Welcome to manifold.net, the makers of the Manifold Internet Map Server. 

If you have a PC connected to the web running Windows, with Manifold IMS you can create cool web pages that publish mapping and geographic information systems (GIS) data to intranets or to the Internet.

With Manifold IMS you only need a single Manifold license (which could be a runtime license for as little as $100) per web server, no matter how many processors are in that web server and no matter how many sites or visitors are served by that web server!

Here's all you need:

• A  PC running Windows  - Just about any  modern PIII, PIV, Celeron, Athlon or Duron will do. 

• Windows Internet Information Server (IIS) 5.0 or greater, or other HTML server -   If you have a modern Windows package like Windows 2003, Windows XP Pro or Windows 2000 you already have IIS. You can even use the Personal Web Server that's provided free with many Windows versions.

• A full-time connection to the web  - If you have a DSL line, Cable Modem or T1 line with your own IP address (almost always assigned with full time links like DSL or cable modems), you're all set!

• Manifold System Professional Edition or Higher Edition - Manifold is the coolest mapping and geographic information system (GIS) ever created.  It includes Manifold IMS as a seamlessly integrated component and costs only $295 for Professional Edition and as little as $100 for a Professional Runtime Edition.

OR

• Use a commercial Service - A variety of commercial hosting services now support Manifold IMS websites!  You'll still need Manifold System to create your project but if you do not have a full time Internet connection or do not want to operate your own web server you can use a commercial provider to host your Manifold IMS web site.

Manifold System is the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) authoring environment for creating intense maps or CAD diagrams and filling them with data from databases.  

Manifold can read over 80 different mapping, image, CAD, satellite, terrain elevation and database formats.  That lets you take advantage of the millions of files that can be downloaded free from the Web so you can get exactly the data and maps you want.  Manifold has amazing editing tools that let you edit and format your maps for spectacular presentations. 

Once you've created your product you can create a web page for it using File - Export - Web Page.  That automatically creates a world-class web page  based on the options you picked.  No need to write any programming code or to edit any HTML or .asp scripts! Visitors to your page will be able to browse the map, pan, zoom and use the controls you specified when creating the page.  If you included queries in your project, users will be able to launch queries, specify parameters and see the results in tables.  Map server projects that take weeks of programming labor with old-fashioned map servers will take you only a few mouse clicks!

Manifold IMS even works perfectly with Microsoft's ASP .NET environment and with the latest generation of Microsoft .NET servers.  Manifold IMS even includes dedicated templates to create web sites for ASP .NET servers.

Manifold IMS Sample Sites 

These sites show the Manifold Internet Map Server, which is included in Manifold System Release Professional Edition.  Manifold IMS provides a high performance web mapping solution that's powerful enough for organizations yet affordable by individuals.  Manifold IMS works with standard web browsers and requires no plug ins or costly middleware!  Manifold IMS automatically creates web sites from Manifold projects using a variety of templates.  The example sites show the use of three different templates:

High compatibility template - This template creates a site that will work with older, "4.x" style browsers from Microsoft, Netscape, Mozilla and Opera.  The sites use more austere style with text link menus instead of command buttons.  Tables created by the Find tool and queries will pop open in a new browser window.  Pan by clicking near the edges of the map.  Two sites show the standard template.

Mexico - A map of Mexico with layers using zoom ranges to control which layers come on upon zoom in. Shows labels as a layer.  

Surface with Vector Layers (at right) - Montara Mountain SDTS DEM surface overlayed on a base map of the San Francisco Bay region, with roads and hydrography layers. Zoom in to see the surface. This generates detailed images (due to the surface... same as raster images) that do not compress well and so the image served to your browser may be over 150K in size. If you have a slow Internet link it could take a while for the image to be downloaded. Note how much faster the mexico example is ("sparse" images compress well and so are smaller) even though it too is a large image size.  

Standard template -  This template creates attractive sites designed for newer "5.x" browsers including Microsoft IE, Netscape, Mozilla and Opera.  It provides a point and click Info tool as well as a prettier, tool-based interface. Pan by selecting the Center tool and then clicking anywhere near the edge of the map.

Theater - Architectural plans for the TSB Theater in Plymouth, New Zealand taken from .dxf files. A smaller window, but showing how one can use Manifold IMS to publish CAD drawings. 

Standard template with frames - A very fast and convenient template for newer "5.x" browsers that reports the results of queries, Find and the Info button in tables that appear below the main map display.  With or without frames, the standard template is a good choice for high performance intranet use and internet web sites aimed at more sophisticated users who want greater interactivity with the data sets.

107th Congressional Districts (at right) - A practical application that shows Congressional districts in the United States for the 107th Congress with many IMS features such as a legend, a query and Info and Find tools.  Zoom in to see ever more detailed city names.  Click on the Info tool and then click on a district to see the name of the representative and their web site.  Try entering Barton in the Find box to see a bizarrely "Gerrymandered" district.   The Query pane is set up with a query that will list all representatives in a particular state.  Enter the state's two letter postal code and press Query to see the representatives, sorted by last name.

Web Site Programming Examples 

NEW: Get 6.50 versions of these web site examples and four new examples: Download All 6.50 Examples as a single Zip file here.  Click HERE to get the release notes text file setting forth requirements for the 6.50 examples.

Manifold.net provides programming examples for IMS that show how simple programming can be used to create custom sites. The following examples teach advanced web programming with IMS.  They assume the user is familiar with Manifold and with standard Microsoft Web programming techniques.  The user interfaces for these examples have been deliberately kept simple in order to make the programming techniques being taught more obvious.

Webcities - The site at left provides an example of programmatic use of Manifold IMS to create web pages.  It was created without use of a template by scripting in Javascript in the .asp files used.   Two new toolbar buttons are added.  Click the Zoom to Cities button and then click near a city dot to get information (lat/lon location) on that city.  Click on the Zoom to Query button and click anywhere in the map to find all cities within the given distance of the clicked point.   A table with hyperlinks to the city appears for all cities within range.

Locations - This site demonstrates the use of a linked drawing and database code to create point objects at user clicked locations. Users can add a point by clicking with a new locations tool.  The code is kept as simple as possible so that it is clear what is going on.  Once the linked drawing grows to 200 locations the oldest 100 locations are removed. Linked drawings are drawings that are automatically created from external database tables, so you can control what appears in the map by simply changing values in your database management system's tables.

Navigation - Shows the combined use of server-side and client-side code to implement zoom box functionality and custom scaling.  Also demonstrates how to switch themes by toggling map layers.   Zoom ranges allow new layers (roads, rivers, cities) to come into view when zooming in.

OverviewMap - Demonstrates how to create and use an overview map for navigation in the main map.  Shows various techniques to re-center and re-scale the map view.  Includes use of user-specified locations using coordinate conversion on the fly to specify desired views. Also shows how to organize labels in layers so that more important layers are given priority.

Geocoding - Demonstrates how to use the Manifold geocoding engine from IMS. This requires installation of the Manifold 6.50 Geocoding Data product on the IMS machine as well as Manifold 6.50.   To keep the example easily downloadable it does not contain complete streets for the US but rather just pans to show  town names. Only the main cities have labels on them. The example allows entering addresses either as a single, concatenated line or as separate street address, city, state and zip fields. Entering just a zip code is a handy way of looking up a zip code.

It has reasonable error return despite being a tutorial example. For instance, if a visitor enters an address of "1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC" into the single line address box it will return an alternative match using the correct street name of "1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW".  

Manifold IMS Benefits

Manifold IMS is the map server that is built into Manifold System.  It's an integral part of the product with no need to install or configure any additional software, no need to configure services and no need to make exotic changes in your IIS installation.  It works perfectly, automatically every time.

Manifold IMS provides a high performance web mapping solution that's powerful enough for organizations yet affordable by individuals.  Manifold IMS works with standard web browsers and requires no plug ins and no costly middleware!

Old-Fashioned Map Servers waste Time and Money

The old-fashioned approach to map servers is to sell you a map server that's a separate application.  You still need to buy a GIS to prepare your data and to create elegant maps...all the map server does is publish them to the web.  This has several major disadvantages:

• Buying two applications costs too much!  Imagine... after spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for a map server, you still have to buy a GIS for hundreds or thousands of dollars more.

• All of the old-fashioned  map servers have radically different user interfaces and methods than whatever professional quality GIS you'll need to prepare the project. That means you have to master two different, highly complex worlds: once to create your project and once to publish it. No way!

• Old fashioned map servers require a lot of programming to publish even simple maps.  Why get stuck in a software development campaign just to publish a GIS project to the web? 

• Integrating projects between the GIS and the map server can be a real nightmare, even if the two are sold by different groups within the same company.  If problems arise, who do you call?  You know the drill - the map server vendor will blame the GIS and the GIS vendor blames the other guy - business as usual!

• Many traditional map servers originate in UNIX and (despite their high prices) use low performance architectures more reminiscent of student hacking than professional commercial sites.  Using bloated middleware, CGI scripts and dis-integrated UNIX code fails to take advantage of the high performance world of commercial Microsoft Internet Information Servers.

• Old-fashioned map servers use UNIX-oriented, non-Microsoft languages for scripting.  That can be a big obstacle when you are ready to integrate your web pages with enterprise Microsoft servers and new technology like .NET.

• Old-fashioned map servers like ArcIMS use a different object library than the one used in the vendor's GIS product.  That means the scripts and programs you write for the GIS won't work unmodified in IMS.  Ouch!

Manifold IMS Saves Time, Money and Hassles through Integration

Manifold IMS is the same program as Manifold System, the world's coolest GIS ever. The map server is built into the same program used to create map projects interactively.  That has several major benefits:

• One low-cost package does it all. $295 delivers everything you need to create breathtaking displays and to publish them to the web.  

• Learn one system instead of many: Because Manifold is the editing and development environment as well as the map serving program, you only need to learn one user interface and one set of methods.  Excellent! 

• No programming required!  Enjoy using Manifold's highly WYSIWIG (what you see is what you get) visual interface to create cool maps and then publish them with a few mouse clicks.  Now that's a real time and money saver.

• Get built in, integrated US street address-awareness using Manifold 6.50's built-in US street address geocoder.  It's easy to create web sites that can accept zip codes or even complete street addresses to better locate dealers or other information. [Geocoding is a low cost option for Manifold System].

• One system means the same vendor guarantees that your Manifold project will be perfectly published via Manifold IMS.  It's an easy guarantee to make since the same program creates the project and publishes it.

• Manifold IMS features incredibly tight, sophisticated architecture crafted by the Microsoft technology experts at manifold.net.  It's dedicated to a pure performance solution that's optimized exclusively for Microsoft Internet Information Server.

• For those customers who would like to program for greater customization, Manifold's own native scripting language is Microsoft ActiveX scripting using VBscript or Jscript (javascript) using the exact same Microsoft scripting engines that customize Microsoft's own high-end enterprise servers and .NET servers.  Manifold's use of Microsoft's own code is your assurance of perfect compatibility with present and future Microsoft technology.

• Because Manifold IMS is the same thing as Manifold GIS, programs you write for Manifold GIS work exactly the same in IMS since the object model is identically the same.  Cool!

Manifold IMS for Maximum Performance and Security

Manifold IMS delivers blistering hot performance through sophisticated features that are tightly integrated with Microsoft Internet Information Server.  Features include

• Sophisticated ASP or ASP .NET pages for higher performance than ho-hum CGI scripts.

• High security: no user write permissions required in Internet publication directories.

• Run session state free for faster performance.

• Run using High isolation for bulletproof IIS reliability.

• Perfect support for object pooling for automatic scaling and high speed.

• Sophisticated memory management to take advantage of the modern era of cheap RAM for maximum performance.

• Rocket-fast use of .png for 10% to 15% faster throughput than dumb old .gif images.

• Seamless compatibility with the latest generation of Microsoft "lock down" tools for fully-armored, high security web site operations.

• Full support for SSL encrypted operations for enhanced security.

• Perfect integration with Personal Web Server and Internet Information Server 5 and greater, including full support for IIS in Windows XP as well as Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003.

• Perfect integration with ASP .NET, including dedicated ASP .NET web site templates and tested performance with Microsoft's new .NET servers.

Think of it this way: if you are considering some other map server besides Manifold, you'll still need a sophisticated, professional GIS to prepare the mapping projects that will be served by that map server.  Why not use Manifold as the GIS?

If you get Manifold System for your GIS, you'll be able to grab data from over 80 different GIS, image and database formats for your projects and you'll have the most complete and most sophisticated arsenal of GIS tools ever assembled in a single package.  Manifold provides ten times the capabilities of old-fashioned GIS packages yet costs only one tenth as much.  You'll also have the world's easiest to use Internet map server as well.

So, even if you are considering another map server, start with Manifold System as your GIS and see how far you can go.  Give yourself the chance to see just how spectacular Manifold IMS is before funding an alternative.  It could well be you decide that not only is Manifold the coolest GIS to prepare your map projects it's also the perfect solution to publish them as well!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Manifold license for each web server?  Yes.  Every web server you use requires a Manifold license to run IMS on that web site.  The license can be a regular license or a runtime license.

Do I need a Manifold license or any Manifold software on client machines?  No.  Visitors to your IMS-enabled website can use ordinary Internet browsers, such as Microsoft's free Internet Explorer browser, to visit your web site.

Does Manifold IMS run in Linux?  No.  Manifold products are sold for use on Windows operating systems only.

Can I use PHP or other non-IIS technology? Yes, although if you choose to do so you are on your own as regards support.  Theoretically, you can use IMS within any dynamic HTML-serving technology that can instantiate and work with objects and there are many users who employ IMS in Windows via PHP and other non-Microsoft technologies and who talk about their experiences in forums like www.georeference.org - That's fine if you want to do it, but Manifold is tested with IIS and standard Microsoft technologies and all Manifold examples and technical support resources are aimed at Microsoft technologies.  

Do I have to write programs to use Manifold IMS? Not if your application can make use of one of the standard templates built into IMS.  If that's the case, you can create a project visually and interactively within Manifold and then use the File - Export - Web Page command.  You can then choose options you like in the resulting dialog (such as the template to use, which navigation and other tools you want on your site) and press OK and Manifold will write the web page code for you.  We recommend that even expert programmers begin work with IMS by creating a few simple web sites using the File - Export - Web Page dialog as a learning experience.  This gives them confidence, to see that they really can create a web site without any programming in less than five minutes and also provides a "fall back" to which they can regroup if subsequently they need to debug or otherwise adjust a complex, custom program.

What is the difference between a regular license and a runtime license? Runtime licenses are much less expensive than a regular license, less than half the cost.  Runtime licenses provide all capabilities for that Manifold edition except that they do not have the interactive, desktop user interface.

Can I save money by using a runtime license for my web site?  Yes. No matter what your web application (GIS-enabled or just a plain, ordinary web application of some sort) it is very bad practice to work interactively on a machine that is also working as a web server.  For security reasons, a web server machine should be dedicated to running a web site.  Since no one will be working away at mouse and keyboard with Manifold on your web servers, you won't need the desktop user interface for Manifold on those machines and you can just use a runtime license.

Can I create an IMS web site using just runtime licenses? In theory, yes, in practice no.  Because the capabilities of Manifold IMS are derived from Manifold's capabilities overall, any good web developer will need to learn Manifold interactively to be able to get the most out of a Manifold IMS application.  For that it will be necessary to get regular licenses for your developers in addition to the runtime license you use for the web server.

How many Manifold licenses will I need to create and deploy my Manifold IMS web site?  You will need a regular Manifold license for each developer and you will need a runtime license for each web server.  If you have three developers and one web server you will need three regular licenses and one runtime license.

Can't I develop and deploy with the same license? As a practical matter, no.  Manifold will not run interactively at the same time it is running as IMS.  It is theoretically possible to start and stop and restart between interactive and IMS mode on the same machine, but as a practical matter this tends to drive developers nuts and loses too much productivity.  It is simply cheaper to buy a runtime license so that development can be done on one machine and deployment on a dedicated web server.  It is true, though, that for limited tinkering in a hobby way it is both fun and possible to launch Manifold IMS on the same personal machine used for interactive usage - that's a great way to become aware of how easy it is to create web sites using Manifold IMS.

What is the difference between the Professional Runtime and the Universal Runtime? The Universal runtime license adds all Universal features: full Enterprise license capability plus Business Tools and Surface Tools. Since a Universal runtime license is only $200 per web server, virtually all serious sites will use it even if they don't need all Universal features. A key issue is that an Enterprise license (which the Universal runtime delivers) is required to get rid of the "Powered by manifold.net" logo which IMS insists on adding if a Professional or Professional Runtime license is used.

Is there an Enterprise Runtime license available?  No.  The difference in price between a Professional Runtime and a Universal Runtime is already so little that it does not make sense to try to squeeze in an Enterprise runtime price in between.

How Fast is Manifold IMS?  It's fast! Users who are familiar with legacy map servers sold by old-fashioned GIS companies like ESRI tell us that Manifold IMS is normally as fast or faster than legacy map servers, all other things being equal.  The performance you get in your application will depend on very many factors in hardware and software, including the skill with which the application is implemented.  For factors affecting the performance of a web site see the Performance Tips page and the Optimizing Performance page on the web version of the Manifold System User Manual.

Browse the rest of this site to learn more about Manifold System and the many capabilities it provides. 

Manifold.net delivers professional quality and performance at PC pricing. Manifold products are used worldwide by experts as well as by complete novices.

Order any product online through the Manifold Online Store using secure forms.  The Store is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Many products may be downloaded immediately after purchase for instant gratification.

Manifold Net Ltd.
1805 North Carson Street, Suite 700
Carson City, NV  89701
800-556-5919
sales@manifold.net

Prices, terms and conditions, and product specifications subject to change without notice.  Please contact Manifold Net with any special needs or requests.