h) along the y-axis and the separation distance h
along the x-axis.
Note In Discover, you can only specify the range of the lag/h axis. The lag intervals
are automatically set to 1/50th of this range.
The semi-variogram can be broken down into thee main components; the
Nugget, Sill and Range.
Once an experimental variogram has been computed, the next step is to define a
model variogram. A model variogram is a mathematical function that models the
trend in the experimental variogram. Once the model variogram is constructed, it
is used to compute the weights which are used in the kriging interpolator. The
basic equation used in ordinary kriging can be described as follows:
n
F ( x, y ) = wi f i
i =1
Where n is the number of points in the data set, fi are the attribute values of these
points, and wi are weights assigned to each point. This equation is essentially the
same as the equation used for inverse distance weighted interpolation except that
rather than using weights based on an arbitrary function of distance, the weights
used in kriging are based on the model variogram.
The creation and analysis of the Sample Variogram and Model Variogram is done
using the Statistics Explorer as discussed lin Statistics Explorer
Selection of Kriging on the Method tab also opens both the Kriging tab and the
Search Tab on the gridding tool interface. Kriging uses the same searching
mechanism as the Inverse Distance Weighting method.
The gridding tool supports two types of kriging estimation: Point and Block. Point
kriging estimates the values of the points at each of the grid nodes. Block kriging
on the other hand estimates the average value of points which fall within a
rectangular block centred on each of the grid nodes. Because Block kriging
estimates the average point value for each block it tends to generate smoother
grids. In addition because block kriging uses an average of the input sample
points it is considered an imperfect interpolator even when an input sample falls
exactly on a grid node. The Block Kriging method provides controls to decimate
(or break up) the blocks into a smaller mesh of sub cells, defined by the X and Y
increment values. When a decimation factor is applied in Block Kriging the value
assigned to each block is determined as the average of the sub cells inside the
block rather than the average of the entire block.
In addition to the point and block estimation types the Encom Discover gridding
tool supports two methods of Kriging: Ordinary and Simple. Ordinary Kriging
focuses on the spatial correlation component between the measured values but
ignores drift (drift is a regional trend in the data which exists is addition to spatial
correlation between samples). Simple Kriging is similar to Ordinary Kriging with
the exception that the weights used do not sum to unity and the average of the
entire data set is used in the interpolation of each grid node rather than the local
average of points that fall within the Search Distance of the node. Consequently
Simple Kriging can be less precise than Ordinary Kriging but generally produces
smoother grids.
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The IDW method is optimal when the data has a fairly uniform distribution of input
points across the area to be gridded, and some degree of smoothing is beneficial.
With this type of data, a repeat measurement at a point does not necessarily give
the same results as the first measurement. If the input data points are not evenly
distributed then using an oriented search ellipse may produce a more
representative grid.
Selection of the Inverse Distance Weighting method opens both the Search Tab
and Inverse Distance tab.
The weighting value assigned to each point within the search ellipse is
determined by the distance from the data point to the grid node being interpolated.
The further away a data point lies from the grid node, the less the point value will
contribute to the final value assigned to that node. The distance weighting
parameters can be adjusted under the Weight Model controls in the Inverse
Distance tab.
A search ellipse of fixed size and orientation can be defined in a similar manner
to the Kriging method using the Search Tab; a grid cell value is then calculated
from the weighted average of all data points that lie within the ellipse centred on
that grid cell.
Weight Model
Elliptical Weighting
Density Correction
Taper Control
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Weight Model
The weighting of an input data point is (by default) inversely proportional to its
distance from the grid node (a Power weight model). This can be varied by
choosing a different Weight Model on the Inverse Distance tab, and altering the
models parameters where applicable. The following models are available for
selection:
Power - The default option, each input points weight is proportional to the
inverse of its distance to the specified Power from the grid node.
Increasing the weighting power reduces the influence distant points have
on the calculated value of each grid node. Large power values cause grid
cell values to approximate the value of the nearest data point, while
smaller power values will result in data values being more evenly
distributed among neighbouring grid nodes. The weighting value defaults
to 2 (i.e. the weight of any data point is inversely proportional to the square
of its distance from the grid cell) which is appropriate for most situations. If
required, the weighting value can be altered to any positive value.
Elliptical Weighting
The Elliptical weighting option is only available when the Elliptical Search option
is enabled (in the Search Tab). It adjusts the distance weighting function for data
points within the search ellipse depending on their relative position with respect
to the elliptical shell. Points located on the same elliptical shell will be assigned
equivalent weighting even though their distance from the ellipse centroid may be
different.
Density Correction
Note If you have enabled the Use nearest neighbours option (in the Search Tab) in
conjunction with four search sectors then you will have effectively removed
clustering from the input data point distribution. The Density corrections option
is not available when the Use nearest neighbours option is enabled.
The Exact hit distance is a tolerance distance for assigning actual input data
values to coincident grid nodes. As the inverse distance gridding technique is
attempting to interpolate a continuous surface through the data, a certain number
of grid nodes coincide with the input data points. Where grid nodes and data
points coincide, the distance between them is zero, so by default the data value
is assigned a weighting of 1.0 and all other data points in the search radius are
given a weight value of zero. This means that grid nodes that are coincident with
input data points are assigned the value of the coincident data point rather than
an interpolated (averaged) value derived from the data points surrounding it.
This effect can produce significant spotting in the output grid, particularly if the
data value of the coincident point/grid cell deviates significantly from the points
surrounding it. By adjusting the exact hit distance it is possible to increase the
tolerance distance in which input data values are assigned to grid nodes.
Assigning this value to a high number can produce unacceptable spotting or
concentric banding in the output grid, while reducing the value below 1 has little
or no effect.
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Taper Control
The Taper controls allow you to apply a taper function to the interpolated value of
each grid node based on its distance to the nearest valid sample point. The taper
function is applied using a linear weighting model thereby adjusting the expected
grid node values towards the background value. Between a distance of zero and
the FROM distance the taper function is assigned a constant value of 1 (i.e. no
modification is made to the grid node). Between the FROM and TO distance the
taper function is applied as a linear weighting between the grid node value and
the background value. Beyond the TO distance grid nodes are assigned the
background value.
Spatial Neighbour
This method is similar to the Inverse Distance Weighting method described above
but does not use the search radius to interpolate data values from surrounding
cells. For each grid cell, neighbouring input points are located based on a spatial
neighbours selection criterion. The value of the computed grid cell is the average
of the neighbours, weighted such that the closer the neighbouring point, the
greater the influence than points further away.
Search criteria are only radial in this method but the distance and applied
weighting can be specified in the Spatial Neighbour tab displayed when this
gridding method is selected.
Triangulation
The triangulation method is best applied to data that is evenly distributed over the
gridded area. If there are large areas of sparse or missing data distinct triangular
facets may appear in the output grid. As triangulation uses all the input data to
construct the triangular mesh, the only parameter that needs to be adjusted is the
grid cell size. Grid cell size can be adjusted to an appropriate value for the
dataset.
Density Grid
The Density gridding method produces a grid which records a measure of the
point density at each grid node. The density at each grid node is determined
independently using an estimator function. Two estimators are available:
The Radial Density Estimator method returns a true measure of the point
density at each grid node (measured as the number of samples per square area
unit usually metres). It is a simple method that counts the number of input
samples within a specified radius of the grid node position and then normalizes
that count by the area of the search.
Given a kernel function K and a search radius (or bandwidth) h, the estimated
density at any point x is given by
19 Working with Surfaces 867
1 n x x(i )
f ( x) = K ( )
n i =1 h
where n is the number of samples. The following kernel functions are supported:
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Kernel K(u)
Uniform 1
1.2
Uniform
I ( u 1) 1
2 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
Triangle
(1 u ) I ( u 1)
1.2
Triangle
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
Epanechnikov 3
1.2
Epanechnikov
(1 u 2 ) I ( u 1) 1
4 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
Quartic 15
1.2
Quartic
(1 u 2 ) 2 I ( u 1) 1
16 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
Triweight 35
1.2
Triweight
(1 u 2 ) 3 I ( u 1) 1
32 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
Gaussian 1 1
1
Exponential
exp( u 2 ) 0.8
2 2 0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
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Cosinus
1.2
Cosine
cos( ) I ( u 1) 1
4 2 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_%28statistics%29
If you have taken multiple samples at each input data location and this information
is recorded in the input data then you can use this information to bias the density
estimation. To enable this option, check the Interpret selected data channel as
a count frequency box and on the Gridding Tool Input Tab ensure the frequency
or count field is selected as the input data field.
Distance Grid
The Distance gridding method produces a grid which records the minimum
distance to the input data features at every grid node. A distance envelope can
be specified to clip the grid at a maximum distance from the nearest feature. Any
grid node that is outside this envelope will be assigned a null value.
When the input data is loaded it is classified as either point data or polyline data
depending on the source of the data and the type of object that was loaded. By
default the method will consider all input data as point locations. Optionally, you
can add to this the input polyline data. In this case the method will also check the
perpendicular distance to the nearest polyline in addition to looking at all point
data.
Distance Tab
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In the examples below the first grid has been computed considering all the input
data as point locations. The second grid has added to this the polyline
information. In both cases a distance envelope has been applied.
Search Tab
The Kriging and Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) methods, when selected, both
display the Search tab, along with their individual control tabs. These methods, if
not optimised, can quickly become unworkable as the number of input data points
increases beyond a few thousand. To improve the performance of these
algorithms and to ensure these methods are suitable for large datasets, a search
radius can be used to restrict the number of input points that contribute to each
interpolation. This introduces a number of problems. For example the algorithm
may not find a sufficient number of points within the search radius to make a
reasonable estimation or, the spatial distribution of the points within the search
radius may not be uniform so that the estimation becomes directionally biased.
The Search tab provides controls to resolve these issues by determining the
shape, size and orientation of the search ellipse used to locate data points during
interpolation. Specifying an appropriate size and orientation for the search ellipse
is important. Setting it smaller than the average data spacing may result in a large
number of the interpolated grid cells being assigned a null value and therefore
displayed as white in the output grid. Conversely, if the search ellipse is set to be
too large then significant edge effects or grid artefacts may result around the edge
of the grid. The Search tab is subdivided into a number of sections:
Searching
Anisotropy
Sample Selection
Gridding Rule
Searching
By default Encom Discover uses a circular search with a radius specified via the
Search Distance option. If the node cannot be estimated from the points located
within the search radius then the search radius can be incrementally increased
and the searching repeated using Search Expansions. The increased radius is
likely to encompass more input points and consequently the node may be able to
be interpolated. At each stage the actual search radius used will be equal to the
stage number multiplied by the initial search radius. The number of allowable
increments is limited because after a while this process becomes self defeating
and it is wiser to specify a larger initial search radius.
If the spatial distribution of the data points is not uniform (or not uniformly random)
then the use of search expansions may not be enough to populate the grid
successfully. For example, a dataset may have regional data located on two
kilometre centres and local data in parts of the study area on 100 metre centres.
To produce a suitable grid of the whole region that characterises the detail in the
high resolution areas would require small search radius in these areas and a large
search radius elsewhere.
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The solution is to use additional refinement Grid Passes which grid the data
multiple times once for each pass - at increasingly higher resolution. The
gridded results from each pass are then used as additional input data for the next
pass. The grid cell size and search parameters are scaled up by a factor of two
for each additional grid pass for example if you use three additional passes then
the first pass scales up these parameters by a factor of eight, the second by a
factor of 4, the third by a factor of two. The final pass grids the data at the
requested resolution with the specified searching parameters.
Anisotropy
By default the search radius is isotropic creating a circular search area. However
directional bias can be applied by enabling an Elliptical Search.
The dimensions of the search ellipse can be controlled by specifying the length of
the major and minor axes. The major axis is defined by the Search Distance
value in the Searching section (above), whilst the minor axis is governed by the
Minor search distance option. The Major axis Orientation control determines
the rotation angle of the major axis.
If elliptical searching is used with the Inverse Distance Weighting method, it also
allows the use of the Elliptical weighting option under the Inverse Distance tab.
This option modifies the data point weighting so that they are isotropic with
respect to angle within the search ellipse in other words it removes the
directional bias from the weighting
Sample Selection
Input points close to the grid node may not be uniformly distributed eg they may
all be on one side of it. This will introduce a directional bias into the estimation.
This can be resolved by using search sectors.
If four sectors are used then each covers 90 degrees of arc (centred about NE,
NW, SE, and SW). If two sectors are used then each covers 180 degrees of arc
(centred about North, South). Using only one search sector effectively turns the
option off.
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Specifying the Use nearest neighbours option enables you to use only the
closest Maximum number of samples found within each search sector in each
estimation. Contributions from other points within the search radius are ignored.
Gridding Rule
Enabling the Customize gridding rule option allows a node to be gridded only if
a specified minimum number of sample points are located in at least a specified
minimum number of sectors. If a node fails to meet this rule, it will be assigned a
null value.
Geometry Tab
This tab controls the main parameters for determining the geometry of the output
grid. The Cell Parameters control determines the size of each grid cell in the
output image and is measured in the same data units as the input tab file. For
most geographic data these units are in metres; however Encom Discover
supports all of the MapInfo Professional units of measurement. During the loading
process, Encom Discover automatically computes an optimised grid cell size
based on the distribution and density of the input data. This cell size can be
modified and Encom Discover only uses square grid cell dimensions.
When a large dataset is loaded the Auto Preview box is disabled and the
Compute Default Parameters button is active. Use this button to calculate an
optimal grid cell size.
The extents of the Data coverage to be gridded can be seen in the Min and Max
X Y boxes (excluding any data excluded by the spatial data conditioning).
The Grid bounds parameters control the boundary extents of the output grid and
can be used to reduce the size of the output grid if required.
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The Grid Geometry tab indicating the cell size, extent and number of rows and columns
Note When creating a surface, the grid cell size selected is important. As a general
rule of thumb the grid cell size should not be made smaller than approximately
one fifth of the average data spacing. Reducing the grid cell size beyond this
limit may cause the grids appearance to become smoother but can also
introduce unwanted irregularities in the output image. Discover sets a default cell
size which is approximately half the average input data spacing.
Output Tab
The Output tab provides a number of controls for saving the gridded image. The
left side of the dialog provides a summary report for the grid process and lists the
primary gridding parameters chosen. This information may be copied to the
windows clipboard by selecting the information with the mouse and using the
Windows Copy and Paste commands. This may be useful for reporting or archive
purposes.
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Below the summary box is a pull-down list containing the Encom Discover
supported grid formats. Encom Discover currently creates grids in ER Mapper
(.ERS), Surfer Binary (.GRD) uncompressed grid, Vertical Mapper (.GRD),
Geosoft (.GRD), MapInfo MIG (.MIG), BIL (.BIL) and Arc ASCII (.ASC) formats.
To save a grid, select the appropriate format from the list. Click the Save button.
The output grid file is assigned a default name and will be saved in the same
directory as the input data. It is possible to alter the file name and directory path
by clicking on the small button at the right end of the path name box. The Output
tab is accessible at any stage during the gridding process so it is not necessary
to wait for the preview window to complete drawing before saving the final grid.
The Clip control provides a number of options for clipping the extents of the
interpolated grid, so that it more closely approximates the distribution of the input
data. Enabling this option can improve the appearance of the output grid for
irregular input data where the gridding method (usually Triangulation or Minimum
Curvature) has interpolated the grid over large gaps within the data. Options
available include:
The Near value of the Near/Far option is the distance the grid is to be
clipped back to from the convex hull of the data points. The Far distance
is the distance between the points to interpolate between. Areas in the
grid which lie between data points greater than the Far distance value grid
will be displayed as null or white.
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The Convex Hull option clips the output grid to the smallest convex
region/polygon enclosing the dataset. This convex region is found
conceptually by stretching a rubber band around the points so that all of
the points lie within the band. The convex region can be expanded by a
specified Buffer value.
The Concave Hull option starts with a Convex Hull region, and then
removes/erodes triangles on its edge that have an outward facing angle
greater than a defined tolerance (specified under the Options button). This
new concave region can then be expanded by a specified Buffer value.
If multiple fields have been selected for gridding then three output options are
available:
Create RGB Image if three fields are selected for gridding they can be
saved as an RGB image. Each field is saved as a red, green or blue
channel in the resulting image. The RGB grid is first loaded into the
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Create RGB Grid dialog before the final RGB
GeoTIFF image is created.
Statistics Explorer
The Statistics Explorer is a series of dialogs that enables you to examine any
dataset both statistically and spatially.
The Statistics Explorer is generally accessed via the statistics button in the
various Field Data Conditioning dialogs (see Data Conditioning) and can also be
accessed from the Input and Output tabs of the Create Grid tool.
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The Statistics Explorer window is divided into two main sections; the upper
Spreadsheet window and the lower Property Page window. The contents of these
depend on the view selected; the Statistics Explorer has four views, selectable
from drop list at the top left of the window. These present graphical and statistical
information using different Property Pages, which can be controlled using the
Property Page tabs in the middle of the window.
The Univariate view examines a single field in the input data and presents
basic summary statistics and histogram analysis.
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The Bivariate view examines any two fields in the input data and presents
scattergram plots and basic summary statistics.
The Spatial view plots the data using its spatial X, Y and Z coordinates
and presents basic summary statistics.
The Statistics Explorer allows data to be selected in the spreadsheet or any of the
univariate, bivariate or spatial views using the Selection Tools at the base of the
window. The explorer can then collapse the dataset to the current selection, and
display the statistics for this new data subset.
Spreadsheet
The Spreadsheet comprises the top half of the Statistics Explorer dialog, and
displays the records for the currently viewed selection.
The spreadsheet shortcut menu can be accessed by right clicking on any column
header. This provides a number of column resizing options (including the various
Fit to options). Alternatively, columns and rows can be resized by clicking on
their boundaries and dragging.
The spreadsheet can also be sorted by any column using the Sort menu options.
The Statistics option returns a basic statistical summary of any field.
Data points can be selected from the spreadsheet (if valid for the current view) by
clicking on the row header; use the CTRL and SHIFT keys to unselect stations and
make multiple selections. A range of cells can be also be selected by clicking and
dragging the mouse. These selection operations are treated exactly the same
way as graphical selections and the undo/redo operations can be applied.
When a single data point is selected in any graph (using the Pointer tool, see
Selection Tools) the spreadsheet will scroll to the appropriate record.
The key field (whilst in univariate mode) or the ancillary field (whilst in bivariate
mode) can be changed by double clicking on the field header in the spreadsheet.
Zoom controls
Use the three buttons in the middle to Zoom In, Zoom Out and Pan.
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The Restrict Zoom button on the left restricts zooming and panning to the
horizontal dimension only.
The Fit to Data button on the right cancels any zoom and returns to the
default view showing all data.
Selection Tools
The Selection tools provide a powerful data selection capability. The Pointer
button displays a cursor which can dragged through the graph. It may be
displayed as either a vertical bar or a cross hair depending on graph type. In all
cases, the pointer snaps to the closest station and this station is then
highlighted purple in the spreadsheet.
Data can also be selected using Rectangle or Polygon selection, although the
polygon selection is not available in all graphs. Selected stations are coloured
red unless colour modulation is enabled in which case they are coloured black.
Each selection operation can either select the enclosed stations (include option)
or unselect the enclosed stations (exclude); this is toggled using the Include/
Exclude button.
Each selection operation is placed onto a stack which allows you to Undo and
Redo operations. Buttons are also provides to Unselect All and Select All. The
selection can also be Inverted.
Display Modulation
The graph can be also be Colour and/or Size Modulated by any field in the
dataset. Select the required fields from the drop lists at the base of the graph. To
cancel colour or size modulation, select <None>. A simple pseudocolour look-up
table is used and a linear colour stretch is employed.
Subsetting
This button extracts the selected data points from the dataset to create a new
subset. The spreadsheet and graph views will be redrawn to focus on this
subset. Only the subset will be considered in any statistical computations or
graphs. Further selections can be made to examine the data in greater detail.
The Expand button allows a previous level/subset to be redisplayed. If this
button is disabled then the view has returned to the original dataset.
Univariate
The univariate view examines a single field in the input data and presents basic
summary statistics and histogram analysis. It incorporates three property pages:
A Histogram of the key field. When this is displayed, the spreadsheet will
show a detailed breakdown of the histogram data.
The univariate view requires a key field to be defined. This field is selected from
the second drop list at the top of the dialog. The key field can be changed at any
time to examine any field in the dataset.
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The Graph page plots the key field versus station index. Graph controls are
detailed in Zoom, Selection and Display Controls above.
Note These axes property pages are not available for univariate or spatial graphs.
The Statistics page presents basic summary statistics for the key field, as detailed
below:
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Interquartile range The range of the data between the lower and upper
quartiles.
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The Histogram page presents an equal width histogram of the key field. An
equal width histogram is one built by dividing the valid data range into a large
number of equal width bins and then computing the frequency of occurrence of
key field values in each bin.
To be effective a large number of bins are used and these are grouped together
depending on the scale at which the histogram is viewed. When multiple bins are
being grouped together each consolidated bin is drawn with a back border. When
zoomed in sufficiently to see individual bins, no black border is drawn. Also, the
thickness of the bin is no longer equal to the assigned min/max values of the bin;
it now relates to the actual min/max values of the data assigned to the bin.
The cumulative histogram is also displayed as a heavy green line. This indicates
the percentage of data that is below the current value at any point. The upper and
lower quartiles are displayed against the X and Y axes as dotted lines.
The spreadsheet displays the bin information including the bin data range,
number of samples in each bin and the range of the actual data assigned to the
bin. It also displays the cumulative histogram values.
The Selection Tools work normally in this graph. The selections are indicated as
a percentage of stations selected in each bin. This is displayed as a red base.
Note that no selections can be made from the spreadsheet in this mode.
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Bivariate
Display of Bivariate data distribution with Key and Ancillary selection fields indicated
The Bivariate view requires the user to define two input fields the key
(horizontal) field and the ancillary (vertical) field. Make these selections from the
drop lists at the top of the explorer (indicated in screenshot above).
Two property pages are presented. The Graph page shows a scattergram of the
ancillary field plotted against the key field. The Statistics page presents summary
statistics for the bivariate distribution as well as a spreadsheet of the conditional
expectation. You can copy and paste from this spreadsheet into Microsoft Excel.
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For both pages, the Spreadsheet displays the complete dataset. A full range of
selection tools are available both graphically and in the spreadsheet.
Spatial
The Spatial view does not require the user to define any fields (unless the View
Extraction option on the Statistics page is used; see below). The data will be
automatically plotted using its spatial coordinates in an isotropic view. If the data
has less than two spatial dimensions no spatial view will be available.
A Graph page showing the spatial plot is presented. All Zoom, Selection and
Display Controls are available. Data points can be colour or size modulated.
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The Statistics page displays basic summary statistics for the spatial fields. It also
has a Regular spatial extraction export option. This creates a new dataset using
multiple regular sized cells covering the entire spatial extents of the existing
dataset. The size of these cells are defined using the X and Y Extent windows.
The Region Overlap control allows cells to overlap adjacent cells by up to 50%.
Regular spatial extraction requires the prior specification of a Key field in order
to calculate summary statistics for each new output cell. The output dataset can
be viewed using the View extraction button, which opens it in a new instance of
the Statistics Explorer. The Save Extraction button allows this output dataset to
be saved as a multi-banded ERMapper grid file.
Variogram
The Variogram view requires the user to define a key field which will be used in
tandem with the spatial coordinates to compute a sample variogram. If the data
has less than two spatial dimensions no variogram view will be available.
It can take a long time to compute a variogram and in most cases it will not be
possible to compute the complete variogram for the entire data set unless it is
relatively small (< 10,000 samples). Variogram computations are restricted by:
A default spatial variogram is computed using parameters that should ensure that
the computation time is of the order of a few seconds. Thereafter the range and
maximum sample number can be modified and the variogram can be recomputed
by hitting the Recompute Variogram button. Note that if the maximum number
of samples is set to minus one, then all samples will be computed. It is not advised
to include all samples in the data set if it exceeds 10,000 samples as the
computation time required to build the variogram could be extremely long. If the
number of samples is restricted the algorithm will look at a sub-set of samples that
are evenly distributed spatially within the dataset. In many cases it is desirable to
increase the range and increase the maximum number of samples to improve the
statistical reliability of the variogram.
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This procedure generates a radial variogram grid (lower left). The directional
variogram can then be quickly extracted from this grid. The directional variogram
is plotted on the right and the source data is shown in the spreadsheet. Only the
zoom tools are available in this graph (no data selection is possible).
The plot on the left shows the variogram grid. The red sectors represent the area
of the grid that was used to extract the directional variogram. This area is
controlled via Direction (0 to 360 degree clockwise from North) and Width
(degrees of arc) controls. If the width is 180 degrees then you have obtained the
omni-directional variogram and direction is irrelevant. Otherwise, you will obtain
a direction dependent variogram. You can change the direction of the variogram
from the Direction spin buttons or simply click and drag you mouse across the
variogram grid plot. The width can only be changed via the Width spin control.
The variogram records several parameters including the moment of inertia (semi-
variogram), covariance and pair count. Both the variogram grid plot and the
directional variogram plot display the parameter selected in the Display drop list.
Model Variograms
If the Statistics Explorer has been opened via the Variogram button within the
Kriging wizard of the Gridding Tool, a Model Variogram also can be created,
edited and displayed. In this case an option is added to the Sample page to show
the model variogram curve in addition to the sample variogram curve.
A Model property page is also available to manipulate the model variogram. The
model variogram will be automatically initialised to a reasonable model fitting the
data. You can press the Initialise Model button at any time to reset the model to
this default.
The model is plotted to a range controlled via the range edit parameter. By default
this is equal to the sample variogram range.
In the upper right the model nests are displayed. Each nest corresponds to
semivariogram model. Individual nests can be edited, added, cloned and deleted
via the buttons on the right. Alternatively double clicking on a nest in the list allows
editing.
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Editing or adding a nest presents the following dialog; if adding a new nest the
dialog is presented as a wizard.
The Model Type page allows you to change or select an appropriate model for
the nest. A description of the model is presented. The coordinates displayed for
the model are not representative of the actual model coordinates.
The Parameters page allows the editing of the model parameters. At the top right
is a drop-list of model types.
The graph presents the sample variogram, the model variogram excluding the
current nest you are editing or adding, the current nest and the final model
variogram including the current nest. The model parameters are presented below
the graph and can be directly edited. Also, most model parameters can be edited
graphically by dragging the blue tags that are presented on the graph axes. For
example, with the spherical model the left vertical axes allows the editing of the
sill and the bottom horizontal axis allows range to be edited.
The sample variogram grid is displayed in the bottom left. Drag the cursor in this
graph to edit the direction of the model variogram. This will also change the
direction for the sample variogram extraction. Note that the width of the extraction
is equal to the width of the extraction on the main Sample page and cannot be
modified here.
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The Anisotropy tab controls the range of the model along two axes the major
and minor axes. The direction of the major axis is shown on the nest grid preview
on the left. The final model preview is shown on the right.
The major axis range will be equal to the range established on the Parameters
page. The minor axis range can be used to introduce anisotropy to the model. If
the minor axis range is equal to the major axis range then the model is isotropic.
If it is larger than the major axis range then the model will have a smaller
contribution in the minor axis direction.
The principal parameters of each nest can be altered graphically via the model
page. Select the nest from the model list and manipulate the principal parameters
via the blue edit tags in the variogram plot.
The Large and Multi-file gridding tool is a powerful grid interpolator which can
construct gridded surfaces from extremely large datasets. Interpolated grids can
be created from a single input file or from multiple input files of point data or
gridded data in any of the following formats:
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ASCII text (.txt, .asc, csv, xyz), including zip compressed ASCII
MapInfo .TAB
ASPRS .LAS
Gridded formats (Arc ASCII, Arc Flt, ER Mapper, BIL, MapInfo, Geosoft,
MinEx, Surfer, Vertical Mapper)
The Large and Multi-file gridding tool is best suited to gridding very large, closely
spaced point datasets, such as those commonly acquired by airborne Light
Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data surveys. The tool can also be used to
assemble a large number of adjoining grid tiles into a single large contiguous grid.
An example of this use case is assembling multiple Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission Arc ASCII grid files into a single continuous grid. This method of
interpolation works best with relatively even spaced points that cover semi-
rectangular survey areas containing minimal internal holes or areas of missing
data.
For moderate-sized point datasets (e.g. < 2 million points) or situations where
some experimentation with interpolation methods is required the Interactive
gridding tool is a more flexible and suitable choice.
Gridding Methods
Interpolation Settings
Output Grid
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As a rule of thumb if the number of points in the input dataset exceeds 3 million
points or the number of cells in the output grid is greater than 6,000 columns x
6,000 rows (360,000,000 cells) or there are multiple input files the Large and
Multi-file gridding tool is the appropriate tool to use. For all datasets which fall
below this size threshold the interactive gridding tool is the most flexible and best
tool to use. For practical purposes the maximum size of the combined input
datasets that the Large and Multi-file gridding tool can process is 2 billion points
and the maximum size of the output grid(s) is 1 terabyte.
For more information about the settings available from dialog boxes, see
Interpolation Settings.
1. On the Surfaces menu, point to Create Grid, and click Large and Multi-
file.
2. Under Input, to select input files that are stored in a single directory:
Press the Browse for files button on the top right of the dialog. On
the open file dialog adjust the file type filter at the bottom to the
appropriate type (.TAB, . ASCII, .LAS, .SID, .ZIP or one of the
supported grid formats) and select the files to grid.
Press the Browse for folder button, second button down on the
top right of the dialog. On the Select file format dialog which
appears choose the file type filter which is appropriate for the type
of input data, press OK and select the top level directory from which
to search for files to grid.
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4. Assign the appropriate projection for the input data files by pressing the
Choose Projection button in the bottom right of the dialog.
Note If you are unfamiliar with the distribution of statistics of your input files you can
examine the spatial statistics of any of the selected input data files using the
Statistics Explorer. To launch the Statistics Explorer select an input file and then
press the Statistics Explorer button (on right of file format dialog).
5. If desired, modify the name that has been assigned in the Group alias
property for the group in the input manager grid control by double-clicking
in the cell and typing in a new name.
6. To change the properties of a group of input files, first select the group you
wish to modify in the input manager and then press the File format button
on the right of the dialog. On the format dialog you can add or remove files
from a group as well as change the input data format and projection.
7. If you are familiar with the spatial distribution and coverage of the input
data enable the Define cell size control and change the cell size from
<Auto> to an appropriate value that is suitable for the input data and for
your analytical needs. Should you need assistance in choosing an
appropriate cell size you can press the Compute cell size button and the
software will attempt to analyse a small subset of the data and estimate an
appropriate value. However it is generally recommended that if you are
not sure what cell size to assign for the output grid that you leave the
Define cell size disabled so the software can compute an appropriate
value once it has completed an analysis of the data distribution.
8. Optional steps:
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9. Press the Save file button and select an appropriate file path for the final
grid file(s). Ensure that you select a location with plenty of free space to
store the output files. It is recommended that for large datasets the output
grid(s) are stored on a separate disk drive to the input data.
10. Press the Projection button and choose an appropriate projection for the
output grid file. It is recommended that the projection of the output grid file
is set to the same projection as the input file(s). By default the output
projection will be set to the first input file(s) projection.
11. (Optional) Disable the Auto open output file(s) if you do not want the
output grid file(s) to be automatically opened into MapInfo on completion
of the gridding process.
Should you wish to create another grid using a different field from the same input
data or recreate the same grid with slightly modify settings you can reload the
saved control file. To do this first open the Large and multi-file gridding tool. Next
press the load control file button (the last button at the top right of input
manager). When the control file is successfully loaded you can modify the
settings as necessary and then press the Process button to create a new grid.
Input files can be specified in groups. A group of input files share common
properties such as format (i.e. file structure) and projection. If the file
format or projection of any of the input files is different they should be
separated into their own group.
MapInfo .TAB
The TAB reader can read simple MapInfo .TAB files which contain
mapped objects. The coordinate and projection information is extracted
from the mapped objects and the X,Y point coordinates are obtained for
every node of simple or multi-part objects. The data field information which
is used for interpolation can be obtained from any corresponding attribute
field in the .TAB file.
ASPRS .LAS
LAS is an industry standard public format used for the interchange of
LIDAR data. The file format is defined and maintained by the ASPRS
organisation (www.asprs.org). Discover supports versions 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2
of the LAS specification and can extract "Z" (elevation) as well as RGB
(red, green, blue) and intensity information.
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There are several readers available for loading gridded data files (e.g.
*.ERS, *.GRD, *.BIL, *.ASC) as input to the Large and Multi-file gridding
tool. All the common industry grid formats that are supported by Discover
can be loaded as input.
You may modify the group alias name for each group of input files to help
distinguish them in situations where a lot of groups have been added.
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Gridding Workflows
Triangulation
Data Density
Stamp Only
Triangulation
Phase 2. The first 65,000 data stations are loaded to determine spatial
statistics of the data.
Phase 3. Each input data file is scanned to determine the data extents
and spatial distribution statistics. Some data will be skipped
during this phase if the Scan data extents property is set to any
value other than complete
Phase 6. The entire input data set is read and spatially sorted into a
collection of tiles. Unwanted or null readings are cleansed and
coordinates are reprojected into the output grid coordinate
system if required.
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Phase 2. The first 65,000 data stations are loaded to determine spatial
statistics of the data.
Phase 3. Each input data file is scanned to determine the data extents
and spatial distribution statistics. Some data will be skipped
during this phase if the Scan data extents property is set to any
value other than complete
Phase 6. The entire input data set is read and unwanted or null readings
are cleansed and coordinates are reprojected into the output
grid coordinate system if required. The points are stamped into a
spatially indexed file and an inverse distance weighting
algorithm is applied to interpolate new grid values from the set of
input points that lie within the specified search radius (Inverse
Distance Weighting Properties).
Phase 7. The interpolated data file is finalized and written to the output
grid file along with the corresponding header information
and.TAB files. All temporary files and allocated memory is then
released
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Phase 2. The first 65,000 data stations are loaded to determine spatial
statistics of the data.
Phase 3. Each input data file is scanned to determine the dataset extents
and spatial distribution statistics. Some data will be skipped
during this phase if the Scan data extents property is set to any
value other than complete.
Phase 7. The spatially sorted input data is now stamped into the grid.
Phase 9. The clip mask is built, based on the clipping parameters defined
in the minimum curvature properties dialog.
Phase 10. The source mask pyramid is focussed in each level to allow
more grid cells to be unconstrained in the gridding procedure.
Phase 11. The pyramid is filled and refined from the top down applying
minimum curvature at each level.
Phase 13. The output grid(s) are finalized and written to disk along with
their corresponding header information and.TAB files. All
temporary files are removed and allocated memory is released
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Phase 2. The first 65,000 data stations are loaded to determine spatial
statistics of the data.
Phase 3. Each input data file is scanned to determine the dataset extents
and spatial distribution statistics. Some data will be skipped
during this phase if the Scan data extents property is set to any
value other than complete.
Phase 6. The entire input dataset is now stamped into the grid. Unwanted
or null readings are cleansed and coordinates are reprojected
into the output grid coordinate system (if required).
Phase 8. The clip mask is built, based on the clipping parameters defined
in the minimum curvature properties dialog.
Phase 10. The pyramid is filled and refined from the top down applying
minimum curvature at each level.
Phase 12. The output grid(s) are finalized and written to disk along with
their corresponding header information and TAB files. All
temporary files are removed and allocated memory is released.
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Data Density
Phase 2. The first 65,000 data stations are loaded to determine spatial
statistics of the data.
Phase 3. Each input data file is scanned to determine the dataset extents
and spatial distribution statistics. Some data will be skipped
during this phase if the Scan data extents property is set to any
value other than complete.
Phase 6. The entire input dataset is now scanned and unwanted or null
readings are cleansed and coordinates are reprojected into the
output grid coordinate system (if required).The points are
stamped into the grid file and accumulated densities are
computed within the specified search radius using chosen the
kernel weighting function.
Phase 7. The output grid(s) are finalized and written to disk along with
their corresponding header information and.TAB files. All
temporary files are removed and allocated memory is released
Phase 2. The first 65,000 data stations are loaded to determine spatial
statistics of the data.
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The output grid(s) are finalized and written to disk along with
Phase 7. their corresponding header information and.TAB files. All
temporary files are removed and allocated memory is released.
Stamp Only
Phase 2. The first 65,000 data stations are loaded to determine spatial
statistics of the data.
Phase 3. Each input data file is scanned to determine the dataset extents
and spatial distribution statistics. Some data will be skipped
during this phase if the Scan data extents property is set to any
value other than complete.
Phase 6. The entire input dataset is now scanned and unwanted or null
readings are cleansed and coordinates are reprojected into the
output grid coordinate system (if required). The points are then
stamped directly into the output grid file(s).
Phase 7. The output grid(s) are finalized and written to disk along with
their corresponding header information and.TAB files. All
temporary files are removed and allocated memory is released.
Interpolation Settings
Data Conditioning
Gridding Properties
Options
Data Conditioning
Note Data conditioning in Large and Multifile gridding is applied with AND logic. This
means a null in one field will cause any other fields being gridded to become null.
Gridding Properties
If you are familiar with the input dataset and know in advance what the spatial
extents and distribution of the data is like and you have a good understanding of
the field range then you can manually adjust the gridding properties to best suite
the input and output data requirements.
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This property controls the size (or resolution) of each cell in the output grid file.
The size is measured in the spatial units of the output grid coordinate system. The
default cell value is "Auto" which indicates that the software will attempt to
compute an appropriate cell size for the output grid by analysing the spatial
statistics of the input data. Providing the source data is regularly spaced and
evenly distributed across the entire survey area the automatic cell size estimation
algorithm will choose a reasonable cell size. However if the data distribution is
clustered or skewed then it is strongly recommended that you set the cell size to
an appropriate value manually.
As a general rule of thumb the output grid cell size should not be set to a value
that is less than 1/5 the average spacing of the input data. A cell size of 1/3 the
average data spacing is good starting point. Another important aspect of the cell
size which must be taken into consideration, particularly on large datasets, is that
halving its size will have the effect of double the file storage requirements of the
output grid. For example if you set a cell size of 2 m and the output grid requires
100 MB of disk space, then reducing the cell size to 1 m will increase the storage
space requirements for the output grid to 400 MB.
The compute cell size button will compute a default cell size for the input data. It
attempts to do this by analysing the spatial statistics of a small subset
(approximately 65,000 stations) of the first input file. Depending on the regularity
and spatial coherence of this small subset of data the estimated cell size may or
may not be assigned an optimal value.
If you are unfamiliar with the dataset and you are not sure what value to set for
the cell size then it is recommended that you leave the property set to "Auto".
When configured this way the software will attempt to adjust the cell size to an
appropriate value after it has examined the complete spatial statistics of the input
data.
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The define grid geometry properties control the spatial extent and size of the
output grid file. By default these values will be automatically computed by the
software to fully encompass the input data once it has scanned all the data files
and established the spatial statistics and data distribution. If you need to constrain
the output grid to a larger or smaller area than the extents of the input dataset then
you can override the default settings and specify the extents manually. By
configuring the grid extents to an area which is smaller than the extents of the
input dataset you will effectively clip it to the defined grid geometry. If the output
grid geometry is smaller than the input data then any input data that does not
overlap with it will be discarded prior to gridding. The grid geometry is controlled
by the Origin X and Origin Y coordinate values, which specify the centre
coordinate of the lower left grid cell and the height and width are specified by the
number of rows and columns measured in grid cells respectively.
Advanced settings
The advanced settings allow you to control a number of properties relating to the
memory and temporary storage location that is used during gridding, the
resolution at which the initial data scan is done, and output grid data type. Details
of each of these properties are described below.
Options
This control is used to constrain the amount of physical memory (RAM) that the
software will attempt to use during the gridding process. The default control
setting is disabled and in this state the software will attempt to use up to 80% of
available physical memory (to a maximum of 2 GB) during gridding. While it is
possible to constrain the amount of RAM that is available to the software during
the gridding process; doing so will reduce the gridding performance significantly
if the software has to repeatedly page tiles of data between disk and memory in
order to perform the gridding operation.
To achieve best performance on large datasets it is advisable that you close all
running applications and free up as much physical memory (RAM) as possible
before commencing gridding. For very large datasets (>50 million points) it is
recommended that the software is run on a machine with between 2 and 4 GB of
RAM.
Note The gridding tool is a 32-bit program, and therefore cannot address more than
4GB of RAM on a 64-bit operating system.
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Controls the resolution at which the software initially scans the input data files to
establish the preliminary spatial statistics during the first phases of gridding. The
default behaviour is to scan all lines of the input data. It is possible to speed up
the initial scan of the input files by adjusting the scan data extents control to one
of the following settings:
Fine: scans approximately 12% (1-in-8) of the lines from each input data
file
Bounds: acquires the data extents from information stored in the files
(e.g. LAS or grid formats such as .ERS and, GRD) if available or performs
an Overview scan if unavailable.
For datasets that have a relatively even spatial distribution of input points setting
the scan data extents control to Overview will provide the best compromise
between speed and a representative statistical sample.
Temp directory
The Temp directory is used to temporarily store the spatially sorted input data tiles
which are used during the gridding process. If all of the input data can fit into
system memory then no temporary files will be created and the entire process will
occur in RAM. If the input dataset is very large (>10 million points) then it will be
necessary to store a copy of the input data on disk during the gridding process.
By default the temporary directory is set to the Windows system temporary
directory; however it may be necessary to map it to an alternative storage location
depending on the size of the input dataset.
Note You should always ensure that you have at least the same amount of free
temporary storage space as the total size of the input dataset. A good rule of
thumb is to set the temp path to a location that has 2x as much storage space as
the size of the input dataset.
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Gridding Methods
Triangulation
Data Density
Triangulation
If you are familiar with the input dataset and know in advance what the spatial
extents and distribution of the data is like and you have a good understanding of
the range of values in the field(s) being gridded then you can manually adjust the
gridding properties to suite the input and output data requirements.
Triangulation Properties
The triangulation properties can be used to influence the geometry of the data
structures, the number of points and memory that will be used to triangulate each
tile of input points.
19 Working with Surfaces 913
This parameter applies to the triangulation phase of gridding and can be used to
minimize or eliminate long thin triangles that may be created across large holes
or gaps in the data or between widely separated points that lie around the
perimeter of the dataset. By default triangles that are created with a length that is
greater than half the diagonal length of a tile will be discarded. The size of the tiles
used during triangulation are determined automatically by the software after it
analyses the spatial statistics of the input points, however you can modify the size
of the tiles by applying a Triangle patch multiplier.
This parameter is used to control the units of distance that the Maximum triangle
side length property is measured in. By default this control is disabled and the
maximum distance unit is expressed as a ratio of the tile (or patch) size. If you
wish to constrain the Maximum triangle side length to a fixed value that is
measured in absolute data units (e.g. 100 m) then enable this control and enter
in the appropriate value. If the entered value is large and exceeds the size of an
individual tile of data then it may have no effect on the output grid.
Note: If the coordinate system of the input data is Longitude/Latitude then the
absolute distance units need to be specified in fractions of a degree (Arc
seconds).
The triangle patch multiplier can be used to modify the number and size of tiles
(or patches) that the software will segment the input data into before sequentially
triangulating it. The tile size is automatically determined by the software following
a detailed analysis of the spatial statistics of the input data. Under special
circumstances the patch size can be modified by applying a Triangle patch
multiplier. Increasing the default value of 1 to a higher number will create larger
patches and may assist in the infilling of large holes or gaps in the dataset,
however it will also increase peak memory usage during the gridding phase. For
very large datasets increasing the Triangle patch multiplier will reduce the number
(but not the storage requirements) of temporary files that are created during the
gridding phase. For most datasets a patch multiplier of 1 or 2 will be sufficient.
Increasing the patch multiplier beyond a value of 4 would be rarely necessary.
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In order for the software work with huge datasets that could potentially contain
billions of points on PCs with limited available memory, the input data is scanned,
cleansed and stamped into a temporary grid. The grid is then divided into tiles and
each tile is then interpolated using the IDW algorithm. The intermediate grids are
either stored in memory or if there is insufficient memory available they are stored
on disk in temporary files. Once the dataset has been interpolated the output grid
is constructed by stitching together the interpolating tiles into a continuous grid.
The IDW properties can be used to influence the geometry and smoothness of
the output grid file.
Model
This parameter controls the weighting model that is used to average the data
points that are located within the search distance radius. The following four
weighting models are available:
Gaussian
Linear
Each input points weight is proportional to its Euclidian distance from the grid
node being interpolated. The linear weight model enables the Nugget and Range
parameters to be adjusted in order to vary the weight assignments. At distances
less than the Nugget distance the weight model will be 1 (i.e. all data will
contribute equally). At distances beyond the nugget value the weighting factor will
be applied according to the selected model. The Range parameter is used to set
the outer distance threshold for which the weight model is applied. Any samples
which exceed the Range and are less than the Distance radius will be assigned
an equal weight. The Nugget, Range and Distance radius values are measured
in increments of the output grid cell size.
Exponential
Each input points weight is proportional to its Euclidian distance from the grid
node being interpolated raised to the specified power. Increasing the power value
will cause smaller weights to be assigned to closer points and more distant points
to be assigned equal but large weights. Increasing power values will therefore
cause each interpolated grid node to more closely approximate the sample values
closest to it. As with the Linear model the Nugget and Range properties can be
modified to constrain that distance over which the exponential weight model is
most effective.
Power
The default option, each input points weight is proportional to the inverse of its
distance to the specified Power from the grid node. Increasing the weighting
power reduces the influence distant points have on the calculated value of each
grid node. Large power values cause grid cell values to approximate the value of
the nearest data point, while smaller power values will result in data values being
more evenly distributed among neighbouring grid nodes. The weighting value
defaults to 2 (i.e. the weight of any data point is inversely proportional to the
square of its distance from the grid cell) which is appropriate for most situations.
If required, the weighting value can be altered to any positive value.
Distance Radius
It is important to set an appropriate size for the search distance radius. Setting it
smaller than the average data spacing may result in a large number of the
interpolated grid cells being assigned a null value and therefore displayed as
transparent in the output grid. Conversely, if the search distance is set to be too
large then significant grid smoothing or artefacts may occur. The search distance
radius is measured in increments of the output cell size.
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Distance Taper
Taper controls allow you to apply a taper function to the interpolated value of each
grid node based on its distance to the nearest valid sample point. The taper
function is applied using a linear weighting model thereby adjusting the expected
grid node values towards the background value. Between a distance of zero and
the NEAR distance the taper function is assigned a constant value of 1 (i.e. no
modification is made to the grid node). Between the NEAR and FAR distance the
taper function is applied as a linear weighting between the grid node value and
the background value. Beyond the FAR distance grid nodes are assigned the
background value.
Stamping Method
This parameter controls the accumulation rules that are applied when multiple
data points fall within a single grid cell. There are several options available:
First Only: the first point value is assigned to the cell. All subsequent
points are discarded.
19 Working with Surfaces 917
Radius
The radius control defines a distance radius around a grid cell to search for valid
input points. Distance is measured in increments of the output grid cell size.
Clipping
The clip control provides a number of options for clipping the extents of the
interpolated grid, so that it more closely approximates the distribution of the input
data. Options available include
None
No clipping is applied to the output grid. With none selected the entire
output grid will be filled with interpolated values.
Near
The Near value represents the distance, in cell size increments, that the
grid is to be clipped back to from the convex hull of the data points. Areas
in the grid which lie beyond the Near distance will be assigned null.
Setting a Near only clip value will have the same effect as setting a buffer
clip distance.
Stamping Method
This parameter controls the accumulation rules that are applied when multiple
data points fall within a single grid cell. There are several options available:
First Only: the first point value is assigned to the cell. All subsequent
points are discarded.
Radius
The control defines a distance radius around a grid cell to search for valid input
points. Distance is measured in increments of the output grid cell size.
Clipping
The Clip control provides a number of options for clipping the extents of the
interpolated grid, so that it more closely approximates the distribution of the input
data. Options available include
19 Working with Surfaces 919
None
None
No clipping is applied to the output grid. With none selected the entire
output grid will be filled with interpolated values.
Near
TThe Near value represents the distance, in cell size increments, that the
grid is to be clipped back to from the convex hull of the data points. Areas
in the grid which lie beyond the Near distance will be assigned null.
Setting a Near only clip value will have the same effect as setting a buffer
clip distance.
Although the operational phases for these methods appear to be very similar,
there are important processing and operational differences between the two
techniques. It is important to consider these differences carefully when deciding
which gridding method to use. The primary operational difference between the
stamped minimum curvature and full minimum curvature methods is that the
stamped method is faster and requires less hardware resources (disk space
memory and processing power) than the full minimum curvature method. The
stamped minimum curvature method is generally faster because it does not
spatially sort or retain a full temporary copy of the input data during phase 3.
Instead it stamps the input data directly into a temporary grid. In contrast the full
minimum curvature method spatially sorts and stores a complete temporary copy
of the input data in addition to stamping the points into a temporary grid. The two
methods also differ during the final interpolation phase where the full minimum
curvature gridding operation loads the spatially sorted temporary data again to
complete the interpolation. Loading the data a second time requires additional
processing time.
The additional performance cost incurred by the full minimum curvature algorithm
is often rewarded in terms of better grid quality and estimation accuracy. The
method is able to produce a better estimation for grid cells that contain one or
more input data points. In comparison the stamped method may simply shift the
data values to the centre of each cell (depending on the data accumulation
methodology selected). The full method is able to make a better estimate of the
cell value in these cases by taking into account the actual position of the input
data value(s) rather than just the cell centre which may improve the estimates for
all surrounding grid cells.
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Due to the potential improvement that the full minimum curvature method offers
in output grid quality it is the recommended method, except where you determine
the improvement in the grid quality will not be detectable or significant, or that the
additional processing cost will be too high.
Re-interpolating existing gridded data onto a finer mesh. If the fine mesh is
carefully designed so that the centre of the existing grid cells always fall in
the centre of the cells of the new grid, then stamped minimum curvature
will return the same result as the full method. However, if the cells are
non-aligned then the full method will produce a better result.
The output grid cell size is very small compared to the input data spacing.
As a guideline if the grid cell size is 8x to 10x smaller than the input data
spacing. In this case the input data value will be close to the centre of the
cell into which it is stamped.
The output grid cell size is large compared to the input data spacing. As a
guideline if the grid cell size is 2x larger than the input data spacing then
you are more likely to want the grid cell estimation to represent the
average value of the observations within the cell.
Noisy data. If the input data has a high level of noise then there is little
reason to more accurately represent it by using the full minimum curvature
method.
Data Density
The Density gridding method produces a grid which records a measure of the
point density at each grid node. The density at each grid node is determined
independently using a kernel estimator function
19 Working with Surfaces 921
Given a kernel function K and a search radius (or bandwidth) h, the estimated
density at any point x is given by
1 n x x(i )
f ( x) = K ( )
n i =1 h
where n is the number of samples. The following kernel functions are supported:
Kernel K(u)
Uniform 1
I ( u 1)
2
Triangle
(1 u ) I ( u 1)
Epanechnikov 3
(1 u 2 ) I ( u 1)
4
Quartic 15
(1 u 2 ) 2 I ( u 1)
16
Triweight 35
(1 u 2 ) 3 I ( u 1)
32
Gaussian 1 1
exp( u 2 )
2 2
Cosinus
cos( ) I ( u 1)
4 2
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Radius
To achieve a good result with the Density gridding function it is more important to
choose an appropriate search radiussometimes referred to as the
bandwidththan to choose an appropriate kernel function. If the bandwidth is too
small the density will be under-smoothed whereas if the bandwidth is too large the
density will be over-smoothed and lacking in resolution. The radius distance is
measured in increments of the output cell size.
Normalise by area
This control converts the data frequency values into spatial density values by
dividing the value of each cell by the area of the search radius.
When enabled this control interprets the selected input field(s) as a count of the
number of observations at that location. It allows a single point to represent more
than one observation.
The data point separation gridding method produces a grid which records the
distance to the closest input data features to each grid node.
The distance radius specifies the maximum distance to search for valid input
points. The distance is specified in increments of the output grid cell size.
Output Grid
Data Type
The data type control is used to set the numeric storage type for the interpolated
values in the output grid. It is advisable to select the appropriate data type that
most efficiently represents the range of data that will be stored in the output grid.
For example a signed 2-byte integer is generally suitable for storing typical
elevation data at 1m vertical resolution. The table below lists the available options
and the valid data range that can be stored by each of the data types.
The automatic option will set the output format to an appropriate data type based
on an analysis of the input data range.
The output grid file(s) can be specified as either a single band ERMapper or BIL
format grid. Although both of these formats support multiple bands in a single file,
the grids created by the Large and Multi-file gridding tool can be extremely large,
so we have chosen to output each band (or field) to a separate grid file for
convenience. If multiple fields are selected for interpolation then multiple output
grid files will be created. The name of each file will be the user specified name
(e.g. MY_DEM) with the field name appended to it in square brackets (e.g.
MY_DEM_[elevation].ers).
In addition to the ER Mapper (.ERS) or BIL (.BIL) grid header and data files a
MapInfo .TAB file will also be generated for each output grid if the Auto open
output file(s) option is enabled.
Grid projection
When enabled the output grid file(s) will be automatically open into MapInfo.
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The Convert Vector File to Grid utility will convert either of the following vector
file types into surface grids:
2. Select the file type as either 2D (i.e. points, polygons, 'flat' contours
already opened in MapInfo) or 3D (i.e. TIN, Mesh, 3D contours).
First Object
Last Object
Minimum value
Maximum value
Average (Mean)
Range
Sum
Median
An interpolated DXF fault plane surface in the left image converted into an ERMapper grid
in the right image. Images from Encom Discover 3D .
The following input vector and output grid file formats are supported by this utility:
3D Studio .3DS)
AutoCAD .DXF
Datamine wireframe (point and triangle) .DM
ESRI TIN Files .ADF
Gemcom .BT2
GOCAD Vector .TS, .PL and .VS
Surpac wireframe .DTM .STR
Vulcan triangulation .00T
Note To produce an alternate grid view (other than top down or plan view), use the
Discover>Import and Export>Transform Vector File tool to first rotate and
swap the axes of your model. Once the axes have been rotated/swapped,
running the Vector File to Grid tool will provide a different aspect view of the
model.
Interrogating a Grid
Interactive Query
Summary Statistics
Interactive Query
To report grid cell values directly to the screen, click the Grid Info button on the
Surfaces toolbar. When the Grid Info tool is selected, place the cursor over the
surface grid and click with the left mouse button. The cell values for the grid cell
at the selected location plus the surrounding eight grid cell values are displayed
in the Grid Info dialog box.
Note This is similar to the MapInfo Info tool, but provides higher accuracy as well as
the surrounding grid cells location.
Summary Statistics
Surfaces>Grid Information
The Grid Information menu option enables a user to view a summary of grid
information and statistical parameters. Select the grid using the browse button in
the Grid Information dialog and Discover will populate the fields with the
corresponding grid parameters.
Note For large grid files, the Grid cells sampled for statistics calculations may be less
than 100% and therefore an approximation. This reflects the default sampling
settings in Surfaces>Grid Handler Preferences. To increase the accuracy of
the statistics sampling for a grid, use Surfaces>Precompute Grid Statistics to
recalculate the statistics at a higher sampling.
Note The Grid Coords reflects the embedded grid file projection if known. If this is
different to the MapInfo Coords projection, the grid file is registered differently in
MapInfo.
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Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Statistics
Use Grid Utilities>Statistics (see Using the Interactive Grid Utility Tool) to report
grid statistics within one or more polygonal regions.
When the Modify Grid Display tool is initially opened, the grid settings of the top-
most grid in the currently selected map window is loaded. If no grids layers exist
in the current mapper, no grids are loaded by default.
Use the Select button to choose the surface grid(s) to modify, and also the
primary grid to load statistics and display within the tool's Colour and Histogram
tabs.
Modify the display settings with the options on the Colour tab, Sun tab,
Histogram tab, or the Colour Table Editor.
Limit or clip the range of colouring for linear and equalized methods.
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Save and Load Customized Grid Display Settings, or load settings used
from another currently opened grid.
Apply any changes to the grids by clicking Apply. These are automatically saved
permanently within the TAB file metadata and associated metadata files, and will
look the same whenever/wherever the TAB file is opened again.
Use the Load and Save buttons to the right of the Current settings box to save
the current display settings. All settings except the layer transparency (see
Transparency) are saved with this option. Specifically this includes (if applicable)
the colour method, clip limits; value/percent/percentile breaks, colours and
transparency; the colour table, and sun-shading settings.
On the Colour Tab, if linear or histogram equalization method is used; select the
Full Grid check box to dynamically stretch the colour range (min/max) to grids
with different data ranges. If this option is cleared, the clip values are fixed for all
grids these settings are applied to.
1. Make the map window containing the grid you want to save the settings
from current, and then click Surfaces>Modify Grid Display.
On the Modify Grid Settings dialog box, click the Save button adjacent to
the Current settings box.
2. The currently saved settings are displayed as a tree in the Save Settings
dialog box.
3. Type the new name in the New name box or select an existing setting's
name to update from the User Settings branch.
4. Click OK. If you are saving to an existing name, you will be asked to
confirm before the settings are overwritten.
The settings are saved as a .TXT file (e.g. MySettings.txt) in the Discover
Config folder, in a grid colouring folder.
From the Save Settings dialog box, you can also rename and delete
existing saved settings.
19 Working with Surfaces 931
To rename, select the settings from the User Settings branch and click the
Rename button. Type the new name in the New name box and click OK.
To delete, select the settings from the User Settings branch and click the
Delete button. You are asked to confirm before the settings file is deleted.
You can then load the saved settings at a later time, or you can load the
settings directly from another open grid (without previously saving and
naming the settings from that map window).
1. Make the map window containing the grid you want to apply the settings to
current, and then click Surfaces>Modify Grid Display.
2. On the Modify Grid Settings dialog box, click the Load button adjacent to
the Current settings box.
3. Select the settings you want to apply to the current grid from the User
Settings (previously saved settings) branch.
4. Click OK. The settings are displayed in the Modify Grid Display dialog
box.
5. Click Apply.
2. Make the map window containing the grid you want to apply the settings to
current, and then click Surfaces>Modify Grid Display.
3. On the Modify Grid Settings dialog box, click the Load button adjacent to
the Current settings box.
5. Click OK. The settings are displayed in the Modify Grid Display dialog
box.
6. Click Apply.
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When you save or load display settings, the name is displayed in the Current
settings box. If at any time you modify the loaded settings, the name in the Current
settings box reverts to "Current Settings". The modified settings can then be
saved to a new name or an existing name.
2. On the Modify Grid Settings dialog box, click the Delete button adjacent
to the Current settings box.
3. Select the settings you want to delete in the User Settings branch.
4. Click Delete. You are asked to confirm before the settings are deleted.
Colour Tab
Methods
Transparency
Discover ships with a colour table library. Use the Select Colour Table pull-down
list on the Colour tab to choose a different colour look-up table from the library.
The selected colour look-up table is displayed in the preview colour bar on the
right side of the Modify Grid Display dialog. Click Apply to apply the colour table
to the current grid.
When using Histogram or Linear stretch methods, the colour table divisions are
automatically equally spaced across the minimum and maximum values to colour.
When using a Breaks method, the colour table is only applied to rows whose
colours are set to Automatic. When changing the current Colour Table with a
Breaks method selected, you will be prompted to change these to automatic.
19 Working with Surfaces 933
See Colour Table Editor for information about creating and modifying colour look-
up tables.
Methods
Linear Stretch
Histogram Equalisation
Percentage Breaks
Percentile Breaks
Value Breaks
Multi-banded RGB
Linear Stretch
Apply a linear stretch of the selected colour table to the grid(s) between the
minimum and maximum values.
If you intend to save and apply these display settings to other grids, select the Use
full range of data check box to dynamically apply the colour range to grids with
different data ranges.
Data values below the minimum and above the maximum are displayed with the
minimum and maximum colours, unless the Set outside min/max to
transparent check box is selected.
For more details on clipping/limiting the colour range, see Linear Stretch Auto Clip
and Clip and Limit Colouring Range.
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Apply a linear stretch of the selected colour table between a defined minimum and
maximum range.
Data values below the minimum and above the maximum are displayed with the
minimum and maximum colours, unless the Set outside min/max to
transparent check box is selected.
See Clip and Limit Colouring Range for more information on the clip options.
You can also view the data distribution, adjust the current clips, and apply using
the controls on the Histogram Tab.
Histogram Equalisation
For each grid, a histogram is created by dividing the range of the data into 1024
bins (equally sized intervals), and determine the count (number of cells) in each
bin.
It then applies colours so that there are approximately equal numbers of grid cells
displayed in each colour (this is achieved because all colour tables are based on
a maximum of 255 discrete colours, which are smoothly blended between
transitions).
For example for a grid with 1000 non-null grid cells, 1000/255 = 3.9. So for each
colour approximately 4 cells should be colour. If the first colour is pure red, a
cumulative count from the start of the histogram is performed until it is >=4. Then
the next colour is taken and the count reset to 0 and the process continues.
Data values below the minimum and above the maximum are displayed with the
minimum and maximum colours, unless the Set outside min/max to
transparent check box is selected.
By default the minimum and maximum data ranges are selected but these values
can be changed under Options. See Clip and Limit Colouring Range for more
information on the clip options. When the clips are adjusted, the equalised stretch
is recalculated based on the new sub-set of the histogram (i.e. all cells outside of
the min/max clip range are discarded and treated as null for the purpose of the
histogram).
You can also view the data distribution, adjust the current clips, and apply using
the controls on the Histogram Tab.
19 Working with Surfaces 935
Percentage Breaks
With some data, it can be useful to show the grid coloured into just a few ranges
based on threshold breaks. Each of these ranges would be shown in a different
colour to highlight the areas of interest.
Type a Percentage value (percent of any grid's data range) in the bottom blank
row. Alternatively use the list box below to automatically create:
Percentage Breaks (5) - creates 5 equally spaced rows; 20, 40, 60, 80,
100
Note Percentage Breaks (N) generates N rows and break values, however the last
values/rows will be at the maximum grid value, or 100%. Hence it will not be
visible in the histogram.
Automatic colour - set all colours to Automatically set from the currently
selected Colour Table
The breaks ranges can be edited or appended to by simply edited the row(s).
To delete a row, click on the first (grey) column to select the entire row, and press
the Delete key.
When editing, the Percentile (percent of non-null grid cells) and count of cells
falling in the break range is automatically calculated and updated.
Note This is a threshold value, so there is no need to enter 0. Any number between
1% and 100% is valid. Any values between the minimum (0%) and the first
Percentage break is coloured the colour of the first break. If 100% is not
specified, values above the maximum value and 100% are automatically set
transparent.
Alternatively select the row and then click in the Colour box to display the colour
palette. Colours can be selected from either:
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To blend the colours and smooth the breaks select Interpolate, see Interpolate
Colours.
You can also view the data distribution, adjust the current breaks and their
colours, and apply using the controls on the Histogram Tab.
Percentile Breaks
With some data, it can be useful to show the grid coloured into just a few ranges
based on threshold breaks. Each of these ranges would be shown in a different
colour to highlight the areas of interest.
Type a Percentile value (percent of non-null cells in any grid) in the bottom blank
row. Alternatively use the list box below to automatically create:
Percentile Breaks (5) - creates 5 equally spaced rows; 20, 40, 60, 80,
100
Note Percentile Breaks (N) generates N rows and break values, however the last
value/row will be at the maximum grid value, or 100%. Hence it will not be visible
in the histogram.
Automatic colour - set all colours to automatically set from the currently
selected Colour Table.
The break ranges can be edited or appended to by simply edited the row(s).
To delete a row, click on the first (grey) column to select the entire row, and press
the DEL key.
19 Working with Surfaces 937
When editing, the Percentile (percent of non-null grid cells) and count of cells
falling in the break range is automatically calculated and updated.
Note There may be a discrepancy due between entered percentiles and calculated
percentiles in the Count column. This is due to rounding (i.e. you can't have 0.5
of a cell in) and the nature of the statistics used for grid colouring.
Note This is a threshold value, so there is no need to enter 0. Any number between
1% and 100% is valid. Any values between the minimum (0%) and the first
Percentage breaks is coloured by the colour of the first break. If 100% is not
specified, values above the maximum value and 100% are automatically set
transparent.
Alternatively select the row and then click in the Colour box to display the colour
palette. Colours can be selected from either:
To blend the colours and smooth the breaks select Interpolate, see Interpolate
Colours.
You can also view the data distribution, adjust the current breaks and their
colours, and apply using the controls on the Histogram Tab.
Value Breaks
With some data, it can be useful to show the grid coloured into just a few ranges
based on threshold breaks. Each of these ranges would be shown in a different
colour to highlight the areas of interest.
Note Values are not recalculated for each grid the same absolute numbers are
applied to each grid, regardless of the original primary grids statistics. In
particular the statistical methods are only valid for applying to one grid and will
not be re-usable on grids with different data distributions, histograms and
statistics. Also, if a value falls outside the current grids range, it will be ignored.
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Type a grid value (numeric value of a cell) in the bottom blank row. Alternatively
use the Listbox below to automatically create -
Note Value Breaks (N) generates N rows and break values, however the last value/
row will be at the maximum grid value, or 100%. Hence it will not be visible in the
histogram.
Mean Breaks (N) - calculate N number of values, where N=1 is the mean
average of the current Primary grid's min and max. E.g. the second row =
Mean + 1*(Mean-min), the third row = Mean + 2*(mean-min) etc.
If the value is outside the range of the grid, the row/break is automatically
removed.
If there are values above N*Mean, these are automatically set to transparent.
Note If a value is outside the range of the primary grid, it will be discarded. Hence you
may get less than N number of breaks generated.
If there are grid values below (mean - N*Std Dev), or above (Mean +
N*Std Dev); these are automatically set to transparent.
Note If a value is outside the range of the primary grid, it will be discarded. Hence you
may get less than N number of breaks generated.
Natural breaks are based on natural groupings inherent in the data. The
boundaries are set where there are relatively big differences in the data
values. For example, in a multi-modal distribution with 3 local maxima (or
'peaks' in the histogram), use a range of 3 to classify the values between
the corresponding minimum inflection points.
Below the first natural break and above the last natural breaks are set to
colours, and no transparency is applied.
Automatic colour - set all colours to Automatically set from the currently
selected Colour Table
The break ranges can be edited or appended to by simply edited the row(s).
To delete a row, click on the first (grey) column to select the entire row, and press
the Delete key.
When editing, the Percentile (percent of non-null grid cells) and count of cells
falling in the break range is automatically calculated and updated.
Alternatively select the row and then click in the Colour box to display the colour
palette. Colours can be selected from either:
To blend the colours and smooth the breaks select Interpolate, see Interpolate
Colours.
You can also view the data distribution, adjust the current breaks and their
colours, and apply using the controls on the Histogram Tab.
The 100% button can be used to reset all values to the primary grid's Full data
range.
Regardless of the clip type used, all values on the dialog are updated with
corresponding data value, percentage and percentile (data count) for the current
primary grid.
Full Grid (100% button) The full range of each grid is used, and the
stretch is determined on a per-grid basis
Value Specify a data value, which may be outside the current grid's data
range, the stretch the colour table between
Note In this mode the full range of colours in the colour table may not be visible on
some or all of the grids.
Percentage (99%/99.9% button) For each grid, the range of the data
(Grid maximum - grid minimum) is determined and a percentage of this is
removed. For example if a grid had a range of 0-500, then a 0%-90% clip
would set the colour min/max to 0-450.
For example if there is a total of 1000 non-null grid cells in a grid, but only
10 cells have a value greater than or equal to 500. Then a 0-99%ile clip
will set the upper colour limit to 500.
Multi-banded RGB
When you have opened a multi-banded grid, select the Multi-banded RGB
option. This will enable the ability to set the red, green and blue colour bands,
which are then stretched across the data range. Areas with high values (relative
to their band) in all 3 bands will be light or white, and low values will be darker
colours.
Optionally you can define a Intensity Band which is used for sun-higlighting and
sun-shading, via the Sun Tab controls.
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Note In Multi-banded RGB mode, the Histogram tab is disabled. Also colour table
editing/selecting is disabled as it is not compatible.
Interpolate Colours
Under the Options box, select the Interpolate between colours check box to
smooth the transitions from one colour band to the next. This is a similar effect as
when colour tables applied with the linear or histogram stretch. This does not
affect transparent bandsthe boundary between a transparent band and a colour
band is not smoothed.
Transparency
Note Layer transparency is not saved with the grid display settings or the TAB file -
stored within the MapInfo Workspace file (.WOR)
Note Intrinsic Null values in grids are always rendered as transparentto check the
NULL value, see Surfaces>Grid Information. However, when assign values or
interrogating the NULL value is ignored, whereas transparently colour values will
still be used in all calculations and processing.
Use the Transparency slider to set a transparency level for the grid.
Transparencies can be set between 0% (opaque) through to 100% (not
visible).
Click the colour box on the range and select Transparent. This option is
only available with user-defined breaks (percentile, percentage and value
breaks).
The Interpolate Between Colours option will not applying any blending
of colour across any ranges set to transparent.
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Colour look-up tables can be created and modified using the Colour Table
Editor. The colour table tables are stored in the folder specified under the
Settings button in the colour table editor.
The format of colour table files varies depending on the saved format type.
Supported types are:
ER Mapper (.LUT)
Note Some colour table files may display values or percents in additional columns of
comments fields. These are ignored by the Modify Grid Display tool and only the
relative index number is used for any colour mapping.
The Colour Table Editor dialog is divided into functional areas. On the left is a
scrollable list showing all the available colour table. Beneath this list are New and
Delete buttons for creating and removing colour table tables. In the centre of the
dialog the selected colour table is displayed showing the various colour settings
for each of the rows specified in the colour table with descriptive comments if
required. At the top of the dialog is the selected colour table name, an colour table
description and the actual filename. On the right of the dialog is a preview of the
entire colour table as it would be applied. The buttons at the base of the dialog
are used to control the distribution of colours in the colour table.
Once a colour table has been specified it can be stored using the Save button
(into the colour table directory), or into a different location and with a different
format if required using the Save As button. The above colour table formats are
provided as options when the Save As dialog is displayed.
To edit any colour table, Select HSL or RGB from the Colour Interpretation pull-
down list. Left-mouse click any of the Colour cells of a row to select a colour from
the standard colour palette. Use the Custom option to create additional colours.
To create a colour spread over a range of cells colour and select two end member
cells in non-adjacent rows by holding down the SHIFT or CTRL key. Click the Interp
Selection button to fill the intermediate blank cells with graduated colour. Use the
Clear Cells button to remove colour from highlighted cells.
To view the Red, Green, Blue values for each row check the Show RGB values
box.
Selected cells can be all set to match the FIRST selected cell using the Duplicate
button. This always operates from the top-most selected cell down, irrespective
of the order in which the cells were selected. Extra rows can be added or deleted
using the Insert or Delete Rows buttons.
Colour tables are stored and loaded from a specified folder under the Settings
button. By default this is the same folder that Drillhole Legends (.LEGS) are also
stored in.
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Sun Tab
The source sun position used for shading and highlighting are independent,
however you cannot enable sun highlight without enabling sun shading.
To view sun shading and highlight modifications automatically in the grid check
the Auto Apply box. Otherwise enter the sun details and click the Apply button
when complete to change the grid display.
Sun-Shading tab
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Sun Shade
Check the Sun Shade box and enter a sun Angle (bearing or azimuth) between
0 and 360. Enter a Sun Elevation (inclination angle) between 0 (horizon) and
90 (overhead). The position of the sun is displayed in the preview window as a
sun icon. Alternatively, click on the Sun icon in the preview window and drag to
the desired sun angle and elevation.
The Saturation is used to compensate for the overall darkening of a lower sun
position. For example with a overhead sun position, a Saturation = 0 will match a
non-shaded grid. At a sun elevation of 45, and shadow set to 0 to remove
shadow affect, a Saturation = 33 will match a non-shaded grid. And at a elevation
of 0 then Saturation = 100 will compensate and flat areas will look the same as
a non-shaded grid.
Note For an overhead sun (90), increasing the saturation from 0 will result in the grid
being brighter and more white than the non-sun shaded grid file. Hence the
default value is 0.
Intensity affects the compensation for the overall darking of a lower sun
elevation, similar to Saturation. However where saturation is applied globally
across the grid, Intensity is only applied to areas that are facing the Sun Shade
position.
Note That with a Saturation of 0 to remove this effect, even a Sun Shade Intensity of
100 (by itself) cannot make any particular cell brighter/whiter than the non-sun
shaded grid file. Hence a default value of 100 is used. However using a value of
Saturation larger than 0 may create areas actually brighter, effectively adding
sun highlighting in addition to sun shading.
Shadow level controls the amount of darkening applied to areas facing away from
the sun. A value of 100 will make a cell with a slope = (sun Angle +/- 180)
completely black, regardless of intensity and saturation settings.
Sun Highlight
Check the Sun Highlight box and enter a sun Angle (bearing or azimuth)
between 0 and 360. Enter a Sun Elevation (inclination angle) between 0
(horizon) and 90 (overhead). The position of the sun highlight is displayed in the
preview window as a light globe icon. Alternatively, click on the light globe icon in
the preview window and drag to the desired sun angle and elevation.
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The Sun intensity controls how bright or "white" areas facing the sun's position.
Unlike the Sun Shade's Intensity, this intensity will make areas bright and whiter
than the non-sun shaded grid file.
However the sun highlighting intensity still is relative/interdependent with the Sun
Shade's Saturation.
Histogram Tab
Note The Histogram and Colour tabs are directly linked so when values are changed
on one tab they are directly reflected on the other tab.
The current colouring method is displayed in the top left hand corner and it can
be changed by selecting it from the Generate list box. See the Colour Tab for
more information on the grid colour Methods available.
To view the value, percent and percentile at any place in the histogram move your
cursor over the histogram and it appears in the top left hand corner.
Note Although data values can be altered using the trend line, manual inputs can be
specified using the text boxes located beneath the Histogram.
To add a new break, double left click the mouse at the desired location in the
histogram. It can then be dragged and repositioned.
19 Working with Surfaces 947
To delete or remove a break, drag the break line to the very left or right edge of
the histogram and release it. It will automatically be removed.
As the method changes and the clips/breaks altered, the colour distribution will be
altered automatically.
To manually adjust the colour scheme when in breaks mode, right click anywhere
on the histogram to expand a selectable colour palette.
When a grid is initially opened or created in Discover, statistics are calculated and
stored in a .GHX file along with the file. This includes a histogram with the data
range (max-min) divided into 1024 bins, and the count (number of cells) in each
bin range determined.
This in then used through the Modify Grid Colouring tool to apply the statistical
colouring information to all grids - for example for Histogram equalization
calculations and for quickly determining the min/max value of a grid.
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Note For a large file, only a subset (1 in every nth row) maybe used to generate the
histogram. You can check this under Surfaces>Grid Information, by the
number of cells sampled for statistics. Throughout the Modify grid display tool
the grid cell counts are all "scaled" by the sampling factor (100%/n%) to correct
for the sub-sampling
Display a legend relating the grid colours to data values. A legend appropriate to
the display style is generated and may be added to a layout window for printing.
The legend is created as a table in the same directory as the original grid. The
grid legend annotations are displayed in a separate Labels table.
Note If the grid display has been modified using the MapInfo Map>Modify Thematic
Map utility, the Discover legend will only display the original grid colour
parameters. To create an updated grid legend, select the Make Legend for Grid
menu option again.
Filtering Grids
Surfaces>Grid Filter
The Grid Filter is a powerful tool that provides the following functionality:
Apply Fill Holes to remove internal holes within the grid, based on the
surrounding grid values.
To access the Grid Filter dialog, a grid must be open in a map window. Select
the Surfaces>Grid Filter menu option to open the Grid Filter dialog:
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The Grid Filter dialog with input, raw and filtered grid previews
Additional grids can be loaded from within the dialog using the Browse button.
Specify the grid format from the Files of Type entry in the Open dialog.
Once loaded, the grid content is displayed in the three preview windows.
Note Grid Filter supports unlimited large grids, except for Grid Utilities>Fill Holes
and Convolution>Advanced filters. These are limited to 50 million cells
(including padding).
Preview Windows
The Full Input Grid window displays the entire original input grid. The Raw and
Filtered windows may show either the entire grid or a portion of the input grid. The
Filtered preview window displays the output grid with the selected filters applied.
19 Working with Surfaces 951
To examine the effects of the filtering process more closely position the cursor in
the Raw or Filtered preview window. When the cursor is placed in one of these
preview windows initially it is displayed as a magnifying glass. Click the left-
mouse button to zoom the view inside the Raw and Filtered preview windows. To
return to the previous zoom view, click the left-mouse button again. To pan a
zoomed view, click the right-mouse button and when the cursor hand is shown,
drag the zoomed image to display a new view.
If the input grid is larger than 400 x 400 rows and columns, a small rectangle is
drawn over the original grid in the Full Input Grid window. This rectangle
indicates the portion of the grid that is being processed in the other preview
windows. The rectangle can be selected by the cursor and moved to a new part
of the input grid if required.
Grid information relating to the size, rows/columns and data within each of the
three preview windows is using the Information button. If a preview window is
zoomed or has one or more filters applied the three grids will contain different
grid data content as indicated in the Grid Information dialog:
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Grid Information for three preview windows with zoom and filter applied
Padding
1. Fill internal holes in the grid based on interpolating the surrounding cell
values by the minimum curvature algorithm, similar to the method used in
Create Grid, to populate the hole's cells.
2. Subtract from this grid a constant value to normalise the dataset (typically
the mean of median is used).
3. Set the nulls surrounding the grid to 0, adding 0 cells to make the grid
square, and a extra buffer padding margin, as set under the Grid Filter
Settings.
Note It is recommended to always use padding, and padding is required for FFT
filters.
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Note You cannot mix Geophysical FFT and non-FFT filters in the same filtering run.
Filters are applied in the order listed. The processing is applied such that the
output of one operation is the input of the next. This means that complex
processing can be applied cumulatively. To alter the order of operation, use the
Up and Down button to the right of the operation list. To remove a selected filter,
highlight it in the filter list and click the Delete button.
The Grid Filter dialog automatically updates to display the effect of the selected
filters. More than one filter can be applied with a cumulative result. The Filter
Properties area details any controls that apply to a highlighted filter. These
controls may include kernels, required wavelengths and filter specifications.
Filling Holes
The Fill Holes grid utility is used to replace nulls in a grid by interpolating the
surrounding data values. For more information, see Fill Holes.
Once the desired combination of filters has been selected and an acceptable
output presented in the Filtered preview screen, press the Save As button to
create an output grid file. By default this will add a suffix to the input grid file name
denoting the filters applied and save it in the source file directory.
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All files, including any temporary and optional output grids, will be stored in this
output folder. You may need up to 5 times the input grid size in disk space in this
directory, to include the temporary and optional files. To automatically display the
filtered grid in a new MapInfo map window after saving to the nominated output
file, check the Auto open output grid box.
Note File names greater than 30 characters in length can be ambiguous when used
with certain tools in MapInfo (such as the Layer Control). Discover displays a
warning of this limitation if the specified output file name exceeds this limit.
Click the Settings button to access preview display, padding options, and Fast
Fourier Transform options.:
The Show preview headings option toggles the text display in the preview
screens on or off.
The Zoom level can be specified as default integer value: an entry of 5 will zoom
the area to 5 rows/columns for each one seen in the original, upper preview
window.
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The Padding Margin is appended to the original grid and can be saved for
examination if required by checking the Save padded grid box.
The Restore nulls in final grid will restore any internal holes from the input grid
in the final output, which is part of the unpad process. If you un-tick this, it will
effectively produced a final output grid which includes the Fill Holes filter result.
The Z offset is a constant number which is subtracted from the input grid during
the padding process. This is necessary as the grid will be padded with 0 cells, and
to remove edge effects typically the input grid needs to be normalised around 0.
For certain grids a more appropriate value to normalise to is the median or
minimum or maximum values. These can be used by select Use Specified Value
and manually entering the appropriate value.
When applying a FFT filter, the transformed Frequency domain grids, both Real
and Imaginary components, can be saved by ticking Save FFT grid.
Contouring a Grid
Creating Contours
Contour Smoothing
Labelling Contours
Creating Contours
Surfaces>Grid Contouring
Discover's Grid Contouring tool can rapidly contour gridded surfaces of any file
size (including multi-gigabtye sized grids). It will generate a MapInfo Professional
vector table of polylines, each attributed with a Z values. The Grid Contouring tool
can process:
Multiple input grids forming tiled coverage of a region; all input files must
have the same projection (use the Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Batch
Process>Reproject tool (see Reproject) to batch reproject multiple
grids).
Workflow
By specifying Minor and Major contour values; the Major value will
be automatically limited to multiples of the set Minor value.
5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 100, 150, 200, 250, 500
A contour level file is very useful when the sample data is a non-
normal distribution. Contours can be created to show more detail in
one part of the data range than others. For example, a soil grid with
gold values in the range of 0.01 to 25 ppb could have closely
spaced contours in the range 10-25ppb, but be contoured using
more widely spaced values below 10 ppb.
5. Discover can Colour the resulting contours with the options presented in
the Colour section (far right):
Colour from Source Grid: this till use the input grid's colour
scheme (as set by Surfaces>Modify Grid Display) for the resulting
contours. If multiple input grids are selected, this option will be
disabled.
7. The output contour file defaults to the input grid location with a '_contours'
suffix; these can be modified the Save As button
8. The output contour file's Projection can changed from the input file/s,
allowing easy reprojection for massive datasets.
10. A detailed process log will open, indicating the status and time remaining
of the contouring process. This can be paused or stopped at any time.
Upon contouring completion, the contour file will open into a new MapInfo
Professional mapper window.
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Contour Smoothing
Interpolate - Contour lines are smoothed by sub-dividing the grid using bi-
cubic interpolation This can greatly improve the appearance of the
contours, though the size of the contour table is increased due to a higher
density of nodes. Three levels of interpolation are available; Low
subdivides each cell into 4 sectors (2x2), Medium subdivides each cell
into 16 sectors (4x4) and High subdivides each cell into 64 sectors (8x8)
Decimate - This reduces the density of the input grid, which can
significantly speed up processing for very large input datasets, at the
expense of reduced resolution. Low decimation reduces groups of 4 cells
(2x2) into 1 cell, Medium decimation reduces groups of 16 cells (4x4) into
1 cell and High decimation reduces groups of 64 cells (8x8) into 1 cell.
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Contouring tips
When very large output contour files are generated (exceeding MapInfo
Professional's table file limits), the Grid Contouring file will generate a
series of contour files numerically suffixed. These will not be automatically
opened, but a prompt will indicate these files need to be manually opened.
When processing very large input files, the Grid Contouring tool requires a
significant amount of free memory for processing. If the source file drive
has insufficient available space, a prompt may be displayed requesting a
different drive to utilise for processing operations.
Grid Contouring can handle multiple input grids (e.g. tiled datasets), but all
input grids must be in the same projection. This can be ensured using the
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Batch Process>Reproject tool [hyperlink].
Labelling Contours
Discover can add Z value labels at user-specified intervals to contour lines. The
labels are created as MapInfo text objects in a chosen layer, such as the cosmetic
layer. Discover adds labels to any attributed contour plan that has a column for
contour level value.
This option can also be used to add line-parallel labels to other linework such as
rivers or roads.
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The contour labels are placed parallel to the contour lines as normal text objects.
If the contour plan and labels are then viewed at a different scale to that specified
in this dialog, the Z value labels appear at a proportionately different size.
The distance between labels along each contour line is controlled via the Place
Annotation every option. The number of labels on any individual polyline can
also be capped to a maximum number.
The Contour Label Positioner dialog, configured to only create labels for the 5m and 10m
contour levels.
Using the Contour Label Positioner. The left hand image displays the source contour lines
19 Working with Surfaces 963
(coloured) and 3 intersecting label path lines (blue), the intersection of which will control
label placement. The right hand image shows the resulting labels. Note that only specified
contours were labelled, using the Minor and Major Label Intervals (illustrated in the dialog
image)
This tool requires two tables to be specified: the Contour Lines table (created
using the Surfaces>Contour Grid option) and a Label Path Lines table. The
Label Path Lines table must be a separate table to the contour lines table and
contain one or more lines or polylines that intersect the contours. Label path lines
drawn in the Cosmetic Layer cannot be used (use Map>Save Cosmetic Objects
to save them to a new table).
Label path lines should generally be drawn at a high angle to the contour
lines; this will create labels that are approximately parallel to the contour
lines.
The output labels will be orientated perpendicular to the label path line: a
vertical line will result in horizontal labels). The label path line start point is
used as the label up direction. Drawing label path lines from left to right,
and from top to bottom of the mapper window, will therefore generally
result in logically orientated labels (i.e. upright). Note that line directions
can be reversed using the Discover>Object Editing>Change Line
Direction tool.
To orientate all labels horizontally (i.e. ignore label path line directions),
select all labels, and select the Discover>Map Making>Format Text
menu option. Tick Alter text labels, and set the New Angle to 0. All labels
will be rotated so that they are horizontal.
A small number of label path lines can be quite effective, particularly when
placed along major features such as ridge lines and gullies.
The Contour Label Positioner will label all intersecting contour lines by default.
This option can be disabled, allowing only specific contour levels to be labelled
(the examples pictured label only the 5m and 10m contours). These labels can be
saved to a new or existing table. If a new table is created, it will include a
Cont_Label field attributed with the appropriate contour value.
Note As with all Discover labelling tools, it is recommended to first create labels in the
cosmetic layer in order to refine their size (using the font size and scale controls).
These can be easily cleared using Map>Clear Cosmetic Layer. Once a
satisfactory label size has found, either specify a new table to create the labels
into (from within the tool), or save the cosmetic layer to a new table. Note
however that labels saved to the cosmetic layer do not store the contour value as
an attribute.
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The grid query tools provide a convenient method of creating MapInfo polygons
that cover the areas of the grid that meet the grid query criteria.
The Select by Value query tool can be used to select all grid cells greater or less
than a nominated value or between two selected values. Grid cells that match the
selected criteria are combined into a single polygon with non-contiguous grid cells
combined into a multi-polygon (a polygon that is made up of individual polygon
components but contains only one browser record).
The fill and line style for the created polygons can be selected using the Regions
Style buttons. Select an appropriate name and location for the grid query polygon
table. If no name is selected the grids will be named consecutively GridQuery1,
GridQuery2, etc and stored in the default directory location.
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Create coloured vector polygons from selected areas in a grid based on grid cell
data ranges or percentiles.
The Select by Multiple Value Ranges query tool can be used to select all grid
cells which fall within entered percentile or data ranges. Grid cells that match the
selected criteria are combined into a single polygon with non-contiguous grid cells
combined into a multi-polygon (a polygon that is made up of individual polygon
components but contains only one browser record).
Open the Select by Multiple Value Ranges dialog and select the input grid from
the Select Grid pull-down list.
Vector polygons may be created from the following multi-value range methods:
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Percentile
Create and colour vector polygons from grid cells values according to the
percentile range that each grid cell value falls within. A percentile is a
value on a scale of 100 that represents the percent of a distribution that is
equal to or less than the entered value. For example, gridded geochemical
data may be extracted to regions using percentile ranges of 30, 60, 80, 90,
95, 98 and 100%. Each of these percentile ranges would be shown in a
different colour to highlight the areas of interest.
Enter a percentile into the Levels window and left-mouse click in the
Colour box to display the colour palette. Select a colour and repeat
process for each percentile.
Value
Create and colour vector polygons from grid cells values according to the
data range that each grid cell value falls within. The data values entered
will be used to create polygons from grid cells whose values are equal to
or less than the entered value.
Enter a data value and left-mouse click in the Colour box to display the
colour palette. Select a colour and repeat process for each data range.
Output Options
By default the output vector polygon table is named using the original input grid
name with a _query extension and saved to the same folder. To modify the new
table name or location click on the Save button.
The Draw Grid Profile function provides a powerful tool for identifying and
analysing trends or spatial relationships between gridded surfaces. Profiles for
one or more lines or polylines can be generated across multiple gridded surfaces
or contour plans.
Profiles over multiple surfaces may be displayed together to show, for example,
topographic relief together with magnetics and soil geochemistry, allowing
relationships between the surfaces to be examined. Additionally, vector data such
as surface geology polygons and fault lines can be draped over the profiles,
further enhancing the analysis.
A single selected polyline profiling 3 individually coloured grids (a DEM and two
geochemical surfaces). Note that the current cursor location in the profile preview is
marked on all three profiles, as well as being indicated spatially by a red star in the mapper
window. The geochemical grids have both been Scaled and Offset using the controls
discussed in step 8 below.
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To create a profile:
2. Make the cosmetic layer editable in this map window, and draw one or
more lines/polylines across the grid regions of interest
4. Select a line in the cosmetic layer: the dialog will refresh, displaying the
profile of the selected line across each underlying grid surface.
Note If the display does not automatically refresh, ensure that the Auto Update from
Selected Line option is enabled under the Profiler Options>Data tab (accessed
via the Options button).
6. If multiple grids are open, their display in the Profiler can be controlled by
pressing the Options button at the bottom right if the dialog. In the Profiler
Options>Data tab, press the Select Grids to Profile button. The
following controller allows the current mappers grids to be unselected/
selected by moving them left and right.
7. To colour code the profiles (in order to differentiate for example between a
profile of aeromagnetics versus gravity), select the Profiler
Options>Legend tab. Use the browse button to the right of each grid to
set a different colour for each grid.
Note By default, the X:Y axis scaling ratio is automatic, which fits the minimium and
maximum values to the display window. To override this, navigate to the
Options>Display, and clear the X:Y axis scale Auto check box.
8. Note that the Profiler Options>Legend tab also provides controls for
Scaling and Offset of each individual grid. This is useful when trying to
control the magnitude and positioning of geochemical/geophysical profiles
with respect to a DEM/topographic profile.
Note The X axis units are determined by the distance units set under the Map
window's settings in Map>Options>Distance units.
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9. Click in the Profiler preview area: a marker will be placed on each profile
relating to this horizontal position in the preview. Simultaneously a symbol
(default star) will be placed in the mapper window on the selected line/s
indicating the associated location. This is a dynamically updated interface,
allowing you to easily relate features on the previewed profile to spatial
locations in the mapper window.
10. To create a permanent profile, press the Export button in the main Profiler
dialog. Select a TAB file name and location, and press Save. The profile
as previewed in the dialog will be opened into a new MapInfo map
window.
Data Selection
Profile lines
They can be selected before opening the Profiler tool, or once it has been
opened
By default the profile preview is automatically updated when new lines are
selected. This can be disabled via the Auto Update from Selected Line
option in the Profiler Options>Data tab. To update the preview manually,
press the Update Profile button
To control grids from within the Profiler tool, select the Options button,
and press the Select Grids to Profile button in the Profiler Options>Data
tab. In the following dialog, ensure that the required grids are listed under
the Selected list; move grids not required to the Unselected list. If you are
selecting a contour layers, you may be prompted to select the Z field to
use in the profile.
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1. Ensure that the polygon vector map is open in the map window (does not
have to be visible)
The intersection of profiles with coincident polyline data such as faults, drainage,
tracks/roads, lineations, etc, can also be displayed:
1. Ensure that the polygon vector map is open in the map window (does not
have to be visible)
Multiple profiles over a DEM, coloured by a coincident polygon geology table, with
drainage polyline intersections indicated by blue squares.
Interrogating Profiles
The Info tab of the Profiler Options dialog includes a Show Info Tool option. With
this enabled, the cursor will report the profile's Distance, Value and X and Y
coordinates at that point. This report can be either continuous (enable the Mouse
Moves option in the Info tab), or only upon Button Clicks.
Simultaneously, the profile points location in the mapper window can be displayed
if the Show position in MapInfo option is enabled.
To permanently mark a points location in the mapper window, right click on the
location in the preview window, and choose Mark Point. A symbol will be placed
in the mapper window using the style set under the Grid Options>Display
tab>MapInfo mark symbol control.
The preview window profile can be zoomed in using either the mouse scroll
wheel or by selecting the zoom buttons.
It can be panned by using by holding and dragging the right mouse click, or
selecting the pan hand button.
19 Working with Surfaces 973
You can reset the position of the preview window by clicking the reset button.
You can change back to the normal mouse pointer by selecting the button - this
can display the mark within MapInfo and/or show the profile info at the selected
point.
The initial colour of profiles is controlled by the colour of the selected line/polyline,
which can be a useful way of distinguishing between multiple profiles over a single
gridded surface.
The Scaling and Offset of each profile/grid combination can also be controlled
from this dialog. This can be useful when trying to display multiple grids with large
differences in the magnitude of their data ranges. For example, base metal soil
sampling grids often have values in the tens of thousands: to display these over
a topographic grid may require a scale factor of 0.1 or 0.05. An offset may then
be applied to ensure that the profiles are presented in the same Y axis range.
Profiles can also be Smoothed in the Profiler Options>Legend tab. This filters
the line by applying a weighted average algorithm across the line. Note that point
values will not necessarily be honoured when smoothed.
Line-of-Sight
The line-of-sight function allows you to determine which areas of profile surface
will be visible from the start of a straight-line profile.
1. Select a straight line to profile in the Map Window, along with any grids/
contours surfaces you wish to view.
2. Select the Options buttons. Under the Data tab, select the Line of Sight
option.
3. Enter a height above the start of each profile to view from e.g. The top of a
view tower or building.
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4. Each profile will now be coloured, where green is visible and red is not
visible.
Note Only single line profiles are supported. Polyline profiles will not be coloured by
Line of Sight.
The Display and Axis tabs of the Profiler Options dialog provide controls for the
following:
Axis display
Background colour
By default, the X:Y axis scaling ratio is automatic, which fits the minimum and
maximum values for the display window. To overriide this, navigate to the
Options>Display, and clear the X:Y axis scale Auto check box.
Note The X axis units are determined by the distance units set under the Map
Window's settings in Map>Options>Distance units.
Output
The Profile Preview can be saved permanently as a MapInfo table, using the
Export button. This table will reflect any customized colours, scaling, offsets,
polygon and polyline intersections, etc displayed in the preview.
19 Working with Surfaces 975
The Create Voronoi Polygon function generates Voronoi polygons from a set of
input points.
Voronoi Polygons are polygons that enclose one point with the border of each
polygon. The polygon boundaries are located at the midpoint between
neighbouring points. Voronoi Polygons are the inverse of a triangular irregular
network and cover an area that may be thought of as the area of influence for
that data point. The area within the Voronoi polygon boundary is closer in distance
to the central Voronoi polygon data point than any other data point in the table.
Discover generates Voronoi Polygons from selected points in the front map
window. By default, the created Voronoi Polygons extend no further than the
outer boundary of the group of selected points (the convex hull). However, the
Voronoi Polygons may be extended by any distance outside of the convex hull by
specifying the distance in metres or degrees.
A bounding polygon may also be used to contain the extent of the Voronoi
Polygons. Select the bounding polygon region, and then also ensure the points
are opened in the same map window. Then select the Voronoi polygons menu
tool, and a boundary select will be applied to the polygon to select the objects in
the next layer underneath the boundary polygon, regardless of whether the next
layer is selectable/visible or not.
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When the polygons are created, they have the same table structure as the points
table on which they were based. This enables the polygons to be easily coloured,
queried or thematically mapped.
Calculating Curvature
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Volume
To calculate volumes between two grids, use Grid Utilities>Volume (see Using
the Interactive Grid Utility Tool). The Grid Utility tool also provides options for
calculating volumes above or below an elevation (by level) and reporting cut-and-
fill volumes between two surfaces.
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Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Volume
Calculating Curvature
Use Grid Utilities>Curvature (see Using the Interactive Grid Utility Tool) to
calculate the curvature of a grid.
Use Grid Utilities>Cut Fill (see Using the Interactive Grid Utility Tool) to
calculate the volume added and removed between two grids.
Use Grid Utilities>Surface Area (see Using the Interactive Grid Utility Tool) to
calculate the.non-planar area, planar area and roughness of a grid.
Available grids are displayed in the scrollable list at the top of the dialog. This list
is initially populated by all grids currently open. Further grids can be added to the
list using the Load Grid button, and removed from the list using the Delete Grid
button. Use the Information button to obtain details of a selected grid.
Grids can be assigned an alias name to enable the shortening of complex file
names for ease of use in the expression line. For example, the grid file
Rockchip_samples_As_210503 can be simplified to the alias name X. This
enables the following simple expression output=X/(X*2) to be entered into the
expression line rather than full grid name. To create a grid name alias, double
click on the relevant cell in the Alias Name column and type the desired alias
name.
Note In the Grid Open dialog a range of supported grid formats are available. The
Grid Calculator can be used to convert grid formats if required. Grid to grid
computation can also be performed irrespective of the input formats or
requested output format.
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If the input grids cells are not co-incident, the data is interpolated to create the
same grid geometry between each input grid.
If the input grids have different cell sizes, the largest cell size will be used during
the computation and output grid.
Use the Resample utility to make the cell size of each input grid the same. Use
Grid to Grid Clip utility to make the bounds coincide. If grids have a differing cell
size, they will be resampled using a nearest neighbour method, to the largest cell
size.
Note The Grid Calculator may require up to two-times the input grid file size in
available memory on the destination drive.
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Creating an Expression
The Grid Calculator expression line and button controls are shown below.
Note In the above example, a new grid (named Regolith_Grid) is to be created from
subtracting an existing grid from another (Spot_Heights - Basement).
To add a grid to the expression line, place the cursor at the desired location in
the expression (if not already there), highlight the grid in the grid list and press
the Add Grid button.
output = function(input)
A new grid file alias must be entered on the left-side of the expression. By default
this is "output". This alias is automatically used by default for the output grid file
name when the output grid is generated.
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Click the individual operation buttons to enter the operation into the expression
line. Formulas can be entered directly into the expression line by keyboard entry
or by selecting the appropriate fields and buttons via the Grid Calculator.
The Recently Used Expression button opens a drop down list of functions last
used in the Grid Calculator.
The Save As button enables an expression to be saved to a text file. Use the
Load button to re-load the saved expression into the Grid Calculator dialog.
The actual output grid file name can be to be specified when the expression is
computed in the Output section or using the file Save As button. If the output file
name is not changed, the alias name is automatically saved. The Output grid file
type can also be selected from the Format drop down list. The Compute
Summary statistics option enables the calculations of grid statistics which are
used by Discover's Grid Handlers to display the grid in MapInfo Professional.
When the expression is completed, press the Compute button. If the syntax is
correct, a progress window is displayed as the Grid Calculator processes the
expression. If there is a syntax error in the expression line the following dialog is
displayed:
Once the calculation is finished the new grid will automatically be opened in a map
window.
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Note To use the Grid Calculator for a simple grid format conversion, use an
expression in the form Newgrid=Oldgrid, and specify the new file format in the
output section. An easier alternative is to use the Surfaces>Grid
Utilities>Convert tool.
Manipulating Grids
Surfaces>Grid Utilities
Interactively process a single file with a single tool by selecting the tool
from Surfaces>Grid Utilities (see Using the Interactive Grid Utility Tool)
For information about the tools available, see Grid Utility Tools.
Refer to the following table for utilities that are memory limited (require large
amounts of RAM to process large grids) or support batch processing of large
multi-gigabyte grid files
Classify
Clip
Convert
Create RGB
Curvature
Cut Fill
Edit
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Fill Holes
Flip
Merge
Outline
Overlay
Replace
Reproject
Resample
Rotate
Shift
Slope
Split
Statistics
Surface Area
Vectorize
Viewshed
Volume
You can also manipulate grid cell values by expressions with the Grid Calculator
(see Computing Cell Values by Expressions).
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The upper portion of the Grid Utility dialog displays all available open grids. Use
the Browse button to add a grid to this list. If you wish to apply operations to a
new flat grid, use the Create New Grid button.
The Utilities button displays a pull-down list of the available grid utility tools.
Select a utility to display a description and the control parameters in the main
portion of the Grid Utility dialog.
Depending on the grid utility selected, a range of parameters and options may be
required to be entered, altered or selected. These are detailed for each Grid Utility
(see Manipulating Grids for list of tools).
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Note Grid Utilities that operate on multiple grids (e.g. Volume, Grid to Grid Clip,
Merge) require all source grids to be in the same projection and have the same
cell size. Use the Reproject tool to change the projection of a grid and the
Resample tool to change the cell size.
The Information button displays the registration and statistics for the selected full
input grid, and the current preview tile before and after grids.
Preview Window
The two grid windows on the right side of the Grid Utility dialog display Before
and After views of the selected grid. As the grid selection or function is changed,
the After preview window is redrawn and updated with the changes. Note that the
visual changes occur in memory only and are not permanently saved until you
specify and save an output grid using the Save As button.
To modify the appearance of a grid in the preview window click the Use Colour
Look-Up table button to toggle between a grey-scale or colour grid display. To
toggle between a linear or equal area histogram colour stretch use the
Histogram Equalisation button.
Pointer mode Change the cursor to this mode to select a position or cell value
in a grid. The corresponding coordinates and cell value will be displayed in the
bottom left of the dialog.
Zoom In or Out Select a zoom mode and click in one of the preview panes.
The zoom-in tool will halve the preview window zoom width, and the zoom-out
tool doubles the preview window width.
Pan the image by positioning the cursor in the preview window, and then
(holding down the left mouse button) dragging to a new location. The redrawn
image is centred on the new location.
View the extent of the grid in either Before or After preview pane windows.
1:1 zoom ratio, such that 1 grid cell equals 1 pixel on screen.
Click Reload the preview tile, if the Before preview window has panned or
zoomed outside the currently previewed bounds, and is not automatically
reloaded.
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The Column and Row position of the cursor in the preview window is displayed
underneath the navigation tools.
At any time in the processing of a grid, the Stop button can be used to halt
computation and return to the previous state.
To change the Grid Utilities settings, click the Settings button on the Grid
Utilities dialog. From this dialog, you can:
Display crosshairs in the After window when using the Edit grid utility.
Cross hair cursor display enabled via Show selected cell in preview Setting
Display the Full Input Grid", "Before and After text in the preview
windows.
When the input and output data are scaled differently, and it is necessary
to apply a new colour stretch to the output grid, select the Use separate
colour stretch for After preview check box.
Automatically load the first grid opened in MapInfo Professional into the
Grid Utility dialog by select the Load default grid without prompting for
grid selection check box. If there is not a grid in the front Map window,
the user is prompted to select a grid file.
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When panning and zooming outside the bounds of the currently loaded
preview area, select the Automatically load new tile when preview
panned or zoomed to update the Before preview from the full input grid.
To change the maximum grid size that can be loaded into memory, review
the Maximum size of grid for limited utilities setting, in millions of cells,
that can be processed by memory restricted tools. The default 200 million
limit is the upper limit of what can be processed on a typical modern
computer.
Once a grid utility has been applied to a grid and an acceptable output presented
in the After preview screen, click the Save As button to create an output grid file.
By default the output grid is named using the original grid with an appropriate
suffix based the grid utility applied and saved to the original file directory.
If the input grid file does not have an associated TAB file or an embedded
projection with an EPSG code, a dialog will be displayed with a prompt to choose
a projection for the output grid. This will be used to display the grid within MapInfo
Professional, and if it is a compatible file type, embedded in the grid file for
automatic display in third party applications.
The projection selected must be the same as the original source grid, otherwise
the grid will not display correctly. The only utility which allows the conversion of
grid projections is the utility.
A number of grid utility tools can be run in an automated batch process. There are
four ways the Batch Process tool can be used:
To process multiple files with the same utility and settings. For example,
clipping a number of grid files to a single polygon area.
To script a number of files with different utilities and settings. For example,
if you have a number of large files to process.
3. Select the grid files for processing or use the Open button. Select multiple
files by holding the CTRL key. Click OK.
4. Select the grid utility tool to process the files, and click OK.
5. Select a grid and click the Edit button, or double-click to open the utility
settings.
6. Adjust the settings for the selected grid. For more details on each utility
options, refer to the individual tools listed in Manipulating Grids.
7. Use the up and down arrows to reorder the grids, which are executed in
order from top to bottom. Ensure that any intermediate output grids are
created before being processed by another utility. For example, ensure
the grid is reprojected into the correct coordinate system before being
clipped by a polygon vector file.
Note The input grid file must exist before it can be processed in batch mode. If
necessary, a dummy text file can be created and used as a placeholder.
8. Once settings are configured for each grid, click the Save button to save
the batch settings.
Note Batch utilities runs sequentially. Processing is not multi-threaded with multiple
CPUs.
Classify
Classify each grid cell into one of a number of ranges.
Clip
Define a region using an irregular polygon or rectangle and remove the
portion of the grid that lies within or outside this region.
Convert
Input a data grid in one format and save to another grid format.
Create RGB
Combine separate grids having red:green:blue colour signatures to a
single, multi-banded RGB grid file.
Curvature
Compute curvature of each cell in a grid.
Cut Fill
Compute the differential volume of material added/removed between two
grids.
Edit
Display and edit a selected grid cell. View surrounding grid cell values.
Fill Holes
Replace nulls within or around a grid by minimum curvature interpolation
using the surrounding call values.
Flip
Invert the rows or the columns of a grid in their location either horizontally
or vertically.
Merge
Merge several grids with different extents to form a new grid.
Outline
Create attributed polygons outlining the bounds of multiple grids.
Overlay
Modify grid cell values based on vector object attributes in a specified TAB
vector file.
Replace
Replace grid values within a specified range (such as nulls or nominated
values) with another value or null.
Reproject
Reproject a grid into a new coordinate system.
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Resample
Re-interpolate a grid to a new cell size using one of three available
interpolation schemes.
Rotate
Rotate a grid about its origin or centre.
Shift
Apply an easting or northing offset to the origin of a grid.
Slope
Calculate the slope angle or aspect (dip direction) of each cell in a grid.
Split
For multi-banded grids, split the bands into separate, component grids.
Statistics
Compute statistics for a grid, or the cells contained by one or more
overlying vector objects, or by regions in a classified grid.
Surface Area
Compute the 3D surface area, planar area, and roughness of cells ina
grid.
Vectorize
Convert a grid into polygons defining individual cells, non-null regions,
regions of discrete values, or the grid bounds.
Viewshed
Compute the view-shed of one or more towers of a specified height above
the grid to an observer at a specified height above the grid.
Volume
Calculate the volume between two grids or the volume of a grid above or
below an elevation (Z).
Classify
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Classify
Large grids
Batch processing
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The Classify grid utility enables an input grid to have the value of each cell
classified into one of a number of ranges. By default the input grid is automatically
classified into 5 bins. Each bin represents an equal data range spread between
the minimum and maximum grid values. The output cells are assigned a bin value
of 1 to 5 based on the input cell value range.
Click the Auto button to modify the Input classification range and the Number
of classifications or bins in the output grid. By default, the bin or classification
values start at 1 and increase by 1, but can be changed by setting a new Output
value start and Output value step. These settings are saved in the registry and
are used as the defaults next time the Classify utility is run.
To edit a bin range, click the From, To, or Value box and type or edit. To
specify a null value, type null.
To insert a new row, select the row after where you wish to insert, and click
Insert row.
To delete a row, select the row and click Delete row. Hold down the SHIFT
or CTRL keys to select multiple rows for deletion.
If grid has been coloured by range breaks, click the Load ranges from
grid's colouring breaks button to populate the From, To, and Value
boxes so each bin falls into pre-existing data breaks ranges.
Large grids
Batch processing
Note Both input grids must have the same projection and grid cell sizes.
1. Select the Main grid (i.e. the grid to be clipped) from the listing of available
grids at the top of the Grid Utility dialog.
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2. Select the Secondary grid to clip against (i.e. the grid whose extents the
source grid will be clipped to) in the Clip to Grid pull-down list. If this is a
multi-banded grid, select the appropriate band from the adjacent pull-
down.
Clip
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Clip
Large grids
Batch processing
Note The input grid and vector file (if specified) must have the same projection.
When a grid is clipped, where possible, the size of the grid is minimised and nulls
and unused whole rows or columns removed. This can substantially reduce the
size of a large grid if only a small portion is extracted.
Clipping is based on the grid cell centre. Hence, cells that are intersected by the
boundary are not necessarily included. To increase the clipping accuracy, use the
Resample tool to reduce the cell size.
1. Select the grid to be clipped from the listing of available grids at the top of
the Grid Utility dialog.
Select the Clip grid to region action to remove the portion of the
main grid which lies outside of the clipping region.
1. Select the grid to be clipped from the listing of available grids at the top of
the Grid Utility dialog.
Select the Pointer mode tool and, in the After preview window, click
at any corner of the desired rectangle and drag the cursor to the
opposite corner.
Select the Clip grid to region action to remove the portion of the
main grid which lies outside of the clipping region.
Convert
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Convert
Large grids
Batch processing
Selected grids can be converted (or exported) to an alternate grid format. The
formats available are:
Arc/ESRI ASCII
Arc/ESRI FLT binary
BIL
ERMapper
Geosoft
ASEG GXF
MapInfo MIG
Minex
Surfer
Vertical Mapper
Note The projection will usually be preserved in the output format if it is supported.
But the colouring and appearance will not be preserved in third-party software.
1. Select the grid to be converted from the listing of available grids at the top
of the Grid Utility dialog.
2. From the Save as type box, select the output grid format.
Create RGB
Large grids
Batch processing
The Create RGB utility allows three grids (assigned to the primary colour bands
Red:Blue:Green) to be combined to produce a single RGB image. These images
are generally used to display multi-component data such as spectrometry (for
example, Potassium, Uranium and Thorium).
The input grids can be Range Clipped by either a single percentile, multiple
percentiles or multiple value ranges. Data within the specified range will be
assigned a value of between 0 and 255. Input data below the bottom clip will be
assigned a value of 0, whilst data above the top clip will be assigned a value of
255.
The Thresholding option assigns an output value of 255 to all input data within
the specified clipping range. All data outside this range is assigned a value of 0.
This will produce an image of up to 8 colours (black, white, red, green, blue,
yellow, cyan and magenta).
Note Each input grid must have the same projection, data extents, and grid cell sizes.
Curvature
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Curvature
Large grids
Batch processing
The Curvature utility calculates the curvature of a surface at each cell centre.
Three types of curvature grids are available:
Curvature is computed for the centre cell (e0) within a 3x3 kernel such as:
19 Working with Surfaces 997
e1 e2 e3
e4 e0 e5
e6 e7 e8
where
The Profile Curvature is estimated along the direction of maximum slope and is
computed as:
The Plan Curvature is estimated across the direction of maximum slope and is
computed as:
The Surface Curvature is the difference between the Profile and Plan and is
computed as:
Surface Curvature = -2 (D + E)
A positive curvature indicates that the surface is upwardly convex at that point,
whilst a negative curvature indicates that the surface is upwardly concave. A
value of zero indicates that the surface is flat.
Cut Fill
Large grids
Batch processing
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The Cut/Fill utility calculates the volume difference between two grid files, and
creates a new grid file in which each cell represents the volume difference.
It also classifies the areas where material has been added or removed. For two
grids of the same area at different time periods (i.e. temporally related), a grid or
vector file can be created representing the regions where material has been
added, removed or remained unchanged.
The volume between the two grids is calculated by subtracting each bottom grid
cell Z value from the corresponding top grid cell Z value and then multiplying by
the top grid cell width (X) and height (Y).
Note Both input grids must have the same projection and grid cell sizes.
1. Select the first/initial grid in the top grid list - it will be populated in the
Before grid area.
2. Select the final grid from the After Grid pull down list (if a multi-banded
grid is selected, choose the appropriate band from the adjacent pull-
down).
0 no change in volume
The output vector file (.TAB, .MIF or .SHP) will also be attributed
with the cell Count, Area and Volume change for each region. The
option Make generated regions hollow will produce uncoloured
vector regions.
4. Press the Save As button and select the output file name, location and
type.
The following additional values will be displayed within the Cut/Fill dialog when
the Before and After grid is selected:
Fill Volume (1) the volume where the After grid is above the Before grid.
Cut Volume (2) the volume where the After grid is below the Before grid.
Volume Change the volume difference between the two grids (the Fill
Volume minus the Cut Volume).
Edit
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Edit
Large grids
Batch processing
Select and modify individual data values in a grid. The Edit utility displays all the
grid cell values in spreadsheet row and column format.
Select the Pointer mode button in the preview area and move the cursor over a
grid cell in the preview window. The spreadsheet is automatically re-displayed to
show the data values of the selected grid cell and the surrounding grid cells. If the
level of zoom is inappropriate, select the magnifying glass zoom in or out buttons
and adjust the view.
To enable more accurate selection of a grid cell check the Show selected cell in
preview box in the Settings dialog. The cursor location in the preview window is
now displayed as a large cross-hair.
To modify a selected grid cell, double-click inside the spreadsheet cell and enter
a new value.
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Selected grid cell and displayed data value available for editing
Right-click on a cell to display the shortcut menu: Copy Selection, Paste, and
Fill Selection. The Fill Selection option allows the currently selected cells to be
populated with either a constant user-defined value or null value.
Fill Holes
Large grids
Batch processing
The Fill Holes utility is used to replace nulls in a grid by interpolating the
surrounding data values. Two Fill Holes options are available:
The method used to fill holes is based on interpolation the surrounding cell values
by the minimum curvature algorithm, similar to the method used in Create Grid,
to populate the hole's cells. Note that this does not support large grids.
Flip
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Flip
Large grids
Batch processing
Flip a grid horizontally and/or vertically. Two flipping options are available:
Flip horizontally
The order of the columns in the grid is reversed to produce a horizontal
flip.
Flip vertically
The order of the rows in the grid is reversed to produce a vertical flip.
Merge
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Merge
Large grids
Batch processing
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Note Both input grids must have the same projection. For best results, the grids
should also have the same cell size.
Within the Merge grid dialog area, select the source grids from the pull-down list
and use the Add (or Add All) button to add these to the Grids to merge window
below. Selecting grids from this pull-down list will not force a refresh of the
preview screen each time a grid is selected, which is useful when dealing with
large grids. The preview screen can be manually refreshed using the Update
button. Grids can be removed from the Grids to merge window using the
Remove button.
A primary grid must be highlighted in the Grids to merge window; the Merge tool
will use this grids cell dimensions for the output grid.
Minimum
Maximum
Average
Sum
Grid order
Grid Order
To adjust the ordering of layers, use the Up and Down arrow buttons next to the
list. The first grid in the list will be the top-most value used if it overlaps with other
grids. The last grid in the list value will only be used when no other grids overlap it.
Interpolation will be used to resample any differing grid cell sizes to the largest
cell size, select from -
Bilinear - the value of a grid cell in the new grid is assigned the weighted
value of the four surrounding grid cells in the original grid.
Nearest Neighbour - simple interpolation whereby the new grid cell value
is taken from the closest grid cell in the original grid.
Outline
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Outline
Large grids
Batch processing
The Outline utility allows the bounds of multiple grids to be outlined as polygons
in a single output vector file. Each bounding polygon is attributed with the source
grid file name, and its minimum and maximum X and Y coordinates.
Overlay
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Overlay
Large grids
Batch processing
The Overlay utility enables grid cells to be classified using points, polygons, and
polylines from a specified MapInfo TAB or MID/MIF vector file. The dialog is
enabled once an appropriate vector file is opened using the Browse button.
Note The input grid and vector file must have the same projection.
The Overlay tool allows both the Overlay value (cells overlayed by the vector file
objects) and the Background value (non-overlayed cells) to be specified to:
In addition the Overlay Value can be set to a numeric field from the selected TAB
file, by selecting the Overlay Field. If there are any overlapping objects in the
vector file, the numeric value from the field can be handled according to the
options:
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First Object
Last Object
Minimum value
Maximum value
Average (Mean)
Range
Sum
Median
The method used to determine if a grid cell is located within a polygon, is whether
the centre point of the cell is located within the polygon. Note that some partially
covered cells may not be included due to this. To increase the accuracy you can
use the Resample utility to decrease the cell size.
A Buffer zone may be specified by the user to control how wide these objects
appear in the overlay output. The default buffer zone of 0 means that a polyline
will create an overlay that is approximately one grid cell wide. e.g. A buffer value
of 15 will create a line overlay with a width of 30 metres (15 metres each side of
the line). Points will result in a circular coverage with a radius equal to the buffer
zone. Polygon boundaries are also extended by the buffer amount.
Replace
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Replace
Large grids
Batch processing
Replace all instances of a specified grid cell value with a new value.
This operation is especially useful when manipulating null values within grids. The
value of a Null may differ with different grid formats but the Grid Utility
compensates for this.
Reproject
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Reproject
Large grids
Batch processing
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Surface grids can be reprojected between projected (e.g. UTM), geographic (e.g.
lat-long) and custom coordinate systems. This operation relocates the various
pixel locations in the grid through an interpolation method to match the requested
output coordinate system.
In the .TAB file associated with a registered grid the coordinates for the grid
extents are stored as both real-world coordinates and grid pixel coordinates along
with the coordinate system details. When a grid is reprojected to another
coordinate system, a new grid and .TAB file is created containing the real-world
coordinates in the new projection and the new coordinate system details. The
following example details how to reproject an elevation grid from UTM projection
AMG Zone 55 (AGD84) into MGA Zone 55 (GDA94) projection.
1. Select the source grid from the list of available grids at the top of the Grid
Utility dialog. This will populate the Source coordinate system with the
grids projection.
Note If the tool cannot recognise the grid projection, use the Choose button to select
the appropriate source projection. Alternatively, ensure that this grid is in the
front mapper window before opening the Reproject tool to automatically
populate this projection.
2. Use the Choose button under the Target coordinate system window to
select the output projection using the Category and Category Members
options.
Note The projection list available in the Discover Grid Reproject utility is stored in a
separate file to the MapInfow.prj file. Therefore not all the projections in the
MapInfow.prj will be available for selection in this utility. If you wish to reproject
grids into a custom coordinate system which has been added to the
MapInfow.prj file then copy the custom projection line into the Encom.prj file
located in the (Windows XP) C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Encom\Common\Projections or (Windows 7 and
8) C:\Users\All Users\Encom\Common\Projections folder.
Bilinear - the value of a grid cell in the new grid is assigned the
weighted value of the four surrounding grid cells in the original grid.
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5. Select a name for the reprojected grid file by clicking on the Save As
button.
By default, a new reprojected grid file and .TAB file are created using the
original grid name and a _reproject extension. To change the output file
name, click on the new name and modify. Click Save to create the
reprojected grid files.
Note Check the Use NTv2 grid-shift method if available box when reprojecting grids
between NAD27 and NAD83 Canadian coordinate systems or AGD66 and
AGD84 Australian systems.
Resample
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Resample
Large grids
Batch processing
The Resample utility enables new grid cell dimensions to be calculated for a grid.
Specify a New cell Height or a New cell width for the interpolated cells. The
height and width are the same because Discover can only use square grid cells.
Bilinear - the value of a grid cell in the new image is assigned the
weighted value of the four surrounding grid cells in the original grid.
Nearest Neighbour - simple interpolation whereby the new grid cell value
is taken from the closest grid cell in the original grid.
After a cell size and method have been chosen, click the Update button to force
the preview processing to proceed and review the result in the preview pane.
Rotate
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Rotate
Large grids
Batch processing
Rotate a grid a specified angle. An angle that is positive causes the rotation to be
clockwise and a negative angle will rotate the grid anti-clockwise. Grids may be
rotated about the grid centre or the bottom-left hand corner. Three interpolation
methods are available for the rotated grid cell values:
Bilinear - the value of a grid cell in the new image is assigned the
weighted value of the four surrounding grid cells in the original grid.
Nearest Neighbour - simple interpolation whereby the new grid cell value
is taken from the closest grid cell in the original grid.
Shift
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Shift
Large grids
Batch processing
The Shift utility enables the origin of a grid to be moved horizontally and/or
vertically. Specify an Offset from the original grid X or Y origin or enter New grid
origin X and Y coordinates manually Once the shift parameters are entered click
the Update button to display the new grid origin in the After preview pane.
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Slope
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Slope
Large grids
Batch processing
The Slope utility analyses the eight cells surrounding each grid cell and
determines the slope angle in degrees or the slope direction for each grid cell. The
slope angle or direction is then stored as the cell value for the output grid.
The slope direction is measured in degrees clockwise from the grid Y (north) axis.
The slope direction indicates the downwards direction of the maximum gradient
(slope) of the cell.
(180/pi) x atan2(dz/dy,-dz/dx)
Where dz/dy is the rate of change from above to below the cell (vertically) and
dz/dx horizontally across the cell's left and right neighbours.
The rate of change in the x direction for cell 'e' is calculated with the following
algorithm:
The rate of change in the y direction for cell 'e' is calculated with the following
algorithm:
The slope is the maximum value of slope across the cell, where a percentage
value of 100% is equal to 45 degrees gradient. the algorithm calculates this by
comparing each of the 8 neighbour cells, and then
Split
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Split
Large grids
Batch processing
The Split utility enables the individual bands of a multi-banded grid (including
RGB grids) to be output to single band grids.
Statistics
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Statistics
Large grids
Batch processing
Grid cells within classified regions in another classified (i.e. integer) grid.
Number of cells
Variance (average of the square of the difference between the cell value
and the mean)
For large grids, only the preview tile area statistics will be displayed until the Save
As button is used to process the full grid and save the results.
Any statistical values which can be computed, for example due to no valid cells in
the region or negative values, will be written as -9999.
Integer Grid
An "integer grid" is a grid which has been classified into a set of discrete values,
i.e. by using the Classify tool. Typically these will be integers, but it may also be
decimal numbers and can contain null areas.
The regions used for statistics will be area of the integer/classified grid which have
the same value (including null value).
When Save As is clicked, or the batch process run, a grid will be created
containing cells attributed by the select property.
Note Each input grid must have the same projection, cell size, and should overlap.
Vector File
If a unique identifier field exists for each vector object (e.g. sample number, rock
code, etc), this field can be set as the ID Field. The attributes in this field will be
used as an identifier in the output file for each vector object., The Objects to
process option allows the user to either create statistical output for all object types
in the vector file, or one style in particular (points, lines or polygons).
Note The input grid and vector file must have the same projection.
19 Working with Surfaces 1011
If an object lies partially or entirely outside the grid file extents, this portion of the
object will ignored for the statistics. For example, a polygon which is half area
outside the grid, will still be 0 or 0% null cells, provided there are no null cells in
the grid. Averages etc will be calculated based on the cell count, not the polygon
area.
Clicking the Save As button will create a new MapInfo vector file named
vectortablename_stats), with each input object attributed with its calculated
statistics (as well as the ID Field if specified). These statistics can also be
exported to either a Comma delimited (*.CSV) or Tab delimited (*.TXT) file using
the Export Statistics button.
The method used to determine if a grid cell is located within a polygon, is whether
the centre point of the cell is located within the polygon. Note that some partially
covered cells may not be included due to this. To increase the accuracy you can
use the Resample tool to decrease the cell size.
Surface Area
Large grids
Batch processing
The Surface Area utility calculates the total 3D surface area and 2D planar area
for a grid. It also calculates the roughness of the surface, which is the surface area
divide by the planar area. A perfectly flat grid (i.e. where every grid cell has the
same value) will have a roughness of 1.
The values for the total grid are reported in the dialog in the same units the grid
is defined in. Individual grid cell surface area or roughness values are saved to
the output grid.
The algorithm calculates the 3D area by diving each cell into 8 triangles, and
calculating the side length of the triangles by accounting for the slope of the cell
edges. It then calculates the area for each triangle. This is similar to creating a
vector TIN and calculating the surface area of this.
Note The preview for either the surface area or roughness will look almost identical
with histogram equalization applied, but the value of the grid cells will be
different.
Vectorize
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Vectorize
Large grids
Batch processing
The Vectorize utility will convert a single grid into a vector file of one or more
polygons, using one of the following modes:
Each grid cell of the input grid is converted into a square polygon in the
output MapInfo TAB or MID/MIF file, attributed with the grid cell value.
Each output region cell is assigned a grey-scale colour value based on the
input cell value using a simple linear stretch on the data range.
Each unique value in the grid is analysed for contiguous areas and a
polygon boundary drawn around these. This will produce a vector map
with polygons bounding areas of homogenous grid values, each attributed
with the unique region valuer. Each output region is assigned a grey-scale
colour value based on the input cell value using a simple linear stretch on
the data range.
This produces a separate polygon for each contiguous area of valid (non-
null) grid data. For instance, a series of polygons outlining coastlines
could be generated from a DEM by first using the Classify tool to set all
grid cells with sea level heights (and lower) as 'Nulls', then Vectorizing the
resulting grid using this mode.
Produces a polygon outlining the area covered by the grid cells. This
creates the same result as using the Outline tool, except only for a single
grid.
The appearance of the output polygons are controlled by the following options:
Select the Outline regions check box to display the polygon outline
(black).
Select the Fill regions check box to colour fill each polygon. The colour fill
is determined by:
It is recommended that large grids are resampled (see Resample) to a larger cell
size prior to using the Vectorize utility to reduce the number of vector polygons.
Viewshed
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Viewshed
Large grids
Batch processing
The Viewshed utility computes the view-shed from one or more locations of a
specified height above the grid to an observer at a specified height (terrain offset)
above the grid. The areas of the grid that lie within the line of sight are saved to a
new grid. This is a useful tool when considering, for instance, the spatial coverage
provided by a series of telecommunication or repeater towers, or the positioning
of fire observation platforms.
Note The input grid and vector file must have the same projection.
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The Viewshed origin is the location from which the line of sight is to be
calculated. The X and Y position of the Viewshed origin can be manually
entered or selected by clicking the arrow tool and selecting a location in the
Before or After preview windows. Alternatively, one or more viewshed origins
or tower positions can be specified by using a MapInfo TAB or MIF file containing
point locations. This TAB/MIF file may optionally include the following fields:
sweep azimuth, sweep angle, height, maximum distance and ID field. These
optional fields can be specified for the appropriate parameters (below) allowing
each viewshed origin to have differing values (e.g. different tower heights and
IDs) instead of a single Constant value.
The Height or z-value is the height of the view-point origin above the specified
grid; this may represent a structure such as a transmission tower.
The Maximum distance is the radial extent around the viewshed origin or tower.
The line of sight is calculated for each grid cell within this radius.
19 Working with Surfaces 1015
Sweep Angle and Azimuth controls are available, limiting the view from a
Viewshed Origin to the specified bearing range.
Setting a Terrain offset adds the specified value to each grid cell (e.g. the height
of a receiver or person) and is incorporated into the line of sight calculation.
The curvature of the earth can also be taken into account when calculating the
view-shed by specifying a Curvature Model. If this option is selected, the grid
distance unit needs to be selected to allow the scaling of the earths radius to the
correct units.
2 (in/out)
Denotes whether a cell is visible or not from the viewshed origin.
3 (in/fringe/out)
Denotes whether a cell is visible, not visible or on the fringe when viewed
from the viewshed origin.
Grid if multiple viewshed origins are used (via a .TAB or .MIF file), the
tool can Create a separate coverage grid for each viewshed origin.
The output grids will be suffixed with the ID Field (if assigned), otherwise
a 1, 2, 3, etc suffix will be used.
Note For best results with this tool, it is recommended to enable the Histogram
Equalisation and Look-Up Table options.
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Volume
Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Volume
Large grids
Batch processing
The Volume utility computes the volume between two grids, or between one grid
and a constant Z value. Examples of use include calculating the volume between:
A DEM (top surface) and the same DEM after open-cut mining (Overlay a
series of attributed polygons representing mining benches) (bottom
surface).
Upper and lower depth surfaces for a heavy mineral layer in mineral
sands
Note Each input grid must have the same projection, cell size, and should overlap.
For large grids, only the preview tile area statistics will be displayed until the
Process button is used to process the full grid.
The volume between the two grids is calculated by subtracting each bottom grid
cell Z value from the corresponding top grid cell Z value and then multiplying by
the top grid cell width (X) and height (Y). Each individual grid cell volume is then
added together to compute the final volume. If a constant Z value is used, this is
subtracted from each cell Z value in the grid and used to calculate the volume.
Compute volume of main grid above secondary grid: only those cells
where the main grid lies above the secondary grid are used to calculate
the volume
Compute volume of secondary grid above main grid: only those cells
where the secondary grid lies above the main grid are used to calculate
the volume
19 Working with Surfaces 1017
Compute total volume between the two grids: all overlapping cells are
utilized to calculate the volume, regardless of which grid in is top. The
difference between cell values is treated as absolute i.e. all values are
positive.
The planar area calculated for the main grid selected is also displayed. This can
also be calculated using the Surface Area utility.
Note To save a calculated volume grid, where each cell represents the volume
difference at the cell, use the Cut/Fill tool.
The Grid Tiler allows large grids to be sub-divided or tiled into a number of equally
sized smaller grids. This is useful when a grid file is either too large to open or
import into MapInfo, or too large to modify or interrogate with the Surfaces menu
tools.
1018 Encom Discover User Guide
1. Open the Grid Tiler (the source grid does not have to be open within
MapInfo)
2. Using the File Open button at the top right of the dialog, select the source
grid file (if the grid is already open within MapInfo, select it from the top
pull-down list). A preview of this grid is displayed along with the grid size
information
3. In the Tile Layout section, set the number of tiles to divide the source grid
into in both the East-West and North-South orientations. See Tile Layout
for further information.
5. By default the output grid tiles will be created in the same directory as the
source grid: this can be modified in the Tile Naming section.
6. The output tiles will be named by adding a suffix to the input file name. A
number of suffix options exist see Tile Naming below for more
information.
7. Select the output Tile Format (formats available are ERMapper, BIL,
Encom or Surfer grid formats and press Create Tiles. The grid tiles will be
automatically registered in the same projection system as the input grid
file.
Tile Layout
In addition to setting the number of tiles to create along the X and Y axes, you can
instead define the size of the tiles by the distance (width or height) or the number
of cells (rows or columns). An Overlap can also be defined between adjacent tiles
as a percentage of the distance (width or height), or by a number of cells (rows or
columns). The overlap interval is applied to both sides of each tile (east and west
or north and south).
If the size of tiles does not divide evenly into the input grid dimensions, the edge
tiles will extend slightly past the source grid bounds. The Crop to grid option will
crop these tiles to the extents of the input grid. The Origin can be set to the Top
left or Bottom left so that these edge tiles will be located at the Bottom or Top row
of the grid. Cropped are always located at the right side of the grid.
19 Working with Surfaces 1019
Tile Naming
The suffix applied to the output tiles can either be a Name-Column-Row or Name-
Row-Column format. For either format, the initial tile Origin (i.e. 01x_01y) must
be specified as either the bottom left or the top left corner tile.
The E-W or N-S components (i.e. Column and Row suffixes) of the output tile
suffix can each independently have either a numeric or character format.
Additionally each component can have individual prefixes and/or suffixes. The
preview of the entire Tile name suffix is shown in the example box.
The Assign Values from Grid menu option assigns grid cell values from the grid
to map objects that overlie them. Grid values can be assigned to both line and
region object types. This function could be used to assign elevations to sample
points or to drillhole locations from a digital elevation model or to assign mean
geochem values from a geochemistry grid to overlying geology polygons.
To assign grid values to point objects select a column in the table to store the
assigned values.
To assign grid values to overlying polygon or polyline objects, select the map
objects from the map window first. In the Assign Grid Values dialog select the
column or columns to store the grid values from the pull-down lists. Discover can
assign the mean, minimum or maximum grid cell value to each object.
As well as assigning the values to columns, the values can be reported to the
screen.
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The Precompute Grid Statistics dialog with multiple grid processing in progress
When a grid file is first opened by Discover, a summary statistics file (.GHX) is
automatically created. Summary statistics files allow Discover to handle larger
grids (1GB+) efficiently, and also significantly improve the speed of grid
visualisation (i.e. colour /sunshading modification via the Modify Grid Display
tool).
The automatically created .GHX file calculates the summary statistics for a
specified percentage of the grid file (as set under Discover>Surfaces menu>
Grid Handler Preferences). For smaller grids the entire grid is analysed by
default (i.e. 100%), whilst for larger grids a smaller default percentage is used to
allow rapid .GHX file creation. These default sampling percentages should allow
.GHX files to be created for most grids (regardless of size) in less then a couple
of minutes.
Instead, use the Precompute Grid Statistics tool to precalculate detailed GHX
files for one or more large grids prior to opening in MapInfo (e.g. perhaps
overnight)
1. The Input for the Precompute Grid Statistics tool can be either a single
grid file or a directory path (+/-any subfolders). Use the browse button (top
right of dialog) to select a single grid file. If all files in a directory are to be
sampled, enable the All in Directory option (plus the Subdirectories
option if required), then use the browse button to select the target
directory.
3. Sampling sets the proportion of the grid dataset for which summary
statistics will be calculated: the calculation time is proportional to the
percentage set. The sampling is done on a row-by-row basis, for example
50% will sample every second row in the grid file and calculate statistics
based on this. Use Defaults will load the default sampling settings from
the Grid Handler Preferences. All 100% will set complete (100%)
sampling regardless of the grid size. A linear interpolation of the sampling
value is used for grids in each size category. For example a grid with
7500 rows will have a sampling percentage half way between the Medium
and Large sampling percentages
4. When ready, press the Compute Statistics button. The Progress table
will display for each grid being sampled relevant information whilst the
statistics processing is in progress.
Note Files will only be added to the progress list once processing has started on the
file.
5. Once the .GHX file/s have been created, the grid file/s can be opened into
MapInfo/Discover rapidly - the automatic .GHX creation process has been
bypassed.
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4. Default output grid format used by the tools in the Surfaces menu.
19 Working with Surfaces 1023
Initial Display
Colour defines what colour table (LUT) is applied: select from any
available colour table in the Discover LUT directory
The Sun Angle and Highlights enables Sun shading and Sun
highlighting.
Preload Zoom will load the higher resolution view for one pyramid level of
the current grid view. This makes zooming in and out quicker but
increases memory usage.
Statistics Sampling
Statistics Sampling sets the level of statistics sampling performed based on the
grid size (as defined by the number of rows in the grid). The sampling is done on
a row-by-row basis, for example 50% will sample every second row in the grid file
and calculate statistics based on this. A linear interpolation of the sampling value
is used for grids in each size category. For example a 7500 row grid will have a
sampling percentage half way between the Medium and Large sampling
percentages.
This option sets the default grid format to write when using tools in the Surfaces
menu
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Enabling the Allow Colour Table Writing to Grid option will force any colour
changes made in the Modify Grid Display dialog to be written directly back to a
Vertical Mapper .GRD file.
Grid Handlers
Grid handler (.GH* file) - allows query and modification of a grid's colour
scheme and statistics to be performed on the grid.
Raster Handler (.RH* file) - displays data as a static layer. Grid data
cannot be queried or modified dynamically. However data rendering is
slightly faster than when using Grid Handler.
Encom-developed handler files are all named with a prefix 'Encom'. To enable or
disable the use of a particular handler file simply tick/un-tick the Use box.
Note Specific handlers should only be disabled if you experience problems loading or
visualising particular grid formats. We recommend contacting technical support
before doing so.
Note The Encom Grid handlers use a pyramid method to display large grids at a lower
resolution for different zoom levels. The initial single low resolution view of the
grid has a fixed size. When you zoom in, the grid is divided into 4 regions which
are loaded at twice the resolution. This process is repeated until the full
resolution of the grid is displayed by many 'tiles'. A limited number of 'tiles' will
be cached in memory.
Grid Drivers
Hydrology Workflow
Hydrology Workflow
The Hydrology tool workflow follows several steps starting from a raw topographic
grid surface. Each step can be run independently or as part of a continuous
process.
This workflow can result in the following attributed TAB vector files:
Note A watershed is the upslope area contributing flow to a given location. Such an
area is also variously referred to as a basin, catchment, sub-watershed, or
contributing area. A sub-watershed is simply part of a hierarchy, implying that a
given watershed is part of a larger watershed.
The Extract Drainage Features tool will automatically extract drainage features
from a DEM grid and output these as vector files. Streams and their
corresponding watersheds can be delineated from a DEM based on a minimum
catchment area threshold and watersheds can be created for each outlet or
stream segment in the network. Catchment areas can also be determined for
custom outlet locations, for example river bed stream samples.
The Hydrology tool is divided into four major steps, which are:
1. Fill Pits and Depressions: Use an existing stream network vector file to
burn-in streams (optional). Remove pits and depressions to ensure
hydraulic connectivity within the watershed.
Each step produces a number of processed grids or vectors, which are used as
input to the next step. You can re-run each step, without needing to re-run steps
prior to this.
Within each step's options, each output file is marked with Done, Run and Open
check boxes. Each of these are:
20 Hydrological Surface Analysis 1027
Done indicates the file is already present, and is not required to be re-run
(If parameters have changed in previous steps, you will need to re-run to
update the results)
Run will process the output when the Process button is clicked.
Open will automatically open the output file in MapInfo Professional once
it is completed.
By default, all required steps are selected to Run, but only the Drainage output
vectors will be automatically opened when processing is complete.
At any time the output results can be previewed in the 2000 x 2000 cell preview
window. This can be refreshed at any time by selecting the Update button.
Once the Process button is selected, the status will be displayed in the execution
log.
2. In the Select DEM box, select the source topography grid from the list.
3. Select the correct Z Units for the DEM (XY units are automatically
determined form the DEM's Projection).
5. For the _pitfill grid, select the Run and Open check boxes.
6. (Optional) If you have any existing stream vectors, select the Stream.
7. .Select the Centring check box file from the Open button. Enter the
desired Buffer width and Drop (elevation offset or burn depth) values.
8. (Optional) The elevation range to be pit filled can be limited selecting the
Exclude pits if check box. For example, to exclude areas below sea level
in a coastal DEM, set Ignore Elevations < to 0. By default these are set to
the minimum and maximum values for the DEM.
9. (Optional) To preserve any lakes or dams in the DEM, select the Exclude
pits if check box, and enter a Pit depth and/or Pit Area value. This
defines the minimum depth or area of a pit to preserve as a lake or dam.
Then also select Insert NULL cell at the bottom of any unfilled pits. This
will preserve the pits as a drainage point for the DEM.
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10. (Optional) If any grid regions are to be excluded from the pit-filling process
(such as lakes, dams, etc), tick the Polygon Exclusion Mask box. Select
the polygon table via the Open button. This will clip the areas within the
polygon(s) from the input grid file before processing starts.
12. Click Process. Progress will be displayed in the Execution Log and
progress bars. The pre-processed, pit-filled grid, including stream
burning, will be opened in MapInfo.
2. In the Select DEM box, select the topographic grid from the list.
4. Select the Run and Open check boxes for the Flow Direction, Slope
(drop), Accumulate, and Threshold grids.
Note It is important that the minimum catchment area is appropriately defined for your
DEM and analysis needs. Specifying smaller values will result in more stream
segments and significantly longer processing times.
2. In the Select DEM box, select the topographic grid from the list.
20 Hydrological Surface Analysis 1029
4. Select the Run and Open check boxes for the Stream, Junction, Outlets
and Watershed vector files.
9. (Optional) Select Run and Open for the distance to stream grid, and also
the units for the distance measurement.
10. (Optional) Select to output the watershed and stream network as a grid file
(only if watershed perimeter is set to Square).
12. Click Process. Progress will be displayed in the Execution Log and
progress bars. The Streams and Watersheds will be opened in MapInfo.
2. In the Select DEM box, select the topographic grid from the list.
4. Select the Custom Outlets open button and select the file containing
sample/outlet points.
Note Only point objects from the custom outlets file are used.
5. Select the Snap to D8 Streams option, and specify the snap distance or
buffer (in grid cells). This is the distance an outlet point can be moved
during processing to coincide with a stream network. Any outlet points that
do not coincide with a stream polyline after snapping has been applied will
be ignored during the catchment generation process.
1030 Encom Discover User Guide
6. Selecy Copy attribute fields to output to include any attributes for the
Custom outlets in the output Custom Watersheds. This is useful to identify
the sample number and any sample measurements for each catchment
(watershed) area.
11. Click Process. Progress will be displayed in the Execution Log and
progress bars. The Custom Watersheds will be opened in MapInfo.
The processing steps involved (some steps have been omitted for clarity) are
shown graphically below:
20 Hydrological Surface Analysis 1031
1. Source digital elevation model (DEM) 2. Calculation of a flow direction grid surface
3. Generation of a Flow Accumulation grid surface 4. Applying a threshold contributing area value to
generate a Flow Threshold grid surface
Pit Fill
Note Only polyline vectors are used. Points, polygons and lines are omitted from the
burn-in process.
Grid Cells that intersect a stream polyline exactly will be offset by the subtracting
Smooth Drop and also subtracting the Sharp Drop value.
Grid cells that fall within the buffer are offset by a linear interpolation across the
Smooth Drop range. For example:
Sharp Drop is 5 m
The cell which a polyline stream intersects will be offset by (- 10m - 5m).
For a 100 m buffer, either side of this intersecting cell a total of 4 cells either side
will fall within the buffer.
The first cell either side of the centre cell will be offset by (- (1/4) *10m). The
second cell either side is then offset by (- (2/4) * 10m), and so forth,
20 Hydrological Surface Analysis 1033
Pit Fill
A 2D representation of the pit fill routine. The pit is filled to the level of the lowest adjacent
cell.
The pit fill process involves 'flooding', or filling up, depressions in the topographic
grid surface by detecting cells, or groups of cells, that are lower than all
surrounding cells. These cells are then raised to the elevation of the lowest
surrounding cell (known as the 'pour point').
True pits and depressions, such as lakes and dams, can be processed by
inserting a NULL value cell in the centre of them, which acts as an outlet point for
the grid (typically null cells and outlets will only occur on the edge of the grid).
1034 Encom Discover User Guide
A typical topographic grid surface. The grid contains numerous pits (as artefacts of the grid
surface interpolation) which would disrupt the drainage network if not filled. Several pits are
nested inside each other.
The topographic grid surface after pit fill. All the pits are now filled in and drainage can now
flow smoothly through the network..
20 Hydrological Surface Analysis 1035
Flow Accumulation
This step takes a topographic grid surface as input and outputs a new grid which
represents the flow direction from each cell to one of its 8 neighbours (either
adjacent or diagonally). The most common and simplest methodology for
representing the flow direction is to divide each cell into eight segments and
compute the vector of maximum slope to determine the direction of flow into one
of the eight adjacent cells. This approach is generally referred to as the single flow
direction or the 8-direction (D8) flow model. The direction of flow is determined by
finding the direction of steepest slope from each cell. This is calculated as the
change in height value divided by the distance.
See Slope in Grid Utilities for more details on the slope/aspect algorithm.
An encoding scheme used to represent the flow directions in the output grid. Each cell is
attributed with a code representing the adjacent cell that is in the direction of steepest
slope.
1036 Encom Discover User Guide
The flow direction grid created from the topographic grid surface. The value in each cell
represents an adjacent cell in the direction of maximum slope.
20 Hydrological Surface Analysis 1037
There are several limitations to the D8 model, namely that it produces coarse
drainage networks because of the discretization of flow directions at each cell into
only one of eight possible directions. The method is also unable to accurately
represent divergent flows (e.g. on a hill slope with convex curvature) due to the
assumption that each cell can drain to only a single neighbour. These simplifying
assumptions make the process more efficient, so D8 is still the most common
methodology used in GIS applications.
Flow Accumulation
This step calculates the accumulated flow (upslope or contributing area) as the
accumulated weight of all cells flowing into each downslope cell in the output grid.
The accumulated flow area of each cell is taken as its own area (one) plus the
area of upslope neighbours that have some fraction of their flow draining into it.
This is usually calculated recursively starting at each outlet point. The flow from
each cell either drains entirely to one neighbour (if the flow angle falls along a
cardinal or diagonal direction) or proportionally between two cells, according to
how close the flow direction angle is to the direct angle to the upslope cells.
The flow accumulation grid. The value in each cell represents the number of cells that flow
into it.
1038 Encom Discover User Guide
Stream channels are determined from the flow accumulation grid as cells which
have a large number of upslope cells. Because there can be many cells which
have upstream cells it is standard practice to apply a threshold value to the flow
accumulation grid tracing the stream network to eliminate small or unwanted
streams. Determining an appropriate threshold value for extracting stream
channels is highly dependent on terrain morphology and factors such as
contributing area climate, slope, soil characteristics etc.
The level of detail for which streams are delineated is controlled by the minimum
catchment area threshold. Specify a value which represents the minimum
contributing area you require for your stream network. If you choose to create one
catchment per outlet then no catchment will be smaller than this value. If sub-
catchments are being generated for each stream segment in the network then the
minimum catchment area will only be guaranteed for the source catchments.
Some sub-catchments may be smaller than the threshold in areas where they
enclose downstream junctions.
The DInfinity method can optionally be used to generate a Flow Direction and
Flow slope grid.
20 Hydrological Surface Analysis 1039
Note Currently the DInfinity Flow grids cannot be used to calculate an accumulation or
flow threshold grids. Calculating DInfinity grids will not improve the stream or
watershed vector results from the Hydrology tool.
The DInfinity can produced a more accurate Direction and Slope grid, as it
produces a continuous slope and also supports cells out flowing into 2 neighbour
cells.
Watershed Processing
Distance to Stream
Stream Classification
Strahler method
1040 Encom Discover User Guide
Shrieve method
In both methods, the most upstream stream segments, or exterior links, are
always assigned an order of one. In the Strahler method, stream order increases
when streams of the same order intersect. Therefore, the intersection of two first-
order links will create a second-order link, and the intersection of two second-
order links will create a third-order link. The intersection of two links of different
orders, however, will not result in an increase in order. For example, the
intersection of a first-order and second-order link will not create a third- order link,
but will retain the order of the highest ordered link. The Strahler method is the
most common stream ordering method in use. However, because this method
only increases in order at intersections of the same order, it does not account for
all links and can be sensitive to the addition or removal of links.
The Shreve method accounts for all links in the network. As with the Strahler
method, all exterior links are assigned an order of one. For all interior links in the
Shreve method, however, the orders are additive. For example, the intersection
of two first-order links creates a second-order link, the intersection of a first-order
and second-order link creates a third-order link, and the intersection of a second-
order and third-order link creates a fifth-order link.
Because the orders are additive, the numbers from the Shreve method are
sometimes referred to as magnitudes instead of orders. The magnitude of a link
in the Shreve method is the number of upstream links.
Watershed Processing
The default automatic stream outlets are placed in two locations, either:
20 Hydrological Surface Analysis 1041
The watershed polygons are defined for each outlet, and it also exceeds the
minimum catchment area defined for the Flow Threshold grid (see Define Flow
Threshold).
Watersheds (Catchments) which are truncated or clipped by the edge of the DEM
grid can be removed by selecting the Edge Contamination Remove option.
Distance to Stream
The Distance to Stream option will generate a grid attributed by the flow distance
to the nearest stream. This distance is based on the results of the Flow Direction
(D8) and the Flow Threshold grids. This can be useful or analysing rain run-off
area/distance, and time.
There are four types of watersheds that can be generated from custom outlets:
Note Only the Anywhere mode will allow non-stream based samples. For all other
modes the custom outlet points must occur close to an actual stream, as
automatically calcualted by the tool.
In both cases, the same Watershed processing options are available as for
automatic Watershed Processing.
21 Working with Structural Data 1043
Table Data
Structural measurements can be read from columns in a native MapInfo
table. This method provides a simple method for creating as many
symbols as necessary in the one pass.
Digitized Data
Structural measurements can be digitized into a map window one at a
time. This is useful when there are measurements on a map that have not
been transcribed to a file. In this case, the measurement location is taken
from the digitized point (using a digitizing table or from the screen) and a
dialog box is displayed requesting input for structural data for that location.
Note You can also display downhole structural data on drillhole traces. For more
information, refer to the Structure option in Displaying Downhole Data.
The structure symbols are stored in a TrueType font that is available from the
MapInfo Symbol Styles libraries along with the other TrueType symbol fonts that
ship with MapInfo and Discover. If the symbol font is unavailable Discover will plot
normal text instead of the structure symbols. The True Type fonts are installed
during the Discover installation procedure. If the fonts are unavailable in MapInfo,
check the Windows Control Panel>Fonts directory to see if the fonts are
installed.
For more information about structural symbol fonts, see Styles and Symbol Fonts
1044 Encom Discover User Guide
Select Structure Symbols from the Discover menu. The Structural Data
Manager Dialog Box is displayed, from which you can select the input and output
options.
Select the required Data Input by option. Choose Process from Table to use an
existing table containing structural information in an appropriate format. Choose
Digitize into Mapper to add structural measurements to an existing table.
Choose Digitize into New Table to automatically create a new table with the
appropriate structural data columns. If you wish to process data from a read-only
Table (e.g Access database) or Mapper layer, select the option Make a native
copy of the selected table.
21 Working with Structural Data 1045
The structural data table must have numeric columns for the following data:
Dip or Plunge
The name and position of the columns in the table are not important.
When digitizing data into a new table, Discover can create a table with the
appropriate columns defined. If there is a map window open the new table is
added to this window and automatically assigned the current map window
coordinate system. If there are no map windows open, nominate the coordinate
system to use for the new table from the Choose Projection dialog.
The input data may also include other useful information such as sample
numbers, site ID, lithology etc. This information is not used by Discover in the
creation of the structural data points.
Select the table to use from the Structural Data Table list. Use Open a table to
open an existing table or to create a new table.
After you have made your selections, click OK to display the Structural Data
Mapper Dialog Box, from which you can select the symbol font, choose how the
azimuth value is used, select columns, and other options.
1046 Encom Discover User Guide
Discover provides three structural symbol font files for Australian, Canadian and
US structural symbols. These are available as symbol libraries from the
Structural Mapping Type pull-down list:
Choose the appropriate symbol library to use and if this library is different to the
library used previously, Discover will ask for confirmation that this is the correct
symbol style library to use.
Specify azimuth as Dip Direction use this option if the structural data
has been collected using Dip and Dip Direction measurements in the field
Specify azimuth as Strike using right hand rule - use this option if the
structural data has been collected using Dip and Strike measurements. All
strikes are converted to dip directions by adding 90.
Many structural codes measure the direction of plunge rather than a strike or dip
direction (for example lineations and fold axes). For these codes the azimuth
information is always used as plunge direction regardless of whether strike or dip
direction has been selected.
Use the pull-down list next to each structure column to nominate which columns
in the structural data table contain the required data. If digitizing new structural
data points, their attributes will be added to these columns.
Discover provides control over how the structure symbols will be displayed.
Select from the normal symbol formatting options including symbol size, colour
and style (such as bolding). As the structural symbols are TrueType font symbols
the normal text formatting control over the appearance is available. The symbols
are scale invariant so that they remain the same size on the screen (or paper)
regardless of the map scale.
1048 Encom Discover User Guide
The dip/plunge text can be displayed either as MapInfo object labels or as text
objects stored in the cosmetic layer. The Dip/Plunge as MapInfo labels option
uses the normal MapInfo method to produce scale invariant labels. When object
labels are created in this way, they must be saved with a workspace if the labels
are to be used at a later date. The Dip/Plunge as text in cosmetic layer option
enables the text size to be relative to a specified output scale. Therefore, the text
must be resized if the data is to be viewed at a different output scale. The
cosmetic text objects can be saved to a new table using the Map>Save Cosmetic
Objects menu option.
In many instances horizontal (0) and vertical (90) structural measurements are
denoted by different structural symbols, however in some cases the same
structural symbol is used. Check the Show labels at 0 and 90 to display the dip
label for these orientations.
Click the OK button to create the structure symbols. If the Process from Table
option was selected a message window will be displayed detailing how much
processing has been completed. The structural data points are then displayed in
a map window.
If one of the digitizing options was selected from the Structural Data Mapper
Dialog Box, the DigStruct menu is added to the MapInfo menu bar .
The output table should be in the front map window and be editable. The
structural measurement can be digitized as either a point at the required location
(using the MapInfo Point/Symbol drawing tool) or as a line (using the MapInfo
Line tool).
As a point or line is digitized, the data entry dialog is displayed. If a line is digitized
the Dip Direction, Plunge or Strike azimuth of that line is automatically displayed
in the appropriate box. Only the Structure Type and the Dip need to be entered.
Note When digitizing a line, Discover uses the start point on the line as the location for
the structural symbol on the map.
21 Working with Structural Data 1049
The Symbol/Label Style is set to the previously selected options in the Structural
Data Dialog Box. These settings can be modified for individual structural
measurements. The easting and northing of the digitized point, dip direction/
strike/plunge, dip angle and structure code are inserted into as attributes into the
table when the structural symbol is created.
Discover expects a value to be entered for dip between 0 and 90. However, there
are instances where a dip has not been measured for a variety of reasons. As dip
values are stored in numeric columns blank dip measurements are stored as
zero, indicating a horizontal structure.
When digitizing structure measurements, leave the dip entry blank to indicate no
dip measurement was taken. Discover will store a value of 99 in the dip column
for blank entries. If processing structural measurements from a table, ensure that
values of 99 have been inserted into blank entry cells in the correct fields. If
Discover finds a null dip value, no dip label is displayed.
Note For a number of structure types, such as bedding or cleavage, Discover uses
different symbols to indicate horizontal and vertical dip.
Dialog Help
Structural Data Manager Dialog Box
Data input by
Digitize into mapper: Digitize one symbol at a time into an existing table
in the active map window using either a digitizing tablet or on-screen with
the cursor and type data values from the keyboard. Adds the DigStruct
menu, from which you can start digitizing points.
Digitize into new table: Digitize one symbol at a time into a new table in
the active map window using either a digitizing tablet or on-screen with the
cursor and type data values from the keyboard. A structural data table with
the required columns is automatically created and added to the active
map window using the current coordinate system. If there are no open
map windows, you will be asked to select a coordinate system for the new
table. Adds the DigStruct menu, from which you can start digitizing
points.
21 Working with Structural Data 1051
Select the structural data table you want to add the new points/symbols to, or
select <Open a new table> to add another table to the list and the map window.
Select the check box if you are reading data from a read-only table, such as an
Access database or mapper layer. The data will be copied into a MapInfo table.
See also
...Displaying Structural Data as Orientated Symbols
...About Structural Data
Select the symbol font, choose how the azimuth value is used, select structural
data columns, and other options.
(Symbol font)
Apply azimuth as
Dip direction: Select if structural data has been collected using dip and
dip direction measurements in the field.
Strike using the right-hand rule: Select if structural data has been
collected using dip and strike measurements. All strikes are converted to
dip directions by adding 90.
1052 Encom Discover User Guide
Structural codes that measure the direction of plunge rather than a strike or dip
direction (for example lineations and fold axes) use the azimuth as plunge
direction regardless of which of these options has been selected.
Easting
Northing
Dip direction/Strike
Click to select the column containing the dip direction or strike (depends on the
azimuth option selection).
Dip angle
Structure code
Structural symbols are TrueType font symbols, which can be formatted like
normal text.
Symbol size
Select the symbol size in pts. The symbol size is fixed and independent of the
map scale.
(Symbol style)
Click to display the MapInfo Symbol Style dialog box, from which you can change
the symbol style.
Text layer
Label size
Map scale
Aa (Text style)
Click to display the MapInfo Text Style dialog box, from which you can change the
text style.
Show the dip/plunge label at 0 for horizontal and 90 for vertical structural
measurements.
See also
...Displaying Structural Data as Orientated Symbols
...Structural Symbol Font
Displayed when a new point or line is digitized so that you can record the
structural data values. For lines, the symbol is stored at the first digitized point.
Structure type
Click to select the structure type. The corresponding Discover structure code is
recorded in the table (see Structural Symbol Font)
Note For a number of structure types, such as bedding or cleavage, Discover uses
different symbols to indicate horizontal and vertical dip.
1054 Encom Discover User Guide
Structural data
Dip direction/Strike
Type the dip direction or strike azimuth. If a line is digitized, the azimuth of the line
is automatically displayed.
Dip
Type the dip angle. If no dip is recorded (trend lines, monoclines, and wrench
faults, for example), leave the Dip box blank. A value of -99 indicating a null value
will be recorded in the table. If blank, no dip label will be displayed.
The symbol and label styles default to the settings made in the Structural Data
Mapper Dialog Box but can be modified for individual measurements.
See also
... Digitizing Structural Data
... Structural Symbol Font
22 Tenements 1055
22 Tenements
The Tenement module provides an interactive interface for searching existing
tenement data and creating new applications, with a web link for downloading
regular tenement updates.
Tenements>Application
To make an application:
2. Under Select State, select a state from the map. When a state is selected
the corresponding datum is also selected. For example, selecting WA will
select the GDA 94 datum.
If a datum is selected that does not comply with the current state
legislation, then the application may be invalid.
22 Tenements 1057
4. From the Australian Tenements Application dialog box, click OK. The
table or workspace specified in step 3 is opened, and the Define
Application dialog box is displayed, from which you can define the
method of application and the tables to be used for application (see
Application Tables).
5. In the Application directory box, click the Save button to select (or type
the folder path name) where the application files will be saved. The tables
created during the application process include Application Table, Block
Table and Label table.
6. For a new application, under Application region, select Create new and
type the application region name. For example, typing Darlot creates a
MapInfo table named Darlot.TAB.
8. Click Settings to turn on and off the auto-labelling of blocks and sub-
blocks.
10. Depending on the Application method selected, select blocks and sub-
blocks. See Interactive Block Selection or Manual Block Selection.
11. At completion of block selection, for all states except WA, a summary text
report is displayed. The summary report includes the map sheet, block
number, sub-block letter, bounding coordinates, datum, state, total area,
and total subblocks/graticules. These details can be copied and pasted
onto the official application forms, which are typically PDF or Microsoft
Word formats.
All tables required for the tenement application are stored in the Discover
tenement directory, which is defined with Discover>Configuration>Settings,
typically (Windows XP) C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Encom\Discover\Tenements or (Windows 7 and
8) C:\Users\All Users\Encom\Discover\Tenements folder.
22 Tenements 1059
Application Tables
Application table
Block table
The block table stores application block polygons and gridlines for blocks and
sub-blocks. The block table contains the following fields:
1060 Encom Discover User Guide
Label table
The label table stores application corner points for the total application area. The
Label table contains the following fields:
Click the selection tool and then select or deselect blocks and sub-blocks in the
map window. The selection information is dynamically updated with the selected
sub-block count and total area selected.
22 Tenements 1061
Click OK to finish block selection. A number of checks are performed for sub-
block count, total area and non-contiguous blocks. Warning messages are
displayed if conditions applicable in the selected state are not met by the
selection.
This selection method is enabled when Manually define is selected on the Define
Application dialog box. The Manually Define Sub Blocks dialog box is displayed,
from which you can select blocks and sub-blocks on a map sheet.
Click the 1:1 million mapsheet box and select the map sheet, type the block
number in the Block number box, and then select the sub-blocks from the matrix.
Click All to select all subblocks in the selected block. Selected sub-blocks are
shown in the Selected sub-blocks box. To add sub-blocks from other sheets
repeat the process until all the desired sub-blocks appear in the Selected Sub-
Blocks box.
To delete a block, select the block in the Selected sub-blocks box and click Delete
Block.
Click OK to finish block selection. A number of checks are performed for sub-
block count, total area and non-contiguous blocks. Warning messages are
displayed if conditions applicable in the selected state are not met by the
selection.
1062 Encom Discover User Guide
1. On the Tenements menu, click Draw State Grid. The State Grid dialog
box is displayed.
2. Under Select State, select a state from the map. When a state is selected
the corresponding datum is also selected. For example, selecting WA will
select the GDA 94 datum.
22 Tenements 1063
If a datum is selected that does not comply with the current state
legislation, a warning message is displayed.
3. Under Region, in the Name box, type the name of the region.
4. In the Folder box, click the Save button to select (or type the folder path
name) where the grid files will be saved.
5. Click Settings to turn on and off the auto-labelling of blocks and sub-
blocks.
Gridline, Block, and Sub-Block layers are created and drawn in the current map
window. The tables created are prefixed with the Region Name and suffixed with
either _Grid, _Block, or _SubBlock.
4. Under Select date select the type of date search (application date,
granted date, or expiry date) and the date range.
Under Selection display select how the results of the search will be
displayed:
On the Tenement Search dialog, click Configure to display the Configure dialog
box, from which you can create, edit and delete tenement tables and holder
aliases.
Tenement tables
Click New to display the Tenement Table dialog box, from which you can
select the folder location and table name.
1066 Encom Discover User Guide
To edit a table:
Select the table in the Tenement tables box, and then click Edit. The
Tenement Table dialog box is displayed, from which you can edit the folder
location and table name.
To delete a table:
Select the table in the Tenement tables box, and then click Delete.
Holder Aliases
A holder alias allows the selection of multiple holder values from a tenement table
with an alias name.
1. Click New to display the Define Holder Alias dialog box, from which you
can select the folder location and table name.
2. Select the alias in the Holder alias box, and then click Edit. The Define
Holder Alias dialog box is displayed.
4. In the Holder field box, select the field containing holder names.
6. Under Select holders, use the controls to move holders from the
Available box to the Selected box, and vice versa.
7. Click OK to save.
To edit an alias:
1. Select the alias in the Holder alias box, and then click Edit. The Define
Holder Alias dialog box is displayed, from which you can edit the alias
settings.
To delete an alias:
Select the alias in the Holder alias box, and then click Delete.
22 Tenements 1067
23 Replaced Utilities 1069
23 Replaced Utilities
In this section:
Use the Discover DigData utility to streamline the entry of attribute data for
digitized map objects. Attribute data in a column can be incremented
automatically, populated with a constant value including X and Y coordinates or
selected from a look-up table. Attribute data can also be entered manually for
selected columns after each map objected is digitized.
When digitizing point data such as sample sites from a field plan it is useful to be
able to add attribute data to one or more columns as each point is digitized. Within
MapInfo attribute data must be entered into the Browser window or via the Info
tool once the map objects have been created. If attribute data entry has been
setup in DigData then aside from columns automatically being populated with the
pre-set attributes a dialog is displayed which allows users to manually enter
attribute data for each digitized map object.
When the DigData menu option is selected a separate DigData menu is added to
the MapInfo menu bar. Select the DigData>Data Table menu option and choose
a table for data entry. The Data entry to columns dialog is displayed:
1070 Encom Discover User Guide
Highlight the columns from the table to populate with attribute data during the
digitizing process. A maximum of 10 columns can be used for data entry with
DigData.
Note DigData can be used when digitizing any type of map object (not just points) and
works in the same way when digitizing from the screen or via a digitizing table.
23 Replaced Utilities 1071
Increment
Value
To assign a constant value to an attribute column check the Value box and
enter the required value into the window to the right of the checkbox. The
constant value will be entered into the selected column until the value is
changed manually. Constant values are useful for attributes such as Line
number, Sample type, Rock Unit, etc where many records have the same
attribute.
1072 Encom Discover User Guide
Use Style
If the Use Style box is checked for an attribute column an empty window
in a pop-up data entry dialog will be displayed enabling a user to manually
enter individual values after each map object is digitized. If a style is
selected from the styles library (see Managing and Applying Object
Styles), the style name will automatically be added as the value.
Use Look-Up
To enter manual attribute data for each map object as it is digitized or view
incremental or constant values select the DigData>EnterData menu option. A
tick will be displayed next to the EnterData option in the DigData menu to show
the option is toggled on. To turn off the EnterData mode check, select the menu
option again.
Once a map object is digitized the data entry dialog box will be automatically
displayed for all the attribute columns selected. Any increment or constant value
fields should be automatically populated. Other fields will have the last values
selected and can be modified as required. Enter the required attribute data, click
OK on the dialog and digitize the next object.
If the attribute columns are to populated with only increment or constant values
turn off the check next to the DigData>EnterData menu option. The constant and
increment values will be automatically written to each new record as the map
object is digitized.
23 Replaced Utilities 1073
At any time while DigData is being implemented the attribute data columns can
be re-specified. New increment intervals or starting numbers can be selected and
constant values can be modified via the Set Up Increments menu option. To add
new columns populated with attribute data requires the table to be selected again
in the Data Table menu option.
Select the Beep On menu option to activate a beep sound every time a map
object is digitized. Re-select the Beep On menu option to turn off the beep.
The EnterData and AutoData options can be combined when digitizing. Check
EnterData and enter new values for the next digitized record, then return to
AutoData, where fields are incremented from the previous record values. This
enables any changes made to the last record with the Info tool or in the Browser
window to be utilised by DigData.
Dialog Help
Select up to 10 columns from the data table for data entry. To select multiple
columns, click and drag a group, or hold the Shift key and select the first and last
columns in a group, or hold the CTRL key to select individual columns.
Easting
Select to add the X coordinate to the selected column in the data table. If the
object is not a point, the object centroid is used.
Northing
Select to add the Y coordinate to the selected column in the data table. If the
object is not a point, the object centroid is used.
Configures the selected data entry columns. The X and Y coordinate column
assignments are displayed at the bottom of the dialog box.
1074 Encom Discover User Guide
Column
The data entry columns selected in Data Entry to Columns Dialog Box are
displayed.
Increment
Select the check box to increment values by the number typed in the box. Text
values must contain a numerical component and observe a naming convention.
The last numeric string value in the text string will be incremented. For example,
when incrementing the value SS87RC-6943 by 1, the next value will be SS87RC-
6944.
Value
Select the check box to set the constant value typed in the box.
Use Style
Select the check box to display a pop-up data entry dialog box when digitising so
that a user defined value can be entered for each digitised object. To
automatically apply a style name, select a named style from the box.
Use Look-up
Select the check box to select a value from a list of values defined in a look-up
table. Click the box on the left of the check box to select the look-up table. All open
look-up tables are available from the list.
The ELC also provides complete control over the standard layer attributes such
as editability, visibility and label display.
Layer Aliases
Layer Groups
If the ELC is not displayed, click the ELC button on the Discover toolbar. To
close the ELC, click the close button on the title bar. You can also show the ELC
from the Discover>Replaced Utilities menu.
Click the minimise and restore up buttons on the title bar to minimize the
ELC window to any position on the screen and then restore it back to the
original position.
You can also change the auto-start property by clicking the Options
button on the ELC and selecting Open automatically on startup.
The ELC displays information as a two-level hierarchy. The top level describes
the map windows and the second level describes the layers contained within
them. If you have open Browsers, Layout Windows etc. they are also displayed
and can be controlled by the ELC.
The ELC is operated by clicking the controls in the ELC window and from a
number of shortcut menus:
1076 Encom Discover User Guide
Map window
Cosmetic layer
Layer
Click to expand
and collapse
map tree
Controls
Note Cosmetic layers are always visibleyou cannot hide them from the ELC.
Shortcut Menus
Do this To display
You can change the way the ELC interacts with your Map windows. The options
available include:
Display layer information for all open Map windows or just the acti ve Map
window.
Expand all open Map windows, or only the active Map window.
1078 Encom Discover User Guide
Autostart ELC.
2. Select or clear the options as required. For information about the options
available, see Layer Control Options Dialog Box.
You can perform a wide variety of tasks from the ELC. If the Apply Changes
button is not available, the ELC will apply your selections instantaneously (see
Configuring the ELC). Otherwise, selections made in the ELC will only be applied
when you click Apply Changes.
Many commonly used tasks can be applied directly from the window controls. For
a description of these controls, see ELC Window Controls.
When you right-click on a map or a layer or another part of the ELC window,
different shortcut menus are displayed. From these menus, you can perform a
wide variety of tasks. For more informatiion, see Shortcut Menus.
You can change the display order of layers and move layers to another Map
window by selecting the layer in the Map tree and dragging it to another position
in the tree. To select multiple layers, hold the CTRL key and click each layer, or
hold the SHIFT key and select the first and last layer in a group.
Shortcut Menus
From the ELC Shortcut Menu (right-click inside the ELC away from the maps,
layers and controls), you can:
From the ELC Map Shortcut Menu (right-click a map), you can:
Open a table.
23 Replaced Utilities 1079
Change Map window properties and size. This option is especially useful
when a window is drawn off the visible screen.
From the ELC Layer Shortcut Menu (right-click a layer), you can:
The options displayed in the shortcut menu will depend on the type of layer, or
layers, selected.
Layer Aliases
It is often convenient to refer to a layer with a name that differs from the name of
its associated .TAB file. For example, you might have three .TAB files called:
area2_Collars_all_exp.tab
area2_lab1_assays_12-05-2001.tab
area2_StreamSamps.tab
You can define more meaningful aliases for these tables, such as Assays,
Stream_Samples and Drillholes, which would appear as:
The ELC with aliases used instead of the .TAB file names to better describe the layer
content.
1. In the ELC, click Options and ensure Use layer name aliases is
selected.
2. Double-click the layer name in the ELC and then type or edit the alias.
3. Press ENTER.
To show alias names in the ELC map tree, in the ELC, click Options, and
then select Use layer name aliases. Clear this check box to display table
names.
To remove an alias:
In the ELC, right-click the layer, and click Reset Alias Name in the
shortcut menu.
Note Layer aliases will only work in the ELC and some of Discovers dialogs. All
MapInfo dialogs will show the name of the original table (.TAB file) even when an
alias name has been set. ELC aliases are separate from the MapInfo Open
Table As alias.
Layer Groups
With the ELC you can organise your layers into user-defined groups, independent
of the drawing order of the layers.
Note ELC Layer groups are not compatible with MapInfo Professional's Layer Control
groups, which are only stored in a workspace file. ELC groups are stored
permanently within individual TAB file metadata.
Geochemical samples
Outcrop samples
Veins and dykes
Faults
Towns
Elevation points
Elevation contours
Drainage
Roads
Railways
Mining Leases
Exploration Areas
National Parks
Geological units
Magnetics
Gravity
1082 Encom Discover User Guide
Some of these layers contain points and labels, others contain polylines, and
some contain filled polygons. And there are images also, which are used as
backdrops.
The order of these layers in the standard MapInfo layer control (and in the ELC in
its default mode) corresponds to the order in which the layers are displayed by
MapInfo. Images such as gravity, magnetics, and geology are displayed at the
base of the map window so they do not obscure the other vector layers. Above
the raster layers are polygonal layers, for example, National Parks, Exploration
Areas and Mining Leases. Overlying the polygonal layers are tables comprising
linework such as railways, roads, drainage, elevation contours, and veins and
dykes. And above those are point layers such as towns, geochemical samples,
outcrop samples, and elevation points.
Instead of ordering the layers by their drawing order, it would be more instructive
to group them according to what they contain, for example:
Geophysics Gravity
Magnetics
Infrastructure Towns
Railways
Roads
Drainage
The ELC allows you create groups and then order the layers in the Map tree into
these groups.
To create a group:
2. Right-click any layer and, from the shortcut menu, select Add Group.
4. Select and drag the layers you want into the new group.
To rename a group:
In group view mode, double-click the group name and edit or type a new
name.
To remove a group:
Right-click a layer in the group and, from the shortcut menu, click Reset
Group.
The grouped view is a powerful feature when you have a large number of layers
and you only want to display a few of them. Instead of showing and hiding
individual layers, you can organise all of them in a single group and then, when
you want to change from one set of layers to the next, hide the current group and
show another.
1084 Encom Discover User Guide
When you associate a group name with a layer, the name is stored as a metadata
key in the corresponding .TAB file. This restricts the way in which you use Groups
as follows:
2. If a layer has been included in a group, then all layers (in all map windows)
that are attached to the same .TAB file, exist within the same group.
3. You cannot control the order that groups are displayed in a grouped view.
They are displayed in alphabetical order.
23 Replaced Utilities 1085
Use the ELC shortcut menu lto open tables, manage your favourite tables, and
display the ELC Options dialog box:
Open Table
Favourites list
If defined, click a table to open. Note that the ELC Favourites list is separate to
the Discover Favourites Tables list.
Edit Favourites
Add, order and remove tables from the ELC Favourites list (see Favourites Dialog
Box)
Options
See also
...Using the ELC
1086 Encom Discover User Guide
Add Layer
Window Properties
Change the title, position, size, and state of the selected Map window. See
Window Properties Dialog Box.
Open Table
Close Layer
Map Linking
Options
Change the ELC display settings. See Layer Control Options Dialog Box.
See also
... Using the ELC
The options available on the ELC Layer shortcut menu may vary depending on
the type of layer selected. Options may include:
Select All
Unselect All
Add Layer
Remove Layer
Create Grid
Grid Calculator
Grid Filter
Apply a filter.
Open Table
Close Table
New Mapper
New Browser
Display
Change line, pattern or symbol style for all map objects in a layer.
1088 Encom Discover User Guide
Add Group
Modify Theme
Modify a thematic layer. Unlike MapInfo, the ELC displays thematic layers
underneath the parent layer.
Modify Hotlinks
Control layer and object Hotlinks. For more information, refer to your MapInfo
documentation.
Modify Labels
Show the full file path of the selected .TAB file. This option also allows the .TAB
file location to be opened in File Explorer, or the .TAB file to be opened in
Notepad.
Remove alias name metadata from layer .TAB file and display original layer
name. See Layer Aliases.
Reset Group
Remove group metadata from layer .TAB file. See User Guide: Layer Groups.
Add to Favourites
Adds a table to the ELC Favourites list. Use the ELC Shortcut Menu to display
and edit the ELC Favourites list..
Options
Change the ELC display settings. See Layer Control Options Dialog Box.
23 Replaced Utilities 1089
Choose the options that control the ELC display and how the ELC interacts with
Map windows.
General
Select to immediately apply changes to the map display when you change the
visibility of a layer, move a layer, or change its display characteristics. If cleared,
click Apply Changes to update the display.
Select to display all open map windows in the ELC. If cleared, only the active
window is displayed.
Select to display layer aliases (if defined). If cleared, the .TAB file names are
displayed.
Select to display layers by group. Clear to display the standard layer view.
Select to display all layers and themes (or groups and layers in grouped view) of
all open map windows. If cleared, only the active map window is expanded.
Select to open the ELC when Discover starts. If cleared, the ELC can be opened
from either the Discover menu or toolbar.
Include 3D Window
Metadata Keys
Aliases
Groups
Metadata key used to store layer group names. Default key is Group.
See also
... Configuring the ELC
Add
Remove
Select one or more tables in the list and then click to remove from the list.
Up and Down
Select one or more tables in the list and then click the arrow buttons to reorder.
See also
... Using the ELC
Change the title, position, size, and state of the selected Map window.
Title
Position
Y: The vertical offset in centimetres of the selected Map window from the
top-left corner of the main window.
23 Replaced Utilities 1091
Size
State
Acknowledgements
Included below are acknowledgments for the third-parties whose software has
been used in permissible forms with the Discover product:
ECW/JP2
This application supports the ECW data format and ECWP compression
protocols. Portions of this computer program are Copyright 2007-2012 Intergraph
Corporation. All rights reserved. Creating compressed files using ECW
technology is protected by one or more of U.S. Patent No. 6,201,897, No.
6,442,298 and No. 6,633,688.
For any reuse or distribution by the user, this data is subject to the license
terms at the following link: http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
2.5/au/.
Disclaimer
Appendices
A Customising Title Blocks
G Customising MapShop
The Discover customizable title block is a normal MapInfo map table stored in a
centimetre non-earth projection. It is designed to be inserted into a layout window
at close to true scale. The Discover Scaled Output displays the title block at full
size (1:1) when the map frame width is greater than 50cm and at half size (1:2)
for a map frame width of less than 50cm.
A custom title block may be created by making a copy of the default Discover
TITLEBLK file, located in the Discover Config directory (see Configuring Encom
Discover) using File>Save Copy As and edit the existing linework and detail
placeholders.
Company Logo
Placeholders
Scale Bar
Company Logo
To insert a company logo into a title block, create a raster image of the logo by
scanning or copying the logo into an imaging software program. Note the shape
of the logo and determine how you wish the logo to appear in the title block (i.e.
top left hand corner, extending entire width of title block, etc.) The image may be
in any raster format recognized by MapInfo such as .BMP, .JPG, .PNG, .GIF, etc.
Alternatively you can use a custom symbol for the logo, inserted directly into the
title block table.
1098 Encom Discover User Guide
Make sure that the image is sized to the same scale it will be displayed in the title
block. In the default title block, the log cannot be more than 10 cm wide or 1.6 cm
high. For example, if your company logo is square and you wish to display it in the
top left hand corner of a 10 cm wide title block, then the image should be re-sized
to the area it will occupy, e.g. 1.6 cm x 1.6 cm. Also make note of the number of
pixels for the image width and height.
The reason for the 1:1 scaling is that the image is to be registered in relation to
the title block linework in the same way that other images are registered in
MapInfo. The only difference in this instance is that the image will be registered
using a Non-Earth (centimetres) projection. Like other registered images in
MapInfo, if the image is not registered correctly or the image is stretched or
shortened in any way the overlying title block linework will be distorted and the
image will not display correctly.
1. Open a map window containing the custom title block linework and
placeholder information.
3. Click the Open button and select the image. When prompted to load the
control points, click Yes.
5. Select the first control point row (ID=1). Note that the Image_X and
Image_Y coordinates are 0, 0.
6. Press S on the keyboard to change to snap mode. Snap mode will change
the cursor to a circle and display a large cross-hair whenever it is placed
over a node. Snap mode enables map objects to be joined together
seamlessly or for exact coordinates for a point or node to be recorded.
7. Click the Map button. In snap mode, click the corresponding point in the
title block linework mapper for the first control point location. If there is no
intersecting linework or node to snap to at the corresponding control point
location in the map window, then click the corresponding point in the map
window.
Appendix A Customising Title Blocks 1099
8. In the Rectify Image dialog box, the relevant Map_X and Map_Y
coordinates are updated. Edit the coordinates if necessary to make sure
both the map and image coordinates are correct. The Image_X and
Image_Y coordinates are the number of pixels which make up the image
in the X and Y direction. Make sure that the pixel numbers entered here
correspond to the minimum and maximum image pixel extents to prevent
image distortion.
Note Map X and Map Y coordinates increase up and to the right from the bottom left-
hand corner of the map window. Image X and Image Y coordinates increase
down and to the right from the top left-hand corner of the Image Registration
dialog.
9. Repeat the above steps to assign the Map_X and Map_Y coordinates for
each of the remaining three control points at the image corners.
10. When all four control points have had their Map_X and Map_Y
coordinates assigned and the RMS (Root Mean Square) error calculation
is between 0 and 1, under Control Points, click the Save button and save
the control points.
11. Click the Rectify button. A new image and associated TAB file will be
generated.
1100 Encom Discover User Guide
Add this registered image to the title block map window and see how the title block
and image display together. If the title block linework is distorted, then there is a
problem with the image registration. In this case, open the Rectify Image tool, load
the saved control points, and then check the map and image registration
coordinates. Make the necessary changes and rectify the image again.
The final step is to add a new record to the custom title block browser window
specifying the logo name, so that when the title block is selected, Discover will
open the title block and display the correct logo.
Tip Logo tables should be stored in the same directory as the customised Titleblock
TAB file. If the Logo TAB file is called LOGO.TAB is will be automatically added
to the the corresponding Custom Titleblock, and does not require a Placeholder
to be createdthat is, you can store the Custom Titlblblock and Log files on a
shared network folder.
1. Open the custom title block browser and click the field header cell. The
cursor will change to a hand.
2. Right-click and choose New Row from the shortcut menu. Alternatively,
make the browser window the front window and choose Browse>New
Row from the main menu bar.
The TITLEBLK.TAB from the Discover Program Files Directory is the standard
Discover title block. The above dialog shows the TITLEBLK table opened in a
map window and a browser window view. Note that the TITLEBLK table is
comprised of linework and text.
There must be a closed polyline forming the boundary of the title block, so that
Discover knows how big the title block is. You can easily create a closed
rectangular polyline by creating a rectangle, then using the Objects>Convert to
Polylines menu option.
The linework in the TITLEBLK table corresponds to the blank browser records
and the Text labels may have an identical entry in the textfield column or the
column may contain different text altogether. The text in the browser is called a
detail placeholder. A detail placeholder is used to denote where in the title block
specific text or items are to be displayed when the title block is created.
When Discover is creating a title block the detail placeholders are read and the
required information is inserted. Some of this information is inserted automatically
while other detail placeholders require the user to manually enter data into the
corresponding blank field in the Enter Titleblock and Scalebar Options dialog.
Save custom title blocks (and scale bar) to the desired folder.
Custom title blocks can be added to the list of available title blocks in Discover
through the Scaled Output Configure dialog. To add the title block to the list,
open the Scaled Output dialog and, under Maintain Titleblock, click Configure.
Then click Add button and browse and select the new title block. Use the
Remove button to delete custom title blocks from the list.
Placeholders
The title block shipped with Discover contains six detail placeholder fields -
Author, Date, Office, Drawing, Scale and Projection. The date field is
automatically recognized by Discover and the current date inserted, so it cannot
be changed in the dialog box. If detail fields Scale and Projection are present,
these are also recognized by Discover and the current scale and map projection
inserted so that it cannot be changed in the dialog box.
Company Name
The company name as specified in the Discover configuration dialog is
inserted into the title block in place of the Company Name placeholder.
Set the position and font of the Company placeholder.
Appendix A Customising Title Blocks 1103
Title Line 1
Set the position and font of the Title Line placeholder. The five lines of
title text entered in the title block dialog in Scaled Output is concatenated,
centre justified and inserted in the location of the placeholder.
If the text appears off centre in the created title block, make the layer
editable and manually centre the text within the title block bounds. Use the
Window>Redraw Window command to refresh the map window if
necessary.
Date
Formatted (as set up in control panel options)
Scale
Formatted e.g. 1:50,000
CoordSys Name
e.g. AMG Zone 54 (AGD 66)
CoordSys Clause
e.g. 8,12,7,141,0,0.9996,500000,10000000
Projection
e.g. Transverse Mercator (Gauss-Kruger)
Datum
e.g. Australian Geodetic 1966 (AGD 66)
Ellipsoid
e.g. Australian National
Origin Longitude
Origin Latitude
Standard Parallel 1
Standard Parallel 2
False Easting
False Northing
Logo [logo_tablename]
e.g. Logo [encom_logo.tab]
1104 Encom Discover User Guide
User-Defined Placeholders
The browser text for each of the detail placeholders is what appears in the
Scaled Output Titleblock dialog (for example, Author:, Office:, Drawing:).
The text that you enter in the dialog for each detail is then appended to the
text object in the Map Window for each user-defined detail.
Scale Bar
ScaleHolder
The title block shipped with Discover includes a placeholder for a scale
bar called ScaleHolder. Discover constructs a scale bar inside this
placeholder if it is present. The ScaleHolder detail is a region and must be
large enough to display the created scale bar.
If the title block contains the ScaleHolder record and a detail field called
Scale, Discover does not place text for Scale 1:nnnnnn in the
ScaleHolder placeholder. The text will be placed in the Scale placeholder.
The NTv2 transformation method can be used to convert data from the Canadian
NAD 1927 datum to the NAD 1983 datum. This transformation is more accurate
than conventional conversions and involves referencing a series of grids over
Canada which contain the spatial distortion parameters between these two
datums for the underlying area. Where there is a large number of correctional
data available over more densely surveyed areas, smaller sub-grids are used to
increase spatial accuracy even further. NTv2 transformation accuracy is generally
in the order of 0.1-1.0m with less than 0.01m accuracy at the sub-grid level. The
Canadian NAD27 transformation parameters are stored in the
NAD27_Canada.GSB file in the .\\Program Files\
Encom\Common\GridShift folder.
The NTv2 transformation method can also be used to more accurately convert
data from the Australian AGD66/AGD84 datum to the GDA94 datum. The NTv2
correction grids for AGD84 to GDA94 are available for Western Australia, South
Australia and Queensland. The NTv2 correction grids for AGD66 to GDA94 are
available for entire Australian Continent. The level of accuracy is to within
approximately 0.1 m 0.5 m. The NTv2 distortion grids used for the Australian
AGD66 and AGD84 transformation process can be downloaded from the ICSM
website www.icsm.gov.au.
For the Australia NTv2 transformation files to be recognised by Discover they will
need to be renamed to AGD66_Australia.GSB and AGD84_Australia.GSB
respectively and saved to the .\Program Files\ Encom\Common\GridShift
folder.
Appendix C Grid Calculator Syntax 1109
Logical Operators
Arithmetic Operators
Anti-Log Functions
Comparison Operators
Boolean Operators
Trigonometric Operators
Logical Operators
AND Operator
NOT Operator
OR Operator
XOR Operator
IF Operator
AND Operator
Returns TRUE if both its arguments are TRUE; returns FALSE if one or both
arguments are FALSE.
Syntax
AND(logical1,logical2)
Logical1 and logical2 are conditions you want to test that can be either TRUE or
FALSE. The arguments must evaluate to logical values such as TRUE or FALSE.
An alternative to the AND function is the operator & (&& is interpreted as &).
1110 Encom Discover User Guide
Example 1
The output Out is set to 1 if both A>5 and B<=10 otherwise it is set to 2
Example 2
NOT Operator
Reverses the value of the argument. Use NOT when you want to make sure a
value is not equal to one particular value.
Syntax
NOT(logical)
Example 1
The output Out is set to A if A > 100 and is set to 100 otherwise. This is a trivial
example which could be replaced with the >= operator
OR Operator
Returns TRUE if either argument is TRUE; returns FALSE if both arguments are
FALSE.
Syntax
OR(logical1,logical2)
Appendix C Grid Calculator Syntax 1111
Logical1 and logical2 are conditions you want to test that can be either
TRUE or FALSE.
The arguments must evaluate to logical values such as TRUE or FALSE. The |
operator is an alternate to the OR function. || is an alternative to |
Example 1
This example sets the output Out to C if either A or B is less than 100. The output
is set to D otherwise.
Example 2
This is an alternative syntax where these examples produce the same output as
example 1.
XOR Operator
Returns TRUE if only 1 argument is TRUE; returns FALSE if both arguments are
FALSE or both are TRUE.
Syntax
XOR(logical1,logical2)
Logical1 and logical2 are conditions you want to test that can be either TRUE or
FALSE. The arguments must evaluate to logical values such as TRUE or FALSE
Example
This examples sets the output Out to C if one and only one of A and B is less
than 100. The output is set to D otherwise.
1112 Encom Discover User Guide
IF Operator
Returns one value if a condition you specify evaluates to TRUE and another value
if it evaluates to FALSE.
Syntax
IF(logical_test,value_if_true,value_if_false)
Example 1
This example will set the output to A when A is less than 100 and set it to 100
otherwise.
Example 2
This example shows how the two output expressions of the first IF can
themselves be IF functions.
Operators specify the type of calculation that you want to perform on the elements
of a formula. Two types of calculation operators are available: arithmetic,
comparison.
Appendix C Grid Calculator Syntax 1113
Arithmetic Operators
To perform basic mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, or
multiplication; and produce numeric results, use the following arithmetic
operators.
Note If either value in an arithmetic operator function is null, then the result is always
null.
Anti-Log Functions
To perform anti-log operations (opposite in operation to logarithmic function
equivalents) the following are available:
Syntax
aln(x)
alog(x)
Comparison Operators
You can compare two values with the following operators. When two values are
compared by using these operators, the result is a logical value either TRUE or
FALSE.
Boolean Operators
Note that the following Boolean logic operators apply only to the Grid Calculator.
Some examples:
OUT = IF(A>0, A, B)
OUT = IF(A=Null, B, C)
Note that the second and third examples above are identical, the first using the &
operator and the second using the AND function.
Appendix C Grid Calculator Syntax 1115
Trigonometric Operators
The following trigonometric operators are available for both Line and Grid
Calculators.
DEGTORAD(degree_value)
RADTODEG(radian_value)
SINH(a)
COSH(a)
TANH(a)
Note that standard geometric operations such as SIN, COS and TAN are
available from the Line and Grid Calculator standard interfaces.
Appendix D Grid Filter Descriptions 1117
Shifting the filter neighbourhood across the grid and computing a new value for
each grid node produces the filtered output of the image. If the heights of the
neighborhood nodes are represented by H and the width by W, the number of
nodes in the neighborhood equals H W. Therefore, any nodes in the
neighborhood can be defined as:
H H W W
i = ,......, and j = ,......, (1)
2 2 2 2
where each array is the largest integer less than or equal to its neighbour array.
1118 Encom Discover User Guide
The filter neighbourhood is shifted across the grid and a new value for each grid
node is calculated in the output image according to the filter method selected.
Grid Filter dialog used to select multiple filters and apply them to display the resultant
output.
The Rows and Columns in the Grid Filter dialog box specify the neighbourhood
size for the selected filter. The weights for each grid node in the neighbourhood
are displayed below. Each element of the matrix is used to weight the grid node
that lies below it. The products are computed and then summed, normalized and
assigned to the value below the centre node. The filter is then shifted to the next
node and the process is repeated until all nodes of the input grid have been
processed.
Appendix D Grid Filter Descriptions 1119
Convolution
Smoothing Filters
Enhancement Filters
Advanced Filters
Geophysical
Utils
Following is a list of the provided filter types and a brief summary of their
application:
Smoothing Filters
Averaging Filters
Gaussian Filters
1120 Encom Discover User Guide
Averaging Filters
3x3 Average
3x3 Diagonal
5x5 Average
7x7 Average
9x9 Average
Gaussian Filters
Gaussian convolution filters are smoothing filters that can be used to blur'
images, thereby removing high frequency detail and noise. The degree of
smoothing produced by a Gaussian filter is largely determined by the standard
deviation of the filter kernel. The Gaussian filters output a weighted average
value for each grid cell neighbourhood, with the average weighted more towards
the value of the central grid cells. This is in contrast to an averaging filter, which
uses a uniform weighting for all neighbourhood grid cells. As a result of this
property, a Gaussian filter provides gentler smoothing and preserves edges
better than a similarly sized averaging filter. Gaussian smoothing filters remove
high spatial frequency components from an image and are often used as a pre-
processing step to edge enhancement filters such as the Laplacian and Sobel
filters. In most situations a Gaussian filter will provide the best smoothing for grids
with high frequency noise such as geochemistry or magnetics.
Appendix D Grid Filter Descriptions 1121
Enhancement Filters
Sharpening filters
Laplacian Filter
Laplacian of Gaussian
Sobel Filters
Sharpening filters
Line and edge enhance filters are designed to selectively enhance image features
with specific directional components (gradients). The filters output an
approximation of the first derivative and therefore enhance edges in an image.
The sum of the directional filter kernel elements is zero, so areas within an image
with uniform intensity (or grid cell values) will compute to zero in the output grid.
Areas of variable intensity or contrast will be amplified and appear as bright
edges.
Laplacian Filter
Laplacian filters approximate a 2-D isotropic measure of the 2nd spatial derivative
of an image. Therefore they highlight regions of rapid intensity change, which are
often associated with edges. Laplacian filters emphasise maximum values within
an image by using a kernel with a high central value, surrounded by negative
weighted values. Laplacian filters can be very sensitive to noise (high spatial
frequency data) so it is often best to apply a Gaussian smoothing filter prior to
convolving the image with the Laplacian filter. Laplacian filters are normally
applied to scaled graylevel images.
3x3 Laplacian
9x9 Laplacian
Laplacian of Gaussian
A Laplacian of Gaussian filter (LoG) is similar to a Laplacian filter, with the only
exception being that it has already been convolved with a Gaussian filter. The
advantage of using a LoG filter over the standard Laplacian filter is that you are
not required to smooth the grid prior to applying the LoG as the whole process is
achieved in a single pass. This property makes the LoG filter faster to compute
on large datasets. LoG filters calculate an approximation of the second spatial
derivative of an image. Therefore areas in an image that have a constant intensity
(or a gradient of zero) will produce values of zero in the Laplacian image, while
areas of high intensity variation (or gradient) will produce positive or negative
values. Adding the LoG filtered grid back to the original grid will have the effect of
enhancing contrast in the original image and making edges appear much sharper.
Appendix D Grid Filter Descriptions 1123
Sobel Filters
Like the Laplacian filter, the Sobel filter approximates a 2-D spatial gradient
measurement on an image and therefore emphasizes regions of high spatial
frequency. This type of filter is typically used to find the approximate absolute
gradient magnitude at each point in an input greyscale image. The Sobel filters
supplied by Discover are a pair of 3x3 filters, where one filter is simply the other
rotated by 90. Sobel filters are designed to respond maximally to edges running
vertically and horizontally relative to the grid cell orientation. One filter is supplied
for each of the two perpendicular orientations (horizontal & vertical). The filters
can be applied separately to the input grid, to produce separate measurements
of the gradient component in each orientation or they can be combined together
to find the absolute magnitude and orientation of the gradient at each point. The
Sobel filter will often reduce edges in an input image to lines in the output image.
This property makes the filter useful for assisting with lineament interpretations
and structural mapping.
Sobel Horizontal
Sobel Vertical
Robertss filters perform a simple and quick 2-D spatial gradient measurement on
a grid. The filter is very similar to the Sobel filter with each grid cell value in the
output image representing an estimate of the absolute magnitude of the spatial
gradient. The filter therefore highlights regions of high spatial frequency. The
Roberts filters provided with Discover are approximations of the true Roberts
function and are designed to produce maximum responses over edges running at
45 to the pixel grid. One filter kernel is supplied for each of the two perpendicular
orientations (Gx & Gy). The filters can be applied individually to measure the
gradient component in each orientation or they can be combined to find the
absolute magnitude and orientation of the gradient at each point in an image. The
main disadvantage of the Roberts filter over the Sobel filter for edge detection is
that it is extremely sensitive to noise due to the very small kernel. It also produces
a much weaker response over genuine edges unless they are very sharp.
Roberts Cross Gx
Roberts Cross Gy
1124 Encom Discover User Guide
These filters provide directional enhancement to grid surfaces. The filter kernels
are designed to amplify gradients perpendicular to the direction of perceived
ambient lighting. For example, an East-West sun angle filter enhances high
frequency content with a northsouth strike.
North
North East
East
South East
South
South West
West
North West
These filters can be used as templates for designing and creating your own
custom filters and offer a convenient way of experimenting with the properties of
digital filtering. When you have designed a filter you wish to save, click the Save
Filter button and assign a filter name. The filter is then stored in a sub-folder
created by the user, in the Filters directory.
Once a filter has been saved it will be displayed using the assigned name in the
Available Filters list and can be reapplied during a subsequent filtering session.
Advanced Filters
amedian
average (mean)
deviation
median
wlocalmadj (weighted local mean adjustment)
The transfer function Gzdd(k) for the vertical derivative operator of order p>0
acting upon a grid of scalar potential field data in the 2D wave number domain is
derived from equation (8) by putting the direction cosine vector q1D = (0,0,1).
Hence:
where |k| is the modulus of the 1D wave number vector k. Whence the
expression for the first vertical derivative operator (i.e. for p = 1) is:
The reduction to the pole (RTP) filter is used to transform a grid of total magnetic
field intensity measurements to a grid of magnetic intensity measurements that
would be observed at the north magnetic pole. The expression for the RTP
transform operator Grtp(k) at a point k = (kx,ky) in the 2D in the wave
number domain is given by Gibert and Guillamin (1985) and Blakely (1995) as
follows :
where
1126 Encom Discover User Guide
Here it is noted that the direction cosines are measured using the International
Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) coordinate system, namely, X-North; Y-
East, Z vertically down. Furthermore, it is possible to express the RTP transfer
function in terms of the transformed 2D Hilbert operators Hx(k),Hy(k)
(Nabighian, 1983) in the k = (kx,ky) wave number domain, namely,
Whence for the induced magnetization case in which the direction cosines m of
the resultant magnetization vector is identical to the direction cosines f of the
ambient geomagnetic field, then equation (46) becomes:
Use the IGRF calculator to automatically assign the Declination and Inclination. A
default Minimum angle of 20o is assigned.
The effect of changing the Minimum angle factor alters the relative sizes of the
phase and amplitude. If the factor is increased (to a maximum of 90o), the phase
component increases and amplitude adjustment is reduced (to be zero at 90o). If
the correction factor is reduced, the phase and amplitude components become
evenly applied.
The Minimum angle factor defaults to a value of 20o but in the filters
implementation, if it specified less than the datas inclination (I), then the Minimum
angle correction is reset to the value of 20o to maintain stability.
The reduction to the equator (RTE) filter is used to transform a grid of total
magnetic field intensity measurements to a grid of magnetic intensity
measurements that would be observed at the magnetic equator, i.e. where the
inclination of the geomagnetic field is zero degrees. The expression for the RTE
transform operator Grte(k) in the wave number domain is given by Gibert and
Guillamin (1985) and Blakely (1995) as follows :
where
As noted previously the direction cosines are measured using the International
Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) coordinate system. From equations (44)
above it is possible to express the RTE transfer function in terms of the
transformed 2D Hilbert operators Hx(k),Hy(k) in the k = (kx,ky) wave
number domain, namely,
Whence for the induced magnetization case in which the direction cosines m of
the resultant magnetization vector is identical to the direction cosines f of the
ambient geomagnetic field, then equation (50) becomes
A theoretical description of the filters available in the Grid Filter option is provided
below.
F 1 ( k, z 0 ) = F 1 ( k x, k y ; z 0 ) = f ( x, y, z ) exp [ i ( k x + k y ) ] dx dy
1 0 x y (33)
Appendix D Grid Filter Descriptions 1129
where xi=(i -1)x and yj=(j -1)y and the discrete kx,ky wave-numbers
are given by the relations:
kx = 2(k1-1)/Nxx ; 1 k1 Nx and
ky = 2(k2-1)/Nyy ; 1 k2 Ny
where z = (z1-z0) is the change in vertical datum from z0 to z1 for the 2D grid
and |k| is the modulus of the 2D wavenumber vector k as defined in equation
(38). Here it is noted that z is measured positive downwards which is in keeping
with both the IGRF and the Encom grid coordinate systems.
The FFT Low Pass Filter applies an operator to remove high frequency content
with wavelengths above (that is, smaller than the defined wavelength cut-off). The
cut-off rate specifies the severity of the filter at its wavelength margins. The higher
the cut-off, the greater and the sharper the cut-off effect of removing a particular
wavelength cut-off.
1130 Encom Discover User Guide
This FFT filter is the converse of the Low Pass filter. The High Pass filters pass
frequencies that are higher than the specified cut-off.
Band Pass filters remove wavelengths that lie between two specified wavelength
limits.
A common cut-off is applied for both the high and low ranges of the wavelengths.
Applying a simple cutoff filter to an energy spectrum (such as a Band Pass filter)
almost invariably introduces a significant amount of ringing (referred to as the
Gibbs' Phenomena).
Appendix E Styles and Symbol Fonts 1131
Style Library
Line Styles
When Discover is installed a number of custom line styles are automatically
added to the existing MapInfo Pen file.
1132 Encom Discover User Guide
Style Library
Gas well , 44
Fossil locality 5 53
Macrofossil locality 6 54
Microfossil locality 7 55
1134 Encom Discover User Guide
Oncolite locality : 58
Palynomorph locality ; 59
Stromatolite locality = 61
Type locality @ 64
Drillhole A 65
Unworked deposit B 66
Major mine F 70
Treatment plant N 78
Ore chute \ 92
Filled workings ] 93
Natural surface _ 95
Grab-sample locality ` 96
Costean or trench a 97
Oil seep b 98
Gas seep c 99
Oil and gas seep reported (by geoscientist) but not g 103
relocated
Drillhole p 112
Scarp r 114
Trigometrical | 124
Pediment ? 132
Landslips ? 133
Discover Code - Used when entering data into a spreadsheet for display
with the Discover Structural Data Map Window.
1138 Encom Discover User Guide
Bedding 1 33 ! ! !
Bedding Horizontal 1 34 " " "
Bedding Vertical 1 35 # # #
Bedding Overturned 2 36 $ $ $
Bedding Overturned Horizontal 2 37 % % %
Bedding Facing 3 38 & & &
Bedding Facing Vertical 3 39 ' ' '
Cleavage (S1) 4 41 ) ) )
Cleavage (S1) Vertical 4 42 * * *
Cleavage (S1) Horizontal 4 43 + + +
Cleavage (S2) 5 44 , , ,
Cleavage (S2) Vertical 5 45 - - -
Cleavage (S2) Horizontal 5 46 . . .
Cleavage (S3) 6 47 / / /
Cleavage (S3) Vertical 6 48 0 0 0
Cleavage (S3) Horizontal 6 49 1 1 1
Younging 7 132 ? ? ?
Lineation 8 50 2 2 2
Lineation Vertical 8 51 3 3 3
Appendix E Styles and Symbol Fonts 1139
Lineation Horizontal 8 52 4 4 4
Lineation (L1) 9 53 5 5 5
Lineation (L2) 10 54 6 6 6
Lineation (L3) 11 55 7 7 7
Bedding-Cleavage 12 56 8 8 8
Bedding-Cleavage Horizontal 12 57 9 9 9
Crenulation 13 58 : : :
Crenulation Horizontal 13 59 ; ; ;
Mineral Alignment 14 60 < < <
Mineral Alignment Horizontal 14 61 = = =
Banding/Platy Alignment 15 62 > > >
Banding/Platy Alignment Vertical 15 63 ? ? ?
Banding/Platy Alignment Horizontal 15 64 @ @ @
Joint 16 65 A A A
Joint Vertical 16 66 B B B
Joint Horizontal 16 67 C C C
Foliation 17 68 D D D
Foliation Vertical 17 69 E E E
Foliation Horizontal 17 70 F F F
Anticline (F1) 18 80 P P P
1140 Encom Discover User Guide
Foliation D2 50 164
Foliation D3 51 165
Bedding/Cleavage (S1) Parallel 52 72 H H H
Bedding/Cleavage (S2) Parallel 53 73 I I I
Bedding/Cleavage (S3) Parallel 54 74 J J J
Plunge Bedding/Cleavage (S2)
Intersection
55 75 K K K
Plunge Bedding/Cleavage (S3)
Intersection
56 76 L L L
Anticline (F1) 18 80 P P P
1144 Encom Discover User Guide
Crenulation Horizontal 13 59 ; ; ;
Deformed Bedding Dip 48 134
Dextral Fault Wrench 44 100 d d d
Dipping Fault Gouge 42 115 s s s
Dipping Shear Zone 81 114 r r
Eutaxitic Foliation 78 161
Eutaxitic Foliation Vertical 78 162
Fault Zone Breccia 34 107 k k k
Fold Verge Left 68 149
Fold Verge Right 69 150
Foliation 17 68 D D D
Foliation D1 49 163
Foliation D2 50 164
Foliation D3 51 165
Foliation Horizontal 17 70 F F F
Foliation Vertical 17 69 E E E
Glacial Striae-Sense Known 79 116 t t t
Glacial Striae-Sense Unknown 80 117 u u u
Joint 16 65 A A A
Joint Horizontal 16 67 C C C
Appendix E Styles and Symbol Fonts 1147
Joint Vertical 16 66 B B B
Kink Fold With Plunge 65 146
Lineation 8 50 2 2 2
Lineation (L1) 9 53 5 5 5
Lineation (L2) 10 54 6 6 6
Lineation (L3) 11 55 7 7 7
Lineation Horizontal 8 52 4 4 4
Lineation Vertical 8 51 3 3 3
Mineral Alignment 14 60 < < <
Mineral Alignment Horizontal 14 61 = = =
Minor Anticline 59 140
Minor Anticline And Plunge 60 141
Minor Fold M Vergence 74 155
Minor Fold S Vergence 72 153
Minor Fold With Dip 63 144
Minor Fold With Plunge 64 145
Minor Fold Z Vergence 73 154
Minor Syncline 61 142
Minor Syncline And Plunge 62 143
Monocline 58 79 O O O
1148 Encom Discover User Guide
Syncline (F2) 24 92 \ \ \
Syncline (F2) Horizontal 24 93 ] ] ]
Syncline (F3) 25 94 ^ ^ ^
Syncline (F3) Horizontal 25 95 _ _ _
Syncline Overturned 26 96 ` ` `
Syncline Recumbent 27 97 a a a
Thrust Fault 31 104 h h h
Trend Line 35 108 l l l
Undulating Bedding Dip 47 133
Vein/Dyke No Dip 37 110 n n n
Vein/Dyke With Dip 37 112 p p p
Vein/Sill No Dip 38 111 o o o
Vein/Sill With Dip 38 113 q q q
Younging 7 132 ? ? ?
The available hydrographic symbols are listed along with their equivalent ASCII
code.
1150 Encom Discover User Guide
Waterhole or soak 1 49
Swamp, marsh 2 50
Mangroves 3 51
Stream arrow 4 52
Spring/thermal area 5 53
Windpump A 65
Bore C 67
Abandoned bore D 68
Sub-artesian bore I 73
Well K 75
Abandoned well L 76
Water tank S 83
Dam on stream T 84
Palaeocurrent k 107
The available environmental symbols are listed along with their equivalent ASCII
code.
Survey station E 69
F 70
G 71
1153
H 72
I 73
J 74
Trigonometrical station L 76
Astronomical station M 77
Volcanic centre P 80
Residual hill R 82
Slope S 83
Pediment T 84
Landslip U 85
Harmful/irritant V 86
Toxic W 87
Radioactive X 88
Flammable Y 89
Corrosive Z 90
Oxidising/supports fire a 97
Explosive b 98
Raster Images
Gridded Surfaces
Drillholes
Raster Images
i Accurate 'rubber-sheet' rectification i.e. image is stretched, skemed and warped to accommodate control points
j Automatic image registration
k Imports embedded coordiante registration information
l Support for automatic coordinate registration via .TFW world file
m Truevision File Format Specification 2.0
n GRD files can be treated as either a grid or raster image. If the associated .TAB file contains a RasterStyle 6 entry, the
file will be treated as a grid
Gridded Surfaces
o Files are imported as read-only; they cannot be used to create grid files with MapInfo Professional's Create Grid The-
matic interpolation process
p Input point datasets are triangulated to create a gridded surface
q) Either the overall header .DIR can be referenced (normally under the Text folder) or subsidary .DT* files.
Drillholes
G Customising MapShop
The MAPSHOP.INI file contains parameters controlling the position, look, size and
scale of the many MapShop components, such as scale bars, layout window, grid
referencing system, grid spacing, page margins etc. Many of these parameters
are automatically set from within the various specific MapShop dialogs, but a
number can be set using the MapShop>MapShop Configuration tool (see
Configuring MapShop).
The MAPSHOP.INI file is located by default in the Mapshop folder, as set under
Discover>Configuration.
MAPSHOP.INI Parameters
Parameter Description
AlignRefToGrid =TRUE. Align the Reference Number (if used) to the grid
spacing.
=FALSE. Use regular grid spacing.
PrintScales This item defines the list of scales which will be used on
the Print Standard Map dialog. This allows the command
to be customised to suit the organizations output
requirements. If this line is not specified, a default set of
scales are used. You can also specify a list of scales in
the Templates tables for each specific map template.
1172 Encom Discover User Guide
Parameter Description
SelectBrush This item defines the brush (fill) style used to highlight
selected region/area objects when the Show Selected
Feature options is enabled on the Print setup dialogs. The
format of the brush command is the same as that used for
MapBasic applications. If the user does not have
MapBasic, setting up a layers style override and saving it
as a workspace is good way to determine the required
style. If this line is not specified, then the default style
BRUSH(8,16711681,-1) (red hatch) will automatically be
used.
SelectPen This item defines the pen (line) style used to highlight
selected line type objects when the Show Selected
Feature options is enabled on the Print setup dialogs. The
format of the pen command is the same as that used for
MapBasic applications. If the user does not have
MapBasic, setting up a layers style override and saving it
as a workspace is good way to determine the required
style. If this line is not specified, then the default style
PEN(3,2,16711681) (thick red) will automatically be used.
SetXXXXX These settings are used to set the various styles for map
series maps and when printing map catalogues. If any of
the settings are omitted then the default value will be
used. A brief description for each is shown below:
SetShowTick = TRUE
Shows grid ticks on the map.
SetShowNL = TRUE
Shows a neatline around the border of the map.
SetShowNumb = TRUE
Shows grid numbers on the map at the grid tick positions.
SetShowJE = FALSE
Show a join edge on the map (the intersection of
surrounding map sheets).
SetShowCM = FALSE
Shows the corner marks of the map sheet on the map.
SetShowCMV = FALSE
Shows the coordinates of the corner mark values.
Appendix G Customising MapShop 1173
Parameter Description
SetShowCross = FALSE
Shows grid crosses at a specified gap width (set using the
SetCrossGap INI setting).
SetShowFull = FALSE
Shows the full coordinate values instead of a shortened
two digit version.
SetShowLine = TRUE
Shows grid lines on the map.
SetShowRef = TRUE
Shows reference numbers on the map. These can be
later used when creating indexes over map sheets.
SetFontNumb = FONT("Times",0,10,0)
Sets the font for the grid numbers (refer SetShowNumb)
SetFontRef = FONT("Times",0,18,0)
Sets the font for the reference numbers on the map (refer
SetShowRef).
SetPenCross = PEN(1,2,16711680)
Sets the pen style for the grid crosses (refer
SetShowCross).
SetPenLine = PEN(1,3,255)
Sets the pen style for the grid lines (refer SetShowLine)
SetPenNL = PEN(2,2,0)
Sets the pen style for the map's neatline (refer
SetShowNL)
SetPenTick = PEN(1,2,0)
Sets the pen style for the grid ticks (refer SetShowTicks).
SetPenJE = PEN(1,2,0)
Sets the pen style for the join edge of the map (refer
SetShowJE).
1174 Encom Discover User Guide
Parameter Description
SetPenCM = PEN(1,2,0)
Sets the pen style for the corner marks of the map sheet
(refer SetShowCM).
SetTickLgth Sets the size of the grid ticks in mm on the map layout
(refer SetShowTicks).
SetCrossLgth Sets the size of the grid crosses in mm on the map layout
(refer SetShowCross).
SetCMLength Sets the size of the map sheet corner marks in mm on the
map layout (refer SetShowCM).
SetTickGap Sets the gap interval in ground metres for grid ticks to be
placed at (refer SetShowTicks).
SetLineGap Sets the gap interval in ground metres for grid lines to be
placed at (refer SetShowLine).
SetLatUnit Sets the default units to be used when setting the three
gap intervals to be used, when printing maps form map
series that are in Lat/Long coordinate systems.
SetTickGapLat Sets the gap interval for grid ticks using the units specified
by the SetLatUnit setting (refer SetShowTicks).
SetCrossGapLat Sets the gap interval for grid crosses using the units
specified by the SetLatUnit setting (refer SetShowCross).
SetLineGapLat Sets the gap interval for grid lines using the units specified
by the SetLatUnit setting (refer SetShowLine).
SetCMVOffset Sets the offset from the corner mark in paper mm for the
position of the corner mark values (refer SetShowCMV).
SetJEOffset Sets the offset for the position of the join edge in paper
mm.
Appendix G Customising MapShop 1175
Parameter Description
SetRefOffset Sets the offset from the map edge in paper mm for the
position of the reference numbers.
SetNLOffset Sets the offset for the map Neatline in paper mm.
ScaleBarWithin = TRUE
Have all scalebar text objects within the extents of the
scale bar edges. Set by Map Making>
MapShop>MapShop Configuration.
ScaleBarType Sets the scale bar type (1 - 3). (Set by Map Making>
MapShop>MapShop Configuration.
ScaleBarUnit Sets the scale bar units (1 - 3). Set by Map Making>
MapShop>MapShop Configuration.
SetIrregFill = BRUSH(16,16776960,-1)
Sets the fill style for the buffer area around irregular
shaped map series sheets.
SetStdPen = PEN(1,3,255)
Set the pen style to be used for the border on standard
map plots.
SetMaskFill = BRUSH(02,16777215,16777215)
Sets the fill style for the TempMapMask temporary layer
created with Map Series Maps.
SetMaskPen =PEN(1,2,255)
SetMaskPen2 These settings work the same as the SetMaskFill. The
first number is the width of the line. The second number is
the patten of the line and the last number is the colour.
The value of the colour is derived from the RGB()
command in MapBasic.
1176 Encom Discover User Guide
Parameter Description
SetMask2Fill = BRUSH(02,16777215,16777215)
Sets the fill style for the TempMapMask2 temporary layer
created with Map Series Maps.
SetRefInwards = TRUE
Turn on reference numbers in so that they face the centre
of the map in map series plots (refer SetShowRef).
SetGridTo These two settings are used for trimming back AMG type
SetGridFrom coordinates.
SetIndMargin Set the left, right, top and bottom margin (all the same) for
printed map indexes.
SetIndFeaWide Sets the column width for the feature field in map indexes.
SetIndLocWide Sets the column width for the locality field in map indexes.
SetIndNumWide Sets the column width for the map number field in map
indexes.
SetIndNamWide Sets the column width for the map name field in map
indexes.
SetIndRefWide Sets the column width for the reference number field in
map indexes.
Appendix G Customising MapShop 1177
Parameter Description
SetKeyFont = FONT("Times",0,8,0,-1)
SetKeyLine = PEN(2,2,0)
SetKeyFill = BRUSH(52,0,-1)
These three settings specify the font, line and brush styles
to be used for the map sheet polygons boxes when
printing key maps.
1 1
1 2 3 4
1 1
1 1 1 1
A A
5 6 7 8
A A
1178 Encom Discover User Guide
Parameter Description
NthPntStyle This setting specifies the symbol style to use for the north
point that will be placed on the map if ShowNthPnt is
TRUE. The symbol clause MUST be of the TrueType font
symbol syntax (6 attributes).
NthPntRatioX The above two settings set where the north point should
NthPntRatioY be placed on the map. The X and Y ratios are a
percentage of the total distance along the X and Y axis of
the paper starting from the bottom left hand corner of the
frame that the map is being inserted into.
Appendix G Customising MapShop 1179
Parameter Description
Parameter Description
The information collected will be used to support, develop new features, and
improve Pitney Bowes Software products. This information is not shared with third
parties.
1182 Encom Discover User Guide
Pitney Bowes Software takes many precautions in protecting the information that
is collected and transmitted. You can learn more about how we handle user
information by reviewing the Pitney Bowes Privacy Policy.
Pitney Bowes Software keeps a file on the computer that stores the above
information. Periodically Pitney Bowes Software sends that data to a server over
an internet connection. After a two month period any unsent data is automatically
deleted on the individual computer.
How do I participate?
The first time Discover is started, you will be presented with a dialog asking if you
would like to participate in the initiative. Click 'Yes' if you would like to participate
or 'No' if you do not want to participate.
To join the program, select 'Yes, I would like to activate the Product
Improvement Initiative on my computer.' and press OK.
You will not receive any e-mail correspondence from Pitney Bowes Software
regarding this program, regardless of whether you participate. We do not collect
personally identifiable information as part of this program.
Can I see the data that is collected before it is sent to Pitney Bowes
Appendix H Discover Product Improvement Initiative 1183
Software?
Information is collected as long as you use the product version for which you have
agreed to participate or until you decide to stop participating in the program.
The DPII tool can be configured with a registry value specifically for the purpose
of implementing a group policy in a enterprise environment. To do this:
2. Prior to initial start up, create a registry value (string value) with the name
ShowUsageOptIn in the location
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Encom\Discover\
3. Populate the registry value with the following value data depending on the
desired implementation of the PII:
null (no reg key added) Operates as normal: PII Is Off, and a PII
activation dialog will be shown at start up
Index 1185
Index
averaging 1120 G
enhancement 1121
Gaussian 1120 Gaussian
filters 949
Geophysical FFT Derivative 1125
Gaussian kernel function
Laplacian 1122
density grid 868, 921
laplacian of Gaussian 1122
Gaussian weighting model
line and edge enhance 1122 inverse distance weighting 863
roberts cross 1123
generate a profile 971
sharpening 1121
Geochem
smoothing 1119
data levelling 296
sobel 1123
point classification 288
sun angle 1124
statisics 301
user-defined custom 1124
geographic locations
Fit Map Window to Selected Object 110 of maps 51
Fixed extents 111, 114 Geological Symbol Font 1132
in map linking 111, 114 geological symbols 1132, 1149, 1152
Fixed scale 111, 114 geology
in map linking 111, 114 surface 680
flip Geometry tab
grids 1001 Gridding Tool 873
flip a grid 1001 geophysical point data
flow accumulation 1037 trench downhole data 677, 690
Flow arrows See Vector View Geosoft
flow direction 1035 grid format 195
Folder locations Geosoft database
changing 15 import 153
Font Size defaults 482 Geosoft grid
import 195
Format 482
grids 990 Getting started 1
Text 482 global
format settings 787
drillhole data 675 Graph Builder
GraphMap 596
grids 995
formula Graph Colouring 574
of Grid Calculator 980 Graph Display 572
Frame Graph Query 574
Configure 438 graph types
Settings 438 GraphMap 600
Setup 437 GraphMap 585, 624
Frame Settings 438 Advanced Colour Options 637
Frame Setup 437 Advanced Size Options 640
frame setup 437 altering symbol display 636
Frame Titling 476 colour by group 637
colour by RGB value 644
Function pull-down list 985
Column parameter 610
Create tab 595
Data Handling Options 607
1192 Encom Discover User Guide
Y
Y axis assignment
GraphMap 598
Y-axis label 458
Z
Z axis assignment
GraphMap 598
Zoom to Extents of Selected Object 110
zooming
GraphMap 619
zooms
in GridProcessor 951