Introduction to MapWindow

1. OVERVIEW
2. FEATURES
3. ABOUT THE SOFTWARE
4. MAIN USER INTERFACE
A. Main Menu
i. Project Menu
ii. Layer Menu
iii. View Menu
iv. Bookmarks Menu
v. Plug-ins Menu
vi. Help Menu
B. Toolbar
C. Legend Window
D. Preview Map
5. ADD DATA TO THE MAP AREA
6. OPENING AND SAVING PROJECTS
7. REMOVING DATA FROM THE MAP
8. PROJECTIONS

1. OVERVIEW

The MapWindow application is a free, extensible geographic information system (GIS) that
can be used in many ways:

• As an open-source alternative desktop GIS

• To distribute data to others
• To develop and distribute custom spatial data analysis tools

2. FEATURES

MapWindow is more than just a data viewer. It is an extensible geographic information

system. This means that advanced users or developers can write plug-ins to add additional
functionality (models, special viewers, hot-link handlers, data editors, etc) and pass these
along to any number of the users clients and end users.

MapWindow includes standard GIS data visualization features as well as DBF attribute
table editing, Shapefile editing, and data converters. Dozens of standard GIS formats are
supported, including Shapefiles, GeoTIFF, ESRI ArcInfo ASCII and binary grids.

Although the MapWindow application is a ready-to-use spatial data viewer, it can also be
modified into a new custom application. Customization is done by editing the MapWindow
Configuration File, and/or a MapWindow Project File. These are the two files that control
the look and feel of MapWindow. Both are XML-format files that can be edited directly
through notepad or an XML editor.

3. ABOUT THE SOFTWARE

The MapWindow software stack is largely built upon the Microsoft .NET framework with
parts built on COM/ActiveX technology. This creates a requirement for Microsoft Windows
as the primary operating system for MapWindow.

4. MAIN USER INTERFACE

Start MapWindow and explore the contents of Lab1 data.

1. Go to Start All Programs → MapWindow GIS → MapWindow GIS
2. The following screen should appear (if this is the user’s first time
running MapWindow).

3. Click the button. Then following main window will appear. The basic
MapWindow graphical user interface looks like this:
By default, the layout includes a Main Menu, Toolbar, Map Area (white box at the right), a
Legend pane, and a Preview Map pane.
The Map Area is always open, it contains the map itself.

The Legend Pane displays all of the layers, active and inactive, concerned with the map in
the current project. A number of options exist to customize and manipulate the appearance
of the features and properties of each data type in the Legend Window.
The Main Menu and Toolbar contain functions to manage projects and to manipulate and
search the map.

The Preview Map Pane provides the user with a view of the map prior to printing.

The Legend and the Preview map pane can be closed or toggled on and off using the
thumb tab and icons.

A. Main Menu
The Main Menu is located in the Top left of the screen beneath the MapWindow GIS title. It
consists of the menu items File, Edit, View, Bookmarks, Plug-ins, and Help.

i. Project Menu
The Project menu offers the following options: New, Open Project, Open Project into New
Group, Save, Save as, Archive/ Restore Project, Print, Recent
Projects, Export, Settings and Exit.
 New – Clears the current project and opens a fresh screen. You will be prompted
beforehand to save any changes to the current project.
 Open Project – Clears the current map and brings up an ‘Open’ window that allows
you to navigate to a previously saved project.
 Open Project Into New Group – Allows you to change the group of a desired
project.
 Save – Saves updates to the current project.
 Save As – Allows you to name the file and location where the map is to be saved on
your computer.
 Archive/Restore Project… – Archive or Restore Project
 Print – Opens the ‘Map Window Print Layout’ window.
 Recent Projects – Allows you to open a project that has been saved recently.
 Export – Allows you to copy the Map, Map, High Quality, Georeferenced Map, Scale
Bar, North Arrow or Legend, or North Arrow in a different file folder location on
your computer.

 Settings – Brings up the ‘Settings’ window which allows you to determine Project
Settings and Application Settings.
 Exit – Prompts you to save any changes to the current project, then ends the
MapWindow application.
ii. Layer Menu
The Layer menu offers the following options: Add Layer, Add ECWP Layer, Open
GPX, Remove Layers, Clear Layers, Label properties, Charts properties, Attribute Table,
Shapefile categories, Symbology manager…, Relabel Shapefile, Build query, Clear Selected
Shapes on current layer, Properties.

 Add Layer – Brings up an ‘Add Map Layer’ window that allows you to navigate to a
file folder that contains vector shapefiles and raster images.
 Add ECWP Layer – Allows you to enter the url that contains enhanced compression
wavelet protocol (ECWP) image data on demand from compressed ECW
or JPEG 2000 image files.
 Open GPX – Allow you to open GPX file of created by GPS device.
 Remove Layers – Allows you to remove a selected layer from the project.
 Clear Layers – Allows you to remove all layers from the project.
 Label properties – Allows you to change label properties of layer
 Charts properties – Allow you create chart on the basis of attribute in layer
 Attribute Table – Allow you to open attribute table
 Shapefile categories – Allow to change symbology by categorization.
 Symbology manager… – Open Symbology manager for Changing symbology
 Relabel Shapefile – Allow you to change label in shapefile
 Build query – Shows Layer properties
 Clear Selected Shape on current layer – deselect the selected data
 Properties – Shows Layer properties
iii. View Menu
The View menu offers the following options: Panels, Set Map Scale, Show Floating Scale Bar,
Copy, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Zoom to Full Extents, Zoom to Preview Map Extents, Previous Zoom,
Next Zoom, Clear Selection of all layers, Preview Map.

Panels – Allows you to toggle on and off the Legend and Preview Map panes.

 Set Map Scale – Brings up the ‘Select New Scale’ window which contains two fields;
one that displays the current map view’s scale and the other allows you to designate
a new scale at which to view the map.
 Show Floating Scale Bar – Places a scale bar in the bottom right hand corner of the
Map Display. Left click on the scale bar to bring up a menu that provides options to
change its location, alter its appearance, and designate the units of measurement.
 Copy Option further has four options Map, Legend, Scale Bar, North Arrow.
  Zoom In – Toggles on the zoom-in function. After selecting this option you can click
on a point on the map and the map view will magnify around that point.
 Zoom Out – Toggle son the zoom-out function.
 Zoom to Full Extents – Fits the entire map to the Map Display window.
 Zoom to Preview Map Extents – Places the view in the Preview Map into the main
Map Display.
 Previous Zoom – Returns the map view to the previous extent.
 Next Zoom – Returns the map view to the extent prior to using the Previous Zoom
function.
 Clear Selection of all layers – Deselect the selection in all layers
 Preview Map option further has three options Update using Full Extents, Update
using Current Extents and Clear.

iv. Bookmarks Menu

The Bookmarks menu offers the following options: Add Bookmarked View, Bookmarked
Views and Bookmarks Manager.

 Add Bookmarked View – Allows you to begin creating a list of images that can be
referenced later. Click this function to add the current map view to the list.
 Bookmarked Views – Provides access to a list of bookmarked views.
 Bookmarks Manager – Opens the ‘Bookmarks Manager’ window which provides a
list of current bookmarks and provides options to edit, delete, export and import
information regarding bookmarks.
v. Plug-ins Menu
The Plug-ins menu offers the following options: Edit Plug-ins and Scripts.

Note: There is also a long list of optional plug-ins that can be toggled on and off from this
menu.

 Edit Plug-ins – Opens a window that allows you to turn on various plug-ins that are
available by default, as well as provides you with a brief description of each one.
 Scripts – Provides you with a space to set up custom actions or build your own
plug-in.

vi. Help Menu

The Help menu offers the following options: MapWindow Documentation (Online), Getting
started with MapWindow, Report a bug, Help us continue the development, Keyboard
Shortcuts, Welcome Screen and About.
  MapWindow Documentation (Online) – Opens the MapWindow Documentation
Wiki in your web browser. http://www.mapwindow.org/apps/wiki/doku.php
 Getting started with MapWindow –
 Report a bug –
 Help us continue the development –
 Keyboard Shortcuts – Provides a list of keyboard shortcut commands as follows:
 Welcome Screen – Opens the MapWindow 4 welcome screen.
 About – Opens the about window that provides general information regarding your
version of MapWindow.

B. Toolbar
A suite of basic map functions is accessed through a set of toolbar buttons. The Standard
Toolbar consists of the following buttons:

The Description of toolbar button are given in following table.

The New button opens a new project.

The Open button allows you to find a pre-existing project on your

computer.
The Save button saves any changes made to the current project or allows
you to save a project under a new name and location.
The Print button opens the MapWindow Print Layout window.

The Settings button open Settings of Project and Application.

The Add button brings up an ‘Add Map Layer’ window that allows you to
navigate to a file folder that contains vector shapefiles and raster images.
Allows you to remove a selected layer from the project.
Allows you to remove all layers from the project.

The Symbology button bring symbology manager.

Categories button used for customizing the symbology

It work as query builder for writing query.

Shows Layer properties

Display attribute table of Layer

The Select button selects data or shapes in a specified area on the map.
Click and drag the mouse to create a rectangle over the desired features.
The mouse cursor is changed to a pointing hand when this function is
active.
The Deselect button deselect the selected data.

The Measure button access the measuring distance and area tool.

The Identify buttons allow you to obtain information regarding shapes

according to specified features and feature combinations.
Move the location of label to a new position

The Pan button is used to move the map shown in the Map Display
window and changes the cursor to appear like the hand icon. Click and
hold the left mouse button to grab the map then move the mouse in the
desired direction to move the map. Releasing the mouse button releases
the map.
The In button activates the zoom in function.

The Out button activates the zoom out function. It performs the same
functions as the Zoom-In button in reverse.
The Full Extent button fits the entire map to the Map Display window.

The Selected button fits the currently selected features to their best
possible extents within the Map Display.
The Previous button allow you to toggle through your most recent map
views.
 The Next button allow you to toggle through your most recent map views.

The Layer button fits the active layer to its best possible extents within
the Map Display.

C. Legend Window
The Legend contains a list and a graphical representation of all the map layers in the
current project. It provides tools and functions to manipulate the layers. Much of the action
in a GIS occurs in the Legend (sometimes referred to as a Table of Contents).

D. Preview Map
The Preview Map, by default, is found in the bottom left hand corner of the MapWindow
application just under the Legend. It can be toggled on and off in the Panels option in
the View menu. It is used primarily to aid in setting up print layouts. It can also be used to
adjust the view in the main Map Area. The red box in this window indicates the area of the
map that will exported to the print layout. Right click within the preview map to access the
following options:

 The Update using Full Extents option fits the entire map into the Preview
Map's extents.
 The Update using Current View option fits the current view in the Map Display in
the Preview Map's extents.
 The Clear option clears the Preview Map window of any data.

5. ADD DATA TO THE MAP AREA

Data can be added to your project either by clicking the Add button in the Layers
Toolbar or by selecting the Add Layer option in the Layer menu.
Upon performing one of these operations, the Add Map Layer window opens. Use this
window to locate the data file you wish to add to your project.

In a GIS there are primarily two different types of data: the vector Shapefile and the
raster image. A Shapefile is a data file that contains vector data, namely, points, lines, or
polygons. Shapefile names typically with a suffix of .shp. Raster data can be found in
numerous file formats. Some common formats for raster images are JPEG (.jpg), TIFF (.tif),
ERDAS Imagine (.img), ECW images (.ecw), PING images (.png), GIF (.gif), and many more.

For a list of all file types that are compatible with MapWindow see the following figure:
6. OPENING AND SAVING PROJECTS

The term project in MapWindow refers to all the work and changes you are performing
with a given set of data. When you create a project, you create a file folder on your
computer that holds all of your work. Work may be stored in several projects using the
same data because the data remains in its individual Shapefile and image file folders. The
data is not stored in the project, but rather, it is linked to the project. While working on a
project, it is advisable to save regularly to guard against data loss. The first time you save a
project, it is necessary to provide a name for the project file and a location on your
computer for later retrieval. Projects are stored on your hard drive with a suffix of .mwprj.

When you open MapWindow you are greeted by the MapWindow welcome screen.
From this screen you can access help documentation and the MapWindow website. This
window also allows you to begin a new project by clicking the Add data to this
project option. You can also open any recently saved projects by clicking on the name of the
project in the list under the Open a project option. Click the Add data to this project option
on the welcome screen, the Add Map Layer window opens.

Note: Once you become experienced with MapWindow you may choose to bypass the
welcome screen completely. You can do this by unchecking the Show this dialog at
startup checkbox at the bottom of the welcome screen.
  In the Add Map Layer window, locate the Lab1 data to add as a layer to the new
project.

Save the project either by accessing the Save function in the Project menu or by clicking
the Save button in the Standard Toolbar. When you perform either of these operations
the Save As window will open allowing you to designate a location on your computer and
name for your new project. Be sure to save your project in a location that is easy to access
with a name that is easy to remember.

7. REMOVING DATA FROM THE MAP

To remove a layer from your project, left click the name of the layer in the Legend to ensure
that it is the active layer.
To remove a layer from your project, left click the name of the layer in the Legend to ensure
that it is the active layer. You can then click the Remove button in the Layer Toolbar, select
the Remove Layeroption in the Layer menu, or right click the name of the layer in
the Legend then select remove layer from the Right Click Menu.

You may also choose to remove all of the layers from your project by clicking
the Clear button in the Layers Toolbar or selecting the Clear Layers option in
the Layer menu or from the Right Click Menu.

8. PROJECTIONS

In MapWindow, the projection of a layer is defined in a supplemental file carrying the .prj
extension. This is a common format for projections, also used in ArcGIS. A layer’s projection
can be viewed in the ‘General’ tab of the ‘Layer Properties’ dialog, which is opened by
double-clicking the layer in the legend or clicking the ‘Properties’ toolbar button
The first map that you add to a project defines the projection for the entire project. Each
subsequent layer must have the same projection or MapWindow will display a warning
dialog. This dialog allows you to re-project the incoming layer, or do nothing (in which case
the layers may be misaligned).

Click Projection It will open Projection Properties. In description tab following information
is given.

There are two other tabs; Area of Use and ESRI WKT. Screenshot of ESRI WKT is given
below.

Well Known Text (WKT) is one of the standard format defined by Open Geospatial
Consortium (OGC) for exchange of spatial information. It is basically text based format.

Ref: http://www.mapwindow.org/apps/wiki/doku.php