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Global Mapper Menus

The Global Mapper application provides a number of top level menus that organize various categories of functionality inside of the
application. This section briefly reviews the menus and commands in order to understand the basic purpose of each. Each menu will
display an icon on the left column if the operation is also included in a toolbar as a toolbar button. The right side of the menu will show
operations that have built-in keyboard shortcuts. Menu items that have a suffix of ... indicate operations that display an additional
options dialog before performing the action.

The File menu handles importing, exporting and various saving operations, as well as scripting and batch conversion utilities.

The Edit menu provides high level copy, paste and select all options, primarily applicable to vector features.

The View menu contains various options that control navigation and the look and feel of the application.

The Tools menu contains utilities for connecting to data, obtaining info about the data, as well as the application configuration
options.

The Digitizer menu provides tools for selection, query, editing and analysis of vector data, and options become available in it based
on the selected data. A filtered version of these options are also available in the right-click context menu when the digitizer is active.

The Analysis menu has advanced analytical tools for raster, vector and terrain data.

The Layer menu contains options that operate on an entire layer selected in the control center, and mirrors some of the options in the
control center context menu.

The Search menu searches the attributes of vector data or addressing information, which can be obtained from the web.

The GPS menu controls options for a GPS device connected to the computer.

The Help menu contains documentation, online resources, licensing, updates and other advanced machine options.

File menu

Edit Menu

View Menu

Tools Menu

Digitizer Menu

Analysis Menu

Layer Menu

Search Menu

GPS Menu

Help Menu

File Menu
The File Menu Contains the following options:

Open Data File(s)... (Ctrl+O)

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Open Spatial Database...

Open Cloud Dataset...
Open Generic Text File(s)...
Open All Files in a Directory Tree...
Open Data Files at Fixed Screen Location...
Unload All... (Ctrl+U)

Download Online Imagery/ Topo/ Terrain Maps...

Create New Map Catalog...

Rectify (Georeference) Imagery...

Load Workspace... (Ctrl+W)

Save Workspace... (Ctrl+S)

Save Workspace As... (Ctrl+Shift+S)

Run Script...
Open Script Editor...

Capture Screen Contents to Image... (Shift+C)

Export >
Batch Convert/ Reproject...

Print... (Ctrl+P)
Print Preview...
Print Setup...

The bottom of the file menu contains a list of recently opened files or workspaces. Choose one of the recent files to reopen the data.

Open Data Files

This function can also be accessed in the Global Mapper File toolbar.

This Function Can be used with Ctrl+O on your keyboard.

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The Open Data File(s) command allows the user to open additional data files into the main Global Mapper view.

If no other data is already loaded and the user has not explicitly set a projection, the view will adopt the projection and datum of the
first data file selected for loading. If other data is already loaded, the selected data files will be displayed in the current
projection/datum.

The data will automatically be displayed at the proper location relative to other loaded data, creating a mosaic of data that is properly
placed spatially.

You don't have to do anything special to create mosaics of multiple files, this happens simply by loading the geo-referenced files into
Global Mapper.

Note: Global Mapper automatically opens files with tar.gz extensions without the use of a decompression tool such as
Winzip. This is particularly useful for SDTS transfers, which are typically distributed in a .tar.gz format.

Open All Files in a Directory Tree

The Open All Files in a Directory Tree command allows the user to open all of the files matching a user-specified filename mask
under a user-selected directory. After selecting this option from the File Menu, bowse to and select the directory from which to load
files. Once prompted to select a folder from which to load the files, and a folder is selected, another prompt will allow the user to enter
a filename mask for all of the files to load.

Once a folder is selected as prompted, another prompt will allow the user to enter a filename mask for all of the files to load.

Enter File Mask(s) to Open

All files under the selected folder which match the filename mask and are recognized by Global Mapper as a known data type will be
loaded.

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Filename Mask
The filename mask supports the * and ? wildcard characters. The default mask of * will check all files under the selected folder. It is
possible to indicate that data only be loaded from selected folders as well.

For Example:If you had a large collection of folders with data split up into 1x1 degree blocks with the folder
names depicting the 1x1 degree block they held, you could use a directory name mask to load only those
blocks that you wanted. For example, you might use a mask of N4?W10?\*.tif to load all TIFF files between
N40 and N50 and W110 and W100.

Multiple masks can also be specified, if more than one description for sets of files to be loaded is desired. Simply separate the masks
with a space.

Recurse Sub-Folders Looking for Matching Files

Enable this option to search for and load files within sub-directories of the selected folder.

Layer Group
Choose or enter a new layer group name to be used for the files being loaded. Leave this field blank to use no group for the loaded
layers.

Open Data File at Fixed Screen Location

The Open Data File at Fixed Screen Location command allows the user to open any supported data file format for display at a fixed
location on the screen rather than at a fixed location on the earth. This is particularly useful for loading things like bitmaps for legends
and logos. The loaded data will be used for screen display, export, and printing operations.

Selecting the Open Data File at Fixed Screen Location command first prompts you to select a file to load, then displays the Fixed
Screen Location Setup dialog (pictured below).

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This dialog allows the user to specify the size and position of the data relative to the screen/ export/ printout.

Save Workspace and Save Workspace As

The Save Workspace command allows the user to save their current set of loaded overlays to a Global Mapper workspace file for
later loading with the Load Workspace command.

The Global Mapper workspace maintains the list of all currently loaded overlays as well as some state information about each of
those overlays. When the workspace file is loaded, all of the overlays that were loaded at the time the workspace file was saved will
be loaded into Global Mapper. This provides a handy way to easily load a group of overlays which you work with often.

The Global Mapper workspace will also contain any changes that you have made to loaded vector features as well as any new vector
features that you have created. The user projection and last view on the data will also be maintained.

The Save Workspace command can be used with Ctrl+S on your keyboard.
The Save Workspace As command can be used with Ctrl+Shift+S on your keyboard, or found in the File Menu.

Print

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The Print command allows the user to print the contents of the current view window. When selected the Print Options dialog (picture
below) is displayed, which allows the user to set up the print process.

The Header field allows the user to specify text to be displayed above the printed map image. This text will be printed centered above
the map image on the printout. Use /n to insert a Header with multiple lines.

E x a m p l e

Header: First Line\nSecond Line\nThird Line

Prints:

First Line
Second Line
Third Line

An additional / is an escape key, so 'first //next' will print as 'first /next'

The Footer field allows the user to specify text to be displayed below the printed map image. This text will be printed centered below
the map image on the printout. The footer text will default to the text displayed on the status bar for the active tool, such as the
measurement information for the current measurement in the Measure Tool. Use /n to insert a line break for a footer with multiple
lines. See the example above.

Selecting the Print in Black and White option causes the printout to be generated in black and white, rather than full
color even when printing to a color printer. The generated image will be a 256-level grayscale image.

Selecting the Use White Background Color option causes any background areas being printed to be filled with white

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so as not to use any printer ink. Uncheck this option for the currently configured background color to be maintained
on the printout.

The Extra Margin Around Printout setting allows the user to specify an extra margin to draw around the output. This
is useful when printing to things like a PDF file that do not have any natural margins like a printer does.

The Print To Scale option allows the user to specify that the printed result to match a certain scale (ie; 1:1000). This
means that one inch on the printed paper will correspond to 1000 inches in the real world. If you choose to print to
a certain scale, the printout will be centered on the center of the current screen view, but the appropriate amount of
information will be rendered to achieve the requested scale.

The Print To File section allows the user to specify that the printout be directed to an image file rather than to the
printer.

The Print Bounds panel allows the user to select exactly what area to print (the default is the current screen
contents). This panel behaves just like the Export Bounds panel found on most export dialogs.

Print Preview
The Print Preview command allows the user to preview what a printout of the contents of the current view window
would look like.

Print Setup
The Print Setup command allows the user to setup their printer for printing the current view window.

Edit Menu
The Edit Menu Contains the following options.

Copy Selected Features to Clipboard Ctrl+C

Cut Selected Features to Clipboard Shift+Delete
Paste Features from Clipboard Ctrl+V
Paste Features from Clipboard (Keep Copy) Ctrl+Shift+V

Undo Last Operation Ctrl+Z

Redo Last Operation Ctrl+Y
Undo Manager

Automatically Enter Move Mode when Pasting Features

Show Layer Selection Dialog when Pasting Features
Select All Features with Digitizer Tool

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Clipboard Functions
Copy Selected Features to Clipboard - Selecting this option or Ctrl+C on your keyboard will copy anything currently selected by
your digitizer tool to your clipboard.

Cut Selected Features to Clipboard - Selecting this option or Ctrl+X on your keyboard will copy anything currently selected by your
digitizer tool to your clipboard and, once it is pasted it will be removed from its current location.

Paste Features from Clipboard - Selecting this option or Ctrl+V on your keyboard will paste anything currently in your clipboard to
the space specified. Pasting an item with this method will remove it from the clipboard.

Paste Features from Clipboard (Keep Copy) - Selecting this option or Ctrl+Shift+V on your keyboard will paste anything currently
in your clipboard to the space specified. Pasting an item with this method will not remove it from the clipboard.

Automatically Enter Move Mode when Pasting

Features
This is a toggle option that, when selected, will instruct the software to automatically enter you into 'Move Mode' after pasting a
feature. This will allow you to drag the pasted object into a new location.

Show Layer Selection Dialog when Pasting

Features
This is a toggle option that, when selected, will instruct the software to offer you an option to enter pasted features into the same layer
as they were copied from, into a different selected layer, or to create a new layer for your pasted features. With this option checked
the software will ask you after each paste operation. If this is unchecked the software will remember the last selection made and
automatically choose that option each time a feature is pasted.

Select All Features with Digitizer Tool

Selecting this option will highlight all features with the digitizer tool.

Undo/Redo
Undo Last Operation
This option, with the shortcut ctrl + Z, will undo the last recorded operation. A list of recent operations that can be undone can be
viewed in the Undo Manager. Once an operation is undone, it will be available to redo.

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Redo Last Operation

This option, with the shortcut ctrl + Y, will redo the undone operation. A list of operations that can be redone can be viewed in the
Undo Manager.

Manage Undo/Redo
The Undo Manager lists the actions that can be undone or redone in Global Mapper. Select a specific operation from one of these
lists and choose to Undo/Redo Selected Operation. The types of operations that are listed here can be configured in the Operations
to Record section of the Undo Manager dialog.

These lists will be cleared when a workspace is closed and reopened.

Settings

Maximum Memory
Set the maximum amount of memory that will be used to record operations to be undone/redone.

Maximum Undo Operations

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Set the maximum number of operations that will be remembered. Once this limit is exceeded, the older operations
will be forgotten.

Operations to Record
Check any of the listed operation types to record them and make the undo/redo options available. All options are
checked by default. Right click on this list for Check All and Uncheck All options.

Terrain layer edits made with Terrain Painting will not be recorded through this manager. The Terrain Painting tool
contains it's own undo/redo options.

View Menu
The View Menu Contains the following options.

Toolbars
Status Bar
Application Look

Enable Info Tips

Configure Info Tips...

3D View... (Ctrl+3)
Background Color...

Full View (Home)

Set View Rotation...

Center on Location... (Ctrl+Home)
Properties...

Zoom View

Save Current View (Alt+R)

Restore Last Saved View (Ctrl+R)

Restore Last Drawn View (Ctrl+Backspace)

Name and Save Current View
Restore Named View ...

Workspace Layout Options

Add/ Remove Map Views...

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Status Bar

The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the Global Mapper window. To display or hide the status bar, use the Status Bar
command in the View menu.

The left area of the status bar describes actions of menu items and toolbar icons. The left area of the status bar will also show color
or elevation of the current pixel if it's over a raster image, or the description of the closest vector overlay component. If the nearest
line feature to the cursor contains recognized addressing information, the address nearest the cursor will be displayed.

The right areas of the status bar indicate the current view scale and the current mouse position in both the global ground reference
system and in the Position Display Format currently selected from the Configuration dialog.

Unit abbreviations are displayed in the current projection for the XY coordinates if there is no Z coordinate, or for XY and Z if the
elevation coordinate unit is different. Projections that use Arc Degrees for units display as unit-less.

Related Topics

Application Look
The Global Mapper interface allows for customization of the look and feel, or skin, of the application.

Choose the Application Look sub menu in the View Menu to choose different interface color options.

Enable Info Tips

Info Tips are small windows that pop up when you allow the mouse cursor to hover over data layers on the map. Info Tips can contain
the current cursor location and information about features at the cursor location. To start or stop display of Info Tips, use the Enable
Info Tips command in the View menu. When there is a check mark next to the Enable Info Tips command, then Info Tips are currently
enabled. Global Mapper will remember this setting when you close the program.

To specify the information contained in your Info Tips, use the Configure Info Tips command on the View menu.

Configure Info Tips

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Info Tips are small windows that, when enabled, appear when the mouse cursor is hovered over data layers on the map. Info Tips
can contain the current cursor location as well as other information about features at the cursor location.

The Configure Info Tips command allows you to specify the information that is included in each Info Tip.

To open the settings dialog for Info Tips, select the Configure Info Tips... option from the View menu.

To start or stop the display of Info Tips, use the Enable Info Tips command from the View menu. Global Mapper will remember the
Info Tips settings when you close the program.

Use the Configure Info Tips dialog, pictured above, to specify the kind of information that you would like displayed in the Info Tips.
Select the Enable Info Tips checkbox here to specify that Info Tips should be displayed when the mouse cursor hovers over map
layers (doing so is equivalent to using the Enable Info Tips command in the View menu.)

Content Options
l Include Cursor Location - have Info Tips include the map coordinates for the location under the mouse cursor. Choose In
Current Projection to display the coordinates in the current map projection, or In Latitude and Longitude to display them in
geodetic coordinates instead.

l Include Overlay Description - display the description of the layer associated with the data

Raster/Grid Data

l Include Vertical Raster Elevation - include the elevation data from the topmost vertical raster layer.

l Include 3x3 Neighborhood Elevations - include a matrix of 3x3 grid elevation

values around a point of interest.
l Include Raster/Image Color Value - have Info Tips include the color value (in RGB) from the topmost raster imagery layer.

l Include Values from All Layers Under Cursor - have Info Tips display information for all layers that exist under the mouse
cursor, rather than just the topmost (or visible) layer.

Vector Data

l Include Vector Feature Label - display the label for the feature nearest to the cursor position. To specify the attribute or
custom string to be used for the label, open the Overlay Control Center and go to Options for the vector feature layer (either

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via the button or by double-clicking the layer) and look under the Labels tab.

l Include Custom Attribute String - include custom data in Info Tips. When selected, the Setup... button will be enabled.
When the Setup... button is clicked, the Setup Custom Attribute String dialog will be displayed. The user can then enter
the new Info Tip text, and include attribute names by enclosing the name in a pair of percent signs (for example, %
STATE_NAME%).

Style
l Use Define... to change the visual style elements for Info Tips. The current style is shown in the sample label in the Style
group. The Select Area Style dialog will be displayed so you can choose the background color, font, and other style
elements to use.

3D View
The 3D View in Global Mapper allows registered users to view gridded elevation data and any overlying raster or vector data in a true
perspective 3D manner. In addition, any vector data with associated elevation values can also be displayed in true 3D, and videos
may be created using the Global Mapper Fly-Through feature. The 3D viewer can also display 3D model formats, and render multiple
terrain layers in a stack.

To open the 3D view, select the 3D view button from the Viewer toolbar, or select 3D View... from the View menu.

When selected, the 3D View button displays a window containing a 3D view of the data in the current workspace. The 3D view can
show in its own window or be docked inside of the main application. For more information, see Window Docking.

Any imagery or vector data being drawn on top of the elevation grid(s) in the main Global Mapper view will automatically be draped
on top of the elevation data in the 3D View window. If so configured, any 3D vector data will be displayed in space as well.

Rotating and Moving in the 3D Viewer

3D Selection Editing and Feature Creation

Create Features in 3D with Snapping

3D View Create Area/Polygon Features

3D View Create Line Features

3D View Create Point/Text Features

3D View Advanced Feature Creation Options

3D View Advanced Selection Options

3D View Attribute/Style Functions

3D View Crop/Combine/Split Functions

3D View Move/Reshape Feature(s)

3D View Vertex Editing

Center 2D View On Selected Feature(s)

Vertical Exaggeration

Water Display

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Fly-Through

Defining or Editing a Fly-through Path

Timestamp Attributes

Saving a Fly-through Video

3D Analysis

Working with 3D Models

Mesh Feature Style

Mesh Orientation

Partition Mesh

Convert a 3D Model / Mesh

Path Profile with 3D Cutaway

Multi Layer Surfaces

3D View Properties

Environment

Data Display

Information/Navigation

3D Toolbar
The following features and tools are available in the 3D View:

Navigation

The 3D view has multiple navigation modes that change how the mouse and keyboard move
the camera in relation to the data scene. See Rotating, Moving, and Zooming in the 3D viewer for more information on
navigation tools.

Display Options

¡ Wire-frame View

The Wire-frame view can be toggled on and off to change between a Wire-frame (TIN) and the full textured solid view
of the 3D models, terrain data, and 3D vectors.

¡ Default view

Press the default view button to return to the full data extent at the default orientation (looking north and slightly down
on the loaded data).

¡ Saved Views

Select a saved view from the drop-down menu or use the Save New View option to bookmark the current camera
position as a new saved view for the workspace. The View Management option opens a dialog listing the 3D and 2D
Saved Views, allowing the user to manage these lists. This list can also be accessed with the Restore Named View
command found in the View menu.

¡ Show Compass Rose

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This option displays a compass on the map. For more settings, go to 3D View Configuration.

¡ Show 3D Axis

This option displays a 3D pivot axis. This axis shows the current center-point of the navigation. The pivot axis
constantly updates as the display is zoomed and panned to allow for free movement throughout the data.

The axis display will display shaded darker when it is behind the visible data. For more settings, go to 3D View
Configuration.

Shortcut to toggle on/ off the pivot axis display: P key

3D View Configuration

This button is used to access the 3D View Properties dialog, which contains options to configure the 3D view settings,
including the vertical exaggeration, the water display, background color, 3D vector display, as well as the terrain and draped
image resolution. For more information see 3D View Configuration

2D/ 3D Link

To link the 2D and 3D views, select the Link 2D/ 3D views button found on the Global Mapper Viewer Toolbar. This will link
the relative panning and zooming of the 3D view when the primary 2D map view is panned or zoomed. The 3D view will also
refresh based on any changes to the Overlay Control center, such as loading data, turning on and off layers, or running tools
that create new data. The link is turned on by default.

When the link is disabled, the 3D view will not refresh to match changes in the primary 2D map view display until the cursor
is over the 3D window. Panning and zooming the 2D view will not change the 3D map display.

Keyboard Shortcut: To refresh the 3D view, use the CTRL+3 or F5 hot keys in the 3D viewer.

Feature Selection, Measuring and 3D Digitizing Tools

The Selection and Measure Mode tools allow for the selection of vector features in the 3D viewer, and provide options for
measuring distances and areas. Right-click with either of these tools to access additional options and settings.

¡ Digitizer Mode

Activating the Digitizer Mode in the 3D View will enable the selection of lidar, point, line, or area features in the 3D
View window. To select multiple features at one time (sweep select), enable the Digitizer, then click and drag your
cursor over the features of interest in the 3D View. Once you stop this action, your features will appear selected in 3D
View and in 2D.

¡ Context Menu

The right-click menu will bring up the following Digitizer feature creation and feature editing options in the 3D View.

EDIT - Edit Selected Feature

Delete Selected Feature

CLEAR - Clear Current Selection

Create Area/ Polygon Features

Create Line Features
Create Point/ Text Features
Advanced Feature Creation Options

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Move/ Reshape Feature(s)

Vertex Editing
Attribute/ Style Functions
Crop/ Combine/ Split Functions
Advanced Selection Options
Analysis/Measurement

Snap Cursor to Feature

Center 2D view on selected feature (CTRL+ Home)

Keyboard shortcut: Pressing the D key will enable or disable digitizer mode in the 3D view.

¡ Measure Mode

Activating Measure Mode will allow you to left-click in the 3D View to define a line for distance measurement or a
polygon for area measurement. Right-clicking will end the line or polygon feature to finish the measurement. In the
upper left of the 3D View window measurement values will be displayed, right-click to access the 3D View window's
Measure Tool menu.

Note: The Measure tool is linked between 2D and 3D, and selecting either button will enable the tool in
both 2D and 3D.

Keyboard shortcut: Pressing the M key will enable or disable measure mode.

¡ Snap Cursor

With snap cursor enabled, the digitizer selection tool, digitizer feature creation, or measure tool will show a point
feature indicating the nearest selectable point or vertex if one is nearby.

With snap mode enabled, the cursor point in 3D will change color to indicate what is being snapped to. A green point
indicates terrain is snapped; an orange point indicates snapping to the vertex of a vector. For more information, see
Create New Feature in 3D with Vertex and Terrain Snapping.

When the snap cursor is not enabled, the selection cursor will change color to red to indicate when a selection is
available at the current cursor location.

Vertical Exaggeration

Water Level

Drop Down SkyBox Menu

The drop-down menu may be used to set a specific sky texture background or to set a solid background (None). The color of
the solid background may be specified in the 3D View Properties dialog.

Fly-Through Videos

Save Image

Selecting this tool will bring up the 3D Screen Capture Options dialog (below), used for saving an image of the 3D view to a

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JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or BMP image format. Additional sizing options are also available.

Window Controls

The buttons at the far right corner of the 3D view may be used to make the 3D window full screen when undocked or close
the 3D window. Grab the top bar of the 3D view to move and dock or undock the window. For more information about
windows, see Window Docking.

3D View Keyboard Shortcuts

3D Vector Display - Advanced Discussion and Options

Background Color
The Background command brings up a color dialog box from which the user can select a color to be the new background color of
your Global Mapper window.

The background color selected will also be used to fill in areas of no data in exported raster imagery (i.e. GeoTIFF and JPG files) that
do not support transparency.

Full View
The Full View command zooms such that all of the currently loaded overlays fit in the view window. This command also places the
overlays in the center of the view window.

Set View Rotation

The Set View Rotation... option will bring up the Set View Rotation dialogue (below), allowing for free rotation of the
map view. Enter the rotation in degrees, and the select the direction from the drop down menu (Clockwise or
CounterClockwise).

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The value will default to the current rotation. Once the user enters an angle and clicks OK, the view will rotate so
that the specified angle is pointing to the top of the screen. The effect is that the screen image gets rotated
clockwise or counterclockwise by the specified angle.

The view orientation will be stored in the workspace file. Rotate View Clockwise and Rotate View Counterclockwise
are also accessible as a Shortcut Key through the Favorites menu.

Center on Location
The Center on Location command allows the user to manually enter a location on which to re-center the view. This provides a quick
and easy way to center on a particular coordinate location. There are options for specifying coordinates in the current projection,
geographic latitude and longitude, or MGRS. There is also an option to manually select a center point from an overview map.

Properties
The Properties command displays a dialog listing properties about the current view window. Below is an example of the available
attributes in properties. These can be copied to the clipboard for use in data documentation or the Map Layout.

E x a m p l e

UPPER LEFT X=-68.3620327429

UPPER LEFT Y=44.3584893058
LOWER RIGHT X=-68.2534675976
LOWER RIGHT Y=44.3022569281
WEST LONGITUDE=68° 21' 43.3179" W
NORTH LATITUDE=44° 21' 30.5615" N
EAST LONGITUDE=68° 15' 12.4834" W
SOUTH LATITUDE=44° 18' 08.1249" N
PIXEL SIZE X=0.000078 arc degrees / pixel
PIXEL SIZE Y=0.000078 arc degrees / pixel
SCALE=1:32810
ENCLOSED AREA=54.012 sq km

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VIEW PIXEL SIZE=1392 x 721

VIEW ORIENTATION=0
VIEW PROJECTION WKT=GEOGCS["GCS_WGS_1984",DATUM
["D_WGS84",SPHEROID
["WGS84",6378137,298.257223563]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],UNIT
["Degree",0.017453292519943295]]
VIEW PROJECTION EPSG=4326

Zoom In/Out

Zoom In
The Zoom In command zooms the current view in by a factor of 2.

Zoom In Micro
The Zoom In Micro command zooms the current view in by a small amount.

Zoom Out
The Zoom Out command zooms the current view out by a factor of 2.

Zoom Out Micro

The Zoom Out Micro command zooms the current view out by a small amount.

Zoom To Scale
The Zoom To Scale command zoom the current view to a user-specified scale. For example, to make one inch on the screen be
equivalent to 1 mile of ground truth, you would enter a scale of 63360 (this is the number of inches in a mile).

Zoom To Spacing (Pixel Size)

The Zoom To Spacing command zoom the current view so that each pixel on the screen represents a user-specified number of
ground units.

Zoom To Selected Feature(s)

The Zoom To Selected Feature(s) command zooms the current view to the bounds of the feature(s) that are currently selected with
the Digitizer Tool.

Zoom To View in Google Earth

The Zoom To View in Google Earth command will open a session of Google Earth on your machine and pan and zoom it to
approximately match your current view. If any features are selected, either using the Digitizer or the Info button, the user will be
prompted to indicate whether or not to include those selected features in the Google Earth view. This applies to area, line and point
features.

Note: This requires a Google Earth application on the machine.

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Save Current View

The Save Current View command saves the current map view bounds. The saved view can later be restored by using the Restore
Last Saved View command. This feature allows you to save a view at one spot, then pan and zoom around and load additional data,
then restore your view to the saved spot in one simple operation.

Restore Last Saved View

The Restore Last Saved View command restore the map view to the location last saved using the Save Current View command.

Restore Last View

The Restore Last Drawn View command restore the map view to the view that was last drawn on the main map. You can use this to
back up through recently drawn view locations and zoom levels.

Name and Save Current View

The Name and Save Current View command associates the current map view bounds with a user-specified name. The saved view
can later be restored from a list of named views using the Restore Named View command. This feature allows you to save multiple
views with descriptive names, then easily restore those views at a later time.

Restore Named View

The Restore Named View command allows you to restore a previously saved map view. The Saved Views dialog lists the 2D and 3D
custom views, and views can be selected and deleted from this dialog.

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You can save map 2D views for later restoration using the Name and Save Current View command in the View menu, and you can
save 3D view positions using the Saved Views drop-down in the 3D Viewer.

Grid Display Configuration

These options control how grid lines are displayed. If grid lines are displayed, the grid lines can also be exported to any of the
supported vector export formats.

The color and style of the grid lines can be modified on the Line Styles section by modifying the styles for the "Grid Line", "Grid Line -
Minor", and "Grid Line - Major" line types. You can also selectively turn off the display of any or all of the grid line types using the
Filter options described above.

Access the Grid Display Configuration by selecting the Configuration button from the File Toolbar or Tools menu, and
navigating to the Grid section in the Display Options folder.

The grid display can also be toggled on and off with the Shift + G keyboard shortcut.

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Grid Display (Shift+G)

No Grid
This option is the default and causes no grid lines to be displayed or exported.

Lat/ Lon Grid

A grid will be displayed along even latitude and longitude lines.

Current Projection Grid

A grid will be displayed in the currently selected global (i.e. display) projection, which can be modified in the
Projection section.

Grid Spacing
This section allows the user to specify whether to allow Global Mapper to automatically determine a good grid spacing to use or to
specify a custom grid spacing.

Latitude/ Longitude Label Options

Number of Decimal Digits
This specifies the maximum number of decimal digits in the grid label. When Remove Trailing Zeros is not checked, exactly this
number of decimal digits will be in the label.

Remove Trailing Zeros

When checked, this removes unnecessary zeros from the end of the grid labels.

Other Options
Show All Grid Lines Regardless of Zoom Scale
If this option is checked, all grid lines will always be shown rather than the default behavior of only major grid lines being displayed
when zoomed way out and the more minor grid lines only showing up as you zoom in.

Extend Grid Lines Beyond Loaded Data Bounds

If the option is checked, the generated grid lines will extend a little bit beyond the bounds of the loaded data. Otherwise, the grid lines
will stop at the edge of the smallest bounding box encompassing all loaded data files.

Append Unit Labels to Projected Grid Lines

If checked, labels for projected grid lines will also contain units.

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To change the color or width of grid lines, modify the Grid Line, Grid Line - Major and Grid Line - Minor styles in the Line
Styles.

Distance Scale Display Configuration

This Distance Scale section of the Display Configuration allows for the control of a distance scale displayed on the main map when
data is loaded.

Access the Distance Scale Display Configuration by selecting the Configuration button from the File Toolbar or Tools
menu, and navigating to the Distance Scale section in the Display Options folder. This panel is also accessible from the View
menu > Workspace Layout Options> Distance Scale... These can be access directly by right-clicking on the distance scale
element on the map display.

The units used in the distance scale are controlled by the Distance Measure Units in Measure/ Units section of Configuration.

To add a distance scale or distance representative fraction to maps for print or PDF, see the Map Layout Editor.

To control the distance scale display with multiple 2D map views, see the Map View Manager.

Show Distance Scale on Map

When checked, the distance scale will be displayed in the main map window.

Font...
Background Color...
Customize the background color of the element.

Position...
Transparency
Use the slider to control the opacity of the element.

Elevation Legend Configuration

The Elevation Legend section of the Configuration Display Options dialog controls the display of an elevation legend with loaded
elevation data. This legend is applicable to any gridded data that has been loaded as terrain data, such as elevation data, density
maps, etc. The elevation legend is also applicable to Lidar and other 3D point cloud data when set to render by elevation.

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Access the Elevation Legend Configuration by selecting the Configuration button from the File Toolbar or Tools menu,
and navigating to the Distance Scale section in the Display Options folder. This panel is also accessible from the View menu >
Workspace Layout Options> Distance Scale... These can be access directly by right-clicking on the distance scale element on the
map display.

These settings are also accessible by right clicking on a Elevation Legend element.

To specify the interpretation of units for terrain data, see the Elevation Units Interpretation in Layer Options.

Elevation Legend
No Legend
No elevation legend will be displayed.

Metric (meters)
The elevation legend will be labeled in metric units.

Statute (feet)
The elevation legend will be labeled in statute units.

Font...
Background Color...
Customize the background color of the element.

Position...
Transparency
Use the slider to control the opacity of the element.

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Units
Display Units in Legend
Check this option to label the elevation legend with units.

Custom Unit Text

Customize the unit label applied to elevation values in the legend.

Title
Specify a title for the top of the legend. This is particularly useful when the data represents values other than elevation.

Legend Range
Data Extents
The elevation legend minimum and maximum will be calculated from the displayed data extents. The default legend
range is calculated as two standard deviations from the mean. By default shaders to not map the colors linearly.

Custom
Use this settings to customize the minimum and maximum values on the elevation legend. The units are controlled
above.

Slope Shader
Show Slope as Percent Grade Instead of in Degrees
Check this option to label the Slope Shader in percent grade rather than degrees.

Map Legend Configuration

The Map Legend section of the Display Options Configuration controls the display of a
legend for vector data and / or raster data with palette colors. This control is for an
onscreen legend visible when interacting with the map. See also Map Legend Element

Access the Map Legend options by selecting the Configuration button from the
File Toolbar or Tools menu, and navigating to the Display Options section. This tool can
also be accessed from the View Menu > Workspace Layout Options > Map Legend...
When a legend is displayed on the map, quickly access Map Legend Options... from the
right-click context menu.

Type
No Map Legend
No legend will be displayed on the main map window.

Display Legend Based on Loaded Vector Types

A legend will be displayed for vector features on the map.

Display Legend Based on Color Palette

A legend will be displayed for palette colors for loaded raster files with palettes.

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Display Legend Based on Vector Types and Palette

A legend will be displayed including both vector features and raster palette colors.

Content Options
Number of Columns in Legend
By default the legend will display vertically, with one value per row. Specify additional columns to divide the legend horizontally.

Vector Data

Label Vector Types By

When styling is controlled by Feature Types, specify the attribute value used to label the legend. If the layer is styled based on
Attribute/ Name Values this will be overridden by the list of values. For more information see Vector Data Layer Options.

Organize entries by layer and layer group

When this option is selected, the legend entries associated with vector data will be split into groups by layer group (if there are any)
and by layer description.

When Sorting Labels, Treat Digits as Numeric Values

Select this option to use a natural sort order for labels, rather than an strictly alphabetical sort. This will keep numeric values in order
of quantity.

Example

Filter Types...
Specify which feature types to include in the vector legend.

Filter Layers...
Select which layers to include in the map legend.

Palette
Palette Setup...
Specify which palette colors to use in the palette legend, and setup the palette. For more information on palette setup options see the
Layer Options Palette tab.

Header and Footer

Header
Give the legend a title or header label.

Footer
Add footer text to bottom of the legend.

Style and Position

Font...
Background Color...
Customize the background color of the element.

Position...

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Transparency
Use the slider to control the opacity of the element.

Border Style...
Specify the border style for swatches in the legend.

Transparency
Move the slider to the left to make the map legend transparent.

North Arrow Configuration

The North Arrow Configuration section enables setting up a north arrow on the map display.

Access the North Arrow Configuration by selecting the Configuration button from the File Toolbar or Tools menu, and
navigating to the North Arrow section in the Display Options folder. This panel is also accessible from the View menu >
Workspace Layout Options> North Arrow... These can be access directly by right-clicking on the North Arrow element on the map
display.

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Display North Arrow on Map

Check this option to display a North arrow on the map, then use the drop-down list to choose the style. Create a custom north arrow
by adding a Custom Symbol.

Position...
Specify where in the map frame the element will be displayed.

Size on Map View - The element can be set as a percentage of the view width, or preserved at the original pixel size.

Horizontal Position - Position the element horizontally by specifying a distance away from the left or right edge, or from the center.

Vertical Position - Position the element vertically by specifying a distance away from the top, bottom, or center.

Scale Factor
Resize the north arrow symbol by specifying a scale factor.

Transparency
Adjust the slider to add opacity to the North Arrow symbol.

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Multiple 2D Map Views

The Add/Remove Map Views... command is found under the View menu, or on the Global Mapper Viewer toolbar.

This tool enables creating multiple 2D planar views of the workspace

data. The map view manager maintains multiple 2D views of the data.
The views may contain different layers, and may be zoomed and
panned independently, or linked in location and scale using the 2D
Map View Manager settings.

For information about docking the 3D viewer, path profile or attribute

editor, see Window Docking

Related Topics

Once Add 2D Map Views... is selected, the Map View Manager dialog
will open.

Under the Main Map Window section, the current Map Views are listed.

Press the Add Map View button to add additional an addition map view. The new map view will appear floating, but
can be docked with existing windows. For more information see Window Docking

2D Map views can show different layers than the Primary Map View. They may also have the Map Layout layers
(legend, scale bar, etc.) turned off independently. Highlight a view in the Main Map Window list and press the Select
Layers... button to control the layers that display for that view.

Optionally set the views to have linked zoom and/ or center points using the check boxes.

Primary Map View

Select Layers to Display in each View

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Map View Manager Options

Add Map View

Link the Scale (Zoom) of All 2D Map Views
Link the Center Points of All 2D Map Views
Save/Restore Multi-View Layout to/from Workspace Files
Additional Options

Window Docking
Starting in Global Mapper v19.0 many of the common floating windows may be docked into separate panes within the main
application window. Docking may also include tabbed panes.

To dock a window click and hold and drag it over the application window until arrows appear. Release the mouse over
any of the arrows or the center tab control to dock the window in that section.

To un-dock the window drag the top bar of the window out of the frame, or press the close button (X) on the top right

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corner of the pane.

Alternately, use the maximize / Full Screen button to un-dock the window and make it full-screen.

The minimize button will also appear on dockable windows, and can be used to minimize the window to a small
bar at the bottom left.

The restore button will display the window at its most recent docked or floating position.

To tab windows, drop the window in the center square. This will create a tab at the edge of the frame, that can be
switched between different displays.

With the Application Look set to Flat Gray, no arrows for docking will appear. The docking drop-zone will be indicated with
a gray outline when the floating window is dragged to an edge. The Flat Gray Application Look also has a context menu

Types of Dockable Windows

l Overlay Control Center
l Overview Map
l 3D View
l Multiple 2D Map Views
l Path Profile(s)
l Attribute Editor (s)
l Graph and Chart Manager
l Coordinate Convertor
l Map Layout Editor
l GPS Information
Bring Floating Panes on Screen
In some instances when windows are created or un-docked they may attempt to draw off-screen. This happens most often with
display changes, such as when an external monitor is disconnected, a laptop is undocked, or a projector is plugged into the machine.

The Bring Floating Panes on screen option is available from the top level View Menu.

This tool will gather all floating windows onto the screen.

Related TopicsClose All Non-Primary Views

This menu option will close all docked and floating pane windows leaving only the main view open.

Tools Menu
The Tools Menu Contains the following options.

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Zoom (Alt+Z)

Pan (Alt+G)

Measure (Alt+M)

Feature Info (Alt+P)

Path Profile/ LOS (Alt+L)

View Shed (Alt+V)

Digitizer (Alt+D)

Image Swipe

Mobile Data Management

Coordinate Convertor...

Control Center (Alt+C)

Connection Manager...
Configure...
Map Layout Editor

Zoom Tool
The Zoom command selects the zoom tool as the current tool.

To zoom in on a specific point, choose the [Zoom tool] from the toolbar or, [Tool/Zoom] from menu bar. A magnifying glass icon
should appear on the screen. To zoom in, left click without dragging the mouse. The view is centered on where the mouse was
clicked and will zoom in by a factor of two. To zoom out, right click without dragging the mouse. The view will zoom out by a factor of
two, centered on where the mouse was clicked. You can also hold down the Ctrl key while right clicking to restore the view to the last
zoomed view.

Alternately, one can zoom in to a user-defined rectangle by left clicking and then dragging a box while holding down the left mouse
button.

If your mouse has a middle button, you can hold it down and drag the map similar to the behavior of the Pan (Grab-and-Drag) tool.

Pan (Grab-and-Drag) Tool

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The Pan (Grab-and-Drag) command selects the Pan tool as the current tool.

To change the center point of the image without changing the magnification, depress the left mouse button, drag the view to the
desired location, then release the left mouse button to redraw the view at the new location.

If you just want to recenter on a new location without dragging, just click the left mouse button at the new desired location and the
view will be recentered on that location (this provides the functionality of the old Recenter Tool).

Touch Screen Gestures

Pinch(two fingers pinching together or moving away): Zoom in and out
Two finger swipe (Press and drag with two fingers) : Pan the map view

Measure Tool
The Measure command selects the measure tool as the current tool.

To find the distance along a path or within an enclosed area, choose the Measure Tool from the Tools toolbar or from the
Tools menu.

l Left click on the point to begin the measurement. Move the mouse, which will draw a line, to the point where
the measurement should stop.

l Repeat step 1 until you have defined the entire path or area that you wish to measure.

l Right click the right mouse button and select "Stop Measuring" from the list using a left click. Notice that "Stop
Measuring" and "Close polygon" choices are now grayed out. The measurement(s) will be displayed on the
left side of the status bar below.

l To edit the measurement, press CTRL+Z to remove the last placed point in the measurement.

l Press ESC to clear the current measurement.

Context Menu
Right Click on the map with the measure tool selected to display the following options

Close Polygon and Stop Measuring

Stop Measuring
Save Measurement
Copy the Measure Text to Clipboard

VOLUME - Measure Volume (Cut-and-Fill) Ctrl+Alt+M

Measure/ Unit Settings...

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Save Measurement
To save a measurement to a separate feature right clicking and select 'Save Measurement' from the context menu. In the dialog,
choose to save the measurement as a line or area feature. Selecting 'Yes' will create an area feature. Selecting' No' will create a line
feature. Then the Modify Feature Info dialog will appear to set the feature information.

Copy the Measure Text to Clipboard

Select this option to copy the measurements to the windows clipboard. The information can be pasted as text in other applications.

VOLUME - Measure Volume (Cut and Fill )

With gridded elevation data loaded under the measurement, calculate the Cut-and-Fill volume either within the measurement area or
within some distance of the measurement line. To do this, simply right click then select the "Measure Volume (Cut-and-Fill)" option
that appears. Selecting this option will display the Setup Volume Calculation Parameters dialog, to set up the volume measurement.

More information on Calculating Cut and Fill Volume.

Measurement / Unit Settings

In order to change measurements right click and choose Measure/ Unit Settings... to choose a new unit. The distance will be
displayed in kilometers, meters, miles or feet for a line, and in square feet, square meters, square miles, acres, or hectares for areas.
Also specify the calculation type of Great Circle, Grid Distance, or Rhumb Line.

These settings also contain options to control how bearings are reported.

The Measurement settings can also be set from the Configuration.

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Feature Info Tool

The Feature Info command selects the Feature Information tool as the current tool.

Select the Feature Info button from the Tools toolbar or from the Tools menu, or activate it with the keyboard shortcut ALT+P

This tool allows you to select vector features (areas, lines, and points), mesh features, and raster pixels by clicking on or near them.
Once selected, a dialog displaying information about the selected item appears. The types of information and selectable features can
be limited or expanded.

To pick objects, select Feature Info from the Toolbar or go to Tools and select Feature Info from the menu bar. Press
and release the left mouse button near the objects(s) to be picked.

Holding down the 'P' key when left clicking causes only point features at the clicked location to be considered.

If left-clicking on a picture point with an associated image, by default just the image will be displayed, but holding the
CTRL key when clicking will cause the normal feature info dialog to be displayed.

When an object is picked, it will be highlighted and a feature info dialog (picture below) will be displayed. Right-clicking the mouse
button cycles through each of the elements located near the selection point, displaying the information in the dialog box.

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The object's name, description, geometry information including length and enclosed area (when applicable), attribute value list, and
map name, are all displayed.

Attribute List
Right-click on any attribute value to see additional options specific to the selected attribute and attribute value pair*.

Copy Selected Attribute and Value to the Clipboard - Copies the attribute value to the clipboard.

Open Selected Value as Internet URL - Will insert the attribute value into a browser, as if a valid URL.

Download File from URL and Load as New Layer - Will use download link for file, download the file and add as a new layer in the
workspace. Must be a File Type supported by Global Mapper for use as a layer.

Open Selected Value as File in Windows - Will open the File inked in the attribute value in Windows. Must be a Windows
recognized File Type.

If the selected feature has an attribute named IMAGE_LINK and the value of that attribute refers to a local image file, Global Mapper
will automatically open that image in the associated application, the Ctrl button can be held down to selected the feature and to
specify another application to view the image in. An attribute named GM_LINK with the attribute value referring to a local file, will
prompt Global Mapper to try and open that file in the current instance of Global Mapper as a new layer.

Create New Line with Dist/Bearing/COGO Input from Point - Opens the Coordinate Geometry Input tool to draw a line using
distance and bearing from point.

'Zoom Map View to Feature Bounds' will zoom the main map view to the extents of the selected feature. The 'Set Current View
Projection from Selected Attribute Value' allows the user to export projection to a separate file from a WKT projection string stored in
a feature attribute field.

Show Attribute Value in Second Window will show the selected attribute and value in new dialog. The presence of the \n or \r
string will break the attribute value into multiple lines for display in the second window, \t will add a tab space in the attribute display.

Attributes for layers can be reordered in the Attribute Editor. To see the new attribute
order in the Feature Info tool, use the Attribute Editor toolbar button to 'Update
Feature Attribute Order'.

Buttons
Metadata
Click the Metadata button to see metadata about the object’s layer. This dialog also includes the layer's histogram and projection
information.

Edit...
This button opens the Modify Feature Info Dialog, which allows editing edit the selected feature's information and drawing style.

Delete / UnDelete
This button marks the selected feature as delete. If a feature is already marked as deleted, the button will change to allow for
undeleting. Deleted features can be displayed using the Digitizer Options.

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Location...
For point features the location button will be displayed allowing viewing and modification of the location of the point feature.

Vertices
Clicking the Vertices button for line or area features displays the Feature Vertex List dialog (pictured below), which allows the user to
view, edit, and remove the individual vertex coordinates, including Z and timestamp values (if present) for the selected feature.

The X and Y coordinates are listed in the native projection of the layer, and the Z coordinates will have the elevation units defined for
the layer on the Projection tab of the Options dialog for the layer. The user can also easily add per-vertex elevation values to features
that do not already have them by pressing the 'Add Elevs' button on the Feature Vertex List dialog.

If timestamp values are present (like for a GPS tracklog), speed and bearing columns will also be displayed for each leg of the
feature. Right-clicking on the vertex list for a feature with per-vertex elevations will allow the user to choose the option to evenly
spread the elevations to achieve a constant slope between the first and last elevation on the feature and also to replace any zero
elevation values by interpolating between non-zero values.

Add and edit per-vertex timestamps by right-clicking on the vertex list and selecting the appropriate option.

For mesh features the vertices are listed with the coordinates, vertex normals and texture coordinates. Additionally the faces of the
mesh are listed with the face vertices noted.

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Fly-Though Path...
For line features, the button is available to view of set up a fly-through path.

Graphs...
Graphs can be displayed or created from the selected features. See more information about creating Graphs and Charts.

Copy to Clipboard
This button will copy all of the feature information (as text) and the feature itself to the Windows clipboard. It can then be pasted
elsewhere, such as in a text editor or as a new feature in a running session of Global Mapper.

View Notation...
This button displays notations that have been created for features in a text editor format or the COGO tool. See more information
about feature notations.

To select the type of information that will be selected with the Feature Info tool, select the Feature Info tool and right-click on the main
map view window (with no features selected). A context menu containing the following options will be displayed:

Select Area Features

Select Line Features
Select Point Features
Select Raster Pixels
Clicking on the menu item will toggle the inclusion of the associated feature type when using the Feature Info tool.

Additional modifications can be made from the Overlay Control Center.

If you right-click on a raster layer in the Control Center, a context menu will allow you to select the option to 'Allow Feature
Selection/Search from Selected Layer(s)'. Clicking on this menu item will toggle the capability to select raster pixels in the Feature
Info tool for the associated layer.

Special Info Tool Behavior

*When you initially select a feature that has an attribute value of a URL or external file link with the Feature Info Tool, you will be
prompted to select a handling method from a dropdown menu in the 'Link Attribute Handling Dialog' (below).

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You will be prompted to choose one of the following options:

Display the Feature Information

Open Selected Value as Internet URL
Download File from URL and Load as New Layer
Open Selected Value as File in Windows
Open Selected Value as File in Global Mapper
Handling of these attributes may then be applied to other features with links as attribute values, and alternate handling may still be
employed by feature from the right-click menu in the Feature Info Tool.

If multiple images are linked to a feature the primary linked image will automatically
shown and will be indicated with an asterisk in the Attribute Link Handling drop down
list.

Feature Info Tool Keyboard Shortcuts

ALT+P Select the info tool as the current tool
P Toggle only selecting point features
RIGHT CLICK Cycle through the features at the clicked location
CTRL display feature info and ignore alternate link options

Create Viewshed
This tool performs a viewshed analysis using loaded elevation grid data with a user-specified transmitter location, height, and radius.
A viewshed is an analysis that shows all of the locations that are visible from a given point, or likewise, all of the locations that can
see the given point. All areas within the selected radius that have a clear line of sight to the transmitter are colored with a user-
specified color.

This type of analysis can be used for communications engineering to measure the area that a signal transmitted from a tower will
reach. In defense and emergency management it is used to model all the areas that are visible from a lookout tower. Viewshed
analysis also has numerous other applications from real estate and planning to survey planning with a base station.

To perform a viewshed analysis, first select the Create Viewshed tool from the Analysis toolbar or Tools menu. Left-click
on the map at the position from which to measure the viewshed, i.e. the transmitter location. A viewshed can also be calculated
for a set of selected points by selecting the points with the Digitizer tool, then using the option Calculate ViewSheds at Selected
Points from the Digitizer menu under Analysis/ Measurement.

The Viewshed Setup dialog (pictured below) will appear, allowing you to setup the viewshed calculation.

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Calculate Viewsheds at Multiple Points

Calculate viewsheds at multiple point locations by selecting the point features with the Digitizer and right clicking. In the Analysis/
Measurement sub-menu select the Calculate Viewsheds at Selected Point(s) option.

With multiple point features, the viewshed calculation values can be initialized from special attributes of the point features. The values
selected on the dialog will be used, except when a point features contains a viewshed parameter attribute. The attribute value will
override the dialog selection. Defining the viewshed parameters with attributes allows for calculating viewsheds in a batch, with
different parameters for each selected point based the point attributes.

Setup
The Viewshed Setup dialog provides options that allow the user to precisely setup the viewshed analysis that they wish to perform.

Layer
Enter a name to identify this viewshed analysis. This name will be displayed in the Overlay Control Center and will also be the name
of the transmitter point created by the analysis for display on the map.

Transmitter Elevation
The Transmitter Elevation section allows the user to specify the height above ground or sea level for the transmitter that the
viewshed analysis will be simulating.

Receiver Elevation
The Receiver Elevation section allows the user to specify the minimum height above the ground or sea level from which the
transmitter must be visible for the point to be considered visible. Most of the time you'll want to specify an elevation above ground, but
specifying an elevation above sea level can be useful for aviation purposes.

Optionally, you can also specify that the receiver elevation should be calculated based on an elevation angle relative to the horizon
from the transmitter. This is useful if you have something like a radar dish that points up at some angle and you want to see where

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the signal can be seen. Finally, you can also specify a transmission angle range for a beam transmitted from the transmitter. Then the
viewshed will depict where that beam would hit the terrain surface (or some user-specified distance above the surface).

The Select Elevation Layer(s) to Base Transmitter/ Receiver Heights On button displays a dialog allowing you to select which of
the loaded elevation layers you want to base ground-relative transmitter and receiver heights on. The default is to use all loaded
layers, but if you have a situation where you have a ground level data set loaded and perhaps another set with heights of buildings,
etc., you could use this option to cause the transmitter and receiver heights to be based on the ground elevation, whereas the actual
visibility of each point will use the topmost of any loaded layer.

View Radius
The View Radius section allows the user to specify how far in each direction from the transmitter to check for visibility. Typically
you'd want to set this to the effective range of your transmitter. If you want to ignore areas close to the transmitter, you can also
specify a minimum view radius value. Use the default of 0 to include everything from the transmitter out to the selected view radius.

When enabled, the Generate Sphere Buffer option creates a spherical mesh buffer feature centered on the transmitter location and
clipped at the reference terrain. This feature will be rendered in 3D to view the extent of the viewshed area in the 3D Viewer. The
color and transparency of the mesh feature can be edited with the digitizer through the Modify Feature Info dialog.

View Angle
The View Angle section allows the user to limit the viewshed to a particular subsection of the complete radial area. The Start Angle
specifies the cartographic angle at which the radial subregion begins. This angle is a cartographic angle, meaning that 0 degrees is
north and angles increase clockwise.

The Swept Angle specifies the number of degrees clockwise to include in the viewshed. For example, if the transmitter being
analyzed sweeps an arc from due south to due west, a start angle of 180 with a swept angle of 90 would be used. To perform a
viewshed analysis over the entire area, keep the defaults of starting at 0 degrees and sweeping through 360 degrees.

Earth Curvature
The Ignore Earth Curvature checkbox allows the user to specify whether they want to take the curvature of the earth into account
while performing the viewshed analysis. In addition, when earth curvature is being used, they can specify an Atmospheric
Correction value to be used. The atmospheric correction value is useful when determining the viewshed for transmitting waves
whose path is affected by the atmosphere. For example, when modeling microwave transmissions a value of 1.333 is typically used
to emulate how microwaves are refracted by the atmosphere.

The Sample Spacing section allows the user to specify the spacing of elevation samples when calculating the viewshed. The sample
spacing controls the interval at which elevation samples are examined to determine visibility. Smaller values result in more accurate,
but more slowly generated, viewsheds.

Fresnel Zone Specification

The Fresnel Zone Specification section allows you to have the viewshed analysis also check that a certain portion (the Percent Clear
value) of the first Fresnel zone for a transmission of a particular frequency is clear. The typical standard is that good visibility requires
that at least 60% (the default) of the first Fresnel zone for the specified frequency be clear of obstructions. If you specify a maximum
Fresnel zone percentage clear other than 100%, only those locations where the minimum percentage of the 1st Fresnel zone that is
clear is between your specified percentages will be marked as visible.

Free Space Path Loss

The Free Space Path Loss Calculation section allows you to display the power at any given location taking free space path loss into
account. You can specify the total power from the rest of the link budget (i.e. transmission power plus antenna gain minus any other
power losses excluding free space path loss) and the signal frequency. Then as you move the cursor over the viewshed you can see
the remaining power at the location. In addition the viewshed will get more transparent as the signal power becomes less.

Obstructions from Vector Data

This section allows the user to specify whether or not loaded vector data with elevation values should be considered when performing
the viewshed analysis. This allows the user to use things like buildings, fence lines, towers, etc. to block portions of the view, creating
a more realistic viewshed.

If the option in Use Vector Feature with Heights is enabled, the user can also specify whether the elevation values stored with
vector features are relative to the ground by enabling Heights of Vector Features Relative to Ground, or leave this option disabled
indicating heights are relative to mean sea level. Typically heights for vector features are specified relative to the ground. If any area
features are included and their heights are relative to the ground, the obstruction heights within those areas will be increased by the
specified amount, but any receiver heights will still be based on the terrain. This makes things like wooded areas very easy to model.

The Obstruction Area Features Always Hidden option allows you to specify that any locations within an obstruction area will be
marked as hidden, rather than only those that actually would be hidden.

Additional Options

If checked, the Generate Area Features in Covered Areas option specifies that viewshed coverage area (polygon)
features should be generated for those areas that are visible. These generated area features then behave just like
any other vector feature and can be exported to vector formats, like Shapefiles, for use in other software.

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If checked, the Display Hidden Rather than Visible Areas option causes the generated viewshed to cover those
areas that would NOT be visible, rather than those that would be visible from the transmitter location.

When processing multiple viewsheds at one time, when selected the Combine individual Viewshed layers option
will combine the individual Viewshed outputs into a single overlapping layer. Each viewshed feature retains it's
individual feature attributes. An additional TOWER_ID attribute is added to allow for the ability to select attributes
(viewsheds) by tower points.

Pressing the Select Transmitter Location... button displays a dialog that allows the user to adjust the exact
transmitter coordinates from the coordinates where they clicked.

Pressing the Display Color... button displays a dialog that allows the user to select the color in which to display the
visible areas on the map.

After setting up the viewshed calculation in the dialog and pressing the OK button, the viewshed analysis will be performed and when
complete, the results will be displayed on the main map display as a new overlay. All visible areas within the specified radius will be
displayed using the selected color. The overlay will default to being 50% translucent, allowing you to see areas underneath the
viewshed. You can modify the translucency of the overlay in the Overlay Control Center.

In addition, a small radio tower point will be created at the selected transmitter location. When selected using the pick tool, this point
displays information about the viewshed analysis as shown below.

If you would like to modify the settings used to calculate the viewshed and recalculate it using currently loaded data, you can right
click on the Viewshed layer in the Overlay Control Center and select the option to modify the viewshed.

Example:

ViewShed Parameters
If you choose to perform viewshed operations at selected point feature locations, the viewshed calculation values will be initialized
from attributes and attribute values of the point feature.

The values selected on the dialog will be used, except when one of the following attributes is present with a value to override what
was selected on the dialog (this allows you to batch calculate viewsheds at different locations with different parameters):

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l OFFSETA or TRANSMITTER_HEIGHT - height above ground in meters (or feet if 'ft' in

value) for transmitter (observation point)
l OFFSETA_MSL (or OFFSETA_MS if coming from a Shapefile) - height above sea
level in meters (or feet if 'ft' in value) for transmitter (observation point)
l OFFSETB or RECEIVER_HEIGHT - height above ground in meters (or feet if 'ft' in
value) for receiver
l OFFSETB_MSL (or OFFSETB_MS if coming from a Shapefile) - height above sea
level in meters (or feet if 'ft' in value) for receiver
l AZIMUTH1 or SWEPT_ANGLE - start angle for viewshed (0 is north, 90 is east, etc.)
l AZIMUTH2 or END_ANGLE - end angle for viewshed (0 is north, 90 is east, etc.)
l SWEPT_ANGLE - number of degrees to sweep clockwise. Value must be greater than
0 and up to 360.0. You would use AZIMUTH2 or SWEPT_ANGLE, but not both
l RADIUS2 or RADIUS- outer radius in meters of viewshed calculation. You can include
units after the value to specify something other than meters, like '3 km' or '5 miles'
l RADIUS1 - inner radius in meters of viewshed calculation (default is 0, which does
entire radius). You can include units after the value, see RADIUS2 for details.
l VERT1 - The top of the vertical angle to limit the scan (receiver angle range top value)
l VERT2 - The bottom of the vertical angle to limit the scan (receiver angle range bottom
value)
l FRESFREQ - provides the frequency for a Fresnel zone in GHz
l COLOR - specifies the color to use for the covered part of the viewshed. A number of
formats are supported, including "RGB(red,green,blue)", hex formatting like
"#RRGGBB" or "XRRGGBB", or just an integer representing the 24-bit color.

Related Topics

Image Swipe Tool

The Image Swipe command selects the image swipe tool. This tool allows the easy viewing of overlapping layers in an interactive
manner by allowing you to select a raster/ image layer to swipe away by holding down the left mouse button and dragging in some
direction. Once the Image Swipe Tool is activated a 'Select Layer to Swipe' dialog will populate (below).

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Select the raster/ image layer to swipe away. To swipe, just hold down the left mouse button and drag in the desired swipe direction.
When you release the mouse the swipe is reset and the entire image is displayed again. Once active, you can change the selected
swipe layer by right-clicking and choosing the option to 'Select Swipe Layer' from the menu.

To preserve a pulled back view of the layer, right-click on the map and enable the option Keep Swipe After Releasing Mouse.
When this mode is enable, each left-click will begin a new image swipe, and each time the left mouse key is released, the swipe will
be preserved at the point where the mouse was released.

Mobile Data Management

The Mobile Data Management tool sets up the export and transfer of data from a Global Mapper workspace to a mobile device
running Global Mapper Mobile. This tool contains options to locally save a Global Mapper Mobile Package file (.gmmp) or upload
data directly to a mobile device.

Open the Mobile Data Management tool using the toolbar button or the item in the Tools Menu.

Mobile Device Data Link

The Mobile Device Data Link tab of the Mobile Data Management tool shows connected and available mobile devices to which data
can be directly transferred.

To connect to and upload data directly to a mobile device, the device needs to be
using Global Mapper Mobile v2.2.0.13 or higher.

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Connect to Mobile Device

In order for a mobile device to be discoverable, the Global Mapper Mobile app must be open and in the Global Mapper Mobile
Configuration settings, you must Enable Discovery Mode.

Steps to Connect to a Mobile Device

1. Open Global Mapper Mobile on the mobile device and in Configuration, Enable Discovery Mode.

2. Open the Mobile Data Management tool in Global Mapper. Click Connect to Mobile Device.

If multiple networks are detected, a drop-down will appear allowing you to select the network to which the
mobile device is connected. The network selection can be set or altered with the Select Network Adapter
button.

3. Global Mapper will search for and populate a list of discoverable devices in the Connect to Mobile Device
dialog.

4. Double-click on a device to connect to it and the Connect to Mobile Device dialog should indicate the selected
device is connected. Click OK to close the Connect to Mobile Device dialog. The Mobile Data Management
tool will display the existing Global Mapper Mobile Package and GeoPackage files on the device.

Refresh will refresh the list of files on the mobile device.

Use Get File with a file selected to transfer the selected map from the connected mobile device and open it in Global Mapper.

Use Add File to transfer a Global Mapper Mobile Package file or GeoPackage file to the connected mobile device. You will be
prompted to select the file to add after clicking Add File.

Delete File will remove the selected file from the connected mobile device.

Package File Export

The Package File Export tab of the Mobile Data Management dialog sets up the export of data from the Global Mapper workspace to

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a Global Mapper Mobile Package file (.gmmp).

Use the check boxes next to each listed layer to include or exclude them from the package file export.

Add Template Layer

The Add Template Layer button adds a Feature Template layer to the workspace and the package file export. In the resulting dialog
enter the layer name for the Template Layer and select the saved template from the drop down. Some vector layer options for the
template layer are also available to set up the layer as it is added to the package file for export.

The Edit Templates button opens a Configuration dialog allowing templates to be added to edited.

Add Layer(s) From File...

To add data from a file to the mobile package, use the Add Layer(s) from File button and select the data layer to load. The selected
file will be loaded into the workspace and the Package File Export Layers list.

Save As...
To export and save a Global Mapper Mobile Package file (.gmmp) locally, use the Save As button. A prompt to select the export
location and name the file will appear, and then the Global Mapper Mobile Package Export Options dialog opens to complete the
export.

A Global Mapper Mobile Package can then be transferred to a mobile device via email, a wired connection, or a shared drive.

Upload to Device
To upload data directly to a mobile device, the device must be connected to the Mobile Data Management tool via the Mobile Device
Data Link tab.

The selected data layers can be exported to Global Mapper Mobile Package format and uploaded to the device with the option to
save a copy of the generated *.gmmp file locally.

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Coordinate Convertor
This tool facilitates easy conversion of a coordinate in one projection/ datum/ or unit system to another.

Select the Coordinate Convertor... menu item from the Tools Menu to displays the Coordinate Convertor dialog (picture below).
The Coordinate Convert can be a floating window or docked into the main interface. For more information see Window Docking.

When a conversion is made the results are automatically copied to the clipboard for easy pasting in another location using Ctrl+V.
There are also buttons to allow to easily recenter the map on the coordinates or to create a new point feature at the coordinates.

Overlay Control Center

This section describes the Overlay Control Center (pictured below). This window serves as the central control for handling all
currently loaded data sets (layers). Each data type is indicated by an icon next to the layer name. Layers can be selected and
organized into groups that will then appear as an expandable list of layers in the control center.

Layers containing vector features will show a feature count in brackets after the layer name. For layers containing grouped features,
each group is counted as one.

Docking and Hiding the Overlay Control Center

By default the Overlay Control Center is docked on the left side of the application. Click and hold the top bar of the Control Center,
then drag the mouse to undock the Overlay Control Center and relocate it. The Overlay Control center can also be docked or
undocked by double-clicking the top bar.

Drag the Overlay Control Center towards the top, bottom, left or right of the map until a large rectangle appears to dock the Overlay
Control Center in that location. Right click on the Control Center top bar to also see options to control the Overlay Control Center
display:

l Floating — Display the Control Center in a floating window

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l Docking — Dock the Control Center in most recent docked location

l Hide — Close the Control Center
Layer Order
To reorder layers in the Overlay Control Center, click a layer name and drag the layer up and down in the order. The right click
Selected Layer Context Menu also contains the Layer Order sub menu.

This includes options to Move Selected Layers after another layer and Reverse Order of Selected Layers, as well as moving layers to
the top and bottom of the list.

By default the layers display in the order they are drawn, so the top item is drawn first and subsequent items in the list are drawn on
top of it. Turn on Display Layers in Reverse Order to have the top item in the Overlay Control Center draw on top in the map display.

To reverse the default order or the Control Center list, right- click on Current Workspace and select Display Layer
List in Reverse Order. When this setting is selected the top layer in the Control Center is displayed on top in the map
view. Layers list below it in the Control Center will be displayed below it in the map view.

Layer drawing order is also impacted by the Vector Layer Ordering Configuration setting.

Selecting Layers
Multiple layers may be highlighted in the Control Center by pressing CTRL or SHIFT while selecting layers. The top bar of the Control
Center will indicate the number of individual layers, and how many are currently selected in the Control Center.

All selected layers shown as highlighted in the Control Center will be acted on when pressing buttons on the Control Center
(described below), when using options in the right-click Selected Layers context menu, and when using the Layer menu options.

Layer Types
The icon to the left of the layer name indicated the type of data contained in the layer.

Control Center Toolbar

Layer Options
Double click on a layer or group to set options for the display of the layer(s). This is also available by right clicking on a layer. This
bring up the Vector Options, Raster Options or Elevation Options dialogs.

Layer Options control the visual behavior and properties of the layer or group. This includes styling, interpretation of coordinate
values and elevations, and visual effects such as image cropping, zoom level and display resampling. The available tabs depend on
the types of data in the layer.

Metadata
Highlight a layer in the control center and select the Metadata button to display the metadata for the layer. Alternately, press the M
key and double click on a layer or right click on a layer and select the Metadata. For more information on metadata see Metadata

Close Layers
Highlight a group or layer in the Overlay Control Center and press Delete to remove the selected overlays from the map. The Close
option may also be accessed using the Close Layers button at the top of the control center, or choosing Close (Unload) Layers
from the Selected Layers Context Menu. A warning will appear before closing the overlay(s).

*New features or grids that are created in Global Mapper and have not been saved or exported are not recoverable after closing
unless an earlier version of the workspace was saved.

Select All Features in Layer(s)

Highlight a layer or layers containing vector features in the Control Center, then press this button to select all vectors features in the
layer with the Digitizer tool. If no layer is highlighted, all features in all layers will be selected. This option is also available from the

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Selected Layers Context Menu.

Zoom to Selected Layer(s)

Highlight a layer or layers in the Control Center, then press this button to zoom to the full extent of the selected layers. This option is
also available from the Selected Layers Context Menu.

Show/ Hide Layers

The check box next to each layer indicated the visibility of the layer or group.

Press the check box to show the selected layer(s) and any sub-layers. If multiple layers are highlighted then all highlighted layers will
be made visible.

Use the CTRL key while pressing a checkbox to invert the visibility of all selected layers. The invert visibility option is also available
by pressing the spacebar on the keyboard.

Alternately, highlight a layer in the Control Center (or multiple layers), and use the Show/ Hide Layers button at the top of the control
center to toggle or invert the visibility of the highlighted layers.

Rename Layers
Select a layer or group in the Overlay Control Center by clicking it, then click the name again once it is highlighted to edit the name of
the layer or group. Alternately, right click on the layer and choose DESCRIPTION from the Selected Layers Context Menu to rename
the layer. The Layer Description is used in a Legend.

Feature Count
Loaded vector data will display a count of features in the layer following the layer name. This is the total number of individual vector
features, and not the count of multi-part features. For information about creating multi-part vector features see Multi-part Features.

Current Workspace Context Menu

Right click on the top level Current Workspace to reveal the following options:

Set File (Text, PDF, etc.) to Display When Loading Workspace...

Close All Hidden Layers

Hide All Offscreen Layers
Hide Layers that are Outside Selected Area Feature(s)
Hide Layers that are Covered by Selected Area Feature(s)
Display Layer List in Reverse Order (Last Drawn is First)

Select All Onscreen Layers

Reorder Maps by Description/ Resolution/ Location...

Reverse Order of Selected Layers

Create a New Feature Template Layer...

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Selected Layers Context Menu

Right-click on a layer or group to reveal a menu of options related to the layer. Many options that were available by right-clicking on a
layer in earlier versions of Global Mapper have been moved to Current Workspace Context Menu, Layer Menu, or the Analysis Menu.
The Layer Menu and Analysis Menu options that were moved from this menu are also available as a sub-menu at the bottom.

Options.... (Double-Click)
Metadata...(Double-Click + M)
Close (Unload) Layer(s)...(DEL)

ZOOM_TO - Zoom to Selected Layer(s)

Zoom to Full Detail For Layer (1:1 Pixel Mapping)

GROUP - Set Group to Assign to Selected Layer(s)...

DESCRIPTION - Edit the Selected Layer's Description...
Open Selected Map Folder in Windows Explorer...
SELECT - Select All Features in Selected Layer(s) with Digitizer Tool
Allow Feature Selection/ Search from Selected Layer(s)
Allow Export From Selected Layer(s)

RECTIFY - Modify Layer Position/ Projection (Re-Rectify)

SHIFT - Shift Selected Layer(s) a Fixed Distance or Transform Coordinates...
Scale Layer Based on Actual Length of Selected Line
Set View/ Export Projection to Selected Layer Projection

Edit View Shed Parameters and Recalculate

Change View Shed Coverage Color...

Reorder Maps by Description/ Resolution/ Location...

Move Selected Layers After Another Layer...
Reverse Order of Selected Layers
Invert Selection

Layer Order
Analysis >

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Layer >

Create Workspace File from Selected Layer(s)

Export Layer(s) to New File
Add Selected Layer(s) to Map Catalog
Calculate/ Copy Attribute Value(s)... Attribute Calculator
Join Attribute Table/ File to Layer
Split Into Separate Layers Based on Attribute Value
Create Area Features from Equal Values
Create Point Features at Elevation Grid Cell Centers
Find Extreme (Min/Max) Elevation Values
Create Image Layer from 3D Model(s)...
Create Point Cloud from 3D Model(s)...
Sort Lidar Point Clouds by 2D Location for Faster Display and Analysis
Spatially Thin Lidar Point Cloud(s) to Desired Spacing...
Find and Delete Duplicate Lidar Points...
BBOX/ COVERAGES - Create Layer Coverage Box/ Polygon Area Features
Set Background Color for Layer in Control Center

Spatial Database Connection Manager

The Spatial Database Connection Manager allows you to create and save enterprise spatial database connection definitions. Once a
connection has been defined, you can use it when importing and exporting spatial database tables. These connection definitions can
be used with the following spatial database:

l Esri ArcSDE Geodatabase

l MySQL
l Oracle Spatial
l PostGIS

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The Connections area contains a list of existing connections. To create a new connection, click the New... button. Global Mapper will
display the Define Spatial Database Connection Dialog, which can be used to specify the connection parameters for the new
connection.

To update an existing connection definition, select it in the Connections list and click the Edit... button. Global Mapper will display the
Define Spatial Database Connection Dialog, which can be used to update the connection parameters for the selected connection.

To delete an existing connection, select it in the Connections list, and click the Delete button.

Click the Open Connection... button to open the currently selected connection and load data into Global Mapper.

When you have made all of your changes to the spatial database connections, click the OK button to store the new definitions.

The Cancel button quits the process of changing spatial database connection definitions.

The Help button displays the Global Mapper help for this dialog.

Configure
The Configuration dialog controls the settings and preferences related to data display, analysis and export. This includes styling
options for different data formats, as well as system and user preferences.

The Configuration Dialog can be opened from the File toolbar or by going to Tools > Configure... or by pressing the
Configure button on the File toolbar.

The Configuration dialog includes the following sections :

General — Scale, Units, Position, Display, and Export Setup

Vector Display — Vector Display Setup

Display Options— Workspace Elements

Point Styles — Point Type Symbol Settings / Custom Symbols

Area Styles — Area Type Color/ Fill / Border Settings

Line Styles — Line Type Color / Width / Style Settings

Vertical Options — Elevation Display Setup

Shader Options— Shader Specific Setup

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LiDAR— LiDAR filtering, and classification colors and groups

Feature Templates — Manage feature templates

GPS Options — GPS Settings

Projection — Select Display Projection/ Datum

GeoCalc Projection — Accesses the GeoCalc Library for data re-projection and coordinate transformations*

3D View Properties — set the 3D display

*The GeoCalc Projection Tools require both a Global Mapper license and a Geographic Calculator license.

Map Layout Editor

The Map Layout Editor

Select the Map Layout Editor... menu item from the Tools menu, or press the Map Layout toolbar button to display the New
Layout Options dialog (below). Once the layout options are set, the Map Layout window may be floating or docked. For more
information see Window Docking.

General steps for creating a Map Layout:

1. Load your data into the workspace, analyzing, labeling, and creating any features or symbols you would like
present as part of the map data.

2. Define the extent and size of your map by setting up the paper size, data bounds, and/or scale in the Map
Layout Editor Options dialog. You can modify this later by editing the Map View Element

3. In the Map Layout Preview add the desired Map Layout Elements (scale bar, elevation legend, title, etc.)
Once added, Map Layout Elements may be edited by selecting with the mouse and right-clicking, or by using
the Map Layout Element Control Center. Map Elements are not limited to cartographic elements. For
example, any charts, graphs, 3D views that you have saved as an image may be added as an Image
Element. Elements can also be grouped.

4. Add new pages for additional maps, or create a Map Book that auto generates pages using the current layout
or a template.

5. Print or publish your map. Once the Map Layout is arranged to your satisfaction, the Map Layout Editor
may be printed to a connected printer or exported to Geospatial PDF. Printing options available will depend
on the printer driver(s) available on your machine. It may be possible to make further adjustments to color and
DPI settings, and you will want to verify that any page size selected in the Map Layout Definitions is also
supported by your printer driver and hardware. For printing a larger poster on a series of smaller sheets to be
stitched together, use the export to PDF as Mosaic.

Define the Extent

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Prior to setting up the cartographic features, or Map Layout Elements , the Map Layout must first be defined in the options dialog at
the top of this page. Map Layout definitions include; Paper Size, Bounds, and Scale and are used to both set up the print size of your
map, and the spatial extent of the workspace it will include. Please see Defining a Map Layout for more information on setting up the
definitions used for creating a Map Layout or a Map Layout Template. Use the Go to Configuration Display Options to edit the layout
setting for the workspace.

The Select Layers... option provides the ability to specify which layers will be included on each page in the Map Layout Editor. The
user can select specific layers, or specify that all workspace layers be included:

l When the All workspace layers check box is selected the page will include all the layers currently in the workspace, and
layers that get added later will automatically be included.

l If a group of individual layers is selected, then new layers added to the workspace will not automatically be included.

l In either case, layers will be removed from the layout page when they are closed/removed from the workspace.

Map Layout Preview

Once you have setup the Map Layout Options, click 'OK' to open the Map Layout Editor (below). This is where Map Layout
Elements such as the scale bar, elevation legend, margins, map legend and north arrow are added to the Map Layout. Click on the
Map Layout Editor window below for more information on the Map Layout Editor.

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In the upper left corner of the Map Layout Editor window are both menu and toolbar options for use in editing and adding elements to
the Map Layout, in addition to loading or saving a new or existing Map Layout or Map Layout Template. Click on the image above
to go to a description of the Map Layout Menu or Toolbar option.

To change which layers are displayed on a page, right click on the page in the Page List on the left side of Map Layout Editor window
and choose Select Layers...

If one page is selected, layers from that page will be used to initialize the check box state on the layer selection dialog.

If multiple pages are selected, layer selection dialog will be in its default state, with all layers selected.

The selected layers will be assigned to all of the selected pages.

Map Layout Editor Toolbar

Create New Layout

This will bring up the Map Layout Options, to set up a new layout. The new Map
Layout completely replaces the current one, so any elements
defined so far will be lost and it will be necessary to specify a new page size, bounds,
etc.

Open a Saved Template - Use a previously defined template on the current map,
Template Definitions (Paper Size, Bounds, and Scale) will be inherited.

Save the current Layout as a Template - If you are setting up a new layout, or
have loaded an existing template to modify, use this option to save the new Map
Layout as a template.

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Create a MapBook from the Current Layout - Create multiple pages based on a
template and a tile scheme of data.

Create Feature MapBook - Create multiple pages based on a template and

centering on selected vector features.

Add a New Element - Adds a new Map Layout Element to the Map Layout
Preview. Map Layout Elements include:
Elevation Legend Element...Insert a new Elevation Legend element into the
Map Layout.
Image Element...Insert a new image element into the Map Layout (JPG, GIF,
PNG, TIF, EMF).
Map Legend Element...Insert a new Map Legend element into the Map
Layout.
North Arrow Element...Insert a new North Arrow element into the Map
Layout.
Scale Bar Element... Insert a new Scale Bar element into the layout.
Text Element... Insert a new Text element into the layout.
Group Elements... Create a new Group element that incorporates the
currently selected elements.
Ungroup Selected Elements... Removes selected elements from the group.
Ungroup Contained Elements... Removes the group associated with the
selected elements.

Delete Selected Elements - Delete the selected element(s) from the layout.

Edit Selected Element - Edit the properties associated with the selected map
element.

Show Map Element Control Center - Displays the Map Element Control Center.

Undo - Undo the last change to the map layout.

Redo - The Redo function reverses the most recent Undo operation.

Zoom In - This will Zoom in one level per click, increasing the visible detail of
features on the map layout, decreasing the spatial extent.

Zoom Out - This will zoom out one level per click, decreasing the visible detail of
features on the map layout and increasing the spatial extent.

Pan (Grab and Drag) - Changes the center point of the image without changing
the magnification, depress the left mouse button, drag the view to the desired location,

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then release the left mouse button to redraw the view at the new location. This tool is
also available through the keyboard shortcut of holding down the mouse wheel.

Full View - Zoom to the full page extent of the layout.

Show or Hide the Ruler Bars - Will either display or hide the ruler bars on the
top and left sides of the Map Layout Preview, the rulers show the size of the page on
the printed map. The ruler displays the size of the page, and added elements on the
final printed map.

View/Change the current page size - This can be used to change the Bounds
of a Map Layout after Map Layout Elements have been added. Dynamic elements will
update in response to changes in the page size
There are also map layout and element editing and creation tools available in the Map Layout Menu Options.

Selecting and positioning Map Layout Elements

If the margin is currently selected, then the current selection of the margin must be cleared prior to selecting a Map Layout Element
for resizing or repositioning. This may be achieved by hitting the ESC button, or by left-clicking outside of the margin boundaries. To
manually change the position of an element, select the element with your mouse and drag to move it - or use one of the right-click
options to align elements with margins or other elements.

The size of an element may also be changed using your mouse, to lock the aspect ration of an element, use one of the corner nodes.
To increase the size of a selected element in one direction only, use a node on the side. Holding the SHIFT button down while
dragging the side or corner of an element will also disable the aspect ration lock.

Creating a Map Template

A best practice for consistent map styling is to create a set of map templates with predefined layouts. Map Templates can also be
used in the creation of a multi-page Map Book.

There are a number of built in Map Templates available as a starting point for creating a new map layout, including portrait and
landscape oriented options with set legends, titles, and other map elements.

Integrate text macros with a Map Template to create variable text. Custom macros can also be defined

Keyboard Shortcuts:
Esc Key - Deselect the selected element
Delete Key - Delete the selected element
Home Key - Show the full page on screen
Mouse Wheel - Pan around the page
Arrow Keys - Make a fine adjustment to the position of selected map layout element
(s). The element will be moved a small distance in the direction of the key that is
pressed (up, down, left or right).
Ctrl + C - Copy the selected element
Ctrl + V - Paste the selected element
Ctrl + Z - Undo
Ctrl + A - Redo
The Map Layout Template allows you to save and reuse specific settings for the cartographic elements used to define a Map Layout,
such as; neat lines, legend, scales, non-map graphics, and text overlays. With a Map Layout template, these elements, and their
associated style(s) are preserved and can be used with alternate map data and workspaces. When loading a Map Template, you will
be prompted to select the Scale or Bounds of the Map Layout.

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Map Layout Definition

Prior to setting up a Map Layout Preview, you will first need to setup the Map Layout definitions; Paper Size, Bounds, and Scale.

Paper Size (or dimension) - Select a paper size from the drop down menu, and either a Portrait or Landscape Orientation.

Choose the Custom... option to specify a custom paper size. When selecting the Custom... entry the Custom Paper Size dialog will
be displayed. Type in the width and height in inches or centimeters for the custom paper size. When clicking OK, the "Custom..."
entry in the list will be replaced by one saying, "Custom (width x height)", similar to the other paper size entries. Once a custom size
has been chosen, it can be modified by clicking the "Set Up Custom Paper..." button. The same Custom Paper Size dialog will be
displayed.

Bounds (or geographic extent) - Use this option to set the boundary of the loaded data to be used in creating the map layout. By
default the Bounds definition will be 'All Loaded Data'. Click the 'Select...' button in the Bounds section to manually define the Map
Layout bounds in the Select Bounds dialog (below). Use coordinate inputs to restrict the view to specified geographical bounds, or
select an area feature with the Digitizer tool use the selected area feature to set bounds.

For more information on the bounds settings, see Export Bounds

Scale - Select this option to choose from a drop-down list of commonly used scales (1:24,000, 1:50,000, etc.) or type a custom scale
into the field right of '1:'. To define the Map Center of the chosen scale, click the Select... button. The Select Map Center Point dialog
will be displayed; click mouse to select the center point.

Once defined, the Map Layout Paper Size definition will be saved to any workspace files created from the workspace, or these
definitions can be exported as part of a Map Layout Template from the Map Layout Editor. While there are three definitions in total
(Paper Size, Bounds, and Scale), only two of the three Map Layout Definitions will require user input. The third definition will be
derived from the input of the other two. Upon loading a template you will be asked to specify either the Bounds or Scale for the new
Map Layout, the paper size and saved elements will import along with the template.

For example, you may select a Paper Size and Orientation, and then set the geographic extent or 'Bounds' for the Map you would like

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to print or publish. The scale of the map will then be derived from the Paper Size and the Bounds entries. Similarly, you may set the
Paper Size and Scale - and the Bounds will be derived from these two values. If the page characteristics are modified prior to the
addition of such map elements as a North Arrow or neat lines, the placement of the map elements will be altered as well.

Once the map layout has been defined, you can make changes to the scale, bounds and location of the Map View Element by editing
the map view element.

Map Layout Editor Menu Options

Many of the below menu options are also available by right-clicking on the layout or on a selected element.

File Menu
Edit Menu
Insert Menu
Format Menu
Pages Menu

Map Layout Elements

In Global Mapper's Map Layout Editor, a Map Layout Element is a common cartographic object (legend, scale bar, title, etc) that will
be a component of the final, printed map. Map Layout Elements can be either dynamic or static. A dynamic layout gets updated in
response to changes in the map data. For example, a change to the bounds of the map data would correspondingly change the scale
bar Map Layout Element. A static layout element is fixed and does not get updated with changes to the map data. For example, a text
element would remain the same if the bounds of the map data were changed.

Map View Element

Map Legend Element

Text Macros

Editing Properties
Both dynamic and static Map Layout Elements have properties that may be specified upon element setup, or edited by using the
Edit Element option on a selected element, right-clicking on a selected element or clicking on the Properties... button on the Map
Element Control center:

Transparency - The Transparency of elements may be adjusted on the General tab of the dialogs for either inserting or editing
an element.

Draw order - The draw order is used to determine the order in which elements appear (draw) in the map layout.

Position - This is the position of the element within the layout, it can be defined for an element by adjusting the absolute X,
Y placement in the Properties dialog for the selected element, or by a choosing the option to align the element relevant to margins
or another selected element.

Size - The size of the element within the layout space - defined in inches. If a border has been added to the element, the size
could be increased. Check the option Preserve Aspect Ratio to maintain the height and width proportions. If this option is checked
and the height or width is adjusted, the other value will update accordingly.

Frame - A border and fill for a Map Layout Element can be added or edited on the General tab of the dialog for editing an
element. To change the border or fill style go to Style... The Select Area Style dialog will be displayed. To set the background
color, choose the 'Solid Fill' fill pattern and use the Color... button to pick the color. To set a border style, use the controls in the
Border Style section.

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Element Specific Properties - These are defined when a given element is inserted into the Map Layout Editor, and are unique to
each respective element type.

Map Element Control Center

Access the Map Element Control Center from the Map Layout Editor toolbar button .

Element properties may also be edited in the Map Element Control Center (below) by selecting the element then clicking on the
Properties... button.

These editable Properties... are the same input properties used to originally define the selected element in the Map Element Control
Center offers a centralized location, making it easier to select individual elements in busy Map Layouts, and to easily review which
elements are grouped.

Editing options available in the Map Element Control Center are also available on the Map Layout Editor Toolbar or in the Map Layout
Menu Options. Depending on the element type, the Properties for the element will show in an edit dialog. Selected elements can also
be hidden or deleted in the Map Element Control Center using the Hide or Delete buttons.

The blue arrows on the right of the Map Element Control Center will move select layers to the top/bottom of the Draw Order. Those
elements on the bottom, appear on the 'top' draw layer.

Map Elements can also be grouped, or aligned to another element or to the Map Layout's margin. Both Dynamic and Static Map
Layout Elements can be added from the main menu or toolbar. Elements may be added using the Insert > Element commands found
on the Map Layout toolbar or in the file menu. Both the setup and edit dialogs for all elements contain options for setting up or
adjusting frames, background color, and transparency and element transparency.

Grouped Elements / Element Blocks

Elements can be grouped together will create an element clock and retain the relative position to each other and to
share alignment. To create an element block, select multiple elements on the map layout using the CTRL key, then
right-click anywhere on the page and select Insert > Group Selected Elements. Remove elements from a group by
selecting one or more currently grouped elements, right-clicking anywhere on the map to select Insert > Ungroup
Selected Elements.

When grouping elements to create an element block a background and border frame can be added and displayed
for the element block.

Created element blocks can be saved for use in other page layouts. To save an element block to a Map Element file
(.gm_mapElement), select the element block and use the Save Element Block option from the Map Layout Editor
File Menu or right-click in the layout and select File > Save Element Block.

A saved element block can be loaded with the File > Load Element Block menu option. Element blocks will load at
the top of the layout page and once loaded they can be moved and edited.

To edit the properties or positioning of selected elements, right-click on the selected element to access the Edit Element menu which
will contain the following options, regardless of element type:

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l Insert
l Edit
l Align to Margin
l Align with Element
l Properties
Dynamic Layout Elements
North Arrow
North arrows indicate the orientation of the map, changes to the rotation of the map will be reflected in the orientation of the North
arrow.

Legend
A legend will explain the meaning of the colors and symbols used to in the workspace to represent features on the map. When
information changes in the primary workspace that impacts the legend (ie: change style for Feature Type) or elevation legend (ie:
change in shader used) element(s), the (elevation) legend will update.

Scale Bar
Scale bars provide a visual measurement for features and distances on the map using a line divided into parts and labeled with
the ground length. This element is dynamic, if the bounds of the map are changed, the scale bar adjusts and remains correct.

Text Macros
See Text Elements for this option. Text Macros are dynamically generated text content. These can be combined with static text in a
text element.

Static Layout Elements

Text Elements
Add text boxes to the Map Layout, including things like titles and metadata. Type the desired text, then use the Justification and
Select Font... options to style the text.

Text elements can be made dynamic by using Macros.

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Text Macros

Image Elements
Adds images to the Map Layout. these may be added using the Insert > Image Element command.

Margins
Defines the border of your map, and the space that will fall outside the map. May be clicked and dragged to edit.

Map View Element

The map view element is the object that contains the map data. This has a defined extent of data that the map is displaying. It can
also have a Grid Frame, and additional page properties.

Creating a MapBook
A MapBook is a multiple page layout based on a template or the current map layout. This tool creates multiple pages with matching
layouts, but with different data displayed within the Map View Element on each page. This is ideal for generating Atlas type products,
or creating other series of maps that have a consistent design.

In the Map Layout Editor, go to the File Menu to create a MapBook.

Steps for creating a MapBook:

1. Load data representing the full extent of the area you would like to generate
maps for.
2. Create a Map Layout. Include any Map Elements that will be the same on
every page of the MapBook. For text elements, use macros to define text
that is variable by page.
3. Create a MapBook from the Map Layout Editor file menu. Choose the layout
to use as the template, and what elements to duplicate on every page. The
Tiling tab defines how the map data is divided into different pages. The
Export Bounds define the extent of the data to be covered by the pages of
the MapBook.
4. Once the MapBook has been created, you can interact with each page
individually to make any modifications. You can also go back to the main
application and load additional data that will be displayed in the Map View
Elements.

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General MapBook Options

Page Template - The MapBook page layouts can be generated using the existing visible Map Layout, or by loading a saved
template.

Legend Options

Use the Same Map Legend on All Pages - Check this legend options to show the legend for the full vector data set on each page

Include Tile Bounds Index on first page - This option creates an index page at the beginning of the MapBook that shows the full
extent with footprints of each MapBook page.

Tiling
Tiling is used to define the breakup of the MapBook Export Bounds. All of the tiling options divide the data extent while preserving the
aspect ratio of the Map View element in the Page Template. Choose to define tiling based on the bounds (height or width) or specify
a map scale to use in each tile. The MapBook will calculate the necessary number of pages and the bounds displayed on each page
using the Tile Definition settings. There are also options for overlapping the data in each tile, and naming the resulting pages.

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Tile Definition
Rows or Columns: Specify the number of tiles horizontally OR vertically. The other dimension will be calculated based on the aspect
ratio of the Map View element in the template.

Tile width or height: Specify the width or height in the current projection units for the map view on each page. The other dimension
will be calculated based on the aspect ratio of the Map View element in the template.

Define tiles using scale and page size: This setting calculated and adjusts the number of tiles to fit the export area at the defined
scale. Choose to either Use scale from template or specify an explicit Scale value.

Tile Overlap
Specify an amount of overlap between the map on each page. This can be defined as a Percent of Cell Size.

Tile Naming
Naming of tiles. All options from a normal export dialog for tiling apply to this dialog. See more information here.

Layers
This tab contains option to include all layers from workspace, or select specific layers from list. If the option to include all layers is
selected the layer list and associated buttons will be disabled

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Export Bounds
The export bounds setting determines the overall extent of the data that will be tiled. Because of the dimensions of the Map View
Element (aspect ratio), the extent of the resulting pages will vary slightly with this to maintain the same Map View Element size on
each page.

These options are common to other export dialogs. See more information here.

Creating a Feature MapBook

A Feature MapBook is a multiple page map layout where the location and extent of the pages is derived from selected vector features
of interest. This function will create a series of map pages based on a template, one for each feature that is currently selected on the
main map view. This tool will be disabled if no feature is currently selected with the digitizer tool.

The Create MapBook Options dialog will be displayed with two tabs:

l General
l Feature Options

Steps for creating a Feature MapBook:

1. Load data representing the full extent of the area you would like to generate
maps for.
2. Create a Map Layout. Include any Map Elements that will be the same on
every page of the MapBook. For text elements, use macros to define text
that is variable by page. To include the vector feature label, use the Map
Title macro. This value will not appear in the text element at first, but can be
auto-populated from the vector feature name. Optionally create a second
map layout of an alternate page orientation (portrait versus landscape) if
there features that would fit better in an alternate page orientation. For more
information see Handling Features with Opposite Orientation.

3. Using the digitizer tool or the attribute editor select the vector features
to generate page extents from. Use the CTRL key modifier to select multiple
features of interest.

4. Create a Feature MapBook from the Map Layout Editor toolbar or file
menu. Choose the layout to use as the (main) template, and what elements
to duplicate on every page.
5. On the Feature Options tab, specify how to determine the bounds of each
page that focuses on a selected feature. The choices here provide options to
derive the bounds from the feature extent, or to use a consistent map scale
while centering on each feature.
6. Once the MapBook has been created, interact with each page individually to
make any modifications. You can also go back to the main application and
load additional data that will be displayed in the Map View Elements.

Feature Options

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The Feature Options tab contains options related to how the selected features will be used to determine the map bounds and
orientation for each page. Each page of the MapBook can have bounds auto-generated based on the extent of the selected features.
Alternately, each page can centered on the feature of interest while maintaining the same map scale across each page of the
MapBook.

To Determine Map Bounds

Select from the following choices to determine the map bounds for each selected feature:

l Use options by feature type — specifying the bounds of the page based on the
feature geometry type.
Areas and Lines

Specify options for determining the bounds for area and line features. If no areas or lines are selected, this section will be
disabled.

¡ Use feature bounds uses the bounding rectangle of the selected area or line feature as the map bounds.

Optionally, add a buffer as a percentage of the width and height of the bounds. The entry field for the percentage will
be enabled when the Add buffer box is checked. The value must be between 0 and 100.

¡ Use centroid and scale indicates to use the center of the feature bounds and the specified map scale to determine
the page bounds. The entry field for the scale will be enabled when the Use centroid and scale radio button is
selected. The scale value must be greater than zero.

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Points

This section determines the bounds for point features. If no points are selected, this section will be disabled.

¡ Use rectangle allows the user to specify a rectangle around the position of the point feature. The user must enter the
length and width, and choose the unit from the list. All of the entry fields will be enabled when the "Use rectangle" radio
button is selected. The length and width values must be positive numbers.

¡ Use position and scale tells GM to use the position of the point and a scale value to compute the map page bounds.
The entry field for the scale will be enabled when the "Use position and scale" radio button is selected. The scale value
must be greater than zero.

l Use centroid (or position) and scale for all features — the center of the bounding
rectangle and a scale value will be used to determine the map bounds. The Map Scale
entry field will be enabled when this radio button is selected. The scale value must be
greater than zero.
Handling Features with Opposite Orientation
Choose the initial template layout on the General tab. That layout will have an orientation of Portrait or Landscape. This section
describes how to handle computed feature bounds that have the opposite orientation with respect to the initial template.

l Always use orientation in primary template— use the initial template, regardless of
the orientation of the feature bounds.
l Use alternate page layout— use a second layout from an existing page, for features
with the opposite orientation. This layout must have already been defined before
starting the MapBook creation process. The list will be enabled when this radio button
is chosen, and the user must select a layout from the list.
l Use alternate template file — use a saved layout template for features with the
opposite orientation. This template must have already been defined before starting the
MapBook creation process. The Select button will be enabled when this radio button is
chosen, browse the file system to pick a template file.
Other Options
Create map title from feature label — use the feature label to create a map title. This title will be used in the list of map pages, and
can be used in a text element by way of the Map Title macro (%TITLE%).

Put grouped area features on one page— indicates that, if an area feature is part of a group, all of the features in that group will be
shown on one map page.

Mosaic a Map Layout

A mosaic divides a map layout up into multiple pages in a PDF. It is designed for printing large layouts on a smaller sheet size and
combing back together. This tool is similar to poster printing utilities available in other applications.

The Export to PDF as Mosaic... option is available in the Map Layout Editor File Menu. The tool will export a map layout formatted
for a large paper size as a series of tiles using a smaller paper size in the PDF file. The resulting PDF file will contain one page for
each tile. Once exported, print the PDF and cut and paste the pieces together to create a large map.

The names from the Map Pages pane will be included at the bottom of their respective pages in the exported PDF file, along with the
row and column of the mosaic tile page. The file will also include bookmarks for each layout page and mosaic tile.

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Resolution
This combo box allows setting resolution that will be used to generate the exported PDF file.

Page Range
This section indicates the pages to be processed into the mosaic PDF.

All Export all pages in the current map.

Current Page Export the currently displayed page to the PDF file.

Selected Page(s) Export the pages that are currently selected in the Tile Name pane.

Pages Export the pages as indicated in the associated edit box. The user can specify one or more page numbers or page
ranges (separated by a dash), separated by commas. For example, “1, 3, 5-9, 12” would export page 1, page 3, pages 5
through 9, and page 12.

Paper Size
This section is used to specify the paper size to be used for each tile in the mosaic. The user can choose one of the standard paper
sizes, or create a custom paper size, and indicate whether to use Portrait or Landscape orientation.

Options
Selecting the Use JPEG Compression to Produce Smaller PDF Files option will compress the output images to reduce the size of the
output PDF file.

Digitizer Menu
The Digitizer menu contains many items related to the creation, editing, and querying of vector features. For more information on the
digitizer tool and its various sub-tools see Digitizer

The Digitizer Menu contains the following options:

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Edit Selected Features...

Move Selected Features

Delete Selected Features

Undelete Selected Features

Restore Original Shape of Selected Features

Clear Current Selection

Invert Selection

Create Area/ Polygon Features

Create Line Features
Create Point/ Text Features
Advanced Feature Creation
Move/ Reshape Features
Vertex Editing
Attribute/ Style Functions
Crop/ Combine/ Split Functions
Advanced Selection Options
Analysis/ Measurement
Advanced Operations
Search
Options

Analysis Menu
The Analysis Menu contains the following options.

Create Elevation Grid from 3D Vector Data

Combine/ Compare Terrain Layers

Count Overlapping Raster/Terrain/View Shed Layers
Find Overlap Between Lidar/Raster/Terrain Layers

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Create Curvature Grid from Terrain Layer(s)

Create Contours
Generate Contours from TIN Areas
Generate Breaklines from Terrain Grid
Find Ridge Lines
Measure Volume Between Surfaces

Create Watershed
Simulate Water Level Rise/ Flooding

Raster Calculator
Raster Reclassify
Pan Sharpen Imagery

Create Density Grid (Heat Map) from Point Data

Create Roughness Grid From Landcover Layer...
Create Voronoi/ Theissen Diagram from Point Data

Create Layer Statistics Report

Graph and Chart Manager

Duplicate Features
Feature Overlap
Spatial Operations

Create Elevation Grid from 3D Vector Data

An elevation grid can be generated from any combination of vector data loaded containing an elevation component. This includes 3D
vectors, lidar and point cloud data and mesh / 3D model features.

Create an elevation grid by choosing this option in the Analysis Menu or using the Analysis Toolbar button Create
Elevation Grid from 3D Vector Data. This tool is also available by right-clicking on layers in the Overlay Control Center, under
the Analysis sub menu.

Using this dialog, you can configure how you want the elevation grid to be created using the selected vector data as well as what
portion of the selected overlays to use when creating the elevation grid. You can also use the Tiling tab to specify that your data
should be tiled in sections.

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The Elevation Grid creation options will provide a larger dialog with additional options when Lidar Data is loaded.

Description - Layer name and description for the resulting Elevation Grid.

Vertical Units - Specify the output elevation units for the grid.

Data Type - This option controls whether generated color grids use 8-bit or 16-bit values. This option is disabled when gridding by
Elevation values.

Grid Type
This option will appear when gridding Lidar data. Elevation Values is the default input. With Global Mapper Pro, grids may also be
created from additional attributes of the 3D points.

l Elevation Values - This is the default grid type. This will create a terrain grid of the
elevation values.
l Intensity Values - Create a raster grid of the intensity values. The intensity value in a
Lidar point cloud measures the strength of the signal return to the sensor from the
Lidar pulse. The intensity of the return is due to the reflectivity of the surface struck by
the pulse.
l Height Above Ground - Save the calculated height above ground value as a terrain

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grid, rather than the absolute elevation. In the output terrain grid, a value of 0 will
represent ground. For more information about the height above ground calculation for
Lidar data see Color Lidar by Height Above Ground
l Color (RGB) - This will create an orthoimage from the RGB values of the point cloud.
This is calculated using the color of the highest point in the point cloud at each grid
spacing.
l Color (RGB+Intensity) - This will create an orthoimage of RGB colors plus Intensity
as 4-band.
l Color (RBG+NIR) - This will create an orthoimage of RGB colors plus NIR as 4-band.
l Color (RGB+Intensity) - This will create an orthoimage of RGB colors plus Intensity
as 4-band.
l NDVI (vegetation) - This requires point cloud data with RGB and also NIR values.
This will grid the calculated NDVI value.
l NDWI (water) - This requires point cloud data with RGB and also NIR values. This will
grid the calculated NDWI value.
l Point Density - This will grid the point density calculated for each point. See also
Create Density Grid (Heat Map) from Point Data
l Classification Codes - This will create a gridded raster of the class codes. This can
be used like LULC or clutter grid data.
l Red - This will create a orthoimage from the Red color attribute from the point cloud
(single band).
l Green - This will create a orthoimage from the Green color attribute from the point
cloud (single band).
l Blue - This will create a orthoimage from the Blue color attribute from the point cloud
(single band).
l NIR - This will create a orthoimage from the Near Infrared (NIR) attribute from the point
cloud. (single band).
l Scan Angle -This will create a orthoimage from the Scan Angle attribute from the point
cloud.
l Point Source ID - This will create an orthoimage from the Point Source ID attribute
from the point cloud.
l User Data - This will create an orthoimage from the User Data values from the point
cloud.
l Scanner Channel - This will create an orthoimage representing the Scanner Channel
attribute from the point cloud.
l Number of Points in Cell - This will create an orthoimage representing the number of
individual lidar points in a cell.
Grid Method
Select the grid method you would like to use, the default is Triangulation. With Global Mapper Pro, Binning (Minimum Value, Average
Value, Maximum Value, Median, and Variance) options are available.

Triangulation
This setting uses a triangulated irregular network connecting the known elevation values.

Binning an Elevation Grid

Binning is a processing data modification technique that takes point data and creates a grid of polygons, or bins. The value of each
bin or polygon is representative of the point values within it. This will reducing the number of data points and speeding up the grid,
operation. While it will speed up an operation, Binning changes the way data is shown at small scales and can result in decreased
accuracy, but will also reduce 'point congestion'.

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Binning lays a regular grid over the point cloud within the defined boundaries of the operation. The minimum / maximum / average /
median / variance of point elevations (or the value specified in Grid Type) in each bin rectangle are found. An inverse weighted
distance algorithm is used to fill in the gaps, the Grid Tightness setting allows you to customize how 'Loose' or 'Tight' the interpolation
is. Make the bins at least 2-3 point spacings apart to reduce/ eliminate the spikes or troughs where just a single point is in a bin.

For bare earth/ ground points only (DTM), select Minimum. Use Maximum for the highest level points (i.e. buildings and trees
includes) for a DSM.

Grid Spacing
With the Automatically Determine Optimal Grid Spacing option selected grid spacing calculations will be automatic.

With Lidar data loaded, the grid spacing may be calculated as a multiple of the calculated point spacings using the option Automatic
Spacing Multiple of Point Spacings and specifying a point spacing value.

Alternately the Manually Specify the Grid Spacing to Use option will allow you to select the grid spacing to use.

Elevation Grid "No Data" Distance Criteria

This setting controls how far from a known data-point that an elevation grid cell has to be before it is considered invalid. A tight setting
will only create grid cells close to known elevation values, and leave 'No Data' holes where the distance is too far. A loose setting will
interpolate using the Grid Method to fill in all elevation values in the extent.

Breaklines and Flattened Areas

Use 3D Area/Line Features as Breaklines (Soft Edge)
The Use 3D Area/Line Features as Breaklines (Soft Edge) option is available when gridding lidar data using a Binning Grid
Method. The elevations of area and line features (in layers selected for use in the grid creation) will be enforced in the output
elevation grid. This will burn the area and line features into the grid, using interpolation to smoothly transition to the surrounding
elevation values based through the Soft Edge Distance.

This setting is useful for hydro-enforcement, to ensure that water modeling flows correctly through the terrain and water bodies
appear flat. It may also be used to automatically flatten building sites, or to enforce road areas.

The input vector data may contain single elevation values for the feature (i.e. breaklines, contours, etc.), or may contain per vertex
elevation values (i.e. streams, inclined area features, etc. ). Vector features with no elevation values, or elevation values relate to
ground will be ignored. The line features will be burned into the elevation layer first followed by the area features.

Elevation Grid using binning and 3D Elevation Grid using Input Lidar points, and
Area/ Line Features as Breaklines binning and no breaklines area and line features
Soft Edge Distance
Specify how many pixels surrounding the area and line features will be used as a transition zone between the vector features and
Lidar data. The elevation values inside of the soft edge will be calculated using inverse distance weighting (IDW).

Terrain Grid with a soft edge Terrain Grid with a soft edge Input Lidar points, and area

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of 3 samples of 10 samples and line features

Use 3D Area/Line Features as Breaklines (Hard Edge)

This option is available when choosing Triangulation as the Grid Method, or when creating an elevation grid with no Lidar data.

When checked line and area features with a defined elevation will be used as the precise elevation for every pixel all along the line.
This will ensure that elevation values along the line boundary will exactly match the elevation, for example with contour lines. When
not checked, the elevation values are only applied directly at the vertices, and other elevation values are interpolated.

Flatten 3D Area Features

When creating a terrain surface from a vector area feature, this option will flatten the interior area based on the Z value given in the
area feature. When unchecked the area feature will inherit variable elevation based on the underlying ground elevations, and the area
Z value will only apply at the area vertices.

Taper 3D Area Features Using Curve Value

When this option is checked the elevation data will taper to the highest most point using the given curve value.

If there are 3D area features and the option to flatten 3D area features is checked, the taper option specifies that rather than making
the areas absolutely flat, the edges will be tapered. The area elevation value will be applied to the centroid of the area, dwindling to
zero as you reach the area edge.

The curve value specifies the exponent to apply to the percent distance a sample location is between the area centroid and the area
edge, to adjust the height applied at that location. A value of 1 provides for a linear taper. Values less than 1 will make the edge
steepness progressively greater (i.e. flatter at the middle, then steep edges), while values larger than 1 cause the steepness to be
near the area centroid and flatter towards the edges. For example if you want to simulate a sand bunker for a golf course, a value of
around 0.5 provides a decent simulation of a bunker.

When unchecked the elevation data will shift sharply in order to exactly match height values at any given point.

Only grid TIN Areas (Ignore Lines/Points)

When enabled this option will only use the 3D TIN face areas to generate the gridded layer.

Additional Options
Ignore Zero Elevations - Checking this option will cause all values with a value of 0 to be ignored on elevation creation. This is
useful if you have a data set where features with no known elevation are marked with an elevation of zero.

Save Triangulation Network (TIN) as a Vector Layer - Checking this option will cause the TIN layer that is generated during the
gridding process to be saved in a separate layer. A TIN is a vector layer with an area feature for each 3D triangle connecting known
elevation values. This is created as part of the triangulation process.

Heights Relative to Ground (Using Loaded Grid Layers) - If there is already elevation data loaded into Global Mapper then
checking this option will cause all height values generated by this process to be relative and use the existing elevation data as a
base. This is very handy for doing things like creating building models where the building height above ground is known, but not
necessarily the height above sea level.

Fill Entire Bounding Box Instead of Just Inside Convex Hull - When checked this will generate a rectangular area surrounding all
given data and will fill that area with data. Otherwise, the valid values will only fill out to the convex hull polygon of the data being
gridded.

Export Grids Directly to Global Mapper Grid Files - This option will automatically save out a Global Mapper Grid File upon
elevation data creation. Data will still be loaded into Global Mapper upon creation.

Only use Currently Selected Lidar Features to Create the Grid - Choose this option if you want to grid only the Lidar points
selected in the workspace rather than all the points.

Tiling Panel
Grid Bounds

Topic Overview

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Terrain Analysis

Scripting Reference

GENERATE_ELEV_GRID

Lidar Bin Size

When manually specifying a bin size for a lidar operation, the bin size you want to set is based on the resolution of your Lidar data.
Ideally, you will be able to confirm the resolution of the lidar data from the data source. However, this may also be confirmed or
determined in the application by using the Measure tool to measure the distance between points. Typically, just using the automatic
bin size setting in the lidar operation will create a bin size based on the detected spacing/resolution of the loaded or selected lidar
data.

In Global Mapper, binning lays a regular grid over the point cloud within the defined boundaries of the operation (layer extent unless
you have specified otherwise). When you set a bin size, you are telling the application the size that each rectangle in the gird should
be. Make the bins at least 2-3 point spacings apart to reduce/eliminate the spikes or troughs where just a single point is in a bin. In
the auto-classification tools, this is automated and based on the spacing of the points.

Some more advanced users may choose to over ride the automatic setting and change the bin size, users of all levels can test
running auto-classification routines or operations with manual bin size settings to determine appropriate settings for the desired
outcome.

Combine/ Compare Terrain Layers

The Combine/ Compare Terrain Layers command allows the user to generate a new gridded elevation (or other gridded value) layer
by combining and/or comparing the elevation values from two other loaded terrain layers.

When selected, the command displays the Combine Terrain Options dialog which allows the user to set up generation of the new
terrain layer. Once completed the new terrain layer is added to the Overlay Control Center and displayed.

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The Combine Terrain Layers Options panel (displayed above) allows the user to select the name to assign to the newly generated
layer, select the layers to combine to make the new layer, select the operation to perform when combining the new layer, and select
the vertical units and sample spacing of the new layer.

Operation
The available operations are described below:

l Addition - values from each layer are added to each other

l Subtraction (Difference) - Signed - value in new layer is assigned to the difference
between the value in the first layer and the value in the second layer
l Subtraction (Difference) - Unsigned - value in new layer is assigned to the
magnitude (absolute value) of the difference between the value in the first layer and
the value in the second layer
l Average Elevation - value in new layer is assigned to the average of the value in the
first layer and the value in the second layer
l Minimum Elevation - value in new layer is assigned to the smaller of the value in the
first layer and the value in the second layer
l Maximum Elevation - value in new layer is assigned to the larger of the value in the
first layer and the value in the second layer
l Multiply Values - value in new layer is assigned to the product of the value in the first

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layer and the value in the second layer

l Divide 1st Value by 2nd - value in new layer is assigned to the value from the first
layer divided by the value in the second layer. If either value is missing or the second
layer value is zero the new sample is marked as invalid.
l Filter (Keep First Value if Second Valid) - value in the new layer is assigned to the
value in the first layer only if the value in the second layer is valid. Otherwise the value
in the new layer is marked as invalid (void). This is useful for applying a mask to a
terrain layer.
l Filter (Keep First Value if Greater Than Second) - value in the new layer is assigned
to the value in the first layer only if the first layer value is greater than the second layer
value. If either value is invalid or the first value is greater than the second value, the
value in the new layer is marked as invalid (void).
l Filter (Keep First Value if Less Than Second) - value in the new layer is assigned to
the value in the first layer only if the first layer value is less than the second layer
value. If either value is invalid or the first value is less than the second value, the value
in the new layer is marked as invalid (void).
l Filter (Keep First if Second Greater Than Compare Value) - value in the new layer
is assigned to the value in the first layer only if the second layer value is valid and is
greater than the specified compare value. Otherwise the value is marked as invalid.
This is useful for keeping elevation values where something like a return count from
another layer is greater than some value. The Compare Value on the dialog
corresponds to the value to compare to.
l Filter (Keep First if Second Less Than Compare Value) - value in the new layer is
assigned to the value in the first layer only if the second layer value is valid and is less
than the specified compare value. Otherwise the value is marked as invalid. This is
useful for keeping elevation values where something like an error value from another
layer is less than some value. The Compare Value on the dialog corresponds to the
value to compare to.
l Count Valid Layers at Each Location - Generates a grid with a count of valid
elevation layers for each location
Select First Elevation Layer(s) to Combine/Compare
From the list of loaded layers select the first elevation layer(s) to be used in the operation.

Select Elevation Layer(s) to Combine the First Layer(s) with

From the list of loaded elevation layers, select the layer(s) to be used in the second half of the operation.

Vertical Units
Specify the output units for the combined elevation grid. The unit interpretation of the input layers is defined in the layer options.

Shader
Specify the elevation shader to use for the output layer. This will set a custom shader for the combined terrain layer, unless the
Default Shared Shader is selected. Since the combined terrain values typically represent a comparison or difference, in a different
numeric range than the original input elevation layers, using an elevation shader specific to the layer can help highlight the number
range in the combined elevation grid.

Once the combined elevation grid has been created, the shader setting may be modified in the layer options on the Display tab.

Sample Spacing
The Sample Spacing section allows the user to select the grid spacing to use when generating the file. The default value is the
average of the grid spacings of all the currently loaded raster and elevation overlays.

If the Always Generate Square Pixels option is checked, the smaller of the specified x and y resolutions will be used for both the x
and y resolution.

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Selecting Always Generate Square Pixels ensures that the resultant image file will look good even in software that is not able to
deal with pixels that aren't square.

To specify the spacing in units other than those of the currently selected view/ export projection, press the Click Here to Calculate
Spacing in Other Units button.

Specify the X and Y spacing of the output pixels in any of the selected units. These pixel dimensions will be translated into the units
of the display projection during export. The Use Current Screen Pixel Size button will update the X and Y values to the dimensions
of the map display. Use Last Exported Sample Spacing will update the X and Y values to the most recent export resolution.

Compare Value
Specify the compare value when using an operation that references a compare value:

l Filter (Keep First if Second Greater than Compare)

l Filter (Keep First if Second Less than Compare)
Export Bounds

Topic Overview

Terrain Analysis

Scripting Reference

COMBINE_TERRAIN

Count Overlapping Raster/Terrain/View Shed

Layers
The Count Overlapping Raster/Terrain/View Shed Layers report can be accessed from the Analysis menu. This creates a new grid
layer that counts how many of another selected list of layers have valid samples at each location. This option can be used to count
coverage of view shed layers where they overlap, or where View Shed and Terrain and Raster Layers overlap.

Selecting this option will open the 'Select Layers' dialog, here all loaded Raster, Terrain and View Shed Layers will populate in a list.
Select those you would like included in the count.

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Once you have the desired layers selected, select 'OK' to generate a new grid layer called 'Count of Layers', this layer will appear in
the Overlay Control Center and in the project map interface. Once the new Grid Layer is Created, use the Feature Info Tool to click
on the map and get a Count of Layers for locations.

In the example below the Feature Info Tool has been used to click on a pixel in the red area of the 'Count of Layers' area, which
signifies a count of 3 overlapping layers.

Find Overlap Between Lidar/Raster/Terrain Layers

The Find Overlap Between Lidar/Raster/Terrain Layers tool can be accessed from the Analysis menu. This tool generates a report
showing the percent overlap between layers and can creates a new raster layer showing the areas of overlap.

Selecting this option will open the 'Select Layers' dialog, here all loaded Lidar/point cloud, raster and gridded terrain layers will
populate in a list. Select those you would like to find overlap between.

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The Create Image Layer Showing Overlap option will generate a raster layer shading the area of overlap area of all the selected
layers.

Once the desired layers are selected click OK to generate the overlap report and optional overlap layer.

Create Curvature Grid from Terrain Layer(s)

The Create Curvature Grid from Terrain Layers command generate a gridded layer depicting the curvature values present in the
loaded terrain based on the selected curvature type analysis. By default the Curvature Shader will be applied to the generated
Curvature Grid layers.

When selected the command opens the Curvature Grid Setup dialog which allows the user to select the analysis method for the
curvature grid creation.

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The new layer Description can be customized. The description defaults to Curvature Grid - %TYPE% where the %TYPE% variable
will be determined by the selected curvature type.

Curvature Types
Several methods are available for curvature analysis. Each method checked in this list will generate a separate curvature grid layer in
the workspace.

Profile - curvature parallel to the slope indicated the direction of maximum slope

Planform - curvature perpendicular to the direction of the maximum slope

Standard (Combined Profile and Planform) - combines the profile and plan curvature into a single value

Longitudinal Curvature - curvature of the slope normal and slope direction

Cross Sectional Curvature - curvature of the slope normal perpendicular to slope direction.

Sample Size
The Sample Size section allows the user to select the grid spacing to use when generating the curvature grid. This will be the
resolution at which the terrain grid will be sampled to generate the curvature grid. The entered value will serve as the sample spacing
in the X and Y directions. The default value is the average of the grid spacings of all the layers being used in the analysis. Lowering
this value will sample the terrain at a higher resolution and may increase processing time.

Export Bounds
The Export Bounds panel allows the user to set up the portion of the loaded elevation grid data that will be used in the creation of the

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curvature grid.

Create Contours
From Terrain Grid
From TIN Areas
The Create Contours command allows the user to generate equally spaced contour lines from any loaded elevation grid data or
point cloud data. To generate contours directly from point cloud data, a Global Mapper Pro license is required. Choose this option
from the Analysis Menu, or the Analysis Toolbar button to generate contour lines.

When selected, the command displays the Contour Generation Options dialog (pictured below) which allows the user to set up the
contour generation process.

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With Global Mapper Pro, contour lines can be generated from lidar point cloud data. If a point cloud layer is being used to generated
contours, the option to Filter Lidar will be available.

Layer
Enter the layer name and description for the resulting layer of contour lines and features.

Contour Interval
This option allows the user to set the contour interval as well as the major and minor contour interval multipliers. Check the box to
Only Create Lines at Specified Height to generate contour lines only at the height specified by the Contour Interval value. The
previously set contour interval will be remembered by Global Mapper when next using this tool.

Elevation Range
This setting can be used to restrict which contour lines are generated (by default all loaded elevation values are considered).

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Resolution
The resolution in the x and y directions control the resolution at which the loaded terrain data is sampled to generate the contour
lines.

If lidar layers are chosen to generate contours from, the data is gridded at the start of the process at the specified resolution using the
'Bin Maximum' method with a default gap fill size.

Resampling
This allows the user to control how terrain layers are sampled during contour generation.

Additional Options
Generate Iso-height Areas
Select this option to generate an area feature for each generated contour interval. With Generate Iso-Height Areas enabled, select
the option to Create non-overlapping areas to cut holes in the created areas as needed in order to make a discrete polygon for
each contour interval. By default these areas will be colored with the active elevation shader.

Interpolate to Fill Small Gaps in Data

Select this option to interpolate over small holes or areas of no data in the grid or lidar data when generating contour line help prevent
breaks or fragmented lines.

Smooth Contour Lines

Select this option to add additional vertices along the generated line and area features to improve their appearance.

To generate a large number of contour lines over a large area, the option to export the contours directly to a package file can be used
in addition to the Gridding tab options to export contours directly to package files, sometimes by passing memory limitations. Note
that the contour lines will be generated so that the higher elevations are to the left of the contour line.

Find Local Peaks and Depressions

This option will generate point features at local peaks found based on user provided parameter values. The Minimum Concentric
Contours value describes the minimum number of closed contours nested within each other that are needed to define a peak
candidate. The first closed contour containing a peak candidate is referred to as a key contour. Peaks sharing a key contour that are
further from each other than the Maximum Distance value will be identified as peaks. If multiple peak candidates are identified within
the same key contour and are within the Maximum Distance value of each other, the saddle depth between them will be analyzed. If
the saddle depth is greater than the Minimum Saddle value, both peaks will be retained.

Create Spot Elevation Points and Minimum and Maximum Elevations

This will generate point features at the minimum and maximum elevation locations on the loaded terrain data.

Advanced Options
Create Contours Where Elevations Pass Down to Contour Value Rather Than as They Go Down From
One
This option is an advanced option to change how the contouring works in flat areas. If this option is checked, contours generated
where the terrain surface arrives at a contour height from higher terrain, rather than where it departs a contour height for lower
terrain. With a flat plain exactly at a contour height, the result will be a contour at the base of the hill where it starts up, rather than at
the top where it starts down. This is most useful when using with datasets that include water (like the ocean) and want to get a
shoreline contour generated where the terrain leaves the flat surface of the water.

Discard Closed Contour Lines Shorter than X meters

Select and specify a minimum length for any closed contours. Any closed (i.e. complete loop) contours less than the specified length
will be marked as deleted.

The Simplification panel (displayed below) allows the user to set up the threshold at which points that don't contribute much to the
shape of the generated contour are removed in order to generate lines with less vertices.

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Tiling
The Tiling panel allows the user o break up the contour generation into smaller pieces, which can sometimes help reduce memory
requirements when generating a very large amount of contour lines.

Contour Bounds
The Contour Bounds panel allows the user to set up the portion of the loaded elevation grid data they wish to consider when
generating the contours.

Generate Contours from TIN Areas

The Generate Contours (from TIN Areas) command allows the user to generate contour lines from any loaded TIN Area
(Triangulated Irregular Network).

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*Note that when generating contours from a TIN Area not all Contour Generation Options will be available.

Topic Overview

Terrain Analysis

Scripting Reference

GENERATE_CONTOURS

Generate Breaklines from Terrain Grid

The Generate Breaklines (from Terrain Grid) command analyzes curvature in digital terrain models to automatically extract
breaklines as 3D line features. This tool is different from contour generation as it only creates lines where there is a distinct change in
elevation, rather than at a specified elevation interval.

This tool requires Global Mapper Pro.

When selected, the command displays the Generate Breaklines dialog (pictured below) which allows the user to specify breakline
thresholds and choose a processing method.

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Quick Steps:

Select the Generate Breaklines tool, then choose the terrain layer to perform the edits on (if multiple are loaded).

If necessary, change the General Options settings (Layer Name, Sample Size, Smooth Breaklines) from their default
options to better fit the data.

Choose 1 of the 3 Methods for Generating Breaklines:

l Find Breaklines at Slope Region Boundaries

¡ This method generates breaklines around the edges of flat areas. This is useful for tracing the edges
areas such as a hydro flattened water body, shoreline, or a plateau, and is well-suited for lower-
resolution terrain.

l Find Breaklines Around Edges of Regions with Similar Slopes

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¡ This method generates breaklines around areas with consistent slope - pile edges, etc. This method is
still underdevelopment.

l Find Breaklines at Any Surface Break.

¡ This method generates breaklines on the edges of curvature based on which Grid Type is chosen. It's
useful for creating lines along ridges, valleys, ditches, etc, and is works well with Lidar.

Adjust method settings from defaults, if necessary. Default settings are based on the resolution of the data.

Click OK to run the tool. The breaklines will appear as a new line layer in the Control Center.

General Options
Sample Size
Before processing, the terrain grid is resampled to a grid at the resolution of the specified Sample size. Larger sample sizes will
highlight the more drastic changes in elevation and may erase the subtle changes. Sample Sizes less than 1 meter may have lots of
noise.

Similar to Bin Size, the Sample Size is how far from each elevation point to look for other variation in elevation.
Smaller sample sizes will give results that are more relative to the local area. while larger sizes will take more of the surrounding
terrain into account
Larger sample sizes will look at more of the surrounding area and can weed out the smaller changes that are less drastic

Elevation Units
Set the elevation units for the breaklines in Feet or Meters. This unit does not have to match the original file.

Minimum Breakthrough Length

The minimum breakthrough length option lets the user specify the shortest breakline that's still valid. Lines shorter than this length will
be discarded.
(Features discarded by this setting are marked as deleted features. To see them, turn on the Configuration option to Show Deleted
Features.)

Apply Gaussian Blur (Smooths Noise)

This option allows you to apply a weighted-distance Gaussian blur to smooth noise out of the data.
Kernel Size lets you choose the neighborhood size for measuring noise levels. Larger kernels can help with noisy or very high
resolution data.

Smooth Generated Breaklines

Select this option to add additional vertices along the breakline features to improve their appearance.

Find Breaklines at Slope Region Boundaries

This method generates breaklines around the edges of flat areas. This is useful for tracing the edges areas such as a hydro flattened
water body, shoreline, or a plateau, and is well-suited for lower-resolution terrain.

Maximum 'Flat' Slope - This option specifies the threshold between sloped and flat terrain. Enter the maximum gradient that terrain
can have and still be considered 'Flat'. Applicable values are within 0 - 15 degrees.

Maximum 'Flat' Gap Fill Size - Set the largest horizontal distance of 'flat' terrain that a slope can be interrupted by and still be
considered a continuous slope.

Find Breaklines Around Edges of Regions with Similar

Slopes
This method works by generating a Standard Curvature grid, then finds closed contours in that curvature grid around regions that are
'flat' based on the flat curvature threshold. This method is still in development.

Maximum 'Flat' Curvature - This value determines the boundaries of 'flat' regions. Enter a value between 0 and 2 rad/m.

Minimum Region Cell Count - The smallest number of continuous cells that can be considered to be a region.

Maximum 'Flat' Gap Fill Size - The maximum number of non-flat cells to skip over and replace with flat values. An indirect measure of
how much variation is allowed within a 'region'.

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Find Breaklines at Any Surface Break

This method generates breaklines on the edges of curvature based on which Grid Type is chosen. It's useful for creating lines along
ridges, valleys, ditches, etc, and works well with Lidar.

Options for this method allow the user to choose which Curvature Grid is created for the edges to be found and extracted from.
Curvature is a parameter that describes the bending degree of the terrain surface.
The generated grids are not included in the extracted breaklines layer. To create a curvature grid use the Create Curvature Grid tool
in the Analysis drop down menu.

Curvature Grid Type: Select a grid type that matches the type of terrain change to be extracted.

l Profile - Curvature in the Z axis parallel to the slope direction.

l Planform - Curvature perpendicular to the direction of the maximum slope.

l Standard (Combined Profile and Planform) - Combines the profile and plan curvature into a single value.

l Slope - This option creates a slope grid instead of a curvature grid.

Edge Thresholds:

These threshold values are used in edge detection to find the breaklines in a gray scale image generated from the curvature or slope
grids. The units are indirectly related to gray scale values.
The Edge Detect Threshold must be at least as large, or larger than the Edge Connect Threshold

Edge Detect Threshold - Edges with an intensity gradient above this threshold are considered to be breaklines. A lower threshold
value will result in more breaklines identified.

Edge Connect Threshold - The Edge Connect Threshold influences how breaks in the line are handled in situations where there may
be inconstancy in the edge being detected. Choose a lower value to generate longer, more connected breaklines.

Export Bounds
The Export Bounds panel allows the user to set up the portion of the loaded elevation grid data they wish to consider when
generating the contours.

Find Ridge Lines

The Find Ridge Lines command allows the user to analyze the loaded terrain data to find significant ridge lines. The ridge line
calculation is based heavily on the watershed generation algorithm, so see that for details on how it works. The main difference is that
the ridge line operation simply inverts the terrain and where streams of water would form are now the ridge lines in the inverted
terrain.

When selected, the command displays the Ridge Line Options dialog (pictured below) which allows the user to set up the ridge line
determination process.

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Resolution
Specify the resolution of analyzed grid. This will default to the resolution of the loaded terrain data. Increasing this resolution will
speed up processing, by resampling the terrain data, but will produce less detailed results. The units of the cell size are set by the
current display projection.

Ridge Line Threshold

A ridge is determined by some threshold size of pixels that are down slope from it. This size can be determined by either a count of
pixels, or a planar area.

Depression Fill Depth

Many terrain data sets will contain depressions in the data where flow would terminate unless allowed to fill the depression and spill
into the surrounding terrain. The Depression Fill Depth section controls how deep of a depression will be filled before it is
considered a basin and flow is allowed to terminate there. The depression fill depth value will automatically be filled in with some
guess at a good value based on the range of loaded elevation values, but you might want to modify this, especially if you have
relatively flat terrain with a lot of depressions. Note that it can take a while to fill particularly deep depressions. When trying to
determine a good value to use for the depression fill depth you should think about how high of an embankment or 'dam' that you
might encounter that you want to allow water to fill up to the top of and pour over, or also how deep of a small pond or puddle to fill
and allow spilling out of. You can also check the option to Save DEM to Global Mapper Grid File After Filling Depressions to save
the depression-filled terrain to a GMG file so you can load that for future watershed operations to avoid having to fill depressions
again.

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Trace Uphill Flow from Selected Point(s)

This option will create line features tracing the flow from points towards the ridge lines.

Interpolate to fill small gaps in data

Any small areas with missing data will be filled in by interpolating the surrounding valid data using an IDW method. This is useful for
filling small gaps between adjacent tiles or small holes in elevation data.

Smooth Ridge Lines to Improve Appearance

This will perform a smoothing operation on the output ridge lines. This helps to smooth out the stair-step effect inherent in raster
analysis.

Only Find Ridge Lines Over an Elevation

Check this option to only create ridge lines above a specified elevation value.

Bounds

Topic Overview

Terrain Analysis

Scripting Reference

GENERATE_WATERSHED and GENERATE_RIDGE_LINES

Measure Volume Between Surfaces

The Measure Volume Between Surfaces command allows the user to calculate the volume between 2 terrain surfaces. When
selected, the command displays a dialog allowing you to select the 2 layers to calculate the volume between as well as the region
within which to do the volume calculation.

Both the Measure Volume Between Surfaces and the Pile Volume volumetric calculations work by dividing the area of interest up in
to small rectangular pieces, and then calculating the sum volume of the small 3D rectangles between the two terrain models or the
terrain model and the cut surface (Pile Volumes).

PILE VOLUMES - Calculate the Volume of Selected Piles

Pile Volume(s) will calculate the volume within a defined area relative to how the all of the vertices of a selected area feature meet the
terrain surface or elevation model. Vertices that do not meet the terrain surface are omitted from the calculation.

To use the Pile Volume measurement tool, you will need an area feature that encompasses the hill or pile you would like to measure
the volume of, or you will need to digitize a new area feature around the pile. If the area feature does not contain elevation values for
the vertices, you will need to add these. For a more accurate measurement, make sure the area feature encloses the pile or hill,
without having a lot of space around the perimeter.

Topic Overview

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Terrain Analysis

Scripting Reference

CALC_VOLUME_BETWEEN_SURFACES

Create Watershed
The Create Watershed command allows the user to perform a watershed analysis on loaded terrain data to find stream paths as well
as delineate the watershed areas that drain into a given stream section. The watershed calculation uses the eight-direction pour point
algorithm (D-8) to calculate the flow direction at each location, along with a bottom-up approach for determining flow direction through
flat areas and a custom algorithm for automatically filling depressions in the terrain data.

When selected, the command displays the Watershed Generation Options dialog (pictured below) which allows the user to set up
the watershed generation process.

The Resolution section controls the resolution at which the loaded terrain data is sampled to perform the watershed analysis. The
default values should capture the full resolution of the loaded terrain data. Larger values (i.e. lower resolution) will cause the
calculation to be quicker, but less detailed.

The Stream Threshold section controls how much water must flow to a particular cell before it is considered part of a "stream".
Larger values will result in only more water flow areas being delineated, while smaller values will cause more minor water flows to be
marked as streams. Each stream segment (i.e. the portion between and inflow and outflow point) can optionally have the area that
drains directly to that stream segment marked with a watershed area.

Check the Create Watershed Areas Showing Drainage to Streams option to enable creating watershed areas. If you would like to
discard any short stream segments that don't have any other streams flowing into them (i.e. short little stub streams feeding into a
main trunk), check the option to Discard Stream Starts Less than Some Length. This will remove any short little stream stubs that
are below the specified distance threshold (in meters).

Check the Calculate Strahler Stream Order option to generate a STRAHLER attribute containing a value classifying each stream
based on the Strahler Stream Order.

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The Strahler value is determined through the following:

l If the stream has no children, its Strahler order is 1.

l If the stream has one and only one tributary with Strahler of i, and all other tributaries
have an order less than i, then the stream's order is i.
l If the stream has two or more tributaries with a maximum Strahler order of i, then the
Strahler order of the stream is i + 1.
Many terrain data sets will contain depressions in the data where flow would terminate unless allowed to fill the depression and spill
into the surrounding terrain. The Depression Fill Depth section controls how deep of a depression will be filled before it is
considered a basin and flow is allowed to terminate there. The depression fill depth value will automatically be filled in with some
guess at a good value based on the range of loaded elevation values, but you might want to modify this, especially if you have
relatively flat terrain with a lot of depressions. Note that it can take a while to fill particularly deep depressions. When trying to
determine a good value to use for the depression fill depth you should think about how high of an embankment or 'dam' that you
might encounter that you want to allow water to fill up to the top of and pour over, or also how deep of a small pond or puddle to fill
and allow spilling out of. You can also check the option to Save DEM to Global Mapper Grid File After Filling Depressions to save
the depression-filled terrain to a GMG file so you can load that for future watershed operations to avoid having to fill depressions
again.

The Operations at Selected Locations section allows you to perform additional flow and drainage network delineation based on line
and point features selected in the Digitizer Tool. The Create Watershed Areas Showing Drainage to Selected Line(s) option will
calculate a drainage (watershed) area for each selected line feature showing which portion of the loaded terrain drains to the
immediate vicinity (within the specified flow threshold) of the selected line. This is useful to see what drains to something like a road
feature.

The Create Watershed Areas Showing Drainage to Selected Point(s) option will calculate a drainage (watershed) area for each
selected point feature showing which portion of the loaded terrain drains to the immediate vicinity (i.e. within the specified flow
threshold of the point location) of the selected point.

The Trace Flow from Selected Point(s) (Water Drop Analysis) option will cause a separate arrowed line to be generated starting at
each selected point feature showing where a drop of water placed at that point location will flow to. The Trace Flow from Selected
Line(s) option will cause an area feature to be generated showing all areas that a particular line feature will drain to. This is useful for
determining something like where a leak from a pipeline might leak to.

Flow Direction Point Creation creates a point feature (example from 3D viewer below) with the direction (FLOW_ANGLE) and
magnitude (FLOW_ACCUM -the count of cells flowing to a given cell) attributes at each point, then enabling the layer point style for
the quiver plot. The display of the quiver plot is not visible until zoomed in far enough for decluttering purposes.

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The example below shows a watershed created from a collection of USGS DEMs. In it you can clearly see the stream network as well
as the drainage areas for each stream segment.

Watershed Bounds

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Topic Overview

Terrain Analysis

Scripting Reference

GENERATE_WATERSHED and GENERATE_RIDGE_LINES

Simulate Water Level Rise/ Flooding

The Simulate Water Level Rise/ Flooding command allows the user to simulate the water coverage/ flooding if you increase the water
level by some depth over either a fixed single elevation (like 0 for sea level) or from a selected area feature, like a flood plain area.
For example, if you have some coastal area selected, you can simulate increasing the sea level by some amount and see where the
water would reach, taking into account any terrain features that prevent flow, like levees, buildings in the terrain, etc. This is a much
better tool for modeling a change in sea levels than simply drawing water at a fixed height, which does things like fill Death Valley
with water simply because it's below sea level, even though water couldn't reach there.

Another extremely important use of this function is to determine how a flood plain would expand when increased by some depth. You
can select the flood plain area feature(s) prior to selecting this command, then on the Water Rise Calculation Setup dialog (pictured
below) you can choose to increase the water level by some amount from the selected areas. You can easily determine what would be
covered by a 100-year flood plain plus an additional 2 feet. This works by finding all points in the loaded terrain that are upstream of
the selected area feature(s) and whose entry point into the area(s) is less than the provided water level increase amount.

Another possible use for this is to determine the coverage of a lake at various water levels. You can start with an area of the lake at
some water level, then model the lake coverage at different levels of increase in the level.

When you select the command the dialog below appears allowing you to setup the options for the water level rise calculation, such as
the amount to raise the water level by and whether to rise from the selected areas, a fixed elevation in the terrain, or both. Internally
the same calculations are performed as for a watershed, so the depression fill and resolution settings described for the Generate
Watershed command apply.

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Description
Name the output layer.

Water Level Increase Amount

Specify what the flood height is, i.e. how far to raise the water level.

Select What to Increase Water Level From

Specify what constitutes the initial water level. This can be selected area features that represent water bodies, or a specific elevation.

Resolution
Specify the resolution of analyzed grid. This will default to the resolution of the loaded terrain data. Increasing this resolution will
speed up processing, by resampling the terrain data, but will produce less detailed results. The units of the cell size are set by the
current display projection.

Resampling
Depression Fill Depth
Many terrain data sets will contain depressions in the data where flow would terminate unless allowed to fill the depression and spill
into the surrounding terrain. The Depression Fill Depth section controls how deep of a depression will be filled before it is
considered a basin and flow is allowed to terminate there. The depression fill depth value will automatically be filled in with some
guess at a good value based on the range of loaded elevation values, but you might want to modify this, especially if you have
relatively flat terrain with a lot of depressions. Note that it can take a while to fill particularly deep depressions. When trying to
determine a good value to use for the depression fill depth you should think about how high of an embankment or 'dam' that you

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might encounter that you want to allow water to fill up to the top of and pour over, or also how deep of a small pond or puddle to fill
and allow spilling out of. You can also check the option to Save DEM to Global Mapper Grid File After Filling Depressions to save
the depression-filled terrain to a GMG file so you can load that for future watershed operations to avoid having to fill depressions
again.

Interpolate to fill small gaps in data

Any small areas with missing data will be filled in by interpolating the surrounding valid data using an IDW method. This is useful for
filling small gaps between adjacent tiles or small holes in elevation data.

Bounds

Raster Calculator
The Raster Calculator allows the user to perform Raster Calculations on remotely sensed imagery.

To initiate a Raster Calculation, go to the Analysis menu and select Raster Calculator - Apply Formula (NDVI, NDWI, etc) to
Image/Grid Layer(s).

If more than one raster layer is loaded, the Select Layers window will appear. Check the raster layers to select the data for analysis.

Click OK and the Set up Apply Formula Operation window will appear.

Layer Description
The layer(s) selected for Raster Calculation will show in Layer Description.

Formula
Under Formula, the user may choose to Add Predefined Formula, or Add Custom Formula.

Add Predefined Formula

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The Add Predefined Formula allows the user to choose between different analyses built into the Raster Calculator.

NDVI = (NIR-RED)/(NIR+RED)
The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a commonly used vegetation indices derived from the Near-
Infrared (NIR) and RED channels of remotely sensed imagery. NDVI is an index of vegetation’s photosynthetic
activity, or ‘greenness’. Vegetation indices are based on the observation that different surfaces reflect different types
of light differently.

The NDVI is calculated by determining the ratio of red and near infrared bands from a remotely-sensed image on a
per-pixel basis to use as the normalized difference between red and near infrared bands in an image.

There are a couple of predefined options for NDVI, depending on which band NIR and RED are found in.

NDVI (RGBI): NIR = B4, RED=B1

NDVI (IBGR): NIR=B1, RED= B4
NDVI (Landsat 8 OLI) : NIR=B5, Red=B4
NDVI (Landsat 5 TM) : NIR=B4, Red=B3
NDVI (Sentinel 2 MSI): NIR=B8, Red=B4

NDWI = (G-NIR)/(G+NIR)
The Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) is derived from the Near-Infrared (NIR) and Green (G) channels.
This formula highlights the amount of water in water bodies.

An alternate method of calculation uses the NIR and Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) channels [(NIR-SWIR)/
(NIR+SWIR)]. The amount of water present in vegetation primarily affects the spectral reflectance in the SWIR
channel. The information about vegetation contained in the SWIR channel is unique. NDWI should be considered as
an independent vegetation index.

NDWI : G=B2, NIR=B4

NDWI (IBGR): G= B3, NIR=B1
NDWI (RGBI): G=B2, NIR=B4
NDWI (Landsat 8 OLI): G=B3, NIR=B5
NDWI (Landsat 5 TM): G=B2, NIR=B4
NDWI (Sentinel 2 MSI): G=B3, NIR=B8

NBR = (NIR-SWIR)/(NIR+SWIR)
The Normalized Burn Ratio calculation is used to highlight burned areas and to estimate severity of fire. Burned
areas reflect high in shortwave infrared (SWIR) and low in near infrared (NIR) and will therefore have a low NBR
value. Similar to NDVI, healthy vegetation will have a high NBR value. The band numbers (B4, B6) are based on
Landsat 4-5 band designations, but the formula may be used for any imagery by specifying the NIR band as B4 and
the SWIR band as B6 in the subsequent dialog.

NBR [Normalized Burn Ratio]: NIR=B4, SWIR/Thermal=B6

NBRI (Landsat 8 OLI): NIR=B5, SWIR/Thermal=B7
NBRI (Landsat 5 TM): NIR=B4, SWIR/Thermal=B7
NBRI (Sentinel 2 MSI): NIR=B8, SWIR/Thermal=B12

NPCRI = (Red-Blue)/(Red+Blue)
The Normalized Pigment Chlorophyll Ratio Index (NPCRI) is a numerical indicator which can be used to determine
crop and/or vegetation chlorophyll content. This formula is usually found within application in precession agriculture.
For example, crops with low Nitrogen content can have a high carotenoid to chlorophyll ratio. Using the red and blue
spectral bands, NPCRI captures the information needed to quantify chlorophyll and Nitrogen. This formula can also
be used with red and blue spectral bands from various satellites.

NPCRI (Landsat 8 OLI) : Red=B4, Blue=B2

NPCRI (Landsat 5 TM) : Red=B3, Blue=B1
NPCRI (Sentinel 2 MSI) : Red=B4, Blue=B2

NDSI =(Green-SWIR) / (Green+SWIR)

The Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) is a numerical indicator that shows snow cover over land areas. The
green and short wave infrared (SWIR) spectral bands are used within this formula to map the snow cover. Since
snow absorbs most of the incident radiation in the SWIR while clouds do not, this enables NDSI to distinguish snow
from clouds. This formula is commonly used in snow/ice cover mapping application as well as glacier monitoring.

NDSI (Landsat 8 OLI) : Green=B3, SWIR=B6

NDSI (Landsat 5 TM) : Green=B2, SWIR=B5
NDSI (Sentinel 2 MSI) : Green=B3, SWIR=B11

NDGI = (NIR-Green)/(NIR+Green)
Normalized Difference Glacier Index (NDGI) is used to help detect and monitor glaciers by using the green and red

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spectral bands. This equation is commonly used in glacier detection and glacier monitoring applications.

NDGI (Landsat 8 OLI) : NIR=B3, Green=B4

NDGI (Landsat 5 TM) : NIR=B2, Green=B3
NDGI (Sentinel 2 MSI) : NIR=B3, Green=B4

NDMI = (NIR - SWIR) / (NIR+SWIR)

The Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) that is used in combination with other vegitation indexes (NDVI
and/or ADVI) associated with vegetation moisture. This formula uses the near infrared (NIR) and short wave infrared
(SWIR) to capture the variations of moisture in vegetated areas. NDMI is applicable in applications looking at
drought monitoring and subtle changes in vegetation moisture conditions. NDMI can also be used to determine fuel
moistures for wildfire hazard assessments.

NDMI (Landsat 8 OLI) : NIR=B5, SWIR=B6

NDMI (Landsat 5 TM) : NIR=B4, SWIR=B5
NDMI (Sentinel 2 MSI) : NIR=B8, SWIR=B11

1/3
AVI = [NIR * (1-Red) * (NIR-Red)]
Advanced Vegetation Index (AVI) is similar to NDVI which uses the red and near-infrared spectral bands to monitor
crop and forest variations over time. With the multi-temporal combination of the AVI and the NDVI allows for the
discrimination of different types of vegetation and extract phenology characteristics.

AVI (Landsat 8 OLI) : NIR= B5, Red=B4

AVI (Landsat 5 TM) : NIR=B4, Red=B3
AVI (Sentinel 2 MSI) : NIR=B8, Red=B4

BSI = ((Red+SWIR) - (NIR+Blue)) / ((Red+SWIR) + (NIR+Blue))

The Bare Soil Index (BSI) combines blue, red, near infrared (NIR), and short wave infrared (SWIR) bands to capture
soil variations. These bands are used in a normalized manner, with the SWIR and red bands being used to quantify
the soil mineral composition, while the blue and NIR bands are used to enhance the presence of vegetation. This
numerical indicator can be used for soil mapping and crop identification.

BSI (Landsat 8 OLI) : Red= B6, SWIR=B4, NIR=B5, Blue=B2

BSI (Landsat 5 TM) : Red=B5, SWIR=B3, NIR=B4, Blue=B1
BSI (Sentinel 2 MSI) : Red=B11, SWIR=B4, NIR=B8, Blue=B2

1/3
SI = [(1-Red)*(1-Green)*(1-Blue)]
Canopy Shadow provides essential information about tree and plant arrangements. The characteristics of canopy
shadow are associated by the total spectral radiance that is reflected from the canopy. Shadow Index (SI) is
calculated using the red, blue, and green bands in a way that simulates the amount of energy not reflected back to
the sensor. The main application for this is in forestry and crop monitoring, and can be combined with AVI and BSI to
understand vegetation status.

SI (Landsat 8 OLI) : Red=B2, Green=B3, Blue=B4

SI (Landsat 5 TM) : Red=B1, Green=B2, Blue=B3
SI (Sentinel 2 MSI) : Red=B2, Green=B3, Blue=B4

Add Custom Formula

The Add Custom Formula allows the user to input the raster or 'band math' for custom calculations. Bands should be specified as B1
for Band 1, B2 for Band 2, and so forth. See Custom Formula Reference

Add Band
When the Add Band button is clicked, the band selection dialog will ask which specific bands from the loaded layers correspond to
the bands in the formula(s).

Set up Output Grid Settings

Set up Output Grid Settings allows the user to specify the bit depth of a shaded single band grid of the new band, or to create a Multi-
Band image as output. The Shader option can be used to specify that a predefined or custom Shader should be applied to the image,
rather than the default NDVI shader.

Using Elevation Data

Use 'Z' in the equations for the elevation when providing a formula for terrain layers (B1 will also work). The selected input layers
must be either all elevation or all raster imagery and the appropriate mode (i.e. from grids or from imagery).

If all inputs are grids then the output can only be a single band/ formula targeting a grid format.

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Custom Formula Reference

Custom Formulas allow you to generate new bands for a raster image based on formulas that are not already predefined in Global
Mapper. Formulas are mathematical expressions that can combine numbers, band values, or elevations to compute new band
values. They may use standard mathematical operators like +, -, *, /, ^ (power), comparison and relational operators, and functions
like LOG, LOG10, MIN, and MAX to produce new values.

Operands
Numbers - Here are some examples of numbers:
3.14159
42
1234e-3 (scientific notation; the result is 1.234)
123,456 (European notation; the result is 123.456)
Band values - Band values refer to a specific raster band in an image. Allowable band references (again, the names below
are case-insensitive):

red or R: Red band

green or G: Green band
blue or B: Blue band
B#, where # is an integer greater than zero: a numbered band, e.g., B3
elev or Z: Elevation pseudo-band for use with terrain layers (in which case, B1 is
equivalent)

Operators
Formulas use various mathematical and logical operators to form a result, similar to spreadsheet formulas. They are (in order of
precedence, low-to-high):

OR : logical OR: both operands are treated as boolean values and a boolean value is
returned (1 if either of the operands are non-zero, or 0 otherwise).
AND : logical AND: both operands are treated as boolean values, and a boolean value
is returned (1 if both of the operands are non-zero, or 0 otherwise).
=, <>, ~= : comparison operators: equals, not equals, and case-insensitive string
comparison, respectively.
<, <=, >, >= : relational operators: less than, less than or equal to, greater than, and
greater than or equal to, respectively.
+, - : additive operators: plus and minus, respectively.
*, / : multiplicative operators: times and divide, respectively. The operands are
assumed to be numeric.
^ : exponentiation
+, -, NOT : unary operators: plus, minus, and logical NOT respectively. The operands
for unary plus and minus are assumed to be numeric; the operand for unary NOT is
assumed to be boolean.
You may also use parentheses to specify order of operations. In the absence of parentheses, higher precedence operations are
performed before lower precedence operations. That is, in the formula "B1 + r * 3", the result is the value of 'B1' plus the product of 'r'
and '3' (equivalently "B1 + (r * 3)").

Functions
The calculator provides several built-in functions to aid in calculation of values. Note that function names are case-insensitive; that is,
log is the same as LOG

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LOG( expression ) : Natural logarithm. The expression parameter is assumed to be a

numeric value.
LOG10( expression ) : Base 10 logarithm. The expression parameter is assumed to
be a numeric value.
MAX( expression1, expression2 ) : Maximum value of a expression1 and
expression2.
MIN( expression1, expression2 ) : Minimum value of a expression1 and expression2.
IF( expression, expression2, expression3 ) : Evaluate expression, and if it is true,
return expression2; otherwise return expression3
SIN( expression ) : Return the sine of an expression, assumed to be expressed in
radians.
COS( expression ) : Return the cosine of an expression, assumed to be expressed in
radians.
TAN( expression ) : Return the tangent of an expression, assumed to be expressed in
radians.
SIN_DEG( expression ) : Return the sine of an expression, assumed to be expressed
in degrees.
COS_DEG( expression ) : Return the cosine of an expression, assumed to be
expressed in degrees.
TAN_DEG( expression ) : Return the tangent of an expression, assumed to be
expressed in degrees.
ASIN( expression ) : Return the arc sine (inverse sine) of an expression, assumed to
be expressed in radians.
ACOS( expression ) : Return the arc cosine (inverse cosine) of an expression,
assumed to be expressed in radians.
ATAN( expression ) : Return the arc tangent (inverse tangent) of an expression,
assumed to be expressed in radians.
SQRT( expression ) : Square root. The expression parameter is assumed to be a
numeric value greater or equal to 0.
AND( expression list ) : Return true (1) if all of the comma-separated list of
expressions are non-zero, otherwise return false (0).
OR( expression list ) : Return true (1) if any of the comma-separated list of
expressions are non-zero, otherwise return false (0).
Tiling Panel
Export Bounds

Topic Overview

Image Analysis

Scripting Reference

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APPLY_FORMULA

Raster Reclassify
The Raster Reclassify tool modifies the pixel values of a raster layer, including palette images, terrain data, and single bands of
imagery. Using a set of reclassification rules specified in a table on the right side of the dialog, input pixel values are converted to
output pixel values specified in the Output Index.

Access the Raster Reclassify tool from the Analysis menu, by selecting Raster Reclassification...

1. To reclassify an image select the Input Layer from the loaded visible raster
layers. The left side of the dialog will change depending on the type of input
data, as seen above.
2. If the referenced layer is a palette image, optionally press the Load Palette

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from Layer to see the existing pixel values in the left table, or load a palette
from another file as reference.
3. Specify the Reclassified Layer Name in the top right of the dialog.
4. To set up the conversion table on the right side, drag items from the left table
to the right side and specify the new Output Index value. Or right-click on
the right table to add a New Item and manually specify the input Palette
Indices and Output Index.
5. Alternately, load an existing common palette using the drop down menu, and
pressing the load button. Description is optional.

Input Layer – Specify the layer to perform the reclassification on. The left side of the dialog will change depending on the type of
input layer. Palette data will show the Reference Palette table. Continuous data including elevation and imagery will show a histogram
of the input file.

If the input layer is terrain, the value referenced will be based on the selectedShader. If the elevation shader is set to a
slope shader or a slope direction shader, than the reclassification result will be based on that value displayed on the 2D
map.

Reclassified Layer Name – Specify the name of the resulting layer. By default, this will be the input layer with -Reclassified
appended.

Layer Type- The output raster layer can be stored as a palette image, or a single band raster layer. Choose between the palette, 8-bit
single band and 16-bit single band options. A palette image has colors associated with index values, and also optionally can contain
class descriptions. Single band images are simple rasters with just integer values. They can be used with any terrain analysis tools
(contouring, slope calculation, etc.).

Set Unlisted Values to No Data Value - Check this option to ignore any values in the input layer that are not listed in the output
reclassification rules. Unlisted values will be set as 'No Data' pixels when this option is checked. If unchecked, the input values that
are not listed in an output rule will stay as the same values.

Reference Palette
The reference palette table on the left side of the dialog shows information about the input layer if the input is a palette image. This
table is optional and does not need to be used, but can provide a helpful reference for specifying the input and output values in the
Raster Reclassification Rules specified on the right table. Use the Load Palette from Layer button to populate the left table with the
values present in the input image.

When the left table is populated, one or more rows from the input palette can then be selected and dragged to the populate the
Reclass Rules table on the right side. Two options are available for copying values from the left reference palette into the right Raster
Reclassification Rules table:

1. Combine many values into a single output - drag left to right: Use the Shift or CTRL keys to highlight
multiple rows in the reference palette. Drag the highlighted rows to the right reclassification table to combine
them into a single Output Index value. The default color will be an average of the combined inputs when
copying to a blank row.

Example: The first option is to copy a range of rows from the Input Layer to a
single output row in the Reclass Rules. This option is useful to reclassify multiple
pixels to a single value. For example, one might want to reclassify all Tree Cover
pixels (values 50, 60, 61, 62, 70, 71, 72, 80, 81, 82) to a single pixel value of
Trees with a value of 50. Select all the input rows from the reference palette and
drag them onto the Reclass Rules. Enter an optional Description in the newly
created row. Note that the color of the new row is an average of the colors from
the reference palette. If this is not acceptable, you can change the color by clicking
on it and choose from the Color Picker dialog.

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2. Keep unique values- CTRL and drag left to right: Use the Shift or CTRL keys to highlight multiple rows in
the reference palette. Drag the highlighted rows to right reclassification table while holding down the
CTRL key to move each input layer into the output. By default this rows will maintain the same input Palette
Index and Output Index, as well as description and Color.

Example: The second option is to copy the selected rows from the reference
palette into separate rows in the raster reclass rules. To perform a copy, hold the
Ctrl key while dragging to rows. See example below.

Load Palette From Layer– Reads the palette information from the layer and populates the left hand palette list

Load Palette From File – Reads the palette information from a palette file and populates the left hand palette list

Histogram
If the input layer is a continuous raster, such as imagery or terrain data, the left side of the dialog will display a histogram of the layer
for reference. Use the Number of Bins value to change the number of histogram bars, then press Refresh Graph to update.

With multi-band imagery data, there is a dropdown to select the raster band. Raster Reclassification can only be performed on one
band of data at a time. Choose the band which will be reclassified into a single band layer.

For more info on the histogram options, see Histogram.

Raster Reclassification Rules

The table on the right side of the dialog will be populated with the raster reclassification rules. This table specifies the new output pixel
value for each input pixel value or set of input pixel values. This table can be populated by dragging rows from the left table, by right
clicking and manually entering new rows, or by using the load button to populate the Raster Reclassification Rules with an existing
palette or previously saved Raster Reclassification Definition.

l Palette Indices – Specify the input pixel values that will be converted to the output. This can be listed as a single value,
comma separated values, or a range of values using a - . It is also acceptable to add a row containing the keywords else,
other or default (case insensitive) to capture all input pixel values not specified in another row.

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l Output Index – Specify the output Palette Index to be applied when reclassifying the input Palette Indices.

l Description - Optionally specially a palette description.

l Color - Specify a color for the palette value in the output image. Click the color to bring up the Color picker dialog, which also
includes a choice to Pick Color from Map.

The reclass rules can be edited manually to create reclassification rules. Double click on a Reclass Rule cell to edit it. Use the Return
key to complete editing, or the tab and arrow keys to move to different cells.

In addition, right-clicking the mouse in the Reclass Rules grid will bring up a menu option to add or delete a row. The Insert Row
option in the context menu will add a new blank row to the reclass rules grid. Delete Rows will delete all highlighted rows.

Create Spread
It is also possible to automatically create rows in the reclassification rules at a repeating interval. The input values will repeat a range
at the next interval, while the output values increment up by a specified step size.

1. Create two rows. The first row contains a range. This determines the ranges of the generated rows. Set the
output of the first row to the start value, and the second row to the end value.

2. Optionally select a color for each row (descriptions are ignored)

3. Select both rows by holding down the SHIFT key, right click and choose 'create spread'

4. Enter an step value to increment the output value.

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5. A number of rows will be created with input ranges and output values. If colors were specified they will be
spread over the range.

Reclass Rule Conditions

With reclassification rules it is possible to reference a range or values, set a value for all remaining inputs, and also set some outputs
to a null 'no data' value. When editing the reclass rules, the following conditions must be followed.

Condition Example

A Palette Indices row may contain valid palette index values separated 1,5,7,10
by a comma.

A Palette Indicies row may contain negative values using a dash to -8,-1,5
indicate negative values.

A Palette Indices row may specify a range contain valid palette index 70 - 72
values separated by a dash.

A Palette Indices row may specify a range containing negative values -6000 - 0
using a dash to indicate negative values and a dash to separate the
values.

A Palette Indices row must not contain both individual values and 1,5,7,10,70 - 72 (Invalid)
ranges

Reclass Rules may contain a single keyword for the default case Acceptable keywords:
indicating that if no other rule applies then use the Output Index value
for a pixel conversion.
ELSE
OTHER
DEFAULT
A Palette Index may only appear in one row. 1,5,7,10,11,12,13
12-20
(Invalid because the range 12-20
contains values 12 and 13)
An Output Index must contain a single valid Palette index or one of the 50

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keywords for No Data. The No Data value will be assigned the current
transparent color for the layer. Acceptable keywords:
NODATA
NO DATA
TRANSPARENT
ND

Saving, Loading and Validating

Load – This loads in the palette or saved Raster Reclassification Definition file specified in the drop-down to the right and populates
the Raster Reclassification Rules table below.

Save – Saves the Raster Reclassification Rules specified in the table to a Raster Reclassification Definition file that can be reused for
future reclassifications. This is a *.gmr file that is a comma separated list of the values specified in the table that list the input Palette
Indices, Output Index, Description and RGB Color value.

Validate – Checks the Raster Reclassification Rules and combines values into ranges where appropriate. To ensure the rules are
correct, press the Validate button. This will check that all the conditions in the above table are met, and group individual Palette
Indices together for equal Output Index values. Validating will not only check the data, but also sort it by Output Index.

Note: The Output index shown in the Reclass Rules is the index of the first color in the reference palette containing the
row's color. For example, if two reference palette rows (e.g. 60 and 61) have the same color value, then the Output Index
in the reclass rules for both of them will be the value of 60 because it appears first in the reference palette.

Pan Sharpen Imagery

Pan Sharpening is an analysis method by which lower resolution color imagery can be sharpened (increased in resolution) using a
higher resolution panchromatic image. This tool can be found in the Analysis menu.

Input Color image and Panchromatic image, produce a Pan-Sharpened Image (IHS) .

Pan Sharpening is typically done with remotely sensed imagery, where a high resolution panchromatic image was collected
simultaneous to lower resolution color imagery. For example Landsat8 and Spot5 both collect high resolution Panchromatic bands.
The required inputs to perform pan sharpening are a single band high resolution image and a lower resolution 3 or 4 band image
(typically RGB or RGBI).

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Algorithm
Specify the algorithm to be used for Pan Sharpening. Each method takes every pixel from the panchromatic image (or as specified in
the sample spacing) and determines a value for each band using the color image. The band values are normalized based on the
image histogram (min and max values) and any contrast adjustment settings that have been applied. The algorithm used will be
stored in the metadata of the pan-sharpened image.

Brovey - In the Brovey Method, each band in the color image is multiplied by the
panchromatic band and divided by the sum of the color band values. This divides the
value in the panchromatic band across the color bands using a ratio calculated from
the proportions in the original color image. This method increases contrast in the light
or dark color tones.

ESRI Transform - This method adjusts the original color band values. The adjustment
is calculated by determining the difference between the panchromatic image value and
a weighted average of the color bands.

IHS (Simple Intensity Replacement) - This is the initial default algorithm. The color
image bands are converted to intensity, hue and saturation values, then after
histogram matching, the intensity values of the color band are replaced with the
panchromatic intensity values.

Simple Mean - The simple method calculates the mean between the color band value
and the panchromatic value in order to produce each output color band.
The resampling method for determining the values used in the algorithm at each output pixel location come from the layer options.
For imagery the default setting is Nearest Neighbor.

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Color Layer
Specify the color image to pan-sharpen. This can be a 3 or 4 band multi-band image, or an RGB image.

Pan Layer
Specify the panchromatic layer. This must be a single band image. Typically pan sharpening is performed with a panchromatic image
collected simultaneous to a color image.

Panchromatic imagery is collected by sensing all wavelengths of visible light, as opposed to color imagery where bands are collected
separately based on the wavelength.

Band Weights
Band weights are factored into the chosen algorithm. Each method uses a sum or average calculation of the RGB (I) color band
values when calculating the output bands. Different weighting can be applied by choosing to use custom band weights. The band
weight values should add up to 1, however compensation will be done if they do not.

Band weighting can be applied to the specified pan sharpening algorithm to correct color, or enhance certain parts of the image.

Export Bounds

Topic Overview

Image Analysis

Scripting Reference

PAN_SHARPEN

Create Density Grid (Heat Map) from Point Data

This tool create a new layer by calculating density values from the point features in the selected layer. You can setup the density grid
to be based on a simple point count or as a sum of the numeric values of some attribute value for the points within some search
radius. The Density Grid Setup dialog (pictured below) appears when you select this option, allowing you to control the density grid
calculation.

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Population Field - This option allows you to control whether a simple point count or attribute value is used to compute the density
grid.

Search Radius - Used to specify how far from a grid sample location a point can be and still be considered as part of the value.

Cells per Radius - When combined with the Search Radius, controls how large the pixels are in the resulting density grid. For
example, if you have a search radius of 90 meters and a 'Cells Per Radius' of 3, each pixel should end up 30 meters across.

Density Type This option allows you to specify whether a weighted-distance Gaussian distribution is used (this gives much prettier
results) or a simple in-or-out of radius calculation is used.

Shader - Use this option to control which elevation shader is used to render the computed grid. You will often want to select

Specify Bounds...

Create Roughness Grid From Landcover Layer...

This option allows you to generate a grid (and optionally areas) of roughness length values from a land cover layer. When you select
this option, the following dialog appears allowing you to setup the roughness calculation:

The roughness grid is useful for wind power applications and can be exported to a WindSim GWS file as a roughness layer or the

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roughness areas can be exported to a WaSP .map file.

Several land cover data sets useful for roughness length calculation, like CORINE, NLCD, and VCF, have built-in roughness
conversion tables available.

Custom roughness tables can be defined in a roughness_tables.txt file in the user data file path listed on the Configuration > General
> Advanced dialog. A sample roughness_tables.txt file can be found here.

Specify Bounds...

Create Voronoi/ Theissen Diagram from Point Data

The Create Voronoi/ Theissen Diagram from Point Features command, found in the Analysis menu, allows the user to analyze the
loaded point features to create a Voronoi Diagram. A Voronoi diagram is a way of dividing space into a number of regions. A set of
points (called seeds, sites, or generators) is specified beforehand and for each seed there will be a corresponding region consisting
of all points closer to that seed than to any other. The regions are called Voronoi cells. Voronoi diagrams that are used in geophysics
and meteorology to analyze spatially distributed data (such as rainfall measurements) are called Thiessen polygons.

When selected, the command displays the Voronoi/ Theissen Diagram Options dialog (pictured below) which allows the user to
determine several aspects of the Voronoi diagram.

The user can specify the Layer Name to be used by the Voronoi diagram. In addition, in the Output Geometry section, the user can
indicate whether the cells in the resulting Voronoi diagram should be made up of a collection of polygons or line segments, and check
the Draw data boundary box to indicate whether or not the data boundary should be part of the output diagram. Seeds that lie on the
boundary can be hard to see in a Voronoi diagram, so sometimes it makes sense to expand the boundary of the input data points.
Check the Expand bounds by box to specify the distance to be added to the boundary length and width before creating the diagram.

Bounds...

Create Layer Statistics Report

The Create Layer Statistics report can be accessed from the Analysis menu, or from the Overlay Control Center's context menu, via
the 'Create Layer Statistics Report...' (CLSR) menu item.

On the Analysis menu, the CLSR menu item will be enabled if there is vector data loaded. After selecting the CLSR menu item, the
user will be prompted to choose an output file. Only CSV files are supported. After the user chooses a file, the Layer Statistics Report
Options window will be displayed (see attachment).

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In the Layers Included in Report section you can choose to have all layers included in the report, or select a subset of layers. The
list of layers includes all of the loaded layers when the CLSR command is run from the Analysis menu.

Click on a layer in the list to select or deselect it, more than one layer can be selected. This list will be enabled when the 'Include
selected layers in report' radio button is selected.

In the Options Section data may be grouped by one or more attributes. When this option is checked, each line in the report will have
data for an attribute value. If this option is not chosen, then the report will contain a single line containing the combined data for all
features. To select an attribute, put a check in the check box next to its name.

The features included in the report can be limited by providing selection criteria: an attribute name and a value. Select an attribute
from the list and type in the value. The value can use a wild card ("*") to allow for a range of values. For example, to get all values
beginning with "A" use "A*". If you want the data comparisons to be case-sensitive, put a check next to "Use case-sensitive
comparison".

Topic Overview

Attribute Management

Scripting Reference

GENERATE_REPORT

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Graph and Chart Manager

In the Graph and Chart tool, Global Mapper can produce various types of charts and graphs from the loaded data, for example:

l a bar graph of the population for each country on a map,

l a pie chart comparing the total value of different types of land parcels,
l a line graph that shows the change in elevation over time for GPS waypoints,
l a histogram summarizing the elevations in a grid.
Once a graph is defined, Global Mapper stores the definition in the workspace associated with the data. The graph or chart can be
embedded in a map to be printed or displayed onscreen in a panel.

To create a new graph, select the Graph and Chart Manager... option on the Analysis menu. Once a new graph is created, the
open graph window may be docked or floating. For more information on docking, see Window Docking.

Create a New Graph

To create a new graph, perform the following steps:

1. Load elevation data or vector data containing attributes to be graphed. See Joining a Table if necessary to
add additional attributes to the vector data.

Note: To create a histogram from raster data, go to layer Metadata

Note: To create a graph of multiple attributes for a single feature, access the graph tool from the
Feature Info Tool

Note: If you plan to use multiple layers of data in the graph, each layer should have a unique
identifying name. Once a graph is created that uses the layer name, the layers should not be
renamed in the control center.

2. To create a new graph select the Graph and Chart Manager from the Analysis menu. Then press the New...
button to create a new graph.

3. On the General tab, enter a Title for the graph.

4. On the Data Series tab, select the type of graph. The available options include: Bar Graph, Bar Graph -
Horizontal, Histogram, Line Graph, and Pie Chart.

5. Use the Source Data ... button to choose the layer(s) that contain the data to be graphed.

6. Specify the Point Label Attribute. This is the main grouping or categorization of the data, and is the x-axis
on most of the graph types.

7. Specify the Value Attribute. This is typically a numeric attribute and can be aggregated by Sum, Average, or
Count.

8. For a basic graph, this is all the information that is needed. To use the Multiple Series Attribute to create a
graph with a second level of grouping that shows in the legend, see more details below.

9. Finish the graph by setting up the styling for Data Labels, axis and legend labels, and other coloring and text
settings.

10. Press OK to load the graph into a new window. From here it can be modified or saved to an image. It can be
closed and reopened from the Graph and Chart Manager.

Graph and Chart Manager

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The Graph and Chart Manager (pictured below) shows a list of the graphs defined in the current workspace. It can be used to view
or modify them or to create a new graph.

The Graph and Chart Manager window contains the following:

The list contains the title and data layer for each graph in the current workspace. Click on an entry in the list to select it. Only one
entry can be selected at a time.

Click this button to open the Graph Properties window to define a new
New...
graph.
Click this button to display the selected graph in the Graph window. This
Open...
button will be disabled until the user selects a graph in the list.
Click the Delete button to remove the selected graph from the list and
Delete from the current workspace. This button will be disabled until the user
selects a graph in the list.
Click this button to open the Graph Properties window initialized with
Properties... information from the selected graph definition so that it can be edited. This
button will be disabled until the user selects a graph in the list.
Close Click this button to close the Graph and Chart Manager window.

Graph Properties Window

The Graph Properties Window displays the map information and options associated with a graph definition, and a preview of the
graph. This window can be used to create a new graph and edit an existing graph definition. As the user changes options (data layer,
attributes, style, etc.) the preview will be updated.

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The Graph Properties window contains the following elements:

General Tab
When the user clicks on the tab marked "General", the following screen will be displayed:

The General Tab contains the following information that applies to the graph as a whole:

Title - This is the main title for the graph and is used to identify the graph on the Graph and Chart Manager screen. Type the graph
title in the associated textbox. As the data is typed into the box, the graph preview will be updated to reflect the change.

Show Legend - Put a check in this box to add a legend to the graph. When the box is clicked, the graph preview will be updated to
show or hide the legend, depending on whether the box is checked or unchecked, respectively. Use the Data Series tab to specify
the contents of the legend.

Vertical Alignment - Choose an option from this list to specify the vertical component of the legend's location. The legend can be:

Above the Graph, Top of the Graph, Middle of the Graph, Bottom of the Graph, Below
the Graph
Horizontal Alignment - Choose an option from this list to specify the horizontal component of the legend's location. The legend can
be:

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Right of the Graph, Right Side of the Graph, Center of the Graph, Left Side of the
Graph, Left of the Graph
When the user makes a selection, the legend on the preview will be moved to reflect the choice.

Data Series Tab

This tab contains the definition of the type of graph and data to be used. When a choice is made for the graph data or style, the
preview to the right will be updated to reflect that choice.

Type of Graph
Global Mapper can create the following types of graphs:

A bar graph can be created from attribute

data in a vector layer or a Lidar data set.
The data values in the attribute will be
summarized based on the point label
attribute. The X-axis will show the
Bar Chart categories from the point labels, and the
height of the bar represents the sum,
average, or count for each category.

A horizontal bar graph is similar to a bar

graph except that the Y-axis shows the
categories, and the length of the bar
represents the sum for each category.
Bar Chart -
Horizontal

Global Mapper can create a histogram from

a Lidar data set, an attribute associated with
a vector layer, or an elevation grid. When
the input data is a Lidar data set or vector
layer, Global Mapper will count the
instances of each value associated with the
attribute being graphed, then group those
values into bins. Each bin will be a bar in the
Histogram graph.
If the value data is character data instead of numeric, then
the graph will contain a bar for each value.

When the data is an elevation layer, the elevation values will

be grouped into bins, and each bin will be a bar in the graph.

Note: To generate a histogram from raster data,

go to the layer Metadata.

A line graph shows the change in the value

attribute compared to the Point Label
Attribute. Typically the point label attribute

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would capture an element of time, such as a

timestamp. With multiple layers selected,
the X-Axis can also contain the layer name
by using the <Feature Layer Name> option.
Line Graph With the Multiple Series Attribute option
enabled, the graph will contain multiple
lines, split based on the selected attribute.

Global Mapper can create a pie chart from

attribute data in a vector layer or a Lidar
data set. The data values in the attribute will
be summed up based on the category
attribute. The size of each pie section will
Pie Chart represent the percentage of the total for the
associated category.

Data Settings
Click the Data Series tab to display the following window:

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The Data Series tab contains the following that applies to the data in the graph:

Source Data - Choose the data layer or layers that will be used to generate the graph. The list will contain only layers that are
suitable for the currently selected graph type. If the type is Histogram, then elevation layers, Lidar layers, and vector layers will be in
the list. For all other graph types, the list will contain only Lidar data sets and vector layers. When a choice is made, the preview will
be updated to reflect that choice.

Note: To see a histogram of raster data, go to the layer Metadata

Point Label Attribute (X-Axis)- Choose the vector layer attribute that will provide the main categorization graph. This attribute value
will be used to group multiple features into a single bar or pie section and as the X-axis in a line graph. When a choice is made, the
preview will be updated to reflect that choice. If the user has selected an elevation layer for the source layer, this list will be disabled.
The <None> option will do no grouping of features by attribute, and each feature will be graphed separately. With <None>, features
are labeled based on their assigned label or index value. When multiple layers are selected in source data, the point label may be set
to <Feature Layer Name>. This will group the features by layer name.

Value Attribute (Y-Axis)

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Attribute Name - Choose the attribute used to provide values for the graph. If the user has selected an elevation
layer for the source layer, this list will be disabled. When a choice is made, the preview will be updated to reflect that
choice.

Value attribute contains numeric data - Put a check in this box if the data in the value attribute is numeric. This
box will only be enabled when the graph type is Histogram. In all other cases, the value attribute must contain
numeric data, so this item will be checked and disabled.

Aggregation Method - This defines how the Point Label aggregates the values (Value attribute). The options are
Sum, Average, or Count. For example in the sample above of Population by Region, population is summed by
region. Choosing Average would give the average population of the countries in each region. Count would provide
the number of countries that contain a value for population. Features with empty / null values would not be included
in the count.

Multiple Series Attribute - The series attribute is an additional level of categorization that can be applied to bar graphs or line
graphs. This will show in the legend. In a line graph, adding a series attribute will divide the graph into multiple lines, one for each
unique attribute within the series. In a bar chart or horizontal bar chart a series attribute will provide an additional subdivision within
the Point Label Attribute

Data Labels section

Show labels on graph data elements - Check the box to enable the data labels to be displayed. This item will be
disabled until the user has selected the graph type and data layer. The preview will be updated when this option is
clicked.

Label Contents - Choose an option that determines what data will be included in the label. This text box is attached
to distinct data elements inside of the graph. Choices are: Attribute and Value, Value and Attribute, Attribute, Value.

Attribute refers to the value associated with the attribute in the X Point Label Attribute field. Value refers to the
number used to determine the length of the bar, size of the pie section, etc. This item will be disabled when the
check box used to show labels is not checked. When a choice is made, the preview will be updated to reflect that
choice.

Number of Bins - Type in the number of bins to be used in a Histogram. If the graph type is anything other than Histogram, this field
will be disabled. The preview will be updated when a value has been entered and the user releases focus from this field by tabbing to
or clicking on another field.

X-Axis Name - Type the name to be displayed along the X-axis. The preview will be updated as the data is typed in.

Y-Axis Name - Type the name to be displayed along the Y-axis. The preview will be updated as the data is typed in.

Legend Title - Type the title to be used for this data series in the legend. The preview will be updated as the title is typed in.

Color section - Use the radio buttons in this section to choose the color scheme for the graph.

Use default color - Check this radio button to allow Global Mapper to choose the data series color. The preview will
be updated when this selection is made.

Match color to associated feature - Check this radio button to match each graph element's color to its associated
feature. This option will be disabled if the graph type is Histogram. The preview will be updated when this selection
is made.

Use custom color - Check this radio button to choose a color to be used for the data series. The preview will be
updated when this selection is made.

Select... - Click this button to display a color selection dialog. Once the selection has been made, the rectangle to
the left of the button will be updated with the selected color, and the preview will also be updated.

Advanced - Choose Horizontal angle for graph text and the number of digits right of decimal for numeric values.

Graph Window
When a new graph is first created it will automatically open in a new graph window. A graph can also be opened by highlighting the
name in the Graph and Chart Manager and pressing the Open... button. The Graph window contains the graph and buttons to modify
or save the data. This window can be floating or docked into the application. See Window Docking for more information.

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Save and Add to Map - Selects the location where the image file will be stored and the type as BMP, JPEG or PNG. The
Fixed Screen Location dialog will then control where it should be located on the map and how large the image should be. For more
information on the Fixed Screen Location Dialog, see Open Data File at Fixed Screen Location.

Properties - Press the Properties button to change the setup of the graph.

Feature Info Graphs

When the Feature Info Toolis used to select a pixel, a Pixel Information dialog displays the following information in either a line or
bar graph:

Layer name
Pixel coordinates
Ground coordinates
Band values
Slope and Slope Aspect (elevation grid only)
Graph of band values

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Layer - This field contains the description of the layer that contains the pixel.

Location - Displays the coordinates of the pixel in the global projection.

Row, Column - contains the pixel location within the raster image. If the raster is an elevation grid, there is also an Elevation field
that contains the elevation, slope, and slope direction at the selected pixel.

Graph Type - This field allows the user to choose to display the graph as a bar graph or line graph.

Bands - This section contains a list of the values for each band in the pixel. The bands designated as red, green, and blue will be
labeled as such, and the other bands will be labeled as “Band n”. If the user clicks on one of the lines in the Bands list, the
corresponding graph bar or point will be highlighted.

Graph - This section contains the graph itself and the Show point labels check box, which permits the user to show or hide the
labels that are above each bar or point in the graph.

If the graph contains a large number of points, the view area will be narrowed to a portion of the graph, scroll to see the rest. Check
Fit data to graph to fit the entire extent into the window. When the box is checked, all of the data will be displayed in the graph
window. When the box is not checked, the view will contain a portion of the graph, and the user will be able to scroll left and right to
see the rest. In this case, all of the labels will be displayed.

Graph of Multiple Attributes

Use the Feature Info Tool to generate graphs related to only the selected feature. The graph button will open a custom version of
the Graph and Chart manager related to graphs of individual features.

When graphing an individual feature, it is possible to add multiple attributes. Press the button next to the attribute name to select
multiple attributes to include as the value attribute.

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The Point Label will show below the title. This graph setup is a template that can be regenerated for each selected feature.

In the case above, the selected feature was China, but now that a Population graph has been created, the same graph template can
be used for another feature by selecting that feature with the Info Tool and going to Graphs, then opening the population graph.

Duplicate Features
The Find Duplicate Features tool can be used to search for duplicate features in selected layers. Duplicate features are features
that have the same vertices (within a specified tolerance for each vertex). For example, this tool could be used to find duplicate 'State
Highway' line features that may have been brought into the workspace from two different data sources. (See also Find Features with
Duplicate Attribute Values , Feature Overlap , Delete Duplicate Lidar Points)

This tool is available from the Analysis Menu> Find Duplicate Features... or the Bridge Extension Find Duplicate Features

toolbar button .

The following dialog will be displayed:

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This tool will allow the user to locate and delete the duplicate features. A linear tolerance setting allows the tool to locate features that
have approximately the same geometry. The Duplicate Feature tool searches by vertices, so features that are overlapping or
'partial duplicates' will not be detected. For such features the Find Overlapping Features tool should be used.

To perform a basic search for all duplicate features:

l Specify the layers to search in the Overlays to Search for Duplicate Features
section
l Specify the Tolerance for each vertex to be considered equal
l Press the Search for duplicate features button
l The Duplicate Feature Pairs area will populate with the results
To refine the duplicates by attributes :

l Optionally specify a feature type to search in the Feature Type drop-down

l Optionally specify an attribute name and value in the Attribute section
l The Duplicate Feature Pairs area will populate with all duplicate features that
also match the optional parameters

Overlays To Search for Duplicate Features

This list will include all active overlays (selected in the Overlay Control Center). Select one or more overlays to search. To further
narrow the overlapping features search by Feature Type and Attribute Name or Value, fill out the Feature Properties section.

Feature Properties
Feature Type – All of the Global Mapper features types present in the selected overlays are listed here. For convenience, area and
line features types are listed together, and given the 'AREA' and 'LINE' prefix respectively. Select the feature type you would like to
process, or 'Any' to process all features.

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Attribute – Specify an optional attribute value that features must have to be processed. This will be empty by default.

Tolerance – A non-zero tolerance may be specified to locate features that have approximately equal geometry. This is the allowable
distance between corresponding vertices in a pair of features. The distance may be given in Meters or International Feet.

Search for Duplicate Features

Press this button at the bottom of the dialog to search the specified layers for overlapping features.

Duplicate Feature Pairs

Once the search is performed, this section will list all duplicates. Click on the features in the Duplicate feature pairs window to select
them for editing in the workspace.

Edit Duplicates
Select a row in the Duplicate Feature pairs list to select both duplicate features with the digitizer tool. Optionally check the Zoom to
Selected Features option at the bottom of the dialog to zoom to the location of the selected duplicate features.

Open the attribute table or use the info tool to view the duplicate attributes. Press the delete key or right click to the context menu on
the map to delete a feature or perform other editing tasks.

Partial Feature Duplicates

To be considered a 'Duplicate Feature' by the Find Duplicate features tool, features must have exactly
the same set of vertices. Lines that do not cross, but share partial overlap, can be located with the Find
Overlapping Features tool. To be considered overlapping features must have two or more vertices in
common.

Example

Feature Overlap
The Find Overlapping Features tool will search and identify overlapping features. Overlapping features are any features that share
two or more vertices. The search for duplicate features can be further refined to identify overlapping features with specific properties
(layer, feature type, attribute, or attribute value).

To find features that share all vertices see Duplicate Features, to find features that intersect see Advanced Selection
Options.

Point features can not overlap, and intersection, containment, or proximity with other types can also be found with the
digitizer Advanced Selection Options

Features that overlap in the selected overlays will be identified in the Feature Overlap dialog (below), in the Overlapping feature pairs
window.

This tool is available in the Analysis Menu>Find Overlapping Features..., or in the Bridge Extension toolbar button .

The following dialog will be displayed:

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To perform a basic search for all overlapping features:

l Select the layers to search and press the Search for Overlapping Features
button at the bottom
l Click on overlapping feature pairs to select them
l If the overlapping features are the same geometry type, matching vertices
will appear with a red X
l Double-click on the overlapping feature pair to select with the digitizer tool
for editing
To further narrow the overlapping features search by Feature Type or Attribute Value, fill out the Feature Properties
section:

l Optionally specify a Feature Type in Feature Properties 1

l Optionally specify an Attribute name and Value in Feature Properties 1 that
the feature must contain to be checked for overlap
l Optionally specify a Feature Type or Attribute Name and value for the
overlapping feature in Feature Properties 2

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For example, this tool can search for buildings that have been incorrectly placed over water features. The user may select each
overlapping feature pair from the Overlap Tool, and then use the Digitizer to resolve the overlap issue. Enabling the Zoom to selected
Features option will pan the workspace view to selected features.

Overlays to search for overlapping Features

Specify which layers to check for overlapping features. This list will include all active overlays (selected in the Overlay Control Center).
Select one or more overlays to search.

Feature Properties 1
Feature Type– All of the Global Mapper features types present in the selected overlays are listed here. For convenience, area and
line features types are listed together, and given the “AREA” and “LINE” prefix respectively. Select the first feature type you would like
to process, or “Any” to process all features.

Attribute– Specify an optional attribute value that the first features must have to be processed. This will be empty by default.

Feature Properties 2 Group

Same as Feature Properties 1– Check this box to search for overlapping features with the same type (and optional attribute). For
example, you may wish to find building features that overlap.

Feature Type– Feature type of the second feature. For example, to find buildings that overlap rivers, set feature type 1 to building,
and feature type 2 to river.

Attribute– Optional attribute of second features.

Examples

Overlapping feature pairs

After the search is performed this section will lists all of the overlapping feature pairs. Click on a list item to select the features on the
map. Use the Digitizer tool to modify the features to resolve the overlap issue.

Duplicates will be auto-numbered and identified based on the Feature Labels (<Feature Name> attribute). Each overlap pair will
indicate if it is a Normal Overlap or Missing Vertex.

When highlighting a pair of features in the list, the point of overlap will be indicated with a red bullseye icon.

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This example shows the highlighted Feature pair, with a bullseye icon surrounding the point of overlap
between the two areas. With semi-transparent area fills, you can also see the area of overlap between the
two areas in the darker brown shade.

Search for overlapping features

Press the search for overlapping features button to perform the search. Press search again to refresh the list of overlapping features
above as they are resolved.

Spatial Operations
The spatial operations tool performs vector overlay operations, spatial predicate queries, and spatial transforms on area, line, and
point features. Tabs of the Spatial Operations dialog are dedicated to Operations, Predicates, and Transforms.

To open this tool press the Spatial Operations button from the Digitizer(Advanced) toolbar, or choose the option from the
Analysis menu.

Overlay Operations

Predicate Queries

Spatial Transforms

Spatial Operations Scripting

The Spatial Operations Scripting tab can perform the same operations in more complex contexts. This includes scripted building of
subsets of the data based on attribute queries and stringing multiple operations together.

To perform a spatial operation do the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Spatial Operations tool in the Digitizer(Advanced) toolbar or Analysis menu.

2. From the drop-downs specify the first layer and second layer that will be analyzed. If the layers are not
currently visible (checked on in the Overlay Control Center) check the option Show disabled layers to view
all loaded layers.

Optionally, to perform a spatial operation on a subset of a layer, you may choose to operate on only currently
selected features, or to operate on only certain feature types. To use only selected features, select a subset of
the layer using the Digitizer tool or Attribute Editor, and then check the option for Only Selected Features.
To use only certain feature types, use the Area, Line, and Point checkboxes that appear below the layer.
These choices apply to both spatial operations and spatial predicates.

3. Select the feature types that should be generated for spatial operations, use the Area, Line, and Point
checkboxes that appear to the right of the Results label.

4. Specify how to handle invalid geometries, such as areas that are self intersecting or not fully closed.

5. Finally name the output layer in the Layer box. A name will be suggested based on the operation selected.

6. A new intersection layer will be produced that finds the areas of intersection between the first and second
layer.

Related Topics

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Related Topics

Tool Information

Spatial Operations Scripting

Scripting Reference

DEFINE_SPATIAL_OPERATION and BEGIN_SPATIAL_OPERATION

Overlay Operations
Spatial Overlay Operations compare the features in two layers, and combine or cut them into new geometries in the output layer
based on the operation. Input layers to spatial operations may be filtered by feature type (point, line, area) or by selection status.
Results may be filtered by feature type, and are then stored into a new layer. Input geometries are checked for validity, and if invalid,
the user may choose to attempt repair, to ignore them, use them anyway, or halt the operation. This tool includes Intersection, Union,
Union Single, Difference, and Symmetrical Difference operations.

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Intersection
The Intersection operation creates a new layer consisting of just the overlapping regions (parts of the original features) in the two
input layers, layer 1 and layer 2. New features receive attributes from both layers.

See also Find Intersection of Two Area Features.

Valid geometry combinations:

Union
A union finds all features that occur in either layer 1, layer 2, or in both layers. This is a combination of all parts of features contained
in either layer, which includes features in one layer OR the other.

The Union operation creates a new layer consisting of all regions from the two input layers. Regions that overlap are split from their
containing features. Attributes of non-overlapping regions will come from their original layer; attributes from overlapping regions will
come from the features that participated in the overlap.

See also Combine Features.

Geometry combinations supported: Area x Area -> Area, Line x Line -> Line, Point x Point -> Point

Valid geometry combinations:

Union Single
A single union operation works on one layer set as Layer 1 in the dialog. This operation examines the overlap between features in the

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layer, and creates features in the result layer for overlapping and non-overlapping regions. For each region that is formed by
overlapping features, identical features are created for each feature (and containing its attributes) that participated in the overlap.

See also Combine Features.

Geometry combinations supported: Area x Area -> Area, Line x Line -> Line, Point x Point -> Point

Valid geometry combinations:

Difference
The difference operation is akin to the subtraction of layer 2 from layer 1. This operation will output the parts in layer 1 that are not
covered by layer 2. Attributes for the new features are copied from their source features in the first input layer.

See also Cut Selected Area(s) from Another Area and Cut Selected Area(s) from all Overlapping Areas (Add Islands).

Valid geometry combinations:

Symmetrical Difference
A symmetrical difference finds all regions exclusively in one layer OR the other, but not in both.

The Symmetric Difference operation creates a new layer consisting of areas of the non-overlapping regions in the first and second
input layers; overlapping regions are removed. Attributes for features in the new layer are copied from their original feature, from
either the first or second input layer.

Valid geometry combinations:

E X A M P L E S

Overlay Operations

The below examples use the following two layers as input:

Layer 1 Layer 2 Visual overlay of layer 1 and

2 with transparency
Results:

Intersection Union Difference Symmetrical Difference

Related Topics

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Related Topics

Predicate Queries
Spatial Predicate Operations identify features in one layer based on their topological relationship to features in a second layer. The
resultant collection of features from the first layer can then be saved as a new layer by copying the result features, or used to modify
the current Global Mapper selection. Unlike the cases of spatial operations and spatial transforms, the result features are unmodified,
with no cutting or dividing of features. These operations are closely related to Advanced Selection Options, which act on selected
features only. The input layers may be filtered by feature type (points, lines, or areas) or by selection status. The Results geometry
type will be determined by the feature types present in the first layer, since a predicate will only return features from that layer that
satisfy the spatial query. Input geometries are checked for validity, and if invalid, the user may choose to attempt repair, to ignore
them, use them anyway, or halt the predicate operation altogether. The predicate operations include Intersects, Overlaps, Touches,
Contains, Equals, Within, Disjoint, and Relate

To specify the result of spatial predicates, use the dropdown list that appears to the right of the Predicates label. Choices are:

l Create New Selection: Features that satisfy the current predicate are used to replace

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the current selection.

l Add to Selection: Features that satisfy the current predicate are added to current
selection.
l Remove from Selection: Features that satisfy the current predicate are removed from
the current selection.
l Create New Layer: Features that satisfy the current predicate are cloned into a new
layer. The New Layer Name entry must not be empty.

Related Topics

Intersects
The Intersects predicate returns the set of features from one layer that intersect features in another layer; this includes any amount of
intersection and returns the original feature in its entirety.

Valid geometry combinations:

E X A M P L E : I n t e r s e c t i o n v s I n t e r s e c t s

Using the same data as the example above, what is the difference between intersection and intersects?

Input Layers Intersection Result Intersects Result

The intersects result returns the full extent of the original features, not just the area where the shared
geometry exists. It is a query, rather than a overlay operation that modifies the input data. By contrast, the
intersection operation cuts the original features to produce an output of new geometries covering just the
area of intersection.

Overlaps
The Overlaps predicate returns the set of features from one layer that overlap features in another layer. Overlap means that the
features have the same dimension and the interiors of the features share some common area, but there are also interiors of both
features not covered by the other feature

Valid geometry combinations:

Touches
The Touches predicate returns the set of features from one layer whose boundary intersects the boundary of a feature in another
layer, but whose interiors do not overlap.

Valid geometry combinations:

Contains
The Contains predicate returns the set of features from one layer that wholly contain a feature from another layer. Contain is the
opposite of within, i.e. feature A contains feature B if and only if feature B is within feature A.

Valid geometry combinations:

Equals
The Equals predicate returns the set of features from one layer that have an exact match with the geometry of a feature from another
layer. This means the two boundaries, interiors and exteriors match.

Valid geometry combinations:

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Within
The Within predicate returns the set of features from one layer that are wholly contained by a feature from another layer. A feature is
within another feature if the interiors of the features intersect, but the interior of the within feature does not intersect the boundary of
the containing feature. The two features can share some boundary.

Valid geometry combinations:

Disjoint
The Disjoint predicate returns the set of features from one layer that do not intersect with any features from another layer. Disjoint
features have no overlap between interior or boundary.

Valid geometry combinations:

Relate
The Relate predicate returns the set of features from one layer using a DE-9IM formatting string to designate relations between the
Inner, Outer and Boundary portions of pairs of geometries.

The DE-9IM (Dimensionally Extended 9-Intersection Model) is a mathematical model used to express the spatial relationships
between different 2D geometries in terms of their interiors (I), exteriors (E) and boundaries (B). For 2 groups of geometries there are
3 x 3 combinations, so 9 intersection possibilities, each mapping to a character in the DE-9IM string.

Feature b
Interior (I) Boundary (B) Exterior (E)
Interior (I) I(a) and I(b) I(a), and B(b) I(a), and E(b)
Feature a
Boundary (B) B(a) and I(b) B(a), and B(b) B(a), and E(b)
Exterior (E) E(a) and I(b) E(a), and B(b) E(a), and E(b)
The possible relationships noted in the table can be expressed using boolean values: 'T' for intersection, 'F' for no intersection, and '*'
for don't care. For example a DE-9IM string could look like "'T*****FF*". This string representing the relationships between feature is
what is used in the Relate predicate.

Example: The string 'T*****FF*' is logically equivalent to the Contains

predicate. From the matrix, this means that Feature a's and Feature b's
interiors intersect, neither b's interior nor its boundary intersect a's exterior
(i.e., "no point of b lies outside of a"). This can be verifies by comparing the
results of a Contains predicate vs the results of Relate using 'T*****FF*'.

Click Edit to edit the DE-9IM string and select from the table the relationships to consider in order to create the DE-9IM string. The
features that meet the relationship criteria defined in the string will be returned as a result of the Relate predicate.

E X A M P L E S

Predicates

The below examples use the following two layers as input:

Input Layer 1 Input Layer 2 Visual overlap of layers

Results:

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Intersects Overlaps Touches Contains

Equals Within Disjoint Relate ('T*****FF*)

Related Topics

Spatial Transforms
Spatial Transforms work with a single layer to create new features based on individual features in the source layer, or groups of those
features. The resulting features are stored in a new layer. The input layer may be filtered by feature type (points, lines, or areas) or by
selection status. Input geometries are checked for validity, and if invalid, the user may choose to attempt repair, to ignore them, use
them anyway, or halt the transform operation altogether. The transform operations include Minimum Bounding Rectangle (MBR),
Centroid, Center, Circle, Buffer, Convex Hull, Concave Hull, and Dissolve.

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Grouping is available for all of the spatial transforms. Based on the grouping selection the desired transform will execute for each
group identified.

l No Grouping will consider each feature it's own group, executing the spatial transform for each feature in
the selected layer.

l Group By Attribute allows the selection of specific attributes and features with matching attribute values
will be grouped. The spatial transform will be executed for each group of features identified. To select or
change attribute selection click the Select button when Group By Attribute is chosen.

l Group All will consider all the features in the layer as a single group.

MBR (Minimum Bounding Rectangle)

The MBR transform generates the minimum bounding rectangle for each of the geometry groups. With this transform selected, the
Grouping drop down menu we be active and features in the selected layer can be grouped all together or by attribute values.

See also Create Layer Coverage Box / Polygon Area Features

Centroid
The Centroid transform generates the geometric center point of each of the geometry groups.

See also Centroids

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Center
The Center transform generates the center point of the MBR of each of the geometry groups.

Circle
The Circle transform generates a circle area of the given radius around the center point of each of the geometry groups. A radius of
zero generates a minimum enclosing circle around the group.

The Circle Distance value is the radius of the circle feature that will be generated and centered on the the point or line/area feature
(s) center. The units for this value can be selected from the drop down.

Buffer
The Buffer transform generates a buffer area of the specified width and units around each of the geometry groups.

The Buffer Distance value is the measured distance from the feature(s) where the buffer area will be created. The units for this value
can be selected from the drop down.

See also Create Buffer Around Selected Features, Create Range Rings / Ellipses

Convex Hull
The Convex Hull transform generates a convex hull area around each of the geometry groups.

Concave Hull
The Concave Hull transform generates a concave hull around each the geometry groups.

The Hull Smoothing value determines how precisely to follow the edge of features to contain them. A rough concave hull will
typically include more vertices and may contain more concave sections. A smooth hull value will simplify the boundary to generate a
less complicated bounding feature. Any smoothing value zero or above is valid.

See also Create Coverage Area (Concave Hull)

Dissolve
The Dissolve transform creates a new layer by combining overlapping geometries and converting them into multi-geometries. The
Dissolve transform can only be executed on area features.

A Grouping setting of Group All or Group By Attribute must be selected for the transform to run to ensure multiple features are
included in each group.

Related Topics

Related Topics

Spatial Operations Scripting

Spatial Operations Scripting is a dialog that allows the user to create and execute spatial scripts, which can perform a number of
advanced queries, overlay operations and additional functions on vector layers. Spatial script commands may also be used within
a Global Mapper script to perform many functions previously only available by manually using the digitizer tools.

Spatial Operations Scripting exposes Global Mapper spatial analysis functionality using a simple text-based script language. In the
Spatial Operations Scripting dialog, users can perform a number of advanced queries, overlay operations and additional functions on
vector layers.

While editing a spatial script, the dialog constantly checks the script syntax, and gives the location and reason for the first syntax error
it encounters, if there are any. The Run button is enabled only if there are no syntax errors in the script. After creating a Spatial
Operations script in this dialog box, click Run to execute the entire script. To run only a portion of the created script, select a section
of the script and hold the Control key when you click Run to execute only part of the script that is selected in the edit box.

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To open this tool press the Spatial Operations button from the
Digitizer(Advanced) toolbar and switch to the scripting tab, or choose
Spatial Operations Scripting... command from the Analysis menu.

Spatial scripts can be created and run in the Scripting tab of the Spatial
Operations dialog, but can also be defined and run in a Global Mapper
script using the DEFINE_SPATIAL_OPERATION or
BEGIN_SPATIAL_OPERATION commands.

Note: Some of the tools used in the scripting language are

exposed using other parts of Global Mapper. For example, spatial
operations and predicates are also exposed in the Operations tab
of the Spatial Operations dialog, feature filtering is also exposed
in the Vector Query Search dialog.

Note: Note that as of Global Mapper 23.1, spatial operation

scripts may now exist on disk as .gmss files. These files may be
loaded, edited, and run from the Global Mapper Script Editor.
Currently, the Scripting tab does not currently support loading and
saving of these files.

Technical note: The spatial tools and concepts used in spatial scripting generally follow the OGC Simple Feature Access
specification. See ISO 19125-1:2004 Geographic information — Simple feature access — Part 1: Common architecture.

Concepts
Feature Collections: Layers and Feature Sets
Spatial Operations scripts generally manipulate collections of geometric features, or just "feature collections". One type of feature
collection is the Global Mapper layer, which are shown in the Control Center. Another is a feature set (or just "set"), which is a
collection of features, or references to features in a layer. Feature sets can be named, or just exist as an unnamed collection in a
feature collection expression (or just "collection expression"). Collection expressions are like arithmetic formulas, except that the
operands are feature collections, and the operators are spatial analysis operations and predicates, feature transforms, and feature
filtering.

One important difference between layers and feature sets are that layers persist in the Control Center, and feature sets only persist
while the script is running. When the script execution ends, any feature sets created in the script and their contents are removed,
unless they have been saved as layers.

It is important to note that while layers contain their own features, feature sets can contain either their own features or references to
existing features in a different collection. Certain spatial tools always create new features (spatial operations, spatial transforms), and
other tools create feature references by default (spatial predicates, filters). When creating a new layer, new features are always
created regardless of the tool used to produce them. In general, when creating a new set using a spatial operation or transform, the
set will be populated by new features; on the other hand, when using spatial predicates or filters, the set will contain references to
existing features in another collection.

Spatial Operations
Spatial operations create new features based on the spatial relations between the features in one or two feature collections. The
types of spatial operations currently available are INTERSECTION, UNION, DIFFERENCE, and SYMMETRICDIFFERENCE.

Spatial Predicates
Spatial predicates identify existing features from a feature collection as they relate to features in another collection. Once identified,
predicate results may be used to create new layers or for modifying the current Global Mapper feature selection. The types of spatial
predicates currently available are INTERSECTS, OVERLAPS, TOUCHES, CONTAINS, EQUALS, WITHIN, DISJOINT, and
RELATE. A simple example: Create a feature set of areas in the “Townships” layer that intersect with any of the areas in the
“Endangered Species Habitats” layer.

Transforms
Feature transforms create new features by transforming feature geometries in some way. Transforms may be applied to individual
geometries or to groups of geometries in a collection. The types of feature transforms currently available are HULL, MBR, CIRCLE,

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CENTROID, CIRCLE, BUFFER, CONVEX HULL, CONCAVE HULL, and DISSOLVE. A simple example: Create a new feature set
comprised of the convex hulls of the area features in the “Townships” layer.

Filtering
Feature filtering reduces the number of features used in other spatial operations tools. In the scripting language, feature filtering is
done using the same queries used by the Search Vector Data and Attribute Calculator dialogs. These queries are introduced using a
WHERE term. A simple example: Filter the features in the “Townships” layer that have a “population” attribute with values less than
10000.

Features can also be filtered by geometry type or currently selected features by including the type (points, lines, areas) or the term
selected in brackets after naming a feature collection. Ex: "layer 1"[lines, selected] will filter to only currently selected line features in
layer 1.

Syntax
Spatial Operations scripts consist of a series of commands. There are several specific command types in the scripting language:
some begin with a specific command name (for example, the SELECT command), and some do not (for example, assignment
commands). The command names are keywords in the scripting language. In addition, the names of the Spatial Operations tools
used in the scripting language, for example, INTERSECTION, CONTAINS, HULL, are also keywords. These keywords are reserved,
meaning that they cannot be used as the names of feature sets. Keywords are case-independent, but by convention, in this guide,
they are written in uppercase in this guide.

In general, an end-of-line character is treated as a space character (except for single-line comments; see below), so that it’s possible
to string commands together all on the same line, but this can make the script harder to read and comprehend.

For example:

MySet = “Townships” WHERE population > @average 

(population) SELECT Myset 
 
is equivalent to

MySet = “Townships” WHERE population > @average 

(population)
SELECT Myset 
 

In Global Mapper, layers are named collections of geographic entities like points, lines, and polygons. Using the spatial operations
scripting language, users can operate on Global Mapper layers using spatial analysis tools. In addition, the scripting language also
supports another type of feature collection called "feature set" (or just "set"). Feature sets, like layers, are also named collections of
Global Mapper features, except that feature sets do not appear in the Global Mapper Control Center.

In the scripting language, layer names are denoted using their Control Center names in quotes, e.g., “Maine Townships – 1984”. You
may use either single or double quotes, so ‘Maine Townships – 1984’ is also valid, but the beginning quote type and the ending quote
type must match. That is, “Maine Townships – 1984’ is not valid. Layer names are case independent.

By contrast, feature set names are just identifiers, that is, a letter followed by some number of letters or numbers. For example,
MySet and MaineTownships84 are both valid set names, while 123MySet or My-Set are not. As with layer names, set names are
case-independent.

In the script language descriptions, the term "feature collection" (or just "collection") is used to refer to either a Global Mapper Layer
or a scripting language feature set, as in many cases, either a layer or set can be used in the same context.

When describing spatial analysis tools used in scripting, the tools use one or more feature collections. The first collection is generally
referred to as the input or first collection, and the second, if present, is usually referred to as the overlay or second collection.

Spatial analysis tools generally use ‘function notation’, borrowed from programming languages. So, for example, the syntax for the
INTERSECTION operation is:

<feature collection> = INTERSECTION( <input collection>, <overlay collection> )

The syntax for the CONTAINS predicate is:

<feature collection> = CONTAINS( <input collection>, <overlay collection> )

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The syntax for the HULL transform is:

<feature collection> = HULL( <input collection> )

Using function notation, operations, predicates, and transforms can be nested with filtering added as well.

For example: Create a new layer named "MyLayer" from the intersection of the features in feature set Set1
that have attribute 'ID' equal to 43, and the set of features from the convex hull of the "Townships" layer that
contain features from the "Lakes" layer.

LAYER “MyLayer” = INTERSECTION( Set1 where ID = 43, 

CONTAINS( HULL(“Townships”), “Lakes” ) ) 
 

Comments may be added to spatial operations scripts. There are two types:

l Use /* to begin a block comment and */ to end it. Everything in between will be ignored.
Note that these cannot be nested. When /* is encountered, everything between that
and the next */ is skipped. If the a */ comment end marker is not found after an initial /*,
then the script is not valid, and will not run. Conversely, if a */ comment end marker is
found with no initial /*, then the script is not valid, and will not run.
l Use // to start a comment that will last until the end of the current text line.

Examples:

/* This is

a multi-line

comment */ 
 
// This is a single line comment

LAYER “NewLayer“ = HULL( “OldLayer” ) // comment can
appear here 
 

Spatial Scripting Reference

Creating Feature Collections
In the script language, feature collections are created and updated using feature collection assignment statements, or just
assignment statements. These take two general forms, based on the target collection (either a layer or a feature set):

New layers and sets can be created using assignment statements that resemble algebraic expressions. They take the general form:

<feature collection> = <collection expression>

Here, the <feature collection> is either a layer name (for example, LAYER “NewLayer”) or the name of a feature set (for example,
NewSet)

LAYER <layer name> = <feature collection expression>

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<set name> =<feature collection expression>

where <layer name> is the name of a layer that will reside in the Control Center, <set name> is the user-chosen name of a feature
set, and <feature collection expression> is an expression that involves some combination of other feature collections, spatial
operations, predicates, transforms, or filters. Collection expressions will be discussed below.

Note that when creating a new layer, the layer name used must not already exist in the Control Center; this command can be used to
create new layers only. By contrast, a set name that has been used before can be used again; the command will cause the original
contents to be replaced by the new collection.

Example: Feature Collections

// Create a new layer of the townships that contain at least one entire lake 

// The features in “NewLayer” are copies of features from the “Townships” layer
LAYER “NewLayer” = CONTAINS( “Townships”, “Lakes” )

 
// Create a new set that references the township features in the “TownShips” 

// layer that contain at least one entire lake
NewSet = CONTAINS( “Townships”, “Lakes” )

 
// Create a new set that that contains new features that are the convex 

// hulls of some townships in “Townships” layer
NewSet = HULL( “Townships” where County = “Sagadahoc” )

 


// Create a feature set from the “Townships” layer features
// that have an ‘area’ attribute that is less than 200
SmallTownships = “Townships” where area < 200
// Create a new layer from features in the SmallTownships set
// that intersects features in the “Lakes” layer
layer “NewLayer” = intersects( SmallTownships, “Lakes” )

 

Loading and Unloading Layers

l Load : the Load function will load a layer or layers from the named file.

LAYER LOAD <filename>

l Unload : The Unload function will unload a layer from the workspace.

LAYER UNLOAD <layer name>

Expressions
There are several types of tools that can be used in spatial analysis scripts: spatial operations, spatial predicates, feature transforms,
and feature filtering.

Spatial Operations
Spatial operations are used to create new features based on the spatial relationships between features from two feature collections.
The new features are stored in a separate collection. Typically, each operation uses two collections: the “input” collection and the
“overlay” collection. Typically, new features retain the attributes from their original feature in the input collection but may also take on
attributes from their constituent feature in the overlay collection. When attribute name conflicts occur, the name from the input
collection is used, and the name from the overlay collection is modified by adding a decimal digit to guarantee uniqueness. Spatial
operations currently use two feature collection operands, and use a function-like syntax:

operation-type ( feature-collection , feature-collection)

To specify the feature geometry for the results of an expression, a third parameter can be added specifying points, lines, or areas.
For further information on valid input and result geometry combinations for each operation, see Spatial Operations.

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operation-type ( feature-collection , feature-collection, results[geometry])

The following spatial operations available in the Global Mapper spatial analysis scripting language. The script language keyword for
each operation is specified in CAPITAL LETTERS; note that in the script language, the names of operations are case-independent;
that is, “Difference” is the same as “difference” and “DIFFERENCE”.

l Intersection : The INTERSECTION operation creates a new feature for each feature of the input collection that spatially
intersects with features in the overlay collection. New features retain the attributes of both features that were used to create
the intersection. An intersection expression takes the form INTERSECTION(<feature-collection>, <feature-collection>).

l Union : The UNION operation creates new features by finding overlap between the input and overlay collections. For each
overlapping area, a new feature is created, retaining the attributes of both of its source features. For each non-overlapping
area, a new feature is created, retaining its original attributes from either the input or the overlay collections. A union
expression takes the form UNION(<feature-collection>, <feature-collection>).

l Union Single: Similar to the UNION operation the union single uses only one input layer and creates new features by finding
overlap between the features in the layer. A union single expression takes the form UNION(<feature-collection>).

l Difference : The DIFFERENCE operation creates a new feature for features of the input collection that do not overlap
features in the overlay collection. Input collection features that do overlap features in the overlay collection have overlapping
areas clipped away. New features retain the attributes of their original feature from the input collection.An difference
expression takes the form DIFFERENCE(<feature-collection>, <feature-collection>).

l Symmetric Difference : The SYMMETRICDIFFERENCE operation creates new features for features from both the input
and overlay collections, with areas of overlap removed. New features retain the attributes of both features that were used to
create the intersection. An symmetric difference expression takes the form SYMMETRICDIFFERENCE(<feature-collection>,
<feature-collection>).

Example: Spatial Operations

Here, the layer “NewLayer” consists of new features made from overlapping areas between each area
feature in the “Townships” layer and “Endangered Species Habitats” layer.


LAYER “NewLayer” = INTERSECTION( “Townships”, “Endangered Species Habitats” )

 
An additional example which includes a commented out description:

// Create a new layer of intersecting areas of towns and wetland areas 

LAYER “Wetland Areas” = INTERSECTION( “Townships”, “Wetlands” ) 
 

Spatial Predicates
Spatial predicates are used to determine which features in a feature collection bear a certain spatial relationship with features in
another collection. By default, the collection of features returned by a predicate operation are references to existing features.

For example, if a user had a collection of areas representing townships in a state or county, it might be useful to determine which
townships border on a body of water, also represented by an area feature in a different collection. The user could use the Intersect
predicate to determine those townships. Spatial predicates currently use two feature collection operands, and use a function-like
syntax:

predicate-type ( feature-collection , feature-collection )

To specify the feature geometry for the results of an expression, a third parameter can be added specifying points, lines, or areas.

operation-type ( feature-collection , feature-collection, results[geometry])

The following spatial predicates are currently available in the Global Mapper spatial analysis scripting language. The script language
keyword for each operation is specified in CAPITAL LETTERS; note that in the script language, the names of operations are case-
independent; that is, “Intersects” is the same as “intersects” and “INTERSECTS”:

l Intersects : The INTERSECTS predicate returns the features in one collection that intersect any feature in another
collection.

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l Overlaps : The OVERLAPS predicate returns the features in one collection that overlap any feature in another collection.

l Touches : The TOUCHES predicate returns the features in one collection that touch any feature in another collection.

l Contains : The CONTAINS predicate returns the features in one collection that wholly contain any feature in another
collection.

l Equals : The EQUALS predicate returns the features in one collection that equal any feature in another collection.

l Within : The WITHIN predicate returns the features in one collection that are wholly contained by any feature in another
collection.

l Disjoint : The DISJOINT predicate returns the features in one collection that do not intersect equal any feature in another
collection.

l Relate: the RELATE predicate returns the set of features from one layer using a DE-9IM formatting string to designate
relations between the Inner, Outer and Boundary portions of pairs of geometries.

Example: Spatial Predicates

In the example below, it is important to understand that the features contained in MySet are references to
features that exist in the “Townships” layer, and not separate new features.


MySet = INTERSECTS( “Townships”, “Endangered Species Habitats” )

 
A second example below including descriptive comment:

// Create a new layer from the towns that intersect wetland areas 
LAYER “Wetland Towns” = INTERSECTS( “Townships”, “Wetlands” ) 
 
A third example of a relate predicate using a DE-9IM string:

// The DE-9IM string T*****FF* is logically

equivalent to the Contains predicate


MySet = RELATE( “Layer A”, “Layer B”,"T*****FF*" 

 

Filters
Filters are used to make subsets of feature collections. Filters can be used to select features of specific geometry types (points, lines,
or areas), select features based on an attribute query, or current selection status. By default, the features in a subset are references
to existing features.

Attribute query filters use the same queries used in Search Vector Data. Attribute query filters are initiated using a WHERE clause
after the collection expression.

<feature collection> WHERE <attribute query>

Add a filter for geometry type in brackets after a feature collection name. Accepted values are point, lines, and areas. Multiple types
can be listed separated by commas.

<feature collection>[geometry type]

Filter a feature collection based on the currently selected features by adding selected in brackets after the feature collection name.

<feature collection>[selected]

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Example: Feature Filtering

Output a new temporary set called MySet, containing selected township areas with a population over
10,000.


MySet = “Townships”[areas, selected] WHERE population > 10000

 
The below example creates a new layer called Small Towns.

// Create a new layer from the selected area towns whose “population” attribute 

is less than 1000
LAYER “Small Towns” = “Townships”[areas, selected] WHERE population < 1000

 

Layer Filters
Layer filters can be used to define a new layer or feature collection based on the valid, invalid, or currently selected features.

<filter> ( <feature collection >)

l Valid Geometry: The VALID filter creates a new feature collection of the valid features
from the specified layer.
l Invalid Geometry: The INVALID filter creates a new feature collection containing the
invalid features from the specified layer.
l Currently Selected: The SELECTION filter creates a new feature collection
containing only the currently selected features. No layer can be specified with this filter.
A feature type filter can be modify this filter; for example: use SELECTION[areas,
lines] to return only the selected areas and lines in the new layer.

Example: Layer Filter

Output a new temporary set called MySet, containing only township areas with valid geometry.


MySet = VALID(“Townships”)

 

Units
The linear units to be used throughout the script can be specified with the DEFAULT UNITS command. This takes the form
DEFAULT UNITS <unit>.

Valid unit values are:

l Meters: m, meter, meters, metre, metres

l Kilometers: km, kilometer, kilometers, kilometre, kilometres
l International feet: ft, foot, feet
l US feet: usft, usfoot, usfeet
l Miles: mi, mile, miles

Example: Units

Set the default units to be used to meters:

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
DEFAULT UNITS meters

 

Transforms
Transforms are used to create new geometries by transforming the original geometries in some way. Using a transform on a collection
of geometries creates new, separate geometries in a different collection. Transforms work on a single feature collection, and use a
function-like syntax:

<transform type> ( <feature collection>, grouping:<grouping>)

Spatial transforms are executed on groups of features within a layer. The following grouping options are available:

l None will consider each feature as its own group, executing the spatial transform for
each feature in the selected layer. This is the default if no grouping is specified in the
transform. To specify no grouping, use the grouping:none parameter.
l Partition allows the grouping of features using matching attributes. One or more layer
attribute names may be specified. Each group is composed of features whose
attributes match. The spatial transform will be executed for each group of features
identified. To use partitioning by attribute, use grouping:partition (<attribute list>),
where an attribute is quote-delimited, and multiple attributes are separated by a
comma (','). For example: grouping: partition( "Attribute1", "Attribute2")
l All will consider all the features in the layer as a single group. To specify this, use the
grouping:all parameter.
The following spatial transforms are currently available in the Global Mapper spatial analysis scripting language. The script language
keyword for each operation is specified in CAPITAL LETTERS; note that in the script language, the names of operations are case-
independent; that is, “buffer” is the same as “buffer” and “BUFFER”.

l Minimum Bounding Rectangle : The MBR (for Minimum Bounding Rectangle)

transform creates a minimum bounding rectangle for each feature in its collection. MBR
( <feature collection>, grouping:<grouping>)
l Center: The CENTER transform generates the center point of the MBR of each of the
geometry groups. CENTER ( <feature collection>, grouping:<grouping>)
l Centroid: The CENTROID transform generates the geometric center point of each of
the geometry groups. CENTROID ( <feature collection>, grouping:<grouping>)
l Circle: The CIRCLE transform generates a circle area of the given radius around the
center point of each of the geometry groups. As a special case, a radius of zero
generates a minimum enclosing circle around the group; the center will generally not
be at the center of the geometry's MBR. Specify the radius using radius:value as an
additional parameter in the transform. For this transform a linear unit can be specified,
the defined default unit for the script will be used, or meters will be used as a default.
CIRCLE( <feature collection> , distance:<distance>, grouping:<grouping>)
l Buffer Feature(s): The BUFFER transform creates buffer features from the specified
feature collection. This transform functions similarly to the Buffer Feature Creation. For
this transform a linear unit can be specified, the defined default unit for the script will be
used, or meters will be used as a default. BUFFER( <feature collection> ,
distance:<distance>, grouping:<grouping>)
l Convex Hulls : The CONVEXHULL transform creates a convex hull from each area
feature in its collection. CONVEXHULL ( <feature collection>, grouping:<grouping>)
l Concave Hulls: The CONCAVEHULL transform generates a concave hull around
each the geometry groups. A smoothing parameter determines how precisely to follow
the edge of features to contain them. A rough concave hull will typically include more
vertices and may contain more concave sections. A smooth hull value will simplify the

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boundary to generate a less complex bounding feature. Any smoothing value zero or
above is valid. CONCAVEHULL( <feature collection> , smoothing:<hull smoothing>,
grouping:<grouping>)
l Dissolve: The DISSOLVE transform creates a new layer by combining overlapping
geometries and converting them into multi-geometries. The Dissolve transform can
only be executed on area features, and grouping:none is not allowed. DISSOLVE
( <feature collection>, grouping:<grouping>)

Example: Transforms

A series of MBR layers are created, one for each grouping option:


// create MBR combinations
layer "County MBRs - All" = mbr("Counties",
grouping:all)
layer "County MBRs - Partition" = mbr("Counties", grouping:partition("COUNTY"))
layer "County MBRs - None" = mbr("Counties", grouping:none)

 
An advanced example of a convex hull calculation that first performs an attribute query on the layer:

/* Create a new layer of convex hulls for all the areas in the “Townships”
layer that meet an attribute query */ 
LAYER “Town Hulls” = CONVEXHULL (“Townships” WHERE population < 1000,
grouping:all) 
 
Creating four different buffer sets from the MyLayer feature set, the units can be defined as follows:


// uses 10 meters and grouping:none since no unit or group option has been
specified
set1 = Buffer("MyLayer", distance:10)
DEFAULT UNITS Feet
set2 = Buffer("MyLayer", distance:10, grouping:all)
// creates a single 10 foot buffer for the layer

 

Selecting Features
The script language allows the user to manage feature selection in layers using the SELECT command. Features may be added to
the current selection using the ADD specifier, removed from the current selection using the REMOVE specifier, or the selection may
be cleared using the CLEAR specifier.

To select all of the features in a layer, use the syntax SELECT <feature collection>.

To add features to the current selection, use the syntax SELECT ADD <feature collection>.

To clear the current selection, use the syntax SELECT CLEAR.

To remove features from the current selection use the syntax SELECT DELETE <feature collection>.

In addition to using feature collections to specify features to consider for selection, you may also specify an MBR to select features.
This works in much the same way as a sweep select operation using the mouse in Global Mapper. In this case, a mimimum bounding
rectangle denoting the selection rectangle must be specified, in the current global units.

Note that when selecting features, the Global Mapper digitizer is automatically enabled.

Example: Selection

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
// Create a new feature set named ‘selected’ based on the currently selected
// features in the layer “MeTwp24.shp” that have attribute ‘area’ value
// less than the aggregate average of all ‘area’ attributes
selected = "MeTwp24.shp" WHERE IsSelected() and area < @Average(area)
// Create a new selection from the members of the set ‘selected’
SELECT selected
// Add features from layer "MeTwp24.shp" that have attribute ‘county’ value
// equal to ‘Hancock’ and ‘area’ attribute value less than 1000
SELECT ADD "MeTwp24.shp" WHERE county = "Hancock" and area < 10000
// Create a new layer named “New Selected” from the features in the set
‘selected’
LAYER "NewSelected" = selected
// Create a new selection from the features in the layer "MeTwp24.shp" that
intersect the given MBR.
select "MeTwp24.shp" MBR 383758.632, 5003214.782, 403400.963, 4989465.150

 

Attribute Management
Spatial operations can be used to add, remove, or edit attributes for a feature collection. Operators ADD, DELETE, and RENAME are
used to manage and change attributes.

To add a new attribute to a feature set use attribute ADD with the syntax <feature collection> attribute ADD <attribute-name =
attribute-formula> To create a formula see the Formula Calculator

To delete an attribute use attribute DELETE with the syntax <feature collection> attribute DELETE <attribute-name>

To rename an attribute use attribute RENAME with the syntax <feature collection> attribute RENAME <attribute-name> <new-
attribute-name>

Example: Attribute Editing


// load a layer
layer load "v:\shp\maine\cnty24p.shp"
// add empty attributes named "Empty", using layer name reference, and omitting
a formula
layer "cnty24p.shp" attribute add "Empty"
// another way to add an empty attribute
layer "cnty24p.shp" attribute add "Empty2" = ""
// create set name referring to original layer
theCounties = "cnty24p.shp"
// add a new attribute using an attribute formula using set name reference
theCounties attribute add "temp" = County + " " + CNTYCODE * 10
// rename an attribute
theCounties attribute rename "temp" "County"
// delete an attribute
theCounties attribute delete "County"

 

Error Handling
When performing spatial operations on Global Mapper features, the features are checked for validity, for example, polygon closure,
orientation, self-intersection, and so on. The scripting language allows the user to choose what happens when validation errors occur.
The possible behaviors are to skip the current geometry, to use it anyway (possibly leading to incorrect results) or to halt the script
altogether. In addition, the script implementation may be able to repair certain types of geometry problems, and the user can choose
to let the implementation try to do the repairs. The command that controls these behaviors is the ONERROR command.

To tell the script engine to skip invalid geometries, use ONERROR GEOMETRY SKIP.

To tell the script engine to ignore geometry errors and use invalid geometries anyways, use ONERROR GEOMETRY IGNORE.

To tell the script engine to halt the current script when an invalid geometry is detected, use ONERROR GEOMETRY HALT.

To tell the script engine to attempt to repair invalid geometries before acting on the main command, append the REPAIR parameter to
the command. For example: ONERROR GEOMETRY SKIP REPAIR.

The default setting for scripts is to skip invalid geometries, and not attempt to repair them first. That is, it is as if the script begins with
ONERROR GEOMETRY SKIP.

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Topic Overview

Spatial Operations

Vector Analysis

Scripting Reference

DEFINE_SPATIAL_OPERATION and BEGIN_SPATIAL_OPERATION

Terrain Painting
Terrain Painting is a set of terrain editing tools that provide the ability to interactively modify the elevation values of a gridded
elevation dataset. The Terrain Painting toolset includes operations like filling gaps in the terrain with interpolation, raising or lowering
the existing elevation inside of a defined area, or setting a specific elevation height. Dynamically editing a terrain dataset unlocks new
possibilities in site planning, modeling, and cleaning up or improving sensor derived elevation data. This tool works with all types of
gridded elevation datasets, including DSMs and DTMs, bathymetric datasets, lidar derived terrain data, and more.

To begin terrain painting, select the Terrain Painting button from the Analysis toolbar or the Analysis menu.

This tool requires Global Mapper Pro.

Select the Terrain Painting tool, then choose the terrain layer to perform the edits on (if multiple are loaded).

Choose the operation type, then the brush type. Adjust brush size and other parameters to match the desired effect.
The cursor will indicate brush size (red) and feathering (blue) that has been set.

Click on the map to perform the edit. When using the line or area brush type, left-click to define vertices, then right-
click to complete the shape and apply the edit within that area.

The undo and redo operations can be used throughout the session, including when the tool is closed and reopened.
If the workspace has been closed and reopened, it will not be possible to undo edits from the previous session, but the
revert to original heights brush will still work.

To move around the dataset while the terrain painting tool is active, click and drag the middle mouse wheel, or use the
pan arrow icons at the edge of the map.

Note: Modifications to the terrain are stored in the workspace. The original file is not directly edited. To create an updated

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terrain dataset (as a stand alone file), export the data to a new file.

Note: To use terrain painting operations on terrain data loaded from an online dataset, first export the data to a local file
and then make edits to the copy.

If multiple terrain datasets are loaded, select which terrain layer to perform the modifications on. Only one terrain layer may be edited
at a time.

The Terrain Paint options is a floating dialog that will appear while the terrain painting tool is active. This dialog controls the shape and
size of the edits applied, as well as what operation is performed in the selected area.

Text near the top of the floating dialog will show which terrain layer is currently being edited, and that layer's Grid Cell Size.
Grid Cell Size is the layer's resolution. This information can also be found in the layer's Metadata.

Operation:
Fill Gaps - This brush calculates inverse distance weighting (IDW) from nearby pixels to fill in areas that have no elevations. This only
applies to the pixels that have a 'no data' value set, and like other operations, will only create data within the bounds or the original
terrain dataset.

Smooth Terrain - Average - The smoothing operation will perform a focal average for all of the cells inside the brush area, based on
the specified box size. The default will look in a 5X5 neighborhood around each pixel in the brush area, and update that pixel to be the
average value of all the pixels in the neighborhood box. This is similar to the box average resampling method that can be applied to
the whole layer, but in this case it is only applied within the specified brush area.

Raise Terrain Height- This will incrementally increase the height of the terrain in the specified area. The height value sets the amount
the terrain is raised. .

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Lower Terrain Height-Incrementally decrease the height of the terrain in the specified area. The height value controls the amount
the terrain is lowered.

Slope Terrain Along Line - This operation changes the elevation to match the specified slope along the drawn line. The starting
height is derived from the first vertex of the line. The terrain will slope up (positive slope) or down (negative slope) from the first vertex
toward the end of the line, matching the specified slope value. For example to create a highway ramp, start the line at the existing
highway surface and enter a negative slope, drawing the line along the center-line of the new ramp location to slope the terrain down
at the specified grade.

Slope Terrain Across Line - This operation changes the elevation to match the specified slope perpendicularly from the drawn line.
The slope is drawn from the middle of the line out to the left, right, or both sides as determined by settings. See the Examples at the
bottom of this page.

Set as "No Data"- This setting will erase the specified part of the terrain and set it to a null 'No Data' value.

Revert to Original Heights- This tool will selectively erase edits that have been made to the terrain dataset to revert the specified
area back to original values.

Brush Type:
The area that will be edited can be defined by clicking at a point, drawing a line, or drawing an area. The brush type toggles between
these different options for selecting the area of the terrain to be edited.

Point - The point brush will apply the specified operation at the clicked location. Note it is necessary to click at each location to apply
the edit; click and drag is not implemented.

Line - This brush will apply the operation along a line, with the width based on the brush size and other settings. Left-click to place
the first vertex and additional vertices, then right-click to complete the line and apply the edit. Use the undo button to remove the last
vertex placement.

Line (Trace Mode) - This brush will automatically trace the operation as the brush moves, applying the changes to the terrain layer
when the mouse is released. The line width is based on the brush size and other settings. Hold the left mouse button as you move
the cursor across the terrain to draw the operation, then release the mouse to apply it.

Area- Apply the edit operation within a defined area. Left-click on the map to place each of the vertices, then right-click at the last
vertex to close the area and apply the edit.

Area (Trace Mode) - This brush can freehand trace an area feature without having to create multiple vertices, similar to a lasso tool.
Hold the left mouse button while moving the cursor to draw a line, then release the mouse to automatically close the line into an area
feature and apply the operation to the area.

Selected Features - This option allows for a chosen operation to be applied one or more selected vector features simultaneously.
Once the features have been selected with the Digitizer tool the Paint Selected Features button will enable. Click this button to apply
the chosen operation to the selected features.

Other Options:

Based on the resampling method set for the terrain layer, it is not always clear how coarse the terrain data is. For terrain
data the default resampling method is bilinear interpolation, which will smooth the display of the data rather than show the
coarse raw pixels. To see the raw pixel values without interpolation, set the resampling method to No Resampling
(Nearest Neighbor).

Brush Size - Specify the brush size. Units can be changed to Feet, Meters, or number of Grid Cells. The size of the Grid Cells, also
called pixels, is explicitly tied to the resolution of the original dataset. To see the resolution of the terrain data, look at Grid Cell Size
at the top of the dialog, or go to the metadata.

Height - The height value is used to set the terrain height or increase /decrease interval.

Feathering - The feathering effect will taper off the edges of the operation. This effect works in combination with the tools to set
terrain height and raise and lower terrain. The brush will gradually change the pixels beyond the red circle range to match the values
just outside of the feathering zone, shown by the blue circle. This is similar to Feathering Tab options, but occurs only in the local
area where the edit was made.

Box Size - For the smoothing operation, the box size controls how large of a neighborhood of cells to compare to calculate the new
smoothed pixel.

Slope - The slope value sets the slope for Slope Terrain Along Line and Slope Terrain Across Line operations. The slope begins
at the starting vertex for slope terrain along line. Use positive values to slope up, and negative values to slope down. For the slope
across line operation, the slope is applied moving away from the line (left, right or both sides), based on the elevation where the line
is drawn.

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Line side - Left, Right, or Both sides are from the perspective of the beginning of the line. The Line Side option is only used in the
Slope Terrain Across Line operation.

E x a m p l e s

The fill gaps operation was used to fill in a missing part of the terrain where the river bed is in the below
images.

The smooth operation was used in this area to smooth out some terracing in the landscape in the below
images.

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The Raise Terrain height tool was used to elevate this road feature. The feathering effect created a sloped
edge away from the elevated road back to the surrounding terrain.

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The Set Terrain Height was used to reconnect this bridge.

The Slope Terrain Across Line was used to create a more even slope along a river bank. The slope was
drawn to the right of the gray line.

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See Also

Layer Menu
The Layer Menu contains options for data creation or editing using the selected layers in the Overlay Control Center. Many of these
options were previous found in the Overlay Control Center right click context menu, and are still available in the Overlay Control
Center right click context menu under the Layer sub-menu.

These functions will apply to selected layers, so it is necessary to select the appropriate layers in the Overlay Control Center first.

Create Workspace File from Selected Layer(s)

SAVE - Save Changes Over Original File Data
Export Layer(s) to New File
Add Selected Layer(s) to Map Catalog
Save List of Layers to Text File...
Set Background Color for Layer in Control Center

Calculate/ Copy Attribute Value(s)... Attribute Calculator

Join Attribute Table/ File to Layer
Split Into Separate Layers Based on Attribute Value
Create Label Layer...

Select Lidar Classes

SAVE - Save Changes Over Original File Data
Spatially Thin Lidar Point Clouds to Desired Spacing...
Find and Delete Duplicate Lidar Points...

Create Layer Coverage Box/ Polygon Area Features

Create Area Features from Equal Values
Vectorize Raster
Create Point Features at Elevation Grid Cell Centers
Find Extreme (Min/Max) Elevation Values
Close Gaps Between Adjacent Features...
Create Workspace File from Selected Layer(s)
This option will generate a workspace just containing the selected layer(s) and their display options. This workspace can later be
loaded with the File->Load Workspace menu command.

SAVE - Save Changes Over Original File Data

This option is available for modified lidar data. This will overwrite the original file to save the changes. This provides an option to
preserve a workspace with modified lidar, without embedding all of the lidar modifications in the workspace file.

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This tool will show a warning message before overwriting the original file. The file will preserve the original format.

It will also preserve the original and header information except those header values that have been modified, such as: Header Size,
Offset to point data ,Point Data Record Length, Number of point records, Number of point by return, Min and Max Coordinate values,
Start of Waveform Data Packet Record, Start of first Extended Variable Length Record.

With layers inside of a map catalog, the original lidar file that the catalog points to will be saved over.

Export Layer(s) to New File

This option will bring up a dialog to specify the export format. All selected layers in the Overlay Control Center that are compatible
with the export format will be included.

Add Selected Layer(s) to Map Catalog

Adds the selected layer to an existing Map Catalog.See Add Selected Layers to Map Catalog for more information.

Save List of Layers to Text File

Exports a text file listing the layers currently loaded in the workspace. The layer descriptions as seen in the Control Center will be
used in the resulting text file.

Set Background Color for Layer in Control Center

This option allows a background color to be added behind layer names or groups in the Control Center. After choosing the layer,
layers, or group to change the background color of, a color picker box will open allowing the selection of a color. To reset the color
that was chosen for a layer, simply reopen the Set Background Color for Layer in Control Center dialog via he Layer context menu,
and change the color back to white.

Join Attribute Table/ File to Layer

This allows you to join a table of attribute values, either from a DBF file or from a text file, to the attribute table of a selected layer
based on a common value of some attribute. You will be prompted to select the attribute from the attribute table file to join against a
user-selected attribute from the selected layers. For text files, the first line must contain the attribute/ column names. Whenever a
match is found, the other attributes from the data table are added to the matching record(s) in the file.

Split Into Separate Layers Based on Attribute Value

This option allows you to create new layers by splitting the selected layer(s) into new layers based on a particular attribute value or by
the description, type, or name of each feature. The new layers will be grouped together using the name of the original layer unless

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the original layer was already in a group.

Create Layer Coverage Box/ Polygon Area Features

This causes new rectangular or polygonal coverage area features with the same name of the selected overlay (based on display
label) to be created for each selected layer. When creating polygonal coverage areas a smoothing factor determines how tightly the
coverage area matches the features in the layer. When selecting a smoothing factor, any value above zero is valid, larger values will
create smoother areas while lower values will create rougher areas with the possibility of multiple areas being created.

This is useful for creating an image index as the filename of the layer will also be saved as an attribute of the area feature created
from it.

Create Area Features from Equal Values

When a single raster or elevation grid layer is selected (with the exception of online sources), this option appears and allows you to
create area features covering each distinct color or elevation value encountered in the raster file.

Create Point Features at Elevation Grid Cell Centers

This causes a new layer to be created for each selected elevation grid layer with a spot elevation point feature at each grid cell center
location. This provides a handy way to edit elevation layers as you can edit the elevation attribute of the created points or remove bad
points, then create a new elevation grid from the layer.

Find Extreme (Min/Max) Elevation Values

This scans the selected elevation grid layers to find the minimum and maximum elevation values and reports both the values and
their locations to the user. The complete list (up to 10,000 shared location) will be saved to a file, and a shorter list presented to the
user. If enabled the check box to Create Point Features at Extreme Locations found below the reported minimum and maximum
elevation locations will prompt the creation of a new layer in the workspace.

For streamed online layers, the data will be sampled at the default zoom level. For further detail in this analysis export the online
terrain layer to a local file.

Note: The below options are only available in the Overlay Control Center right click context menu under the Layer sub-
menu.

Sort Lidar Point Clouds by 2D location for Faster Display

and Analysis
Reorder the points in the file organization so that they are ordered sequentially by location. This speeds up the display and
processing of point cloud data.

Create 3D Areas from 3D Models...

This tool will convert a 3D model into 3D area features, assigned to the TIN Face Area feature type. For more information see
Convert a 3D Model / Mesh

Create Image Layer from 3D Model(s)...

For 3D models that contain a texture, this tool will convert the applied texture into an orthoimage. For more information see Convert
a 3D Model / Mesh

Create Point Cloud from 3D Model(s)...

This option will convert a 3D model into a point cloud by including the vertices, and sampling the faces. For more information see
Convert a 3D Model / Mesh

Create Mesh Features from Terrain

This option will create an image draped (if specified) 3D model using the terrain layer and image layer. For more information see
Convert a 3D Model / Mesh

Simplify TIN Layer...

This tool will create a new simplified TIN layer based on the specified Simplification Options. For more information on the available
methods see Simplify Mesh.

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Attribute Calculator
The Attribute Calculator uses the existing values of each feature to updates an existing attribute value or calculate a new attribute
value.

Access the Attribute Calculator by pressing the Calculate Attributes button on the Attribute Editor toolbar. The
Calculate/ Copy Attribute Values... option is also available from the top level Layer menu, or by Right-click on selected layers in
the Control Center and choosing Calculate/ Copy Attribute Values... from the Layer sub-menu.

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To calculate a new attribute using a simple calculation, perform the following steps:

l At the top of the dialog box the field labeled Select Existing or Create New
Attribute to Assign Calculated Values to specifies the output attribute
name. Use the drop-down list to update an existing attribute value , or type a
new attribute name into the text box to create a new attribute in which to
store the calculated value.
l The calculation will be performed on each individual feature based on some
existing attribute value of the feature. From the Source Attribute list,
choose the starting attribute as the first input value.
l From the Operation list, select the type of mathematical or text operation that
will be performed between the input source attribute, and the second input
value.
l For the second input, choose between a Fixed Value, and another input
Attribute Value.
l Press the Calculate button at the bottom of the dialog to calculate the value
and add it to each feature.

Attribute Name
At the top of the Attribute Calculation Setup dialog, enter the name of the output attribute. This section is labeled Select Existing To
update an existing attribute select it from the drop-down list. To create a new attribute type a new attribute name into the text box.

Use Simple Calculation

The attribute may be calculated by copying the value of another attribute, performing a mathematical operation between two
attributes or between an attribute and some number, or by appending a text string to a value when Simple Calculation is selected.

E x a m p l e

These examples
were performed on
the default Country
data, available by
pressing the load
default data button
on the application
start screen.

This simple
calculation creates
a new attribute
called Population
Density, which is
calculated for each
feature taking the

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POP_EST (population estimate) attribute, and dividing by the AREA attribute.

When the Calculate button is pressed at the bottom of the dialog, a new attribute named Population Density
is created, that is calculated from the formula: POP_EST / AREA

In the second example, a new attribute named GDP is added, based on multiplying GDP_MD_EST by
1,000,000. The original attribute represented Gross Domestic Product in millions of dollars, so now the new
attribute named GDP contains the dollar amount.

Use Formula Calculation

Selecting the Use Formula Calculation option enables the use of additional formulas.

The formula is created in the Enter Formula section, but the menus and drop-downs above can be used to help build the formula by
inserting the selection into the expression.

To calculate an attribute using a formula, specify the output attribute name at the top of the dialog, and select the Use
Formula Calculation to enable this advanced attribute calculation.

l From the Available Functions list, select the desired function. The
Function Description box will display an explanation of the selected
function. To use a function, press the 'Insert' button to the right of the
selected function.
l The text inside of the parenthesis will describe the expected inputs. Highlight
the inputs to replace the placeholder descriptions with actual input values.
The input values can be typed in, or attributes may be added as inputs using
the Available Attributes list and the Insert button.
l Once the formula is set up, check the Status /Sample results section to
make sure that the formula is valid, and calculates as expected for the first
feature.
l Press the Calculate button at the bottom of the dialog to calculate the
attribute value for each feature.

For more information about formulas and available functions see Formula Calculator

Available Attributes
Select an attribute to insert into the current formula (use the Insert button to the right)

Available Functions
User may select a function template to insert into the current formula, which includes the function name and dummy parameters
where they're expected. Insert the function using the button immediately to the right. Changing the current function in the list displays
a function description in the read-only control directly below the function selector. For a full list of available options see Formula
Calculator The calculator provides a number of formulas to aid in calculation of values. Note that function names are case-
insensitive; e.g., abs is the same as ABS

Enter Formula to Use

This is an editable control to type in the formula that will be processed on each input feature.

Insertions from the Available Attributes and Available Functions drop downs determine the current insertion point in this control, and
replace any current selection. As changes are made to the formula, a status is updated in the Status control immediately below.

Status/ Sample Result

Indicates the status of the current formula. If the formula is non-empty, it is evaluated for correctness. If there is no error, then the
status will be 'OK'. Otherwise, if there is an error an indication of what the error is displayed. In addition, if there is no error, then the
dialog used the current feature in whatever feature collection is being considered to evaluate the value that the formula would
compute, as a sample. This is shown below the status. The parameters (referenced attribute values) are also listed below the sample
result.

Previous Formula

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The formula previously used to calculate an attribute will be remembered and can be copied and repasted into the the formula dialog
using CTRL+C and CTRL+V keyboard shortcuts. The information displayed here is tied to the attribute listed at the top of the dialog,
in Select Existing or Create New Attribute.

Topic Overview

Attribute Management

Scripting Reference

CALC_ATTR

CALC_ATTR_FORMULA

Joining a Table
Join a table to existing vector data using a common field or column to match on using the Join tool.

To join a table, press the Join Attributes button in the Attribute Editor, or from the layer menu choose Join Attribute
Table/File to Layer. This tool also available by right-clicking on the layer in the Control Center and going to the Layer submenu,
then select JOIN- Join Attribute Table/File to Layer

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The data in this example table join comes from the World Bank.
https://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/ed-stats

Join File
File Name

File Name — Choose the table to join. Supported formats include simple ascii text files such as csv, txt, and dbf. Version
22.1 and later also supports *.xls and *.xlsx files.

Join File Delimiter — Specify the delimiter used in the file to separate values. If the join file is a DBF, this field is not
applicable, and will be disabled.

Join File Attribute — Select the name of the attribute that matches an attribute in the existing layer. This is sometimes
referred to as the Foreign Key or Common Attribute. The attribute names come from the first row of the table.

Attributes to Copy — Put a check next to each attribute to be copied, or remove the check to prevent an attribute from
being copied. By default, all attribute names are selected. At least one attribute must be selected to join.

Click the Select All button to restore the check next to all of the attributes. Click the Clear All button to remove the check
from all attributes.

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Layer Attribute

Layer Attribute — Choose one of the available layer attributes to be matched with the Join File Attribute during the join
process.

Options
Duplicate Handling
When duplicate records are found there is a prompt providing options for handling the duplicate values:

Abort the join — cancel the join operation

Keep Attributes From Last Record Matching Join Attribute— keep the attribute
values from the last matching record in the join file
Keep Attributes From First Record Matching Join Attribute — keep the attribute
values from the first matching record in the join file
Keep All Matching Records, Append Values to End of Attribute — keep all
matching records from the join file, appending new values to the existing attribute with
a comma separator. For example if the table had one matching record with a value of
Mike and another matching record with a value of Sam, the resulting joined table would
have a value of "Mike, Sam".
Keep All Matching Records, Append Values to End of Attribute, Sorted — keep
all matching records from the join file, appending new values to the existing attribute
with a comma separator. See below for the sort order.
Sort duplicates in ascending order — this will be enabled when the sorted
option is chosen from the list. When checked, the list of duplicate attributes values
will be sorted in ascending order. If it is not checked, the sort will be in descending
order.
Keep All Matching Records in New Attribute Names — keep all matching records
from the join file, but create new attribute values with a numeric suffix for the multiple
entries. For example if there were 5 matching records with an ADDR attribute, you
would get ADDR, ADDR2, ADDR3, ADDR4, and ADDR5 attributes added
Duplicate Feature for Each Duplicate Join Attribute — create duplicate features for
each record with a duplicate join attribute, one addition feature for each duplicate join
attribute value.
Use case-sensitive comparisons — specifies whether or not text comparisons are case sensitive or not. Check this option to
enable. By default comparisons are not case sensitive.

Ignore whitespace when looking for matches— specifies whether or not whitespace (i.e. spaces and tabs) should be ignored
when looking for matches to join on. Check this option to ignore whitespace. By default whitespace is considered.

Join File Preview

The preview at the bottom of the dialog shows an example of the external table that will be added to the vector features.

Topic Overview

Attribute Management

Scripting Reference

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JOIN_TABLE

Create Area Features from Equal Values

The Create Area Features from Equal Values tool allows for raster to vector or elevation grid to vector conversion of data based on
the pixel values. For imagery this may be RGB values or palette indices. For elevation data, this is elevation values, slope values, or
slope direction values.

This tool is available from the Layer menu, or by right clicking on an image or elevation layer in the Overlay Control Center and
choosing Create Area Features From Equal Values in Selected Layer in the Layer sub menu.

Note: Data downloaded from online sources must first be exported and reloaded from file before using this tool.

Options
Layer Description defines the resulting layer name.

Value Attribute Name specifies the name of the attribute where the pixel value will be copied for the resulting vector features. When
working with raster image data the default value COLOR will be used. When considering terrain data the active shader will determine
the value of either ELEVATION, SLOPE, or SLOPE DIRECTION. Leave this value blank to not create an attribute containing the
raster pixel value.

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Area Classification specifies the feature type of the resulting vector features.

Set up Allowed Color Fuzziness

For imagery data, this section specifies how to group RGB values into area features. Based on the 8-bit color range of values, specify
the range of shades to include above and below the given color value.

Check the Save Palette Indices Rather than RGB if Available to create attribute values with the palette index number rather than
RGB.

Set up Allowed Elevation/Slope/Slope Direction Fuzziness

For elevation data, specify the match distance to group elevation values by. Like with color fuzziness this value is measured above
and below output attribute value. For example match distance of 10 would generate elevation areas with a 20 meter elevation range
and an attribute specifying the middle value of the elevation range.

Select Color(s) to Create Areas For

Create Areas for All Encountered Color Values will create area features for the entire image area. Use this setting with caution
with standard images, as it can take a while to run. It is recommended to test this first on a smaller area using the Draw a Box option
on the Area Bounds tab.

Only Create Areas for Selected Colors creates area features for only color choosing using the select button, and including any
nearby shades in the Maximum Match Distance. For extracting vector features from imagery, this is the recommended setting for files
that have many shades of colors. Use the select button to specify the color to extract.

Determine the approximate RGB value in the image first by mousing over it with the cursor and viewing the value in the bottom bar,
using the Pick Color from Map option on the Color dialog, or first calculate the color statistics within a selected area.

Examples

Imagery

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This image is set to create area features from the gray pixels in the image. The average RGB values of the
road were determined, and then specified in the color picker. A maximum match distance has also been set.

The result is area features tracing the pixel values that matched the color criteria. This initial result can be
improved through further digitizer tools to reshape and combine the areas. Suggested further steps include
using Simplify and Smooth tools to reshape the feature. Other useful steps may be Select All Area/Island
Smaller than Size… to delete smaller areas that were incorrectly selected, or Skeleton Lines to convert the
areas to line features.

Palette Image

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The above image is a palette image. Since there are only specific colors in the palette, areas can be created
for all encountered values with a Maximum match distance of 0. To extract only certain features such as the
river, roads or contour lines, choose to create for only the selected palette color.

Further digitizer tools can be used to combine and reshape the resulting vectors. They can also be split into
separate layers based on the COLOR attribute.

Elevation Values

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The above elevation grid is run with a Maximum Match Distance of 10 meters

The resulting area features inherit the colors of the elevation grid, and represent elevation ares in 20 meter
ranges.

Slope Values

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The above elevation grid is run with a Maximum Match Distance of 2 degrees.

The resulting area features inherit the colors of the elevation grid, and represent elevation ares in 2 degree
ranges

Slope Direction Values

The above elevation grid is run with a Maximum Match Distance of 30 degrees.

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The resulting area features inherit the colors of the elevation grid, and represent elevation ares in 30 degree
ranges.

Topic Overview

Image Analysis

Scripting Reference

GENERATE_EQUAL_VAL_AREAS

Vectorize Raster
The Vectorize Raster tool allows for the creation of area features from raster image on a chosen pixel color, elevation layers based
on a height range, or elevation layers based on slope values.

To open this tool, select this button from the Digitizer (Advanced) toolbar. This tool is also available from the Layer menu,
or by right clicking on an image or elevation layer in the Control Center and choosing Vectorize Raster in the Layer sub menu.

This tool requires Global Mapper Pro.

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1. Select the Vectorize Raster button from the Advanced Digitizer toolbar, or right click on your desired raster layer in
the Control Center.

2. Choose which layer you would like to work on then click OK.

3. Choose a color using the color box selection or enter an elevation range or slope range.

4. Enter additional settings such as Smooth Area Times and Simplify.

5. Click OK.

6. A resulting area feature layer should be created based on the settings chosen.

Options
Layer Description defines the resulting layer name.

Area Classification drop down allows you to choose the Area Type for the resulting layer.

Color Matching
Click the color box next to Select Colors(s) to open a color picker or a list of available palette colors values if available from the
image layer. If the layer is an elevation layer, this section will be disabled for selection. Use Control key on keyboard to select multiple
colors at the same time. Values will populate with palette names or classifications if they are available in the image. Pick From Map
opens an eye dropper tool whichs allows you to pick a color on the actual image in the workspace. Save To File allows you to save a
palette file (.pal) of the chosen RGB values.

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Matching slider section specifies how to group RGB values into area features. Based on the 8-bit color range of values, specify the
percent range of shades to include above and below the given color value.

Elevation/Slope/Slope Direction
The shader applied to the layer being operated on will determine whether elevation, slope, or slope direction values are being
considered in the vectorization process.

Enter a Start value and End value to determine a range of elevation/slope/slope direction values to generate area features.

Additional Options
Smooth Area allows you to enter a value to adjust the appearance of the generated area features. Lower values will create features
with more jagged edges while higher values will create features with smoother edges. Adjusting the value of the Smooth Area and
running the Vectorize Raster tool with all other settings the same will create vertices of the generated area features in slightly different
locations.

Simplify allows the user to set up the threshold at which points that do not contribute much to the shape of the generated area
features are removed in order to generate areas with less vertices. A greater simplify value will increase simplification. Valid values
are between 0 and 4 with 0 performing no simplification.

Discard Areas Smaller than sets minimum area for features to be kept. Enter an area and area unit and all features with an area
smaller will be discarded.

Area Bounds
Examples

Palette Image

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This image is set to create area features from the dark green pixels in the landcover image. The pixel color
was chosen from the Select Colors color box using the available color palette from the image file. The pixel
color matching slider is set to 25%, Smooth Areas 2 Times is entered and Simplify Value of 0.25 is set. The
check box to discard area features smaller than 10 acres is enabled.

The result is area features tracing the pixel values that matched the color criteria. This initial result can be
improved through further digitizer tools to reshape and combine the areas. Suggested further steps include

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using Simplify and Smooth tools to reshape the feature.

Height Values from Elevation Layer

This image is set to create area features between the range for 75 to 200 meters from the elevation layer.
Note that the color picker is disabled. Smooth Areas 2 Times is entered and Simplify Value of 0.25 is set.
The check box to discard area features smaller than 10 acres is enabled.

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The result is red area features tracing the pixel height values between 75 and 200 meters. This initial result
can be improved through further digitizer tools to reshape and combine the areas. Suggested further steps
include using Simplify and Smooth tools to reshape the feature.

Slope Values from Elevation Layer

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Slope Shader or a custom shader based on slope degrees must be set as he shader mode to use the
Vectorize Raster tool for slope values. This image is set to create area features between the slope range of
10 to 20 degrees from the elevation layer. Note that the color picker is disabled. Smooth Areas 2 Times is
entered and Simplify Value of 0.25 is set. The check box to discard area features smaller than 1 acre is
enabled.

The elevation layer was turned off for this picture. The result is black area features tracing the pixel slope

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values between 10 and 20 degrees.This initial result can be improved through further digitizer tools to
reshape and combine the areas. Suggested further steps include using Simplify and Smooth tools to
reshape the feature.

Imagery

This image is set to create gray area features. The color was picked using Pick from Map option since this
image did not have any associated palette file. Smooth Areas 2 Times is entered and Simplify Value of 0.25
is set. The check box to discard area features smaller than 1 acre is enabled.

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This initial result can be improved through further digitizer tools to reshape and combine the areas.
Suggested further steps include using Simplify and Smooth tools to reshape the feature.

Close Gaps Between Adjacent Features

This Close Gaps Between Adjacent Features tool will snap the edges of nearby features together based on a search distance. This
tool is designed to correct sliver polygons or gaps found between features that are intended to contain matching edges. This works for
both gaps between edges and overlap. The operation can be performed on a set of selected features, or on layers.

This tool make two attempts at modifying the selected features to close the maximum number of gaps. When features are selected
with the digitizer, in the first attempt, the first selected feature will be modified and the second selected feature will be for comparison.
Then in the second attempt the first selected, and now modified feature, is used for comparison and the second selected feature is
modified. Otherwise, the features will be searched and modified based on the Index in Layer, so that the first feature is modified to
match nearby feature vertices, then the second feature is modified, and so forth. If a vertex is within the specified gap distance of a
vertex on another feature, the current vertex will snap to the vertex on the adjacent feature. If there is no vertex at the nearest point on
the adjacent feature, the current vertex will snap to that point, and a new vertex will be created on the adjacent feature.

The Gap Distance between features can be specified in meters. The distance is measured in grid distance on the display projection
(for multiple layers) or the layer native projection (when working on one layer).

After running the Close Gaps Between Adjacent Features tool, a text file named "last_snapFeatures_result.txt" is generated giving a
report of modified features in the User Data folder (folder path for User Data can be found in the Advanced Configuration menu).

To create a list of overlapping features see the Feature Overlap tool. This tool in conjunction with the Close Gaps
Between Adjacent Features tool can be used to select and match sets of features.

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Perform on Selected Features

In the Digitizer, the user must select two or more features.

l Select the features with the Digitizer tool.

l Right-click on the map to theMove/ Reshape Features menu and select Close Gaps Between Adjacent
Features...

l In the Gap Distance dialog enter the distance at which to snap vertices of nearby features together. Press OK
to complete the operation.

l A dialog will indicate how many gaps were closed.

Perform on Layers

l Highlight the layers of interest in the Control Center.

l Go to the Layer Menu, or right-click on the Control Center and select Layer> Close Gaps Between Adjacent
Features...

l The Select Layers dialog will confirm which of the loaded layers to operate on.

l In the Gap Distance dialog enter the distance at which to snap vertices of nearby features together.

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The operation will compare nearby features across all selected layers. Check the option Process each layer
separate from the others to only compare and close gaps between features in the same layer.

Press OK to complete the operation.

l A dialog will indicate how many gaps were closed.

See Also

Search Menu
The Search Menu Contains the following options. Search by spatial relationship of features is available from the Digitizer

Search by Name

Search Vector Data

Search and Replace
Find Address / Geocoding
Find Features with Duplicate Attribute Values

Search by Name
The Search By Name command allows for searching for features in all loaded vector data by name. When selected, the Find By
Name dialog is displayed.

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The Find By Name dialog displays a list of all of the vector features (areas,lines, and/or points) whose label starts with the search
string specified in the Search String field. This field can contain the ? and * wildcard characters. In addition, one can control which
vector object types (area,line, and/or point) to include in the search. Double-clicking on an item in the list will recenter the view on that
object and show a bullseye on it (hold down the ALT key when double-clicking to not show the bullseye).

The Edit Selected button displays a dialog allowing the user to modify the name, feature type, and drawing style of any features
selected.

The Delete Selected button will mark all selected features as deleted.

This dialog is particularly handy with the GNIS (Geographic Names) database which is freely available for download.

Search Vector Data

The Search Vector Data tool searches for features in all loaded vector data by attribute value, name, or built-in attributes of the layer
such as Feature Type or Index. When selected, the Search Vector Data dialog is displayed (seen below).

The search vector data tool can be accessed from the Search Menu Search by Attribute, Name and Description. It can also be

accessed from the Search Vector Data button on the Tools Toolbar, or the Search button on the Attribute Editor.

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The Search Vector Data button also displays an Attribute Editor Search Results list of all of the vector features (areas, lines, points
and/or lidar) which match the specified Search Criteria. The Search Criteria can be applied to any attribute value of the loaded
features, the display label field, or the description/ type field. The expression entered into the Query section updates the displayed
rows in the corresponding Attribute Editor window when the Search button at the bottom is pressed.

The default search query will display all features in all layers. To change the default see General Configuration

To build a search query, type the query into the search box, or use the Query Builder attributes, operators, functions
and values to build the query expression. Like other scripting syntax in Global Mapper, the attribute names, operators
and functions are not case sensitive.

For a simple attribute query:

1. Press the Clear Query button in the bottom right of the dialog to clear out
the default query.
2. Select an attribute from the Query Builder Attributes list, and double-click it
or use the + button below the attribute list to add it to the query. Note the %
characters surrounding the attribute name indicate it is a variable.
3. Select the operator ( = , >, <, etc.)
4. With the attribute still highlighted in the attribute list, press the Load Values
button above the Values section to populate the values list with the values of
the selected attribute.
5. From the Values list, double-click or select the desired value and press the +
button to add the value to the query expression. Note the value will be added
to the query inside quotes (' or ") if it is a text string.
6. Optionally press the Validate button to test the expression.
7. Press the Search button at the bottom of the dialog to perform the query.
The features that match the query will display in the Attribute Editor window.

The Feature Types, Layer(s) and Feature Options sections at the top of the dialog can be used to further limit the search results.

Settings
Feature Types
In the Feature Types section of the dialog, feature types may be selected or disabled to include or exclude Areas, Lines, Points or
Lidar data from searches. By default all feature types will be selected, so the result may include areas, lines, points or lidar.

Layer(s)
In the Layer(s) section, the search can be limited to specific layers, or the extent of data visible on the screen*.

All Enabled layers are visible layers that also have the option 'Allow Feature Selection/ Search from selected Layer(s)' checked in
the Control Center right-click context menu. Layers that have been disabled from search and selection will appear with a red layer
name in the Control Center.

Specific Layers can be used to constrain the search to particular layers. This is enabled by default when accessing the Search
Vector Data from a Layer attribute list.

* There is a limitation on the number of features that can be listed. For Global Mapper 32-bit the feature limit is 1 million,
for Global Mapper 64-bit the feature limit is 5 million. To search Lidar data with more than the maximum number of
features, you will have to use the 'Search Onscreen Features Only' option, and zoom in the viewer to reduce the number
of features.

Feature Options
On-screen Features - Select this option to limit the results to only those features displayed on the primary 2D map.

Selected Features- Check this option to limit the search to within the current selected features. This option can be used to combine
attribute search with other selection methods. To combine attribute searches with spatial queries, perform a selection using the

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Digitizer Advanced Selection Options (or other digitizer tool selection) and enable the Sync button. Then perform this attribute
search with the Selected Features option enabled.

Validate
Press the validate button to verify the syntax of the query is correct.

Clear Query
This buttton will clear the query text.

Load Saved Query

This will open the Query Manager providing a list of queries previously saved in the workspace or on the machine.

Highlight a query and press OK to load a previously saved query.

Delete – This will delete the highlighted query.

Import – Use this option to load a *.gm_query file previously exported or collected from the User Data folder.

Export – Use the Export options to save a set of queries to a *.gm_query file. This can be shared with another user, or later reloaded
in another workspace. All checked queries will be included in the export. Use the Check All or Clear All button to help make the
proper selection for export.

Save Query
This option will save the search query to a file or to the workspace. It can be reloaded later using the Load Saved Query option.

Note: Query statements reference attribute names, and the attribute name must be exactly the same in the loaded data
for the query to run properly. Use the validate button to ensure that the referenced query works with the current attribute
data, or replace the attribute names contained in the %% to run an equivalent search on a different set of attribute names.

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Enter Query Name – Specify a name to save the query as. This will be used to reload the query using the Load Saved Query
button. To overwrite an existing query select it from the drop-down list of existing queries, otherwise type a new name.

Include all search options – Check this option to include other parts of the query dialog settings beyond just the query statement.
This includes the settings under Feature Types, Layers, Feature Options, and Default Comparison mode.

Save in current workspace – Check this option to save the query only in the current workspace. This is one way to include the
query if the workspace is opened on another machine. It means the query will not be available when other workspaces are loaded.
When this option is not checked, queries are saved in the User Data Folder in a saved_vector_searches.gm_query file.

Query Builder
The query builder can be used to build an expression in the query box that search based on attributes of the loaded vector features.
The desired attributes, functions and values must be double-clicked or added with the + button, so that the text in the query box
shows a valid expression. It is also possible to type or paste directly into the query box.

Attributes
Attribute names must be contained inside of % characters in the query. Built-in named attributes, such as Feature Name and Index in
Layer are contained inside of <> characters, and do not use the % to designate them. Highlight the attribute in the Attributes section
of the query builder and select the + button to add the attribute to the query at the current cursor location.

Operators

The comparison operations are the following:

Operator Meaning Example 1 Example 2

= equals %Attribute1%='Value' %Attribute1% = %
Attribute2%
>= greater than or equal to %Attribute1% >= 100 %Attribute1% >= 'C'
<= less than or equal to %Attribute1%<= 100 %Attribute1% <= 'Ba'
<> not equal to (see also Built-in %Attribute1%<>"" %CONTINENT% <>
named attributes) 'North America'
> greater than %Population% >1000 <Feature Name> > 0
< less than %AREA% < 100 %Population%/%AREA%
< 1000
() parenthesis (operations inside %Attribute1% = (% %Density% <> (%
are executed first in the order Attribute2%*10) Population%/%Area%)
of operations; they may also
contain the inputs to a
function)
and logical AND (returns features %GROUP_AREA% < %GDP_MD_EST% > 500
where both expressions are 1000 and % and %POP_EST% <
matched) CONTINENT%= 1000000

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'Europe'
or logical OR (returns features %CONTINENT%=
where either expression is 'Europe' or %
matched) CONTINENT%= 'Asia'
not logical Negation operator (this not(<Feature %CONTINENT% =
returns the inverse of the Name> like 'U*') 'Africa' and not ( %
expression) SUBREGION% =
'Western Africa' )
like matches a pattern (this can %SUBREGION% like %ELEVATION% like '??5'
use the wildcard characters * 'South*'
and ?)
These operators may be added to the query with the operator buttons, or they can be typed directly into the query box.

Additional expression operators may be typed in as well, such as mathematical operators (like +,-, *, /, ^). For a more complete list of
operators, see Formula Calculator.

Simple Attribute Queries

The typical syntax for a single attribute query is:

%Attribute1% = 'Value'

%Attribute1% > 0

%Attribute1% <> ''

The attribute name in this case would be Attribute1, and the first query would find all features where Attribute1 equals (has the exact
text of) Value. This value is a text string, so it should be contained inside of single or double quotes. The third query would find all
feature that do not contain an empty or null attribute1.

For a numeric value, the quotes around the value are not necessary. The second query would find all features where Attribute1 is
greater than 0.

An empty or null value may be represented by two single or double quotes ('' or ""). A not operator combined with an attribute name
would also return features with null values. For example:

%Attribute1% = ''

not %Attribute1%

Either of these queries would find all features where attribute1 is empty or null.

The %% wrapper designates a variable attribute value, which will be tested for each individual feature based on its attribute value.
The <> indicates special built-in Attribute Name Values. In the context of the vector search dialog, the %% around the attribute
name are not required, so the following query would also work:

Attribute1 = 'Value'

Simple Query Examples

Compound Queries
Compound attribute queries can be built with logical AND, and OR statements. A compound query would typically use the following
syntax:

%Attribute1%='Value' and %Attribute2%='Value 2'

This would find all features that match both Value in Attribute1 and Value 2 in Attribute2.

%Attribute1%='Value' or %Attribute1%='another value'

This query would return all feature that have either value or another value in Attribute 1.

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The expression is processed left to right, and the comparison operators return a binary value of 1 for true, and 0 for false. Since each
operator is processed independently, the following syntax would not be processed as expected:

1 < %Attribute1% < 5

This expression would be processed the same as (3<%Attribute1%)<5. If 3 is less than the attribute value, the first part will return a 1.
If it is greater than the attribute it will return a 0. In either case (0)<5 and (1)<5. This query will always return all features. To find
attributes between a certain value, it is necessary to separate the expressions with an AND operator, for example:

1 < %Attribute1% and %Attribute1% < 5

The NOT operator can be used to negate an expression. For example:

%Attribute1%='Value' and not (%Attribute2%='Value 2')

This would return features that contain Value in attribute1, but do not contain Value 2 in attribute2.

Compound Query Examples

Like queries (with wildcards)

Like queries are used to perform searches on features that match a pattern, rather than necessarily an exact value. The expression
can contain the ? and * wildcard characters when using the like operator.

l ? - Represents a single character wildcard

l * - Represents a wildcard

Like Query Examples

Functions
The dropdown list of functions may also be used within a query. The query is run on each feature, and that feature is returned if the
query is true (i.e. it matches a boolean value of 1).

A function is run on a number of inputs, which are listed inside of the (). So the basic syntax of a function is like this:

function(input1, input2, input3)

Each function lists inside of the parenthesis the type of values it expects as input. Those input are manually updated by typing in the
query box to fully set up the function.

To see the available functions, select one from the drop down list. A summary of what the selected function does is
displayed in the text box below the function list.

To use a function, select it from the list and use the + button to the right of the function list to add it to the expression.

Once the function is added to the query, the descriptors listed inside of the parenthesis need to be replaced with the
appropriate input expressions.

For example the function len(string) may be used to search based on the length of an attribute value, rather than the
value that it contains:

l Select the len(string) function from the function list and press the + button to add it to the query.

l In the Query section of the dialog highlight the string word, so that the
placeholder will be replaced with a valid input expression.

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l Use the Attributes list or type into the query to insert the input. In this example the query will determine the
length of the <Feature Name> attribute that hold the label for each feature. So the query will read:

len(<Feature Name>)

l Expression is interpreted as a boolean value of 0 for false and 1 for true. To make this expression meaning,
the length of the feature name could be compared to a value. Type in the query box or use the operators to
complete the expression

len( <Feature Name> ) >10

l Optionally press the Validate button to make sure that the basic syntax of
the query is correct.
l Press the Search button to perform the search. This example will return all
features where the Feature Name is more than 10 characters long.

For more information on the specific functions, see the Formula Calculator.

Function Examples

Default comparison Mode

Comparisons to the Compare Value can be done either textually or numerically.

Automatic- In most cases this will use mathematical operators for input that appear as numbers, and text operators for those that
appear like text. In cases of ambiguity, it uses the type of the first operand.

Numeric - Numeric searches should be used with greater than or less than operations when expectation is a quantitative comparison.

For example, with a text search, the value '9 Union St' would be considered greater than the value '700 Middle Street', because it is
ordered by the first character. With a numeric search, greater than and less than are based on the quantity, rather than the
alphabetical order.

Text -This will perform the comparison based on an alphabetization of the values. For example 'Oceania' is less than 'Seven Seas
(open ocean)' in the default countries data because O comes before S in the alphabet.

Make Text Comparisons Case Sensitive - The default mode is to perform case-insensitive queries. [The exception to this is regular
expression inside of the Match(), Search(), Find() and Replace() functions, which are case sensitive by default]. Check this option to
perform all text string searches in a case sensitive manner. For example, when this option is checked, 'France' would not be equal to
'france'.

To combine a spatial query and an attribute query:

1. Open the attribute editor and enable the sync.

2. Use the digitizer selection or advanced selection options to perform a
selection by location, or spatial relationships.
3. Open the vector search tool and setup the query for the attribute search.
Check Selected Features in the Feature Options section to search only

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currently selected features.

Attribute Editor (Search Results)

The results of the search will display in the Attribute Editor labeled (Search Results) anytime the search is performed on multiple
layers.

The attribute list for a particular layer can also be accessed from the Control Center right-click menu Edit Attributes... option. When
the search is on multiple layers, the attributes will be sorted alphabetically.

For more information on interacting with the Attribute Editor, see the Attribute Editor

Search and Replace

The Search and Replace command searches for a value in the attributes and name of loaded features and replaces that with some
other text string. When selected, the Search and Replace dialog (pictured below) is displayed, allowing for setup the search-and-
replace operation.

The Search and Replace option is located in the top level Search menu. This tool can also be accessed from the Attribute Editor
window by right-clicking on a Column Heading.

Select the Attribute to Search on

From the drop-down list select which attribute to search.

Search Text
When searching enter a Search Text value of the string to match on. An asterisk (*) can also be used as a wildcard to match any non-
empty value. Use the asterisk (*) at the start or end of the search string to look for text that starts or ends with some particular text.

The entire string match that is found including any variable parts designated with a * will be update to the replace text.

Replace Text
Specify a simple text string to replace the Search Text with, or use a single wildcard to prepend or append text.

In the Replace Text box the wildcard character represents the search string.

For example, to prepend the text 'Sample' in front of the search string, enter a replace string of 'Sample*'. To append the text to the
search string, use '*Sample'

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When the search string also included a wildcard * character, then the replacement will be on the matched substring.

For example to replace any string that starts with the sequent 'N ' with 'North ', use a search string of 'N *' and a replace string of
'North *'.

Specify Bounds

All Loaded Data

All currently loaded data that is compatible with the current export type will be exported. This is the default selection.

Draw Box
Pressing the Draw Box... button brings up the Drag a Box to Select Export Bounds dialog. In this dialog, simply hold
down the left mouse button and drag a rectangle around the area of the image that you wish to export. If a mistake is
made, just drag another rectangle.

Use Zoom In and Zoom Out to change the visual scale when selecting Export Bounds.

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When you press the OK button, the bounds of the rectangle that you drew will automatically be inserted into the
appropriate controls in the Export Bounds panel.

Use Layer Bounds...

Choose one or more layers from the list of layers. The bounds will be set to the rectangular extent of the layer(s).

All Data Visible On Screen

All data that is currently visible in the Global Mapper view window will be exported.

Lat/Lon (Degrees)
Specify the subset to export as a bounding box in latitude/longitude coordinates. The default values automatically
filled in are the lat/lon bounds of all currently loaded compatible data.

Current Projection (projection)

Specify the subset to export as a bounding box using coordinates in the currently selected global projection system.
The short name of the projection will be displayed in the parenthesis. The default values automatically filled in are
the bounds of all loaded compatible data.

The values will automatically update when using the Draw a Box or Use Layer Bounds buttons.

Location w/ Size - Current Projection (projection)

Specify the subset to export by entering and North and West anchor point, and the width and height of the desired
area to export. The coordinates entered must be in the currently selected global projection system. The short name
of the projection will be displayed in the parenthesis.

The coordinates can by set to define the Upper Left Corner or the Center of the rectangle by using the radio
buttons. The default values automatically filled in result in a bounding box containing all loaded compatible data.

The values will automatically update when using the Draw a Box or Use Layer Bounds buttons (though the
selection will be set to Current Projection when using these tools).

MGRS (Military Grid Reference System) Bounds

Specify the subset to export by entering the northwest and southeast corners of the bounding box to export in

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MGRS coordinates. The default values automatically filled in result in a bounding box containing all loaded
compatible data.

Crop to Selected Area Feature

If enabled, allows the user to crop the export to the currently selected area feature(s). To use this for supported
exports, select the area(s) that you wish to crop the export to using either the Feature Info Tool or the Digitizer Tool.

Clamp Crop Area to Loaded Data Bounds

If this option is unchecked, the export bounds will be the bounds of the crop area(s), even if they extend outside the
data bounds.

Reset to Last Exported Bounds

This option will update the coordinates in Current Projection to match the bounds of the last exported or generated
data.

Find Address / Geocoding

The Find Address command displays the Search for an Address dialog (pictured below) which allows searching for an address, city,
postal code or mapcode anywhere in the world.

If an address is found that matches the requested location, a results dialog (see sample below) is displayed with the matching
location information, as well as button to allow creating a new point feature at the address location, re-centering the map view on the
address, and copying the address information to the Windows clipboard for easy pasting into another application.

Batch Geocoding

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The dialog also includes a Geocode Addresses from File button that allows you to geocode a bunch of addresses at once. The text
file that you select to convert can either contain a list of files with addresses in the single line form accepted when searching on a
single address, or it can be a comma or tab-delimited file with named columns, like Address, City, State, Country, and Zip or
Postcode (see the example file contents below).

E x a m p l e

Sequence,Name,Address,City,State,ZIP,Phone

1,McPeak Betty,,North Pole,AK,99705,907-488-4879

2,McPeak P,,Anchorage,AK,99501,907-770-2957

3,McPeak Roger,,North Pole,AK,99705,907-488-8823

4,McPeak Allan,1011 McCay Ave,Mobile,AL,36609,251-633-0931

5,McPeak Bill,395 Dupree Dr,Huntsville,AL,35806,256-837-2657

6,McPeak Carol,5923 Lumsden Battery Cir,Mobile,AL,36619,251-661-0989

7,McPeak Dwight,5548 Heath Row Dr,Birmingham,AL,35242,205-991-8862

8,McPeak Faye,146 Larkin St,New Market,AL,35761,256-379-5416

9,McPeak Faye,395 Dupree Dr,Huntsville,AL,35806,256-837-2657

Batch Geocode Setup

Column Delimiter - Specify the field delimiter used in the text file.

Column Names in First Row of File - Check this option if the loaded file contains a header row.

Geocode to Loaded Road Data Rather than Online Database

When batch geo-coding, you can choose to either geocode US addresses against an online database, or to geocode to loaded road
data instead. If you choose to geocode against loaded road data, you must already have road data loaded with a known address
format, like Tiger/Line data in the US, or data with supported attribute names for addressing information, like R_FROM_ADR,
L_TO_ADR, R_FROM_CITY, L_TO_CITY, etc., so that the data can be geocoded.

The online geocoder will reach out to Google Maps API and Bing API. Without a specified Google API key, the address
searches within a single 24 hour period are limited by the Google Maps API service and were last noted as 2,500
searches per day. See https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/get-api-key for more information.

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Google Map API Key - If you would like to geocode thousands of addresses at a time, it is necessary to obtain a Google Maps
API key. Enter the API key in the dialog, and it will be added to the geocode request. See
https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/get-api-key for more information.

Batch Geocode Results

Once you complete a batch geocode operation, the results are displayed in a list in a dialog (see sample below). The Batch Geocode
Results dialog contains buttons allowing you to create new point features from the matched address results or to export the results to
a new file.

Mapcode
To search by mapcode, rather than long form address simply enter the mapcode into the search address field.

The mapcode system is an international standard that allows any location on the surface of the Earth to be represented by a short
'code', typically composed of 4 to 7 letters and digits. The short mapcode will usually bring you within a few meters of the location,
though as with street addresses positional accuracy can vary. Once searched by, the search results window will populate with a
coordinate position for the mapcode.

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The mapcode system is particularly helpful for mapping in locations where a street address database has not been built, or in rural
areas where street names are non-specific.

In addition to the mapcode, input the country and state, province or territory abbreviation. For example, the mapcode 'XNH.VY'
located in the state of Maine, in the United States would be expressed using the format below.

USA-ME XNH.VY

Find Features with Duplicate Attribute Values

The Find Features with Duplicate Attribute Values command allows you to search loaded vector features to find those that have
duplicate values for a selected attribute value. You can then view the results and manually edit them, or choose to automatically
assign unique numeric values for the selected attribute so that duplicates no longer exist.

The Find Feature with Duplicate Attribute Values tool is available from the Search menu.

When you select the menu item you are first prompted to select which attribute (including feature name) to search for duplicates on,
then the search proceeds and any duplicate values are display in the Duplicate Search Results dialog (picture below). This dialog
allow you to view the features with duplicate results and to edit those features or automatically assign new unique values. You can
also press the Delete Duplicates button to mark the duplicate features as deleted. When doing this you will have the option to mark all
duplicates (except for the first one) as deleted, or to just delete the duplicate features that also have duplicate coordinates (this is
what you'll most often want to do).

GPS Menu
The GPS Menu Contains the following options.

Start Tracking GPS

Stop Tracking GPS
Start Tracking GPS at Startup

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GPS Setup

GPS Information

Sky View...
Manage GPS Vessels
View NMEA Data Log

Options...

Mark Waypoint

Mark Waypoint from Averaged Position

Clear Tracklog
Record Tracklog
Save Tracklog
Simplify (Reduce) Tracklogs when Saved

Send Raster Maps to Connected Garmin Device

Please click on any of the options above to see more information.

Global Mapper provides the ability to track the position of a serial GPS device connected to your computer's serial port (or USB via a
serial-to-USB convertor) or a Garmin USB GPS device connected to the computer's USB port in real-time over the top of any loaded
mapping data. For serial GPS devices, the GPS device must communicate in either NMEA-0183 v2.x or Garmin binary format in
order to be compatible with Global Mapper.

When tracking a GPS device, you can mark the current location as a waypoint. You can also choose to record a bread-crumb trail, or
tracklog, of where you have gone.

Below is a sample screen capture of what Global Mapper looks like when tracking a GPS device over loaded data. You can see the
GPS vessel location. The GPS Information dialog displays current GPS status information.

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Start Tracking GPS

The Start Tracking GPS option causes Global Mapper to look for a GPS device attached on the configured serial port (see the Setup
command) and to start displaying the location of the GPS device, if found, in the Global Mapper display window.

This option is available in the GPS Menu or as a button in the GPS toolbar.

If a GPS device is found which has a valid GPS fix, you will see a triangular vessel appear in the Global Mapper view at the location
reported by the GPS device. The vessel will point in the current direction of travel, as reported by the GPS device.

Start Tracking GPS at Startup

The Start Tracking GPS at Startup option will automatically start tracking GPS when the application is launched. This setting will
remain for every application launch until it is unchecked.

Stop Tracking GPS

The Stop Tracking GPS command tells Global Mapper to stop tracking any connected GPS devices.

GPS Setup

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The Setup command displays the GPS Setup dialog (pictured below). The GPS Setup dialog allows you to tell Global Mapper what
port your GPS device is connected to your computer on and what format the GPS device is communicating in, and setup an
RTK correction source.

Format
Make sure that you have your GPS device set to NMEA-0183 v2.x or Garmin mode and choose the applicable mode from the
Format dropdown menu. There is also an Auto-Detect option which will cause Global Mapper to try and automatically determine your
GPS device's settings when you start tracking the device.

Connection
Serial Port Connection - Set the appropriate Port and Baud Rate to connect to the GPS device. Bluetooth connected devices should
have the bluetooth link noted next to the COM port in this dropdown menu. If this is not the case you can determine the correct port
for a bluetooth connected device by looking in the Windows Bluetooth Settings and noting the Outgoing port for the GPS device.

Garmin USB Device - Select this option if using a Garmin USB connected device.

Read From File (NMEA Format Only) - Use this option and select a file to read GPS information from a text file containing NMEA-
0183 sentences. Enable the checkbox to Playback File in Real-Time to show the movement from the recorded data in real-time in the
Global Mapper view.

RTK (Real-Time Kinematics)

Use the Configuration option to open the Global Mapper NTRIP Client and enter information to connect to an RTK correction source.
This requires a Global Mapper Pro license.

This feature requires Global Mapper Pro.

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Host Name (IP or Hostname) and Port - Enter the Host Name as a URL or IP address, and enter the port to connect to the source.

User Name and Password - Use your log in information to connect to the NTRIP caster.

Location Update Interval - Set the frequency that location updates will be sent to the NTRIP caster to keep the connection active
and maintenance accuracy. Accepted values range from 5 to 300 seconds.

Mount Point - Click Select to choose a specific mount point to receive a correction. Details will show additional information on the
selected Mount Point.

Enabled (auto start/stop with GPS) will enable the RTK correction when a connection to a GPS device is established.

Elevation Offset
Enter an elevation offset in meters to be added to the elevation reported by the GPS unit. This will be reflected in the GPS
Information and any recorded features.

Data Logging Setup

This section allows the setup logging for incoming GPS information to a text file. You can choose to log decoded position information
(including latitude and longitude, elevation/depth, speed, heading, and time) in addition to raw NMEA data strings for connected
NMEA GPS devices.

ADVANCED USERS ONLY: By default GPS serial connections use 8-bit, no parity, and 1 stop bit (8N1), but if you have one of the
rare units that uses 7-bit rather than 8-bit data streams, there is a way to set that. You need to run 'regedit' and create a DWORD key
named 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Global Mapper\GPS_ByteSize' with a value of 7 (do this with Global Mapper closed),
then your serial connections will use 7-bit mode rather than 8-bit mode.

GPS Information
When tracking a GPS device, the Information command will display the GPS Information dialog (pictured below). This dialog displays
status information about the current GPS connection, as well as the current GPS location (in both lat/lon and the current global
coordinate system), speed, heading, and accuracy estimate.

Point features with the Feature Type Waypoint will be available for selection from the Current Waypoint dropdown menu. As the GPS
is tracked the current Distance and Bearing to the indicated waypoint will be displayed. Features created with the Mark Waypoint
options will automatically be assigned the feature type Waypoint.

This GPS Information window can be floating, or docked inside the main application. For more information see Window Docking

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Reporting for geoid Separation, advanced accuracy, confidence, and status information in this dialog require Global

Mapper Pro.

Current Accuracy
The accuracy section horizontal, vertical, and 3D accuracy as reported from the GPS device.

Current Confidence
Position DOP (PDOP) - This value describes how many satellites are spread evenly throughout the sky. The more the satellites
directly above you and the less on the horizon, the lower the PDOP value is.

Horizontal DOP (HDOP) - The effect of the DOP on the horizontal position value. The more good visible satellites low in the sky, the
better the HDOP and the horizontal position (Latitude and Longitude) are.

Vertical DOP (VDOP) - The effect of the DOP on the vertical position value. The more good visible satellites low in the sky, the better
the VDOP and the vertical position (Altitude) are.

reports the quality of the horizontal and vertical positions being provides

Status
The Status section reports the number of satellites in view and the number being used, along with the NTRIP Client status and
NMEA and RTCM packets recieved.

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Sky View

This tool requires Global Mapper Pro.

This option will open the Sky View dialog to view the satellites connected to the current GPS device. The Sky View map displays the
satellites within range based on their location, with those to the north at the top of the screen. Those closer to the center of the map
have a higher altitude on the horizon. Satellites not being used for location (that have a low signal to noise ratio) appear as hollow
circles while satellites with a stronger signal are shown with a filled symbol.

Use the check boxes in the Systems section to filter the displayed satellites by constellation.

Below the map the displayed satellites are listed with the ID used to label the symbol on the Sky View map, the azimuth, altitude, and
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

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The Sky View window can be floating, or docked inside the main application. For more information see Window Docking

Manage GPS Vessels

The Manage GPS Vessels command will display the Manage GPS Devices dialog (pictured below). This dialog displays a list of all
GPS devices that are currently being tracked and provides the ability to modify several settings related to the GPS devices, such as

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device icon and track style, allowed boundary, etc. This dialog can be considered the central command center for fleet management
operations when tracking multiple GPS devices through a compatible receiver.

The dialog buttons perform the following functions:

l Set Track Display Style - Select the drawing style to use when displaying the track
log for the selected device.
l Select Device Icon - Select the icon to use for the selected device on the main map
display. Choose from one of the available point symbols or choose to use the GPS
vessel selection, which allows for direction of travel to be easily visualized.
l Set Device Boundary - Select a rectangular or polygonal boundary to restrict the
selected GPS device(s) to. If a device travels outside its allowed boundary, a warning
message will be displayed.
l Set Device Display Name - Sets the name to use for the selected GPS device when
displaying it on the map display and in the device list.
l Set Device Display Font - Select the font to use when displaying the name of the
selected device on the map.
Right-click on the device list for additional options, including the ability to set text to display when hovering over the device with the
mouse cursor on the map, as well as the ability to group the devices and set styles by group.

Tracking Multiple GPS Devices

Global Mapper supports tracking multiple GPS device locations using the following options:

This works with the multi-plexing hardware that merges position information from multiple GPS devices in to a single NMEA stream
with special sentences. We support the following:

l RaveonTech (ravtrack.com) - embeds multiple GPS device locations using $PRAVE

sentences
l InStar - uses $PCDLI sentences
l SubSea - uses $HID sentences

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l $GPWGT - standard NMEA string for multi-vehicle tracking

View NMEA Data Log

The View NMEA Data Log command will display the NMEA GPS Logging dialog (pictured below). This dialog displays a list of
recently received NMEA sentences when tracking a connected GPS device in NMEA mode. This is a useful diagnostic tool and also
allows you to save received NMEA data to a file for later playback.

Related Topics

GPS Configuration
The GPS Options section of the Configuration Dialog provides settings for GPS and Video Playback. Some of these settings were
previously in the GPS Menu.

Vessel Options
These setting impact the display of vessels for GPS tracking and fly-through video playback. The 'vessel' displays at the location of
the GPS or camera, and orients to the direction of travel.

Keep the Vessel On-Screen

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Enable this setting to update the extent of the map to keep the GPS location on screen. This setting is also available
on the GPS toolbar. If enabled, the main view will automatically pan when the GPS vessel approaches the edge of
the view to keep the vessel in the view.

Draw Vessel Using Elevation Shader

Check this option to color the vessel using the appropriate color for the elevation from the current Global Elevation
Shader in the Elevation Shader drop-down.

Draw Track Using Elevation Shader

Check this option to color the track log based on the appropriate color for the elevation from the current Global
Elevation Shader in the Elevation Shader drop-down.

Draw Range Ring Around Vessel

Specify a range ring or buffer to be drawn around the GPS vessel.

Vessel Appearance
Color
Specify the color of the GPS vessel.

Size
Choose from small, medium or large for the GPS vessel icon size.

Shape
Specify the shape to use for the GPS vessel.

Speed Units
Specify the units reported in the GPS information. Choose from the following options:

Automatic (from distance units)

Miles per Hour (mph)
Kilometers per Hour (kph)
Knots
Meters per Second (m/s)

Additional
Show Course Line on the Map
If the Show Course Line option is checked, a line will be drawn from the GPS vessel in the direction that the GPS is
headed.

Orient the Map View to the GPS Heading

When checked the map view will rotate dynamically based on the GPS heading, so the current heading is always at
the top of the map. The heading must change by 5 degrees to cause the view rotation to be changed. This setting is
also available on the GPS toolbar.

Mark Waypoint

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Use the Mark Waypoint, Mark Waypoint from Averaged Position, or Mark Waypoint at Offset buttons on the GPS toolbar to save a
point feature at the current GPS location. The first two options are also available in the GPS menu.

Mark Waypoint
When selected, this will display a dialog allowing specification of any additional desired attributes and/or drawing styles to associate
with the waypoint. Pressing ok will create a new point feature at the current GPS location.

Mark Waypoint from Averaged Position

When the Averaged Position option is selected, Global Mapper will start averaging locations received from the GPS until averaging is
stopped. Once stopped the Modify Feature Info dialog described above will appear. Averaging is useful to calculate a more accurate
position for the waypoint.

Any created waypoint features will be added to the user features layer, which appears in the Overlay Control Center. The waypoint
features can be exported to any of the supported vector export formats.

Mark Waypoint at Offset

This option allows for marking a waypoint at a given offset from the current GPS location. This is good for tagging locations that may
not be directly reachable with the GPS unit.

Tracklogs
Clear Tracklog
If you are currently recording a tracklog of where your GPS device has been, the Clear Tracklog command will clear whatever is
currently recorded that has not yet been saved using the Save Tracklog command.

Record Tracklog
The Record Tracklog command controls whether or not a bread-crumb trail (i.e. tracklog) will be recorded to log where the GPS
device has traveled. This tracklog can be saved to any of the supported vector export formats. The drawing style of the tracklog can
be configured on the Line Styles tab of the Configuration dialog.

Save Tracklog
The Save Tracklog command will save the currently record tracklog to a permanent line feature. When selected, this command will
display a dialog allowing you to specify any additional desired attributes and/or drawing styles that you would like to associate with
the tracklog. In addition, any extraneous points that do not contribute to the shape of the tracklog will be automatically removed to
save space.

Any saved tracklog features will be added to the user features layer, which appears in the Overlay Control Center. The saved tracklog
features can be exported to any of the supported vector export formats

Simplify (Reduce) Tracklogs when Saved

The Simplify (Reduce) Tracklogs when Saved command controls whether or not recording GPS track logs are simplified (reduced)
when saved or whether all recorded points are kept. If this option is checked, any points which do not significantly contribute to the
shape of the recorded track log will be removed to conserve memory.

GPS Tracks
The follow buttons are available on the GPS toolbar to convert tracks to vector features.

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Create Line from Track

This option will create a line feature from the GPS track.

Create Area from Track

This option will create an area feature from the GPS track.

Send Raster Maps to Connected Garmin Device

The Send Raster Maps to Connected Garmin Device is a very powerful option that will send any type of loaded data to a
connected Garmin device for display as raster maps on the Garmin device. This is supported in Garmin GPS devices that support the
display of custom raster maps. These include devices geared towards outdoor use, like the Colorado, Dakota, and Oregon series.

When you select the menu command, the Garmin Raster Export Options dialog (pictured below) is displayed to configure the export.
Control the resolution (sample spacing) of the export, the quality setting for the JPG files that are embedded in the output files for
display on the GPS device, and several other options.

You can also control the format used. The default is the Google Earth KMZ format which is official supported by Garmin, but is limited
in terms of how much area you can cover with the data. The other option is the Garmin JNX format. This format allows much larger
areas to be covered by using the same method that is used for the Garmin BirdsEye imagery. It can also be faster to display, than
KMZ, but is more locked down. Garmin devices allow small JNX files to display without a BirdsEye subscription. Larger files may
require a BirdsEye subscription from Garmin and must use Garmin's BaseCamp software to pull in the JNX from the device, then
send it back to the device to unlock it.

The KMZ format maps should be saved on the device in the '/Garmin/CustomMaps' folder, while the JNX files should be saved in the
'Garmin/BirdsEye' folder. If your device is connected when you start the export the default export folder should be in the appropriate
location.

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Help Menu
The Help Menu Contains the following options.

Help...
Getting Started Guide...
Send Support Request...
Recorded Webinars...

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Keyboard Shortcut List
Global Mapper Forums
Global Mapper Training...
Find Data Online

License Manager
Create S-63 User Permit File
Export User Settings
Import User Settings

Check For Updates

Automatically Check for Updates at Startup
Track Errors and Usage

About Global Mapper

Global Mapper Forums

The Global Mapper Forum command opens the Global Mapper forums in your browser window. These forums will connect you with
other Global Mapper users for questions and comments that you may have. You must be connected to the Internet in order to access
the Forums.

https://www.globalmapperforum.com/

Create S-63 User Permit File

A permit file is necessary to view S-63 encrypted ENC charts.

This option is available from the Help Menu.

Using this command you can create a Permit file to send to your S-63 data provider so they can then send S-63 files that have been
encrypted for you (based on the permit file).

S-63 files using encryption 1.0 and 1.1 are supported.

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Export and Import User Settings

These options allow the settings for an installation of Global Mapper to be saved to a file and loaded into another installation of the
program.

Export User Settings

This menu option saves custom settings and elements from this installation of Global Mapper to a Global Mapper User Settings file.
Selecting Export User Settings will open a dialog allowing the user to select what groups of settings to export.

After clicking OK from the Export User Settings dialog the user will be prompted to save a the Global Mapper User Settings file
(*.gmx).

Import User Settings

Use this menu option to load user settings from a Global Mapper User Settings file (*.gmx).

Check For Updates

Check for Updates
The Check for Updates... command checks to see if a newer version of Global Mapper than the current version is being used. If so, a
dialog describing the new version is displayed.

Automatically Check for Updates at Startup

The Automatically Check for Updates at Startup... command controls whether or not Global Mapper ever automatically checks for a
new version automatically when you start it.

About Global Mapper

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The About Global Mapper... command displays the About Global Mapper dialog which contains version and contact information for
Global Mapper.

Build Time
This is the date of the Global Mapper version.

Registered To
This will indicate the location of the license file for a single user license. Otherwise it will indicate a network or dongle license.

Order Number
With single user licenses, the order number will also be displayed if the application was licensed automatically.

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