Manifold System Release 6.50 Enterprise Edition

Manifold System Release 6.50 Enterprise Edition is the most modern and reliable GIS package ever created for 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.  

"Last week I received the Enterprise version of your software and have to say that in 12 years of GIS experience I've never seen so much value in any software." - User Comment

Enterprise Edition includes all Professional Edition and Debugger features and also extends Manifold so users can save and share drawings, images, tables, maps, scripts, and other components within geospatial databases hosted in multi-user DBMS products like Oracle, SQL Server, IBM DB2, MySQL and many others. Such geospatial databases are called Enterprise servers.  Enterprise Edition allows multiple users to share the same components and to edit them without fear of multi-user conflicts.  Enterprise Edition also adds the ability to write ArcInfo .e00 files for easy data interchange with legacy GIS packages.  Finally, Enterprise Edition includes an option to turn off the "Powered by manifold.net" banner embedded in Manifold IMS (Internet Map Server) pages.

Enterprise Edition includes at no additional charge the Microsoft SQL Server  2000 desktop engine for use in creating your own Enterprise servers if you do not already have an enterprise class DBMS. SQL Server 2000 is a high performance, multi-user database management system that provides world-class capabilities to Enterprise Edition users.  Enterprise Edition is perfect for organizations where many users work with the same maps and where editing must be controlled so that two people cannot simultaneously edit the same drawing in incompatible ways, or for situations where large amounts of data must be kept and used in an organized way. Enterprise Edition is $395 per license.  Professional Edition licensees may upgrade to Enterprise Edition for $200.

Compare Professional, Debugger and Enterprise Editions - See a simplified table that compares the three Manifold editions.

Key Benefits

Enterprise Edition is not only more economically efficient than older "spatial" GIS products, it is faster, more flexible and more reliable as well.  Enterprise Edition delivers the following key benefits, which older "SDE"-style products do not have:

• Faster performance, at times by a factor of 100 or more in interactive GIS operations as compared to older architectures.
• Reliable, conflict-free editing of complex data in a multi-user environment. Surprisingly, even some very expensive older systems cannot guarantee conflict-free editing as does Manifold.
• Freedom to choose almost any DBMS vendor. Enterprise Edition works with dozens of different database management systems. The Manifold model by default allows use of almost any DBMS that allows transactions and that has an ODBC driver.
• No expensive, performance-draining "middleware" required.  A high performance database like Oracle or SQL Server is designed to work directly with high performance clients like Manifold. Enterprise Edition connects directly to your DBMS for unsurpassed performance.  Don't waste thousands of dollars on costly middleware that works more slowly than Manifold.
• Works with the standard DBMS products offered off-the-shelf by dozens of DBMS vendors.  No need for costly "spatial" versions.
• Heterogeneous DBMS utilization.  Within the same project Manifold can transparently include multiple components from different Enterprise servers hosted by different DBMS vendors.
• DBMS fault tolerance. If the DBMS crashes while working on an Enterprise project the project is still safe and can be saved with no loss of data.
• Network fault tolerance. If the network crashes while working on an Enterprise project the project is still safe. Transient disconnects won't even be noticed, and lengthy disconnects still allow a local save of the project. Work can continue even without the network. When the network comes back up the project can be opened and automatic synchronization will occur.
• Practical Internet capability. The high bandwidth requirements of older architectures mean that connecting over Internet to a remote DBMS is not usually realistic. With Manifold, the more efficient Enterprise architecture means that it is realistic in many cases to connect to an Enterprise server via corporate Internet links.
• Off-line working capability. Older systems cannot work without a constant, "live" connection to the DBMS. Manifold allows transparent off-line work, such as with laptops when traveling away from a direct connection to an Enterprise server. Enterprise Edition users can continue working while away from their corporate network.
• Automatic compression.  Data saved in the DBMS is automatically compressed, which usually requires four to seven times less connection bandwidth and storage capacity for the DBMS.
• Mix and Match Enterprise and Local Data. Manifold projects can include a free-form mix of data from Enterprise servers or local data.
• Compatibility with Professional Edition.  Instant, transparent compatibility with Professional Edition users is a snap with Enterprise Edition.
• Easy to Use. No programming required! - To share components on an Enterprise server all you need do is create a blank database for Manifold to use within the host DBMS system.  After that, users can easily share items to the DBMS and link in items from the DBMS using standard, point and click Windows-style commands found in Manifold.  Enterprise Edition is so smooth and easy to use that users will never realize their data is hosted on an enterprise-class DBMS.  Whether you use IBM's DB2, SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL or any other DBMS, compare the easy simplicity of Manifold Enterprise Edition with the baffling  complexity of using ESRI ArcSDE with Oracle Spatial and you'll agree no geospatial DBMS GIS has ever been this easy to configure and use!

Centralized storage allows multi-user use of common components so different users can simultaneously use the same component within their projects. For example, many users in a town's GIS department can use a base map drawing of a town within their projects. Another benefit to storage of components within an Enterprise server, in addition to the multi-user access thus provided, is the ability to share a single copy of a component within many different projects.

For example, if the same drawing of Europe or the US is frequently re-used as a background layer in a map we can share that drawing into an Enterprise server and then get it whenever needed. Only one copy of the drawing will be maintained, the copy within the Enterprise server. If a drawing or other component (such as an image) is used in hundreds of different projects we will see considerable savings in disk space.  Having a single, master copy of a drawing also guarantees that all users will be working with a single, authoritative version.

Modern Architecture

Manifold's Enterprise Edition uses a new approach to centralized storage of data within DBMS providers. The old approach taken by ArcSDE and similar is to store objects within Oracle Spatial (or other DBMS) at the "atomic" object level. As drawings are used, collections of objects in view or involved are fetched on the fly from the DBMS. This is very slow and limits the ultimate functionality of the product to capabilities understood by the DBMS as interpreted by the ArcSDE middleware. It also limits centralized storage to only drawings (and sometimes, images) and requires using special spatial software adaptations that are specific to the DBMS vendor, with great difficulty in using other DBMS products.

"I tried the Enterprise Server package with our SQL Server installation and it is about 80,000 times easier to set up and use than SDE. I had Enterprise Server up and running in an afternoon: SDE has been a configuration headache from day one."  - User Comment

Enterprise Edition uses a more modern, higher level object storage paradigm, basically using the DBMS as a centralized data warehouse with supervisory, multi-user resolution features added. In the Manifold model, when a drawing, image, surface or other component is shared on a database the master copy of the data is kept within the DBMS, called an Enterprise server. Whenever a user wants to work with a component saved in the Enterprise server, he or she can link the component into the project at hand. Behind the scenes, Manifold can cache the entire component into local memory.

The Manifold model has many benefits, foremost among them tremendous speed once remote components are linked into the local project. All operations happen within local memory so operations using remote, shared components are just as fast as those using local ones. If a user wishes to edit a shared component, he or she can check it out for local editing, and then check it back into the Enterprise server when done editing. This check out / check in model of usage is based on the highly successful source code control model used within many development environments for collaborative program development by large teams. It is well understood in the software development  industry and has proven very efficient as a means of managing multiple edit operations by many users.

The Server Console

Enterprise Edition provides a user-friendly server console for browsing, managing and working with Enterprise servers.   The server console shows a catalog of all items in an Enterprise server, conveniently arranged in a standard Windows hierarchical diagram.  The server console shows the same Windows diagram regardless of what DBMS is used to host the Enterprise server.

For example, in the illustration we've connected to an Enterprise server on a machine called PROJECTS.   Highlighting an item shows its status in the status bar.  For example, the Me_railroads drawing is checked out in another project.  We can still use this drawing, but the red link icon shows that it has been checked out for editing to alert us that at some point in the future we can expect a newer version of this drawing to become available.

  The New Folder button in the Server Console toolbar creates folders within an Enterprise server. Use folders to organize components within an Enterprise server and to keep the Enterprise server manageable.

This is especially important when Enterprise servers are very large and contain many components. Folders may be created anywhere within the tree hierarchy, and folders can be created within other folders. For example, we might have folders for countries, folders within those folders for provinces and then folders within those for different classes of information such as hydrography, transportation, boundaries and so on.

To move files between folders, drag components and drop them into a folder (drop them onto the folder icon itself and not the hierarchy beneath the folder). Folders may be created within other folders. If a folder is highlighted in the Enterprise server pane and the New Folder command is issued, the new folder will be created within the highlighted folder. Folders may be dragged and dropped into other folders. To move a folder out from within another folder, drag it and drop it into the "white space" of the Enterprise server outside another folder. Folders may not be renamed, but they may be deleted. To delete a folder that contains components the components involved must be checked out.

There is no limit on the number of folders within an Enterprise server, but the number of components within a single folder is limited to approximately 1000 components. As a practical matter, if one is working with such a large number of components it is wise to organize them within subfolders.

Working with Enterprise Edition

There are two ways for user to work with components saved within an Enterprise server:

• Import components from the Enterprise server. When importing components from the server a local copy of the component is made and work proceeds on that local copy without further connection to the server. Enterprise servers used in this way function simply as a centralized repository from which users may fetch components as desired for their local purposes.

• Link components from the Enterprise server. When a component is linked from the server the component continues to reside within the Enterprise server with controls on how that component can be used by different users at the same time. It is said to be a shared component. Enterprise Edition provides several ways of working with shared components that allow coordination between multiple simultaneous users.

Enterprise users can share components using the following commands, which appear in the context menu when right-clicking onto a component in the project pane.  These commands also appear in the Server Console toolbar to allow us to quickly import or link a component.

• Share - Save a component into the Enterprise server. Use this command to load the Enterprise server with shared components.
• Check Out - Gets the latest version of a shared component and makes it editable exclusively by us. Only one user at a time can check out a component. Other users can still link the component, but they will not see any changes we make until we check in that component.
• Check In - Saves the edited version of a component back to the Enterprise server and makes the component read-only in our project. When we are done editing a shared component we can Check In to save the changed version of the component to the Enterprise server. After we check in, any user getting that component will get the newly edited version.
• Get Latest Version - Fetches the latest version of a shared component. If we are working with a shared component and suspect that someone might have checked out the component we are using and altered it, we can use Get Latest Version to fetch the latest version.
• Undo Check Out - Enabled if we have used Check Out to get a component for editing. Abandons any changes we have made to a shared component on our local system, gets the latest version from the server and makes it read-only.
• Link - Fetches the latest version of a shared component for use in our project. This opens a shared component in a read-only mode. We can view the component and allow it to participate in maps we create, but we cannot edit it.

The above commands will be familiar to users of Microsoft Visual SourceSafe source code control system, if one understands Link to mean SourceSafe's Get. The Manifold commands have, in fact, been deliberately designed to retain conceptual compatibility with similar commands used within source code control systems to resolve multi-user access and conflicts issues in complex development projects.

Enterprise Edition allows free-form usage of local data or data from Enterprise servers.  Data from many different Enterprise servers may be included within the same project.

Components that are stored in an Enterprise server are called remote components. Components in an Enterprise server that are linked into the current project are called shared components. Components that are stored within the project are called local components. A project can contain any combination of local or shared components.  In Manifold, the project pane shows the status of items in our project in a standard Windows tree diagram.

The project pane shows shared components with a small gray lock icon next to the component icon to show they are read only. A component that is checked out by us will have a small red check mark icon. A component that is checked out by someone else will have a small dark blue lock icon. If someone else has checked out a component and edited it, the icon for that component will appear as a dark red lock icon. This indicates that if we want to work with the latest version of that component we should do a Get Latest Version.

Tool tips show the status of a shared component when the mouse hovers over it in the project pane. If a component is not checked out it will be reported as a shared component using the name of the Enterprise server data source. In the above example, the Roads Drawing component is shared on an Enterprise server data source called Enterprise example.

If we check out the component the icon turns to a red check mark and the tool tip reports it as being checked out.

If someone else checks out the component the icon turns to a black lock and the tool tip reports which user checked it out. In the above example, a user called Administrator on a machine called PROJECT has checked out the component. Tool tips report which user has checked a component so we can get in contact with them should we want them to check the component in so that we can check it out for editing.

If someone else checks out the component, changes it and then checks in the component, the icon turns to a dark red lock in our project. This lets us know it is time to get the latest version. The tool tip reports that the component is that it is outdated.

Projects on workstations running Manifold System 6.50 that use shared components are subject to the same size limitation as other Manifold projects: no single drawing or table can exceed 4 gigabytes in size, although the number of such drawings and tables in a project is unlimited.  The size of images or surfaces is unlimited and the size of any single project is effectively unlimited. (The maximum project size is 16000 gigabytes, or 16 exabytes).

Enterprise servers can store as much information as can be handled by the host DBMS, possibly terabytes given the right hardware and software. 

Hardware and Software Requirements

Hardware and software requirements for Enterprise Edition are the same as for Professional Edition, with the additional requirement of a compatible DBMS system.  See the Requirements page for details on Manifold System requirements. In addition to the hardware and software requirements of Enterprise Edition, users should understand the requirements of whatever DBMS product they intend to operate in conjunction with Enterprise Edition.  The Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database engine bundled with Manifold System will run on all systems recommended for use with Manifold System Release 6.50.

Enterprise Edition has been developed using the latest editions of IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (including  the SQL Server desktop engine) and Oracle. These products are "supported" in that Enterprise Edition is designed to function using these three DBMS server products for Enterprise servers. Users purchasing Developer Tech Support incidents may ask questions about Enterprise Edition usage using those three DBMS servers as examples and may expect reasonably sensible answers.

Many other DBMS products may be used as Enterprise servers in addition to DB2, SQL Server and Oracle. For example, MySQL has been frequently used within manifold.net. Enterprise Edition even includes special code that works around a MySQL bug in a recent MySQL version that sometimes strips the last character in a stored section of binary data. There are many other fine DBMS products that will work well as Enterprise servers with Enterprise Edition. In general, any professional quality, multi-user, enterprise class DBMS that handles transactions well is a good candidate for use with Enterprise Edition. Some users even use Access 2000 (although this is discouraged since SQL Server Desktop Engine is a profoundly better multi-user DBMS server).

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine

The Manifold CD includes a complete distribution of the Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000). The SQL Server Desktop Engine provides the power of SQL Server to Manifold System users at no additional charge.  Formerly known as MSDE, the SQL Server Desktop Engine is the same engine upon which Microsoft SQL Server 2000 is built. With two limitations, Desktop Engine provides full SQL Server capabilities.

When delivered in desktop engine form, Microsoft has limited SQL Server in two ways:

• No single database can exceed 2 gigabytes in size. However, each Desktop Engine server instance can contain many databases, each of which can be up to 2 gigabytes in size. Each computer can host up to sixteen instances of Desktop Engine.  As a practical matter, if we are careful to organize our Enterprise servers so that no single server exceeds 2 GB in storage this limitation will not be a factor in Enterprise Edition operations.
• Performance will rapidly decline when more than five simultaneous users use the database engine at the same time. With five users or less Desktop Engine will operate with full SQL Server speed.  This limitation is also not a factor with most Enterprise Edition users because the caching technology used in Enterprise Edition greatly reduces the number of accesses any user must make to the Enterprise server.  Only large organizations will likely ever encounter situations  where more than five users at once will "hit" the Enterprise server.   Such large organizations will have no problem installing a copy of Microsoft's enterprise version of SQL Server.

Other than these two limitations SQL Server Desktop Engine provides the full power and breadth of SQL Server capabilities for use with Enterprise Edition.  Although Microsoft has named it a "desktop" engine it is actually SQL Server in all its full power and glory, excepting the two limitations of five users and two gigabytes per database. It has full networking capability as does SQL Server and will appear on the local network as a SQL Server installation. For all practical purposes of interest to Manifold users everything that may be done with SQL Server may be done with Desktop Engine as well.

It's easy to use as well: The installation package on the Manifold CD installs the SQL Server Desktop Engine and configures it to start automatically on system startup. Install Desktop Engine and restart the system. Desktop Engine will appear as a SQL Server installation on the system.

If we install Enterprise Edition with Desktop Engine on a given machine, that machine can be both a client and a server to other machines on the network. For example, if we have a local area network with ten different machines we can have each of the ten be an Enterprise server for itself and for other machines on the network, even as the machines are simultaneously used as Manifold Enterprise Edition client workstations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I run Enterprise Edition without purchasing a DBMS system? Yes. You can install Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 desktop engine that is on the Manifold CD and create Enterprise server databases within the SQL Server DBMS installation thus created. You can also run Enterprise Edition without using Enterprise features (that is, like Professional) without any DBMS at all.

How is Enterprise Edition licensed? - See the Manifold End User License Agreement. Each computer on which Manifold System is installed must have a license for Manifold, except that for each license you may also install Manifold System on a notebook computer used by the primary licensee in addition to the main system used. You may install the SQL Server desktop engine on any computer that will function as a server for Manifold. For example, you could have two Manifold licenses and thus operate Manifold on two different machines; however, you could also install the Desktop Engine on several other machines to use as Enterprise servers.

Can I install SQL Server on a machine without installing Enterprise Edition? - Yes. You may install the SQL Server desktop engine bundled with Manifold on any machine you would like to configure as a server for Enterprise Edition or as a storage repository for tables for Professional Edition.

Does Enterprise Edition work with DBMS products other than the three supported? - Yes. It works with almost any DBMS that supports transactions and that has an ODBC driver. For example, MySQL is very popular with Enterprise Edition users.   manifold.net has tested Enterprise Edition with Oracle, SQL Server and DB2 and will closely monitor these DBMS products as their vendors produce future editions. There are many other DBMS products with which Enterprise Edition will work; however, it is not possible for manifold.net to test them all or to keep track of new releases from all vendors.

Does Enterprise Edition read and write ArcSDE or Oracle Spatial native formats? - No. Enterprise Edition uses higher level, more general storage within databases to provide much greater speed and more capability. We believe that setting the object level higher in the geospatial database hierarchy, as Enterprise Edition does, is a more modern architectural approach. It provides the benefits listed above that are not available or too difficult as a matter of practical usage to obtain with the older, ArcSDE/Oracle Spatial architecture.  Manifold also exposes all low-level objects if users need to work directly with them, say, in their own applications.  If desired, users can always write scripts to access individual points, lines and area objects within Enterprise servers.

If more than five users attempt to work with Desktop Engine, will they lose data? - No. The five user limitation in Desktop Engine does not cause any crashes, stoppages or loss of data if more than five users attempt to access the server at the same time. The limiting mechanism simply slows down the server at that point to discourage more than five users from being active at the same time. All requests will be fulfilled (slowly) without any data loss. With caching on, the transactional load to the Enterprise server is so low that an organization would have to have very many more users than five before it had to worry about the five simultaneous user throttle.

Can I run Enterprise Edition with Windows 95? - No. 

Can Enterprise Edition connect to an Enterprise server across Internet? - Yes. This is simply a matter of configuring the ODBC data source to work across Internet. Because Internet is normally slower than working in local area networks it is probably wise to retain the default cached storage option. There will then be some delay while fetching components initially from the server but thereafter work can proceed with local caching unless changes are made in shared components. That will greatly reduce the traffic passed back and forth over Internet.

Technical Support and Upgrades

Manifold System 6.50 Licenses are currently provided with two standard Technical Support incidents at no additional charge for installation and interactive features (excluding Developer level features such as scripting, programming, map serving and SQL).  Support products offered by manifold.net are listed on the Products page, and include discounted incidents for standard technical support as well as Developer technical support incidents.  Enterprise Edition features require Developer technical support.

All support resources provided on the manifold.net web site are free of charge, including any service packs that may be published.  New editions of Manifold are offered to licensees of the previous edition at substantial discounts.  For example, Manifold System Release 6.50 introduced over 630 new improvements yet was available to previous licensees for only $50, plus $5 shipping.

Requirements and Limitations

Manifold System 6.50 runs with Windows 2003, XP, 2000, NT 4.0, ME, 98SE and 98.  A reasonably modern PC with at least 128MB of RAM and at least 50MB of disk space is required.  IE 6 (or IE 5.5 with Windows 95) must be installed on the system even if you choose to use a different browser, such as Opera, as your default browser.  The IE installation is used to assure that the Windows system is fully upgraded with all required XML parsing and ActiveX scripting Windows components.

Users of older Windows systems will experience some limitations.   Users of 16 bit Windows systems (Windows 95, 98, 98SE and ME) may experience memory limitations when working with large images or projects  due to the inability of 16 bit Windows systems to correctly handle large memory spaces.

manifold.net recommends use of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000. Windows NT is also acceptable in a pinch.  Windows 98 is not recommended due to the many bugs and limitations of the system.   At some future point or service pack for Manifold System, manifold.net may no longer support Windows 98.  Windows 98 and Me are supported but not recommended.

Other than the practical limits imposed by machine speed and the user's patience, there are no intrinsic limits on the number of objects, layers, components or other aspects of a Manifold project.  The only size limit is that any single drawing or table in a project cannot exceed 4 gigabytes in size, although the number of such drawings and tables is unlimited.

Buy Now ! 

A Steal at Twice the Price! - Manifold System Release 6.50 Enterprise Edition is priced at only $395: that's the best deal ever in GIS!   The data alone on the Manifold CD sells for hundreds of dollars from other vendors.   Plus, the spectacular image manipulation, surface and 3D terrain, spatial, networking, and topological commands included in 6.50 Professional often sell for thousands of dollars from other vendors.  The Manifold Internet Map Server built into Manifold 6.50 easily outperforms other map servers that sell for thousands of dollars. Finally, the extraordinary capabilities of Enterprise Edition usually cost thousands of dollars for the GIS package, costly ArcSDE middleware and a specialized DBMS like Oracle Spatial.  You don't need any of that with Enterprise Edition: $395 buys it all!

Call 800-556-5919 today to order your copy of Release 6.50 Enterprise Edition, or teleport right away to the Manifold.net Online Store to buy a copy right now!

Quotes from user comments on this page have been received by email or posted in the Manifold-L discussion list and on comp.infosystems.gis and also appear in our Testimonials page.

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