Manifold System Release 7.00 Highlights 

The following page provides a list of the Top 100 highlights in Release 7.00 as voted by manifold.net marketing and engineering managers.  Any list drawn from over 530 improvements is bound to be a bit arbitrary.  For the full list of all items in "raw" form as each build proceeded through the beta process, see the 7.00 Release Notes.

Highlights include:

• Manifold now includes image library capability: The File - Link - Image command allows linking an image from a folder of image files. Supported file formats are BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, TGA, TIFF, GeoTIFF and ECW including automatic use of coordinate system info from GeoTIFF, ECW and world files. An image linked from a folder of image files is referred to as an "image library" and individual image files are referred to as "tiles". Manifold can automatically create index drawings for image libraries that provide rapid and effective organization and navigation in applications such as IMS web sites.
• TIGER/Line import supports TIGER/Line 2004 and 2005 data.
• File - Import and File - Export commands and the Database Console dialog allow exchanging data with Oracle data sources via the native Oracle interface (Oracle Call Interface or OCI). Using the native interface provides better performance and allows using features not exposed through generic database interfaces, such as ODBC, OLE DB and ADO .NET. Manifold can upload and download drawings, images and surfaces into Oracle and can dynamically link drawings and images from Oracle. Image libraries can be automatically uploaded into Oracle and, if desired, images can be split into given tiles on upload. Projections are preserved.
• Exchanging data with Oracle data sources via the native Oracle interface transparently converts geometry columns (Manifold geom, geometry (shp) and WKB) to SDO_GEOMETRY data.
• The Manifold Image Server interface allows Manifold clients to link images from Google Maps, Google Earth, Yahoo! Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth and Manifold IMS image server sites. This is in addition to existing TerraServer interfaces. The Image Server interface API allows users to write their own connections to other servers if desired. Open source for the Google, Yahoo! and Virtual Earth interfaces have been placed on the usual open source community sites.
• Database Console can connect to Oracle spatial, automatically displaying tables with one or more SDO_GEOMETRY columns as drawings with easy importing and linking.
• Database Console dialog displays images stored in an Oracle database with easy importing and linking.
• Importing a JPEG image with EXIF tags recognizes EXIF tag directories written by major camera vendors. Importing a JPEG image with EXIF tags places tags into component notes. Importing a JPEG image with an orientation EXIF tag (typically produced by digital cameras) rotates and flips the image as necessary.
• The File - Export - Web Page dialog includes an option to export a page which can be used by the Manifold Image Server module for Manifold IMS websites, enabling such websites to function as image servers.
• Linked drawings support altering column data. This allows redesigning tables in remote databases used in drawings.
• Linked drawings support altering geometry data. This includes all visual editing tools as well. This means drawings linked from remote databases are fully editable just like local drawings.
• Linked drawings support adding or removing objects, provided the data source supports adding or removing table records.
• Export of drawings, images and surfaces to Oracle automatically match Oracle projections. If the coordinate system of the component is not supported by Oracle, the component will be automatically projected to the closest coordinate system supported by Oracle.
• A linked table allows adding or paste-appending a new column, renaming an existing column, and changing the type of an existing column. This applies to both standalone linked tables and tables bound to linked drawings.
• It is possible to change the design of a linked table. This applies to both standalone linked tables and tables bound to linked drawings.
• It is possible to geocode records in a linked table. This applies to both standalone linked tables and tables bound to linked drawings.
• Images linked from native Oracle data sources support selecting channels to use for R, G, B and A data via the View - Display Options dialog.
• The File - Export - Drawing dialog supports exporting a drawing to a Google KML or KMZ file (a file format used by Google Earth). The export dialog allows selecting columns to use for object name and description (both optional).
• Image libraries render data using more than one thread to increase performance on multi-processor (for example, dual-core) machines.
• Enterprise Edition allows concurrent, multi-user editing of linked drawings.
• The Review pane previews any editing conflicts arising from multi-user editing and allows rapid, interactive resolution of such conflicts.
• Manifold allows area of interest specification when importing or linking a drawing from Oracle. This allows working with a manageable section of data no matter how large (terabytes) the drawing may be.
• Database Administrator Edition allows fast and easy configuration and management of data stored within databases, including user friendly features such as friendly names, formatting storage on the database for drawings, pre-specified import and link options and other useful features. Once configured via the Administrator Console, such user friendly features are accessible to all Enterprise users connecting to that database with Database Console.
• Manifold now supports a generic Manifold Geocoding Server interface allowing use of generic geocoding data sources via user-written modules.
• Manifold includes a Manifold Geocoding Server module that uses the free geocoding service on the Geocoder.us web site. Open source for the Geocoder.us module has been placed on the usual open source community sites.
• If Geocoding Tools are installed, Manifold can automatically import drawings with street, hydrology and other feature drawings from the Manifold Geocoding Database for all US counties. Cool!
• The File - Export - Web Page dialog includes an option to create an ASP file for an OGC WFS interface for Manifold IMS websites. The WFS interface can be used with vector components, such as drawings, themes and maps that contain drawing or theme layers.
• The Manifold WFS server supports altering data within served component or components.
• Manifold can export drawings and images to Google KML/KMZ to support Google mash-ups.
• Administrator Console allows storage of drawing formatting in databases, with automatic use of drawing formatting by ordinary users when the drawing is linked in from the database.
• Manifold allows concurrent, multi-user formatting editing of linked drawings with automatic resolution of any formatting editing conflicts using the Review pane.
• Browsing databases using Database Console automatically uses friendly names if they have been turned on with Database Administrator Edition.
• The new Tools - Batch Export tool in Database Administrator Edition allows exporting multiple drawings, images and surfaces to Oracle.
• The View - Projection, Edit - Projection and Edit - Projection - Current Projection commands have been reworked into the new Edit - Assign Projection and Edit - Change Projection commands. Assign Projection alters the current projection of the component without altering its data. Change Projection re-projects component data to the desired projection.
• Exporting a table to an ADO .NET, ODBC, OLE DB or native Oracle data source allows selecting columns to export.
• Activation dialogs include means to fetch Activation keys automatically via the Activation web service.
• The new Manifold System License Server product allows managing many Manifold licenses in large enterprise environments without the need for serial numbers and Activation keys on each machine.
• The Database Console dialog can be filtered to only include objects matching text in the filter box. This is particularly helpful when working with data sources with lots of objects, such as SQL Server or Oracle data sources.
• Importing or linking a drawing from an Oracle data source using Database Console preserves coordinate system data.
• Images linked from Google Maps or other image servers support downloading image levels via the Image - Download command.
• An image linked from an Oracle database can be unlinked or converted to another image type using Image - Convert To.
• An image linked from an Oracle database can be shared on an Enterprise server with Enterprise Edition.
• Importing or linking images from an Oracle database supports indexed color images and images stored with channel interleaving.
• Zooming into an image linked from an OGC WMS server makes use of data in the levels less detailed than the one queried, to quickly render the queried area using whatever data is currently available and progressively update the display as new data comes up.
• Zooming into an image linked from TerraServer makes use of data in the levels less detailed than the one queried, to quickly render the queried area using whatever data is currently available and progressively update the display as new data comes up.
• Database Console allows importing as a surface a channel of an image stored in an Oracle database.
• Columns in a linked table support transfer rules for tables.
• Linking a drawing from data in the same MAP file allows using a table linked from an external data source, to create cascading links. Circular links are resolved automatically.
• The Database Console includes a Global Filter button in the toolbar that filters displayed database objects using regular expressions for names. Changes to the global filter are saved between different sessions of Manifold. By default, the global filter includes several masks suppressing the display of system tables commonly found in Oracle and SQL Server databases.
• The performance of Normalize Topology and other transforms on complex drawings has been significantly improved due to the reordering of read and write operations. The transforms have been made more responsible to the Pause and Cancel buttons.
• Districts, Districts (Advanced), Districts (Visual), Color, Topology Overlay and Transfer Heights dialogs, which save data into drawing columns, allow working with linked drawings.
• Projecting latitude / longitude values between different datums takes into account datum rotation factors.
• Importing an E00 file imports auxiliary attribute tables and auxiliary label sets.
• The Import CSV File dialog includes means to customize the decimal delimiter character and the text qualifier character, and automatically suggests values for the delimiter, decimal delimiter and quote qualifier characters based on the first lines of the CSV file.
• A linked drawing or a shared drawing that is not checked out itself but has a checked out table can be the target of a spatial overlay operation.
• Rendering an image linked from a remote server first fetches tiles closest to the center of the visible area of the image and then proceeds to the edges of the visible area.
• Exporting a table to an external data source makes all exported columns except the identity column (ID) nullable.
• Exporting a drawing to a native Oracle data source postpones creating a spatial index until after all drawing objects are uploaded. If the index creation fails, all uploaded data stays in the database.
• The component Properties dialog includes a new [...] button near the component status readout, which invokes a dialog showing the data source of a linked component. In addition to the data source, the dialog also shows the link technology and the name of the rowset if the component is linked from a table or query.
• The Link / Share Status dialog invoked from the Properties dialog displays the Enterprise server for a shared component and whether or not the component caches data in the MAP file.
• The Link / Share Status dialog invoked from the Properties dialog displays the type of the link for a linked component (whether or not changes to the component propagate to the data source) and the status of a shared component.
• Importing a DGN file imports splines as curved shapes.
• Linking images from OGC WMS servers and Manifold image servers supports supplying login and password data in the form of http://user:password@host.
• Exporting a drawing to a native Oracle data source creates a trigger that automatically increments the version column whenever the object geometry column gets changed, provided the Create sequence and trigger option is turned on.
• The object model includes means to transform latitude / longitude coordinates to and from USNG.
• There are several new config.txt file options controlling the behavior of the geocoding engine when used from a web site.
• The Manifold WFS server supports HTTP POST.
• The Application object includes means to create a coordinate system from an EPSG code using the following method:
• Administrator Console allows editing the coordinate system of a database object by double-clicking the relevant cell in the Projection column.
• Administrator Console allows viewing and editing the location precision of a drawing database object by using the Precision column.
• GPS Console automatically detects a switch in GPS protocol from GARMIN to NMEA.
• Launching Manifold for the first time or attempting to activate Manifold or a Manifold extension displays a warning message if the context user account will not be able to complete the activation due lack of permissions.
• Highlighting the syntax of a script performs significantly faster.
• Importing a drawing with formatting data from a MIF file has been optimized to work significantly faster.
• Queries include means to compute ellipsoidal lengths and areas.
• There are several new coordinate systems: Gall, Peirce, Guyou, Mississippi Transverse Mercator, Van der Grinten IV and Jordan Transverse Mercator.
• The ADF import supports importing vector data sets and TINs
• The object model includes means to project components.
• Queries include means to translate binary data to text format and vice versa. This is useful for storing binary data in, say, DBF files which do not support binary columns.
• The ECW / JPEG2000 code has been synchronized with the latest version of the ECW / JPEG2000 SDK published by ER Mapper.
• The File - Import - Image dialog includes means to import DNG files (an Adobe variation of TIFF for use with digital photography).
• The Application object includes a SerialNumberHashHex property to retrieve a hash of the serial number in hexadecimal notation, for use in activation schemes implemented by third-party add-in vendors.
• Double clicking a node in the tree of database objects in Database Console encloses the name of the object inserted into the query text box with connection-specific quote characters.
• The IMS config.txt file can include options for proxy connection info and file locations. The File - Export - Web Page dialog includes an option to save proxy connection info and file locations in the config.txt file.
• Activating Manifold or a Manifold extension from the command line exits application after the activation, to facilitate unattended installation scenarios.
• Importing a MIF or TAB file translates "logical" columns to Boolean. Exporting a drawing to a MIF file exports Boolean columns as "logical".
• Linking a drawing using coordinate columns automatically parses text values in degree-minute-second format.
• Exporting complex areas to a SHP file works significantly faster.
• The query engine supports LONGITUDE and LATITUDE types.
• The speed of sorting a large table using more than one column has been significantly improved.
• The number of records that can be handled by the query engine has been significantly increased.
• Importing a DGN, DWG or DXF file with external references dumps the names of referenced files into the History pane.
• Importing a surface from a Surfer GRD file derives the local offset and local scale parameters of the surface coordinate system from the file header.
• Keyboard shortcuts for panes have been changed to: Review = Alt-Shift-R, Variables = Alt-Shift-A, Watches = Alt-Shift-W, World = Alt-Shift-O.
• Drawing tables include the new Version (I) intrinsic column. Changing the metric of a drawing object increments the value of the Version (I) column. For a linked drawing which uses a version column, the values of the Version (I) column will be the same as the values in the version column.
• The Database Console and Server Console dialogs have been made resizable.
• Editing a cell in a table window supports navigating to the next and previous editable cells using Tab and Shift-Tab key combinations respectively. This applies to dialogs (for example, File - Create - Table) and panes (for example, View - Panes - Control Points) as well.
• GPS Console includes means to set the datum used by the GPS receiver unit.
• The Table - Design dialog, Table - Relations dialog and datum selection dialog used by GPS Console have been made resizable.
• The accuracy of basic geometric computations used in Clip Intersect, Clip Subtract, Normalize Topology, Union and other transforms as well as query functions has been significantly improved.
• Saving formatting data to an XML string or file saves column binding info. Loading formatting data from an XML string or file which contains a column name using a script binds formatting to the desired column, if it exist and supports the desired type of formatting.
• Fetching an Activation key requires a serial number and a "system ID" used to identify the system (displayed in both Activate and Activate Extension dialogs).
• The performance of importing a drawing from a VMap0 data set has been significantly improved.

See the release notes that accompany 7.00 for a complete list of over 500 (whew!) enhancements and bug fixes.