Headlines 07 - Archived What's New?

This is archived news information.  Some items may be superseded by more recent news items.   

See the What's New page for the latest news and notes from Manifold.  Visit our Headlines  page to see a list of archived news items pages.    Check out the new Press Releases page for links to press releases issued by manifold.net and see the Customer Comments on Manifold Products page for sample comments from our customers about Manifold and its products. 

Release 6.00 is Now Shipping! 

Release 6.00 has now replaced Release 5.50 for all orders on the online store.  If you are a Manifold 5.50 user and wish order 5.50 units in support of a legacy installation, you may do so by email or telephone orders until July 9, 2004, at which point Release 5.50 will be discontinued.  Technical Support for 5.50 will be discontinued on July 31, 2004.

Manifold 6.00 Upgrades Available for Manifold 5.50 Licensees

Upgrades to 6.00 may now be pre-ordered by 5.50 licensees on he Manifold Online Store - see the Software catalog, second page on the store.  For detailed information on the upgrade, see the Upgrade to 6.00 Frequently Asked Questions page.  This offer expires October 1, 2004.  Save money and upgrade now! Detail at left - Manifold 6.00 does highway shield labels and allows custom construction of scalable labels, point styles and area styles!

See the 6.00 Highlights page and the 6.00 Upgrade Frequently Asked Questions page for more information on Release 6.00.  For the complete (and mind-numbing) list of all 470+ new items in 6.00, see the 6.00 Features List page.

6.00 upgrades are currently experiencing a five to seven business day backlog due to the high volume of upgrade orders.  Thank you, Manifold 5.50 users for helping make 6.00 possible!

Free 6.00 Upgrades / Limited Time 6.00 Upgrade Offer

All Manifold System orders received on Wednesday, April 7 or later in addition to delivery of Release 5.50 also will include a free automatic upgrade to Manifold System Release 6.00.  Release 6.00 will be published in May, 2004.

All Manifold System 5.50 licensees who ordered before April 7, 2004, will receive a limited time upgrade offer to upgrade to 6.00 for only $45 (until July 31, 2004) plus $5 shipping anywhere in the world when 6.00 is released. After July 31, 2004 the price for the upgrade will increase to $150 until October 1, 2004, at which time the upgrade will no longer be available at a discounted price.  6.00 includes hundreds of new features.  Stay tuned for details!  5.50 licensees will receive emails in early June allowing pre-orders of the upgrade. Note: advance orders for 6.00 upgrades will not be available until licensee emails are issued in early May.  Please be patient and follow instructions in the email sent to licensees in May to pre-order your 6.00 upgrade.  Please send notification of any change of email addresses to sales@manifold.net to make sure we have your current email address for notification of 6.00 upgrade offers.

Manifold Internet Map Server Hosting Service Launched

MapServing.com today launched a new web hosting service dedicated to hosting GIS-enabled websites. The site uses Manifold^® Internet Map Server technology to provide high performance, high quality sites at a low cost. Users may create their own web sites or can retain MapServing.com experts to create a custom site. Users who create solutions with Manifold System can publish them to the web using www.mapserving.com without any need to operate their own web server. See the full Press Release.

Manifold 5.50 Universal Edition now Available for $495 

The Universal Edition is a new packaging option for Manifold System 5.50 that delivers all Enterprise Edition features as well as both the Business Tools and the Surface Tools extensions at one low price with one easy-to-administer serial number.  The $495 price of Universal Edition represents a $90 savings over the cost of separately licensing the constituent products.  It's like getting an extension for free!  The Manifold 5.50 Universal Edition product may be ordered via the Online Store.

Manifold 5.50 Business Tools Extension now Available for $95

Business Tools is an is an optional extension to Manifold System 5.50 that provides additional commands and capabilities for working with drawings that are of interest to many business users. The extension adds functionality in several areas:

• Districts (Advanced) - Redistricting using a condensed, expert level dialog.
• Districts (Visual) - Redistricting via an easy-to-use visual, interactive dialog.
• Drive-Time Zones - Computation of drive-time zones via an easy-to-use, interactive dialog with options for different types of drive-time zones. Images at right: (Upper) drive-time zones using a combination of road speed limits and off-road response time to show two, four and six minute response from a fire station. (Lower) drive-time zones shown as classic polygonal areas. Manifold provides not only classic presentations but also new, more modern and informative analyses that cannot be done using old-fashioned GIS products.
• Optimal Route - Finding an optimal route to designated locations using a condensed, expert level dialog.
• Optimal Route (Visual) - Finding an optimal route to designated locations via an easy-to-use, interactive dialog.
• Driving Directions - Create driving directions for a route using several different styles.
• Send Email - Automatically send email to map objects. Used to send spatially-targeted email.
• Expanded API - Programmatic access to routing and other functions.

See the Business Tools Topic in the online version of the Manifold 5.50 User Manual for details. The Business Tools package requires Manifold 5.50 Service Pack 2.  Providing a Business Tools serial number to any Manifold 5.50 SP2 installation will automatically turn on Business Tools functionality.  Business Tools functionality is included within Universal Edition.  The Manifold 5.50 Business Tools product may be ordered via the Online Store.

Manifold 5.50 Surface Tools Extension now Available for $95

Surface Tools is an optional extension to Manifold System 5.50 that provides additional commands for working with surfaces. The extension adds functionality in several areas:

• A new Surface - Transform command dialog allows arbitrary transformation of surfaces, including computations that involve multiple surfaces such as subtracting one surface from another. A very rich collection of operators allows many different types of tasks to be accomplished.
• A Transfer Heights command enables rapid transfer of surface values from surfaces to points.
• New options in surface generation allow creating surfaces from drawings and tables using triangulation and Median-Polish Kriging.
• Expanded model choices for Kriging interpolation include Linear, Power, Rational and automatic model choices.
• New transform toolbar operators for interpolation of missing pixels: Interpolate, Interpolate (Parameter) and Interpolate Row.
• The ability to work with new Profiles and Elevations components that show cross-sectional cuts through a given path over a surface. Image at right:  An elevation showing the heights along a route over a terrain. A wide range of display options allow many different styles.
• Expanded API - Programmatic access to surface operations.

See the Surface Tools Topic in the online version of the Manifold 5.50 User Manual for details.  The in the online version of the Manifold 5.50 User Manual for details.  The Surface Tools package requires Manifold 5.50 Service Pack 2.  Providing a Surface Tools serial number to any Manifold 5.50 SP2 installation will automatically turn on Surface Tools functionality.  Surface Tools functionality is included within Universal Edition.  The Manifold 5.50 Surface Tools product may be ordered via the Online Store.

Manifold 5.50 Option Pack now Available for $145

The Manifold 5.50 Option Pack provides an easy way to get both Business Tools  and Surface Tools at a discounted price.  Ordering the Option Pack will deliver serial numbers for both the Business Tools as well as the Surface Tools extensions for only $145, a discount of $45 over the cost of separately licensing the two extensions. The Manifold 5.50 Option Pack requires Manifold 5.50 Service Pack 2. 

Service Pack 2 (SP2) for 5.50 Delivers 200 New Features

Service Pack 2 (SP2) has been released for Manifold System Release 5.50.  Download SP2 here.  A previous installation of Manifold System Release 5.50 from the Manifold CD is required for SP2 to function. View complete release notes here listing all 200 new items plus dozens of bug fixes.  View installation instructions here.

• New products - Support for Business_Tools , Surface_Tools and Universal Edition configurations, providing many new optional capabilities such as optimal routing, drive-time directions, multiple surface calculations and profiles and elevations.
• Next generation Manifold SQL engine - SP2 includes the next generation Manifold SQL engine, which is faster, very robust and provides additional features.  Manifold SQL is now ANSI-compatible when using the ANSI-compatible option in View - Properties for queries. SQL documentation has been extensively rewritten.

• .NET Framework required - Microsoft's .NET Framework 1.10 is now required for installation, due to the extensive use of .NET technology within SP2.

• Built in IMS support for ASP .NET - The ExtCommonAspNet module is no longer required for IMS installation or usage in ASP.NET since support for ASP .NET is now built into Manifold.

• IE requirement relaxed - Manifold now uses .NET framework XML instead of the MSXML3 code used in previous Manifold releases. This removes the need for IE6, although IE 5 or greater is still required by the .NET framework.

• Explicit country support - All geocoder dialogs now include a Country field.

• Pixel Size support when creating surfaces - The Paste As Surface dialog can specify pixel sizes when creating surfaces for auto-computation of surface size.

• Syntax coloring - Script windows and queries both support syntax coloring, as well as autoswitching between VBScript and JavaScript commenting styles when using CTRL-J and CTRL-SHIFT-J to comment and uncomment selected text.

• Multi-level Undo for edits to Scripts, Queries and Comments - All text edits in scripts, queries and comments can be undone and redone without limit.

• Reload method and Administrative Page for IMS - Manifold IMS can now be reloaded without having to do an IISRESET. IMS can automatically generate an Administrative page, if desired, to allow interactive reloads and display of IMS server statistics.  These are key features for operating IMS on remote web servers.

• Multichannel 16 bit TIFF Import - Manifold now supports import of TIFF files that contain multiple 16 bit channels, such as those used for certain satellite images.

• Segmentize to desired segment length - The Segmentize command can now be used to segment objects by desired lengths in addition to desired number of segments.

• Copy maps without duplicating components - Copying and pasting a map component in a project no longer duplicates all components used in the map.

• Support for MapPoint 2004 - MapPoint 2004 is fully supported for alternative geocoding, including both North American and European editions.

• Multiple terrains per surface - Surfaces can now have multiple terrains, with each terrain's display options being set differently if desired.

• Multiple component select in project pane - CTRL-click onto a component in the project pane to select it. Multiple components may be selected to enable delete of many components at once.

• Export to PDF supports transparency - Manifold layouts using transparency now export to PDF with embedded transparency.

Service Pack 1 (SP1) for 5.50 Delivers over 100 New Features

Service Pack 1 (SP1) has been released for Manifold System Release 5.50.  (Manifold SP1 is no longer online, since it has been replaced by SP2.)  A previous installation of Manifold System Release 5.50 from the Manifold CD is required for SP1 to function.

Highlights of SP1 include:

New 5.50 Web Site Programming Examples

Manifold.net provides programming examples for the Manifold Internet Map Server that show how simple programming can be used to create custom sites.  See the Free Stuff page for downloadable source code. New examples for 5.50 include:

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 5.50 Geocoding Data product on the IMS machine as well as Manifold 5.50.   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.

Limited Time Upgrade to Manifold 5.50 Offer

Manifold 5.00 licensees interested in upgrading from 5.00 to 5.50 can do so for only $50, plus shipping, under the terms of a limited time upgrade offer.  Until 15 March, 2003, a Manifold 5.00 licensee may upgrade from 5.00 to 5.50 for only $50.  After 15 March, 2003, the price of the 5.50 upgrade will increase to $150 until 1 May, 2003, at which point the upgrade offer will be discontinued.  See the Upgrade to 5.50 Frequently Asked Questions page for details.  Save money and upgrade now!

Manifold 5.50 Geocoder / MapInfo MapMarker Comparison Published

See a detailed, point-for-point comparison between the Manifold Geocoder that is a $100 option for Manifold System Release 5.50 and MapInfo's $8,950 MapMarker geocoder.  Manifold's geocoder provides the same accuracy as MapMarker, and delivers all key features MapMarker does, but Manifold's geocoder also provides numerous powerful and sophisticated features MapMarker does not have.  Save $8,850 and get a better geocoder to boot!  See the Street Address Geocoding topic in the Manifold 5.50 user manual for additional details.

Manifold System Release 5.50 Now Shipping 

The next major update to Manifold System, Release 5.50, began shipping on 7 February.  Release 5.50 include several major system upgrades and hundreds of minor improvements. See the 5.50 Highlights page for a summary of 5.50 highlights of special interest to 5.00 users.

All 5.00 licensees who acquired their licenses in December, 2002 or January, 2003, will automatically be sent a 5.50 license at no charge.  All 5.00 licensees who acquired their licenses before December, 2002, will receive a limited time offer at their current email of record to upgrade to Release 5.50 for $50 (plus $5 shipping anywhere in the world). Release 5.50 allows unlimited size projects using images and surfaces of unlimited size, with the maximum size of drawings and tables extended to four gigabytes each.  Printing and print layouts have been tremendously enhanced into a high-accuracy, truly WYSIWYG system.  Numerous enhancements to IMS allow Manifold's map server to power many new classes of map-enabled web sites, including vehicle tracking applications and other dynamically varying applications.  Release 5.50 includes an optional US street address geocoder that may be used either interactively or exploited within web applications using IMS to create address-enabled web sites.

Place your order today for 5.50 on the Manifold Online Store.

Manifold System Release 5.50 Enterprise Edition

Manifold System Release 5.50 Enterprise Edition includes all Professional Edition and Debugger features and also extends Manifold System for multi-user, collaborative GIS work using centralized storage of GIS data in enterprise-class databases. Unlike older products that require a special "spatial" DBMS version, GIS packages, Enterprise Edition uses a higher level of object storage with automatic caching for high performance. Unlike older "SDE" architectures, Manifold's Enterprise Edition automatically supports reliable, fault-tolerant multi-user operations within collaborative teams with automatic protection against editing conflicts.  

See the Enterprise Edition Home Page for more information.

Manifold System Professional Edition with Debugger

Manifold System 5.50 Professional Edition already includes the ability to write and execute scripts using a built-in script editor and forms environment.  The Debugger option adds the ability to stop, pause and restart scripts automatically at user-specified breakpoints, to see the value of any variable or execution context, to see the execution status within the call stack and to jump into, over or through subroutines, and to see the value of any user-specified programming expression in the Watches pane.  Programs can be paused, the value of variables changed and then programs restarted using the new values.

See the Debugger page for more information.

More News

Wow! That's only the news for the last few months.  Check out the Headlines page to see a summary of news items for previous months, with fast links to previous What's New? pages.  You'll be astonished at the range, power and productivity that a relationship with manifold.net provides.