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New
Features
In addition to the ability to read,
write and manipulate some additional grid types, the main new feature is
the Enhanced Layer Control. This is a radically different way to work with
MapInfo once you get into it. Page 15 of the new Users Guide gives a pretty
good description. Layers for multiple windows can be seen and manipulated
at once and constantly in a Windows Explorer-like interface. This treatment
of layers as objects in this sort of setting is becoming more common. We
find it to be quite enlightening and a whole new way to work. It does place
some overhead on your hardware which may not be noticeable if you are fully
up to date. There are also a few bugs to be worked out and minor procedural
issues. The most significant "Bug" is a conflict with Vertical Mapper.
With Enhanced Layer Control activated you cannot create a grid using Vertical
Mapper. The power to rapidly change and manipulate order and visibility
in windows is astonishing but not all readily undoable so be careful about
having workspaces saved and experiment with this new feature on clones
of complex windows.
A patch is due shortly but it can
be used carefully now and we think has a lot of potential.
The Help Files and Tutorials have
been significantly upgraded.
Existing Discover Features of Note
The Drillhole module in Discover
is extremely powerful, especially on todays hardware. We have recently
been generating sections from databases with ten's of thousands of holes
and hundreds of thousands of records with more than a hundred holes on
several sections. The performance is more than adequate and the full display
and manipulation features of MapInfo and access to all your data from one
platform is outstanding.
Another unsung feature is DigData.
This feature works with heads-up digitizing or from a table and allows
you to set up a series of Lookup tables for automatic data, selection of
entries from a standardized pull-down list and manual entry while digitizing.
We have been using it extensively for capturing and attributing mineral
occurrence points in one integrated, standardized operation.
If you are not taking advantage
of these features contact us for tips or for hands on detailed training.
In succeeding letters we will examine other useful features in Discover.
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