Manifold System Release 6.00 Highlights 

This page has been provided for Manifold System 5.50 users as a quick summary of major improvements delivered in Manifold System Release 6.00. Based on thousands of comments from 5.50 users, Release 6.00 development emphasized four main areas:

• Large, fast images used as display backgrounds.
• Dynamic geometry, including the creation of linked drawings from queries and external databases.
• Enhanced customizability and programmability as an embedded GIS engine.
• Dramatically increased speed in spatial analytic operations.

6.00 Highlights

To achieve the above objectives hundreds of upgrades are listed in the release notes together with bug fixes or other improvements that adjusted existing functions. Following is a sample list of improvements from 5.50 to 6.00 (see the 6.00 Features List for all 470+ items):

• Manifold now supports compressed images for lightning fast display of multi-gigabyte images. Compressed images provide display-only (read-only) images for very high speed display.
• The File - Link - Image command supports linking to ECWP URLs served by an ER Mapper Image Web Server. Images linked from ECWP URLs behave like compressed images or images linked from .ecw format.
• Script components can use .NET languages. This includes C#, VB.NET, and JScript.NET.
• Manifold now includes theme components (themes) that store formatting for drawing objects. Themes allow the creation of many different thematic formats from a drawing without duplicating the drawing's data, including parent - child relationships that propagate some formatting choices but not others.
• Scripts using .NET languages can refer to external .NET modules specified in the new Script - References dialog. Thus, one can refer to System.Windows.Forms.dll and have a script display a form. The resulting script can then be shared on an Enterprise server and reused in other projects (which is something that can not be done with forms).
• The Surface Tools extension now includes a Visible Area function that computes visibility zones.
• The new Script - Compile to DLL command compiles a .NET script into a DLL. After the script is compiled into a DLL, it can be used in other script components through references.
• Drawings and themes can be analyzed with the new Topology Factory tool, which scans a user-defined set of objects for incidents and allows fixing selected or all incidents. Topology Factory is part of the Business Tools extension.
• Tables can contain columns with geometric data, including areas, lines and points. The "Geometry" type is specific to Manifold and contains object type, metric and coordinate system. The "Geometry (WKB)" type is a "well-known binary" type used by OpenGIS and contains object type and metric. This capability opens the door to unprecedented power using spatial GIS to create, manipulate and analyze drawings on the fly, either within Manifold interactively or within Manifold IMS>
• Queries can create and alter columns with geometric data. The SQL name of the "Geometry" type is "Geom". The SQL name of the "Geometry (WKB)" type is "GeomWKB".
• Linked drawings can link to tables and queries in the same project.
• Area containment tests are sped up, for some scenarios, by a factor of 25. The manifold.net team would like to thank Dr. Arthur Lembo for suggesting this improvement.
• One can import or link drawings from parameterized queries.
• One can write active columns using .NET languages.
• One can write add-ins using .NET languages. The additional values for the add-in tag are: "C#.NET", "VB.NET" and "JScript.NET". The tag can also contain one or more tags with references to external modules.
• There is a new Topology Overlay tool that does ESRI-style Identity, Intersect, Union and Update overlays. Special thanks go to Dr. Arthur Lembo for advocating this new tool.
• One can import and link drawings from ESRI geodatabases. There is a new type for ESRI-style geometry called Geometry (SHP), or GeomSHP in SQL.
• The Height, HeightMax, HeightMin, and HeightSum query functions return average, maximum, minimum, and summary height of pixels in a given surface covered by a geometry object. This allows volumetric computations on surfaces.
• The LinePoint query function creates a point that lies on a line geom at a given distance from its start. The LinePart query function creates that part of a line geom between a pair of distance limits. This is the gateway to doing linear referencing within Manifold via spatial SQL.
• Spatial tests have been optimized to perform much better than before. The performance improvements vary depending on the task, with a typical improvement on medium-sized drawings being a factor of 20, and tend to get better as data size increases (up to a factor of 100 and more on larger drawings). The performance improvements apply to Select Xxx transforms, spatial tests done in queries, spatial overlays, and several hundred other places within the system.
• The Contour composition algorithm has been optimized to perform better than before.
• Temporary files used by various Manifold facilities are logged and cleaned away at the next startup in case of a crash. Different instances of Manifold use different prefixes for temporary files with BDH being reserved for instances that do not have or use logging.
• The GPS communication layer has been rewritten from scratch and is now much more robust and tolerant of faults. This eliminates reported problems with the Track Sequence function in some combinations of drivers and hardware or when encountering buggy drivers outside of Manifo0ld.
• Forms and external applications can display MAP file data using an ActiveX control. This facility allows embedding Manifold as part of a third party, user-written application.
• The geocoding engine can be extended with user-supplied data sets. The Tools - Options - Geocoding dialog includes a "Use geocoding extensions" option that controls the use of extensions to the geocoding database. When the option is turned on, the geocoding engine first searches the data in the extensions, and then the data in the geocoding database and in MapPoint. By default, the option is turned on.
• Launching Manifold with the /cfilter: option starts Manifold using a command filter. Command filters can eliminate Manifold menus and menu items from display and are used to simplify the Manifold interface if Manifold is being configured via add-ins or other customizations for less-experienced users in a vertical application.
• Manifold scripts can now process clicks and double clicks done in drawing, image, labels, map, profile, surface, or theme windows. Click events are routed to a script or form named OnClick, double click events are routed to a script or form named OnDoubleClick. The parameters of both events are delivered through a global EventArgs object.
• Manifold now supports scalable, custom styles for areas, labels, and points that are user-definable using XML.
• Geocoding extensions have been optimized to perform much faster.
• The GPS Console recognizes both Garmin and NMEA protocols and allows limited operation (eg, downloading waypoints) using Garmin protocol.
• Runtime operation mode has been added for Professional Runtime and Universal Runtime editions. Runtime editions may be licensed at a very large discount from standard pricing.
• Command line switches have been added for activation from the command line (/activate:serial,key activates the system, /activateExt:serial,key activates the extension). This facilitates installation and use of Runtime editions.
• The Manifold ODBC driver includes an Expose data for OpenGIS clients option that makes the ODBC driver mimic an OpenGIS data source. When the option is turned on, the ODBC driver creates several virtual tables for each drawing in the MAP file it is being launched on, so that OpenGIS-aware clients can link to them. By default, the option is turned off.
• There are new label styles for highway shields.
• Export to ECW supports images of any size.
• The File - Link - Image command supports linking to ECW images, which makes it possible to store very large images outside of projects or to have the same large images used in many different projects. Linked compressed images do not have either a selection or saved selections. Attempting to render a linked compressed image with a curvilinear coordinate system transformation renders nothing.
• The Tools - Database Console dialog can import and link queries (including parameterized queries). Dialog design is reworked.
• Invoking the View - Refresh Data command on a query cascadingly refreshes dependent queries and linked tables.
• Drawings have been rewritten to store new objects and modifications to existing objects in a dual-mode storage that can flush excess data to disk. This removes the requirement for the modifications of all drawings to fit in virtual memory (which never exceeds 4.0 GB and is typically limited by 1.5 GB for a single 32 bit process), and thus allows importing some huge sets of vector data that could not be imported before. Drawings can now be 16 exabytes in size.
• The Boundaries, Points and Node Points transforms no longer normalize target objects before running. This makes it possible, for example, to segmentize lines with a length threshold of 10 meters, and then use the Points transform to place point objects at the locations of resulting inflection points.
• The Terrain - Surface dialog includes an option to render walls.
• The Terrain - Surface dialog includes an option to render a surface as a wireframe.
• Terrain windows can use the views pane to store camera position and azimuths.
• Undoing vector transforms undoes performed normalizations.
• Queries can create geometric data from existing objects or literal values.
• Queries can convert geometric data between various representations.
• Queries can transform geometric data.
• Linked drawings can retrieve metrics from tables with geometric data. This allows linked drawings to have points, lines and areas.
• Refreshing a drawing linked from a table or query in the same project refreshes the originating table or query. Thus, refreshing a drawing linked from a table that resides in an external data source will refresh the table, and refreshing a drawing linked from a query will recompute the query.
• Refreshing a query refreshes all linked drawings it operates on.
• The Tools - Options - File Locations dialog includes a file location for user extensions to the geocoding database. By default, the location is set to "%Manifold%\GCDBX". User extensions are MAP files with tables and columns with predefined names and types.
• Tables can contain columns with coordinate system data. The general name of the type is Coordinate System and the SQL name of the type is CoordSys. The primary reason for a separate type for coordinate system data is to use it in queries (eg, to assign a coordinate system to a Geom or to project a Geom to another coordinate system).
• Creating a new script with the File - Create - Script command allows selecting script language and creates startup code specific to that language.
• Attempting to run a malformed query from the Project pane opens the query in a query window and jumps to the error location.
• Surfaces no longer store the most detailed level of image data and always render it dynamically. This saves space (a lot of space) without compromising rendering speed.
• Table windows report Geometry (WKB) data in OpenGIS Well-Known Text (WKT) format.
• Legends can align items to either left or right side.
• The new ResultRaw property of the MapServer object returns an HTML fragment for the <table> … </table> only.
• Themes can be published as web pages.
• Legends, north arrows and scale bars can be copied and pasted between components. Pasting a legend with the Paste Append command appends the new legend below the existing legend.
• Creating the first active column in a table allows choosing the column language and creates boilerplate code.
• Legends render interval-based formatting in either "XX" or "XX - YY" form depending on the value of the Continuous shading option. The number of items in the legend is synchronized with the Format dialog.
• Drawings, labels and tables occupy less memory.
• Queries include means to split tables by the content of one or more columns using the SPLIT BY clause.
• TIGER import supports latest vintage of TIGER data (TIGER 2003).
• The CGeomSHP function used in queries converts Geometry and Geometry (WKB) data to Geometry (SHP). The CCoordSys function extracts coordinate system from Geometry data.
• Lines and areas can be smoothed with the new Spline transform. The parameter determines the the number of midpoints to put into each segment.
• The Export PDF dialog includes a Convert text to vector shapes option. If the option is turned on (the default), text elements are converted to vector shapes. If the option is turned off, text elements are left as text but use the system font (Helvetica) instead of their original font.
• The Export PDF dialog includes a Use layers option that controls the generation of layers. By default, the option is turned on.
• The MapServer object includes a new RenderParameters property used to supply parameters to drawings linked from parameter queries to facilitate the use of such drawings by multiple users. The passed parameters are not persisted in the state string and are only valid for the lifetime of a given instance of the MapServer object.
• The new Volume query function computes the volume of a surface covered by a given drawing object.
• Images can be pasted as surfaces.
• Importing a CSV file allows using a custom column delimiter and either an ANSI or OEM character set. The delimiter and other options used by the import are saved into a scheme.ini file in the same folder as the CSV, which is then processed by the driver. See the discussion in Help.
• IMS can return tabular data in XML form.
• The selection color used in IMS can be customized with the new selectionColor configuration option, which takes a hexadecimal value of the color (bbggrr).
• Tables can display full coordinate system data in XML format.
• ColorBrewer palettes (names prefixed with "CB") have been added to built-in palettes.

Thanks

The manifold.net team would like to thank all beta testers who patiently downloaded dozens of beta builds and who provided numerous comments. Several beta testers deserve special thanks for their extraordinary assistance, perception, constant contributions and expertise. The manifold.net team would like to extend special thanks to James Burn, Robert Heitzman and Arthur Lembo, as well as to David Brubacher, Colin Driscoll, Antonio Gonzalez Toro, Simon Greener, William Howell, Bernd Raab, Peter Ronning and Mike Sumner.

Everyone in the Manifold community owes special thanks to those beta testers who helped test new features (oftentimes with little or no documentation) and who contributed many suggestions for improvements in Manifold. Thank you!

The manifold.net team would also like to thank the 5.50 users who sent in many thousands of suggestions and comments for improvements in 6.00. The full set of over 400 new items reflects the suggestions of Manifold users from all over the world, with more to come in the Service Packs and releases ahead.

For a comprehensive (and mind-numbing) list of all 470+ listed changes see the 6.00 Features List page.

Limited Time Upgrade to Manifold 6.00 Offer

Manifold 5.50 licensees interested in upgrading from 5.50 to 6.00 can do so for only $45, plus shipping, under the terms of a limited time upgrade offer.  Until July 31, 2004, a Manifold 5.50 licensee may upgrade from 5.50 to 6.00 for only $45.  After July 31, 2004, the price of the 6.00 upgrade will increase to $150 until October 1, 2004, at which point the upgrade offer will be discontinued.  See the Upgrade to 6.00 Frequently Asked Questions page for details.  Save money and upgrade now!

Manifold System Release 6.00 Ships the week of June14, 2004 

The next major update to Manifold System, Release 6.00, will begin shipping during the week of June 14, 2004.  Release 6.00 includes several major system upgrades and hundreds of minor improvements.  All 5.50 licensees who acquired their licenses after April 7, 2004, will automatically be sent a 6.00 license at no charge.  All 5.50 licensees who acquired their licenses before April 7, 2004, will receive a limited time offer at their current email of record to upgrade to Release 6.00 for $45 (plus $5 shipping anywhere in the world). 

Place your order today for 6.00 upgrades on the Manifold Online Store.