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Manifold System's $50 Geocoder provides more power and greater sophistication than MapInfo's $8,950 MapMarker product.

Compare Manifold 7x's Geocoder with MapInfo's MapMarker Geocoder

	Manifold 7x	MapMarker 8.1
Geocoder Price and Configuration	$50 - Price for entire US coverage via the Geocoding Tools extension to Manifold 7x. Manifold's geocoder is a built-in part of Manifold System 7x, a general purpose GIS package. Manifold System Personal Edition is $245. Turning on the encoding option within Manifold System costs $50 to install the Geocoding Tools extension. Therefore, if you do not have Manifold System but you wish to use the Manifold geocoder your cost will be $295. You can buy Geocoding Tools at the same time you buy Manifold System, or if you don't need street address geocoding right away you can always buy Geocoding Tools later for only $50. IWhen acquiring the Geocoding Tools package at the same time as a Manifold System Edition, a discounted bundle price is available that reduces the cost of Geocoding Tools to a mere $30. Wow! Option: Instead of using Manifold's geocoding data product, users may install Microsoft's MapPoint 2004 or 2006 product (typical price $250) which will also work with the Geocoding Tools extension. Installing Microsoft's European edition of MapPoint will add street address geocoding capabilities for 11 European countries.	$8,950 - Price for entire US coverage. MapMarker is a standalone geocoder that does not include a GIS. Adding MapInfo Professional GIS ($1490) increases the total price of MapInfo GIS + geocoding to $10440. MapMarker is also available with limited data for a six state region ($3,250) or for one state ($1,495). Prices are taken from web pages quoting price found in a recent search.
Dataset upon which Geocoder is based	TIGER 2004 (Data released by Census Bureau in Spring, 2005) Optional: When MapPoint is used as an optional geocoder the system uses GDT / NavTech / Microsoft geocoding database for Canada, US and 11 European countries. Manifold can also do geocoding using user-supplied data sets in either street address range or point location formats.	TIGER 2000 ?
Entire US provided by default?	Yes. Manifold automatically installs the entire US by default for all licensees.	No. Requires CD ROM unlocking to unlock the entire US, six state pack or individual states.
Use alternate geocoding data sources, including any generic geocoding web service?	Yes. Manifold can automatically use MapPoint or use any generic web service for geocoding via Manifold's open geocoding server API.	No. Cannot use either MapPoint or a generic web service via the API.
Automatically generate county maps from geocoding data with streets, rails and hydrography?	Yes	No
Native 64-bit operation on x64 Windows systems?	Yes. Requires purchase of x64 Manifold versions, which are priced $50 higher than 32-bit versions. Geocoding Tools for 64-bit operation is still only $50, or only $30 when purchased at the same time as Manifold System.	No
Coverage	50 States, D.C, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, US Virgin Islands, Mariana Islands Optional: Coverage via MapPoint 2002 or 2004 includes Canada and US with the North American edition and with the European edition includes 11 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom).	50 States, D.C, Puerto Rico
US Street Address Geocoding?	Yes	Yes
Geocode large tables in batch mode?	Yes	Yes
Geocode interactively?	Yes	Yes
Geocode remote tables via ODBC?	Yes	Yes
Serve multiple simultaneous geocoding results from a single geocoding engine?	Yes	Yes
Interactively geocode unmatched records by choosing a best match from a list of suggestions?	Yes	Yes
Automatically extract street address, city, state, zip fields from a single address field?	Yes	No
Optional standardization capability to clean addresses before geocoding?	Yes - Both Automatic and interactive standardization available.	No
Use geocoder within SQL statements?	Yes. It's easy to use the geocoding engine within ordinary SQL queries using extensions such as: CloseToAddress - Within a given distance of an address. CloseToZip - Within a given distance of a ZIP code. DistanceToAddress - Return the distance between an object and a given address. DistanceToZip - Return the distance between an object and a given ZIP code. LocateAddressLat - Return the latitude of a given address. LocateAddressLon - Return the longitude of a given address. LocateZipLat - Return the latitude of a given ZIP code. LocateZipLon - Return the longitude of a given ZIP code. For example, to find all dealers within 10 miles of ZIP code 94301 we could use: SELECT * FROM Dealers WHERE DistanceToZip(ID,"94301","mi") <= 10; Manifold SQL geocoding extensions automatically cache returned results from a geocoder request for faster performance.	No. MapMarker does not understand SQL. MapMarker is not part of an integrated system that include SQL, so it does not have this important capability.
Write back user corrections to source address table?	Yes - This is a critically important function, because cleaning errors in source addresses when interactively reviewing unmatched records saves a lot of time.	No - MapMarker's inability to propagate user corrections back into the source address list is a major annoyance. Each corrected address must again be found and corrected, by hand, using some other tool after geocoding has been accomplished.
Standardize only selected records from a table?	Yes	No
Geocode only selected records from a table?	Yes - Manifold can geocode any selection of records no matter where they may be in a table of addresses. This allows using the Query toolbar or SQL queries to find and geocode target addresses even if they are not contiguous.	Yes and No - MapMarker can geocode a contiguous range of records, but not selected records that may be scattered throughout the table. This is far less powerful than geocoding a selection but nonetheless still allows geocoding a subset of records.
Normalize address nomenclature to standard abbreviations?	Yes - Manifold can automatically convert long state names into official postal abbreviations and convert words such as "Road" into standardized abbreviations such as "Rd".	No
Automatically repair case errors?	Yes - Manifold can repair elementary errors in case, converting "525 univErsity AVenue" to "525 University Ave"	No
Detect and repair missing zip codes?	Yes - Missing ZIP codes are extremely common in many address mailing lists, for example, like addresses harvested from telephone directories. Manifold can automatically use street, city and state information to find the right ZIP code and add it to the address record.	No - MapMarker can detect missing ZIP codes but can not repair them in the source table of addresses being geocoded.
Address cleaning checks for impossible address combinations?	Yes - The standardize/cleaning pass can be used to automatically check for impossible combinations of streets, towns and zip codes, including unknown town names, street names and other clearly inaccurate data.	No
Search and replace within any field or within all fields at once?	Yes	No
Trim extraneous spaces from left or right side of address fields?	Yes	No
Copy or otherwise move "tokens" (parts of addresses) between columns?	Yes	No
Append or prepend text to address fields?	Yes	No
Force address fields to upper, lower, sentence or title case for proper capitalization?	Yes	No
Use Soundex ("sounds like") to find address records?	Yes	No
Use "more like this" to automatically find similar address records?	Yes	No
Geocode tables that bring in address fields using relations with other tables or programmatic lookup?	Yes	No
Quickly find duplicates, including all duplicates except the first example?	Yes	No
Query toolbar to rapidly find records using various search criteria?	Yes	No
Select only some records for editing / transformation / cleaning?	Yes	No
Quick geocode preview?	No - Manifold presents alternatives to unmatched records in a list from which choices can be made.	Yes - MapMarker has a nice visual pre-viewer to help choose from suggested alternatives to unmatched records.
Create output columns on the fly?	Yes, all columns.	Yes, but limited to only latitude, longitude and status columns until the table is opened in MapMarker.
Custom address dictionaries allowed?	Yes	Yes
Airport geocoding?	Yes. Requires using a "points of interest" airports data set.	Yes. A built in function for those who need to geocode to airport three letter identifiers.
Street intersection geocoding?	No, but pre-geocoded street intersections may be obtained and used via the Census Bureau's street intersections CD. Yes. When the optional MapPoint geocoder is used.	Yes. An option allows geocoding of street intersections.
Application interface?	Yes. Manifold includes a built in development environment for Microsoft standard ActiveX scripting plus interfaces to any standard Microsoft development language. With no other purchase required users can program within Manifold using Visual Basic scripting, JavaScript, Python and PERL.	Yes. MapMarker includes an interface for MapInfo's proprietary MapBasic language and also a COM object that can be called from Microsoft languages and ActiveX scripts; however, unlike Manifold, MapMarker does not provide any built in programming capability.
Automatic address standardization into standard address forms?	Yes	No
Quick test of candidate address in interactive mode?	Yes. Manifold allows fast editing of candidate addresses to check against suggested addresses.	Yes. MapMarker provides this via a quick find tool.
Automatic report of status for each geocoded record?	Yes	Yes
User specifiable search level acceptance?	Yes - User control allowed of match acceptance in automatic mode with the following choices: any error - Does not process record unless it is a perfect match in all fields. Equivalent to setting an "unknown building" error. unknown street name, possible misspelling - Matches to Zip and City and does not process record unless the street name is an exact match. unknown street name, no similar names - Matches to Zip and City, and attempts to match to similar street names if an exact match to the street name cannot be found. Uses "Soundex" and similar algorithms to attempt to find the right street in case of a street name misspelling. This is the default setting. unknown zip - Do not process record if the zip code cannot be found. critical error - Stop processing only on problems with an incomplete geocoding database or on hardware failure.	Yes
Automatic offset of geocoded records?	Yes - Manifold allows geocoded records to be automatically offset to the left or right side of the street centerline by a specified distance using user-specified units of measure.	Yes
Multiple file formats?	Yes. Manifold can import or link to tables in all common Microsoft file formats, including CSV - Text formats such as .asc, .txt. DB - Borland Paradox DBF - dBase, FoxPro DSN - Microsoft data source connection. HTML - tables in HTML pages MDB - Microsoft Access 2000 and Access 97 UDL - Microsoft Universal Data Link WKx - Lotus XLS - Microsoft Excel ODBC - Any ODBC driver. OLE DB - Any OLE DB provider ADO.NET - Microsoft's .NET connection. Linked tables allow geocoding of remote tables in any of the data sources above, including common databases such as Access, Informix, SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, IBM DB2, MySQL, Interbase, etc.	Yes. MapMarker can read tables in TAB - MapInfo table DBF - dBase ODBC - Remote tables. Via ODBC MapMarker allows geocoding of remote tables, including in databases such as Microsoft Access, Informix, SQL Server, Sybase and Oracle. Although these are the only ones listed in the MapInfo web site presumably other DBMS products with ODBC drivers would be included.
Direct native connection to Oracle Spatial?	Yes. Requires Manifold Enterprise Edition ($395) or above	No
Includes built-in scripting capability to automate management of address records, geocoding or updating of address records?	Yes	No
Write update queries to modify address records automatically?	Yes	No
Include full SQL capability to explore address record tables?	Yes	No
Use geocoder within Internet Map Server pages without any programming?	Yes. Because Manifold includes the Manifold Internet Map Server within the same application as the geocoder, all geocoder functions may be used within a web site that serves maps via the Internet Map Server. This is most helpful in applications such as dealer locator web sites when the geocoder is invoked by spatial queries built into the project. No programming is required for such functions, although more sophisticated web sites could utilize geocoder features programmatically. The Business Tools option ($95) for Manifold System allows optimal routing and driving directions.	No. Because MapMarker does not include an Internet map server engine it does not have built-in web site capability without programming. It is unknown what level of programming is required to use MapMarker from a web site.

A key advantage of Manifold's geocoding engine is that it is a built in part of Manifold System. That means geocoding work can benefit from the immense set of Manifold table management capabilities that are part of Manifold System. As any person experienced in geocoding knows, half the battle is getting clean addresses with which to work. Manifold has a vast array of capabilities that can be deployed to massage address records into proper shape. In addition, the Manifold geocoder has a dedicated Standardize command that is designed to clean address records and to normalize them into a standard form.

Building the geocoder as an integral part of Manifold System also makes it an integral part of Manifold IMS, the Manifold Internet Map Server. This makes it possible to create address-aware Internet map web sites, such as dealer locators.

MapInfo's MapMarker geocoder product is a typical example of an overpriced legacy GIS geocoding product. It's difficult to imagine what drives people to spend nearly nine thousand dollars on a TIGER 2000 geocoder that is based on free government data, but we suppose it has something to do with no other choices being available. We're proud to report that the Manifold 7x geocoder offers lots more for only $50 above the cost of standard Manifold System (a mere $245). In fact, even if you don't care about GIS at all and only need a geocoder the $345 price of Manifold plus the Manifold geocoding option will save you almost eight thousand seven hundred dollars!

If you think the standard MapMarker pricing is a rip-off, just wait until you price out MapInfo's MapMarker Plus product, which uses enhanced data from GDT. MapMarker Plus is almost $15,000!. That's about 300 times higher in cost than the Manifold 7x geocoder. It's true that GDT data tends to be more complete than TIGER 2000 data, however, we believe the greater accuracy of the GDT data is only a matter of a small percentage difference that is irrelevant for most geocoding uses. After all, geocoding is intrinsically a low-accuracy proposition even in urban or suburban areas and it is a wildly low-accuracy proposition in rural areas.

Manifold System is the first GIS to run in native 64-bit mode in premium Windows x64 processors like AMD AthlonX2 and Intel Core 2 Duo!

A note to MapInfo fans: If there is something in the above comparison that is wrong or unfair, please tell us. This page is based on a comparison created using data published by MapInfo on their web site. However, it is certainly possible that either we or the MapInfo web site may have missed something in MapMarker that you know about. To the best of our knowledge the comparison does a good job of comparing the two.

Being Fair: If there is something MapMarker does that Manifold 7x does not do, please tell us so we can publish it. Despite the rip-off price, MapMarker is a cool program and acknowledging MapMarker strong points makes Manifold's winning edge all that more credible.

A note to Manifold fans: OK, it could be the above comparison misses many things that Manifold does better than MapMarker, especially in database and table functionality used to clean address records. It's just too much for one web page. If we missed something you think is especially cool please let us know.

Manifold System was created by over 50 of some of the world's smartest mathematicians and programmers. Release 3.0 (first GIS release) came out in January of 1998, followed by Release 4.0 (first GIS release comparable to ArcView or MapInfo) in June of 1998. Release 4.50 came out in May of 1999 and was the first Manifold release to generally exceed ArcView or MapInfo. Release 5.00 came out in January 2002 and blew the doors off anything in GIS, including ESRI's new "8" family of products. In the summer of 2002, Professional with Debugger and Enterprise Edition expanded the Manifold family of products. In January, 2003 Release 5.50 expanded Manifold System yet again with over 470 improvements and new features, including US street address geocoding. 5.50 has been expanded throughout 2003 in two service packs that together have added over 330 additional features. Release 6.00 added nearly 800 new items in 2004 and the Release 6.50 added over 630 new items in 2005 and Releases 7.00 and 7x added over 630 more in 2006. Release 7x is the world's first GIS able to run 100% native 64-bits in Windows x64 systems. Wow!

No other GIS company has ever maintained such a strong pace of advanced development. If you are tired of new MapInfo releases that boil down to a few minor additions onto the same old-fashioned core, check out how each new Manifold product introduces numerous major systems with substantial new functionality.

manifold.net will spare no effort to create the finest, most advanced and easiest-to-use GIS products on the planet. If there is something you like in another system that you don't see in Manifold, please send a suggestion to sales@manifold.net so Manifold may be improved to fit your needs. We want to be your dream GIS at a price anyone can afford and Manifold is your opportunity to help make it happen.

Do you like this philosophy of first emphasis on customer needs, quality and performance at an unbeatable price? Here's how you can help:

Be Demanding - On the job and in your personal life don't settle for a dumb tool just because it's been around for a while. Life is too short to work with poor tools.
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Spread the Word - Tell your friends and colleagues about Manifold. manifold.net does not advertise because we believe the money is better spent in creating a better product for you than it is hyping something done in the past. The only way we can stay alive and grow is if our customers are happy. This approach keeps us honest and working hard for you.

Yo, Ho, Ho! Release 7x is now here! Manifold is getting better and stronger every day.

Rest in Peace, old-style GIS!

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