AML
and UNIX Users: Don't be Left Out!
ArcInfo
8's ArcMap is a very powerful mapping environment. But it isn't suitable
for everyone. If you have a heavy investment in an AML-based cartographic
production system, for example, but want the benefits of ArcMap, MAPComposer
V1.0 may be what you need. MAPComposer has been used on dozens
of projects and has been used to produce several very large map series,
including a 300 page atlas.
MAPComposer
is a an add-on module for Workstation ArcInfo. It works with ArcInfo
7 or 8, in Windows NT or UNIX. Essentially, it provides a shell around
Arcplot and Arcedit, enabling significant increases in productivity,
especially in the map making process. It is intended for the traditional
command-line user, not the novice ArcTools user. In fact, the more
experience the user has with ArcInfo commands and AMLs, the greater
the benefits that can be achieved.
MAPComposer
modularizes the Arcplot map making process, much in the way that
ArcMap uses map layers. This allows you to save layers and share them
between different maps. Map templates are possible as well.
MAPComposer
can store, copy, share, archive, and restore map graphics without
needing the source data to be present. This gives you the freedom
to use map layers long after their source data have been changed or
removed. This also saves considerable time, since graphics do not
need to be regenerated each time the map is altered.
During
a five year period, MAPComposer has been shown to reduce the
time required to create new maps by up to 30%, and the time
required to update maps by up to 50%, especially in situations
requiring a lot of edits.
Another
unique feature of MAPComposer is WYSIWYG editing in Arcedit
– edits are immediately shown in the final map!
To find
out more about MAPComposer, visit www.elroi.com/mapcomposer.
David
Maguire is the Director of Products at ESRI. In the previous issue
of my newsletter, David shared some thoughts with us on ArcInfo 8
and beyond, ArcObjects, COM, and Java. In this issue, we continue
the interview, discussing ArcView 8, ArcExplorer, and more.
The
future of ArcView
Q:
Please tell me about the future of ArcView
A:
The plan is that the next generation of ArcView, which will be called
ArcView 8.1, will be released simultaneously with ArcInfo 8.1; and
it will be built from the same common technology we've already shown
in ArcInfo 8.01 and 8.02. It will essentially be ArcMap and ArcCatalog,
minus the ability to edit coverages and geodatabases. Our goal is
to do everything ArcView 3.2 does, in the new framework. There will
be a few exceptions to that, because they just don't make sense. But
our goal is to get as close to that as is feasible.
Q:
Is someone writing an APR-to-MXD convertor yet?
A:
We're working on that. What we know is that we can definitely convert
some things, and we definitely cannot convert others. Things like
symbology, pathnames we can do. Things like Avenue code we can't yet
do.
Q:
So will the ArcView 3 architecture cease to exist?
A:
We're working on a 3.2a patch right now, which we hope to have on
the web, freely downloadable, before the User Conference. And we definitely
envisage a follow-on release beyond 3.3.
Q:
Well, I certainly hope so. There's a huge client base there in applications
that are based on the current architecture.
A:
Yes, half a million seats.
Q:
So back to ArcView 8.1. Do you think that ESRI can maintain the 1:10
cost ratio between ArcView and ArcInfo, even when ArcView is based
on the same technology?
A:
We're going to try. We also want to offer some other price points
in between the $1,000 and $10,000 points, so that there's not a huge
binary divide between the ArcView user and the ArcInfo users. We've
been playing around with the notion of an ArcInfo Editor seat. Maybe
an ArcInfo Map Viewer seat as well. This would give us four or five
offerings in a spectrum that people can buy.
Other
technologies from ESRI
Q:
How is ArcExplorer going to fit in this brave new world?
A: The
next generation of ArcExplorer will be Java based, and it will be
cross platform. It won't have very much more functionality, just a
few things, and it will continue to satisfy the low end.
Q: Regarding
the new ArcPad, do you see rewriting it in the same technology as
everything else, so that it can be customized with VB? Or is that
something else all together?
A:
Right now Windows CE and other PDAs have such very strict and very
specific requirements. This means that we decided it's better just
to develop technology for that environment than to try to port generic
technology. You've got the constraints of lower speed processors,
very constrained screen real estate, and the need to work with a pen-based
user interface, and a number of other things as well.
