GT/Metadata Explorer Version 2.0

GTI announces the beta release of GT/Metadata Explorer version 2.0. This new version has been enhanced to support Intergraph's G/Technology version 10 data as well as continued support for G/Technology version 9 data.

The following functionality is provided by GT/Metadata Explorer:

• Navigating the Metadata - Point and click from one type of metadata to another, such as moving from Legend to Feature to Style Rule to Style, or moving from Feature to Component to Attribute to Picklist. You can also query and explore Styles, Features, Components, and Ownership Relations.

• Metadata Validation - Routines are provided to identify problems in Legend Entries, Style Rules, Label Rules, and Rule Usage.

• Style Usage Reporting – See which Style and Label Rules are being used in your data. Each feature in the dataset will be evaluated against the Style and Label Rules while statistics are kept and then used to produce a summary report.

• Query Features – Search for Features by attributes or by FID and show all of the feature’s associated Tabular data or a preview of the feature’s Geometry. Get detailed information on how geometries are composed as well as a visual preview of the geometry information (supports both the G/Tech 9 relational geometry structure and the G/Tech 10 Oracle Spatial SDO_GEOMETRY attributes).

• Style and Label Rules Explanation – Query to find a feature, and then see which Style and Label Rules it triggers along with an explanation (similar to Explain Plan in Oracle).

• Trace Connectivity - Query to find a feature, and then incrementally trace out from the feature using its connectivity information. Use this information to quickly diagnose connectivity issues.

• Trace Ownership – Query to find a feature, and then trace its ownership relationships from parent to child and from child to parent.

• Metadata Export – Export key metadata information on Legends, Features, Components, Style Rules, Label Rules, Styles, and Picklists. Exports can be made as an Access file (.mdb) or as a Comma Separated Value file (.csv).

GTViewer version 10.0.0.12 is Available

GTViewer version 10.0.0.12 is available.

-----------------------
10.00.00.12 - 06/15/11
-----------------------

- NEW - #6753 - RestrictPresetExport added as Data Property and to Additional Properties section of the .GTM.

- NEW - #6759 - New method added: DGFit

- NEW - #6760 - New Data Properties: MeasureFactor, MeasureDegreeFactor, MeasurePrecision, MeasureUnitLabel

- NEW - #6761 - If a RasterFileList entry is defined along with a RasterPath entry in a Raster Category section of the .GTM and multiple RasterPath items are specified (delimited by semicolons), each file in the list will be search for in each of the RasterPath directories until it is found.

- FIX - #6763 - Support Added to Feature Tooltip expression for multiple record occurrences.

- FIX - #6764 - Added FT and FT_Pre entries to the Additional Properties section of the .GTM to support Feature Tooltip entries that contain long entries. The FeatureTooltip and FeatureTooltip_Pre entries can only support 200 character per property.

- NEW - #6767 - AlwaysHideRaster entry added to the Additional Properties section.

- FIX - #6770 - The DG.GTI_Area variable for the Dynamic Graphics expressions will now compute the area for a Shape with hole element using only the primary shape.

- FIX - #6770 - The DG.GTI_Area variable for the Dynamic Graphics expressions will now compute the area for a Shape with hole element using only the primary shape.

- CHG - #6772 - Thresholds for Highlighted elements behaved differently than thresholds for Filters, Styles, and Dynamic Graphics. They have been changed to match.

- FIX - #6773 - Problem when selecting elements and moving large distances. Element ranges would sometimes get correct because of roundoff error.

- NEW - #6775 - The Ctrl-0 to Ctrl-6 will set a multiplier for the Move Interval. The Ctrl-7 to Ctrl-9 will set a multiplier for the Scale Increment.

Rotated View and Rotated Printing Functionality in GTViewer

The latest update to GTViewer (verison 10.0.0.11) has a significant new feature: you can now rotate the view to any orientation. This new functionality has been added to meet the requests of several customers who wanted support for 1) rotated prints and 2) Orienting the map to the heading of the GPS. Two screencast videos are listed below to demonstrate this new functionality in action:

Rotated View and Rotated Printing

http://gti-us.mobi/video/rotatedviewdemo/rotatedviewdemo.html

GPS Orienting to Heading:

http://gti-us.mobi/video/gpsdemo/rotatedviewgpsdemo.html

Rotated Views and Rotated Printing do come with a higher demand for memory and processing power, and this functionality may not run on older machines with minimal resources. There are also some features disabled when the view is rotated, like drawing redlines and extract file creation; however, these features may support rotated views at a later date. Also, if you do not rotate the view, GTViewer works as it always has.

To prevent widespread panic, the View Rotation functionality is disabled by default. To enable it, you simply need to add the following line:

AllowViewRotation=1

to the [Additional Properties] section of the .GTM file or to an AddProp.ini file if using a .GTX file.

With version 11.0.0.4, you can also press the key combination Ctrl-Alt-R and enable or disable the View Rotation. However, this command does not permanently enable the view rotation for the dataset as the AllowViewRotation entry does.

The view rotation controls are simple:

• Alt-Left - rotates the view to the left by 5 degrees
• Alt-Right - rotates the view to the right by 5 degrees
  
  
• Shift-Alt-Left - rotates the view to the left by 1 degree
• Shift-Alt-Right - rotates the view to the right by 1 degree
  
  
• Shift-Up or Esc - exit the rotated view mode

When the view is rotated, an indicator appears at the top right corner of the view and points to the normal top of the map. The amount of rotation is also specified on the status bar along with the XY coordinates and Zoom level.

Rotated View



Normal View


The rotated view and rotated printing capabilities have also been added to the latest version of GTVx (version 10.0.0.9).

GTViewer 10.0.0.11 is Available

GTViewer version 10.0.0.10 is available.

-----------------------
10.00.00.11 - 05/13/11
-----------------------

- NEW - #6749 - AllowViewRotation entry added to both the DataProperties and to the Additional Properties section of the .GTM. Default is to not allow (0), can also be set to allow (1).

- FIX - #6750 - Better Error Handling for Rotated Views and Rotated Printing.

- NEW - #6751 - RestrictStyleManagerExport Data Property Added and Additional Properties section of the .GTM.

-----------------------
10.00.00.10 - 05/06/11
-----------------------

- NEW - #6690 - ExportFontAsBitmaps method has been added.

- CHG - #6694 - Dynamic Graphics Shape Actions will now get centroid from any shape, not just closed elements.

- CHG - #6695 - Dynamic Graphics will now adjust the Clipping Rectangle to the Extract range when using a .GTX file.

- FIX - #6698 - Bogus error message logged when Data Id is 0 and only embedded is present for Feature Tooltips.

- FIX - #6701 - GetDataProperty was returning incorrect values for MouseWheelIncrement.

- NEW - #6702 - Support for Editing Session Links.

- CHG - #6703 - Session Links with no file name will now carry the session link name to support editing session links.

- CHG - #6706 - Session Links show up as [Session Link] instead of ~link~ in Right Mouse menu.

- FIX - #6709 - Dimension Elements dialog now sorts the fonts alphabetically.

- NEW - #6712 - HighlightAddText method added.

- NEW - #6713 - HighlightAddFilledCircle method added.

- NEW - #6715 - Rotated View, Print, and Print to Scale functionality added.

- NEW - #6717 - Keep Rotation option added for Point Labels in Dynamic Graphics.

- NEW - #6718 - Option to keep or omit Dynamic Graphics labels that are partially out of the view. The previous method was to omit them.

- FIX - #6726 - Dimension Element Dialog was showing the wrong options for Left/Top and Right/Bottom.

- FIX - #6727 - Dimension Element Dialog was sorting the Terminator Option list alphabetically causing the associated values to not match the named item.

- FIX - #6728 - Drawing a redline could take on the last used Style Definition in certain situations until a view refresh.

- FIX - #6730 - Dimension Dialog will now remember the last Terminator setting.

- FIX - #6732 - The current Weight was not being set in the Dimension Dialog.

- FIX - #6733 - The Color in the Draw Dimension Dialog was not set to the Current Color value or the selected elements current color.

- FIX - #6735 - Dimension Dialog had the Size value 30 twice instead of 30 and 35.

- FIX - #6738 - Dimension Dialog would not select the right font from the list.

- FIX - #6739 - Dimension Dialog did not set the correct Terminator style when editing the properties of a dimension element.

- FIX - #6742 - Dimension Elements using TrueType Fonts did not position the text correctly for Left/Top and Right/Bottom modes.

- NEW - #6744 - SaveViewAsBmp method added.

GTVx version 10.0.0.9 is Available

Version 10.0.0.9 of GTVx is available.

-----------------------
10.00.00.09 - 05/13/11
-----------------------

- NEW - #6746 - AllowViewRotation entry added to both the DataProperties and to the Additional Properties section of the .GTM. Default is to not allow (0), can also be set to allow (1).

- FIX - #6747 - Better Error Handling for Rotated Views and Rotated Printing.

- NEW - #6748 - RestrictStyleManagerExport Data Property Added and Additional Properties section of the .GTM.

-----------------------
10.00.00.08 - 05/08/11
-----------------------

- FIX - #6689 - Fixes to the TrueType Font bitmap render so that the Symbol Selection dialog and the ExportFontAsBitmaps will represent the TrueType characters better.

- CHG - #6691 - ExportFontAsBitmaps will now uses a 3 digit character for using preceeded zeros for number less than 100.

- CHG - #6692 - Dynamic Graphics Shape Actions will now get centroid from any shape, not just closed elements.

- CHG - #6693 - Dynamic Graphics will now adjust the Clipping Rectangle to the Extract range when using a .GTX file.

- FIX - #6699 - Bogus error message logged when Data Id is 0 and only embedded is present for Feature Tooltips.

- FIX - #6700 - GetDataProperty was returning incorrect values for MouseWheelIncrement.

- CHG - #6704 - GetColorTableInfo has been changed to return the background color as the first item in the color array.

- FIX - #6705 - The CurrentColor was not being correctly used when the Select Symbol dialog was used and had the symbol color set to -1 (the default).

- FIX - #6707 - The Dimension Element dialog was not listing TrueType fonts.

- FIX - #6708 - Dimension Elements dialog now sorts the fonts alphabetically.

- NEW - #6710 - HighlightAddText method added.

- NEW - #6711 - HighlightAddFilledCircle method added.

- NEW - #6716 - Print using View Center command added to Print to Scale dialog.

- NEW - #6719 - Keep Rotation option added for Point Labels in Dynamic Graphics.

- NEW - #6720 - Option to keep or omit Dynamic Graphics labels that are partially out of the view. The previous method was to omit them.

- FIX - #6722 - The Color in the Draw Dimension Dialog was not set to the Current Color value or the selected elements current color.

- FIX - #6723 - Dimension Element Dialog was showing the wrong options for Left/Top and Right/Bottom.

- FIX - #6724 - Dimension Element Dialog was sorting the Terminator Option list alphabetically causing the associated values to not match the named item.

- FIX - #6725 - Drawing a redline could take on the last used Style Definition in certain situations until a view refresh.

- FIX - #6729 - Dimension Dialog will now remember the last Terminator setting.

- FIX - #6731 - The current Weight was not being set in the Dimension Dialog.

- FIX - #6734 - Dimension Dialog had the Size value 30 twice instead of 30 and 35.

- FIX - #6736 - Dimension Dialog would not select the right font from the list.

- FIX - #6737 - Dimension Dialog did not set the correct Terminator style when editing the properties of a dimension element.

- FIX - #6740 - Draw Text Dialog was not using the current weight.

- FIX - #6741 - Dimension Elements using TrueType Fonts did not position the text correctly for Left/Top and Right/Bottom modes.

- NEW - #6743 - Rotated View, Print, and Print to Scale functionality added.

- NEW - #6745 - SaveViewAsBmp method added.

Demo of GTWeb Client for Android Tablets (Honeycomb)

You may have seen our video demonstrating the GTWeb Client on an Android phone, but we have a new video showing off the app on a Motorola Xoom tablet which is running Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

http://gti-us.mobi/video/honeycomb/gtweb-honeycomb.html


For more information on the GTWeb Client, see this post.

And for a demo of the GTWeb Client on a BlackBerry phone, see this post.

GTViewer Plugin for 64 Bit FME is now Available

The GTViewer Reader/Writer plugin for FME is now available in both 32bit and 64bit versions.

The new 64 bit version will work with FME 2011 and higher. This version will be delivered with future versions of FME, but it can also be added to a current installation. Contact support for more information.

GTWeb Client for BlackBerry Demo

GTI announces GTWeb Client for BlackBerry.

Here is a short video showing some of the features:

http://gti-us.mobi/video/bb/gtweb-bb.html

GTWeb Server provides a geospatial viewing solution for internet and intranet clients. GTWeb is centrally managed and can support a large number of clients requiring frequent or occasional access to both graphical map data and tabular database records.

GTWeb Server can be accessed using a browser on any platform; however, the GTWeb Client for BlackBerry provides a rich experience tailored specifically for the BlackBerry device and supports supports GPS location, locate queries, favorites, map panning and zooming, display presets, attribute info review, and linked detail files.

If you would like to be part of the GTWeb Client beta program, please contact GTI.

Also, watch the demo of GTWeb Client for Android.

GTViewer version 10.0.0.9 is Available

GTViewer version 10.0.0.9 is available.

-----------------------
10.00.00.09 - 03/30/11
-----------------------

- FIX - #6677 - Problem parsing embedded data with escape sequences.

- FIX - #6678 - Problem computing range for group element in Session File when sub-element were not displayable elements.

- FIX - #6679 - Problem with StyleDefinitionId and Override flags being read in from .GTS files no using the enhanced format.

- CHG - #6680 - Changes to the MrSid printing so that it will support larger format prints.

- NEW - #6682 - The command-line option -startMode can now be specified.

- FIX - #6683 - Magnify window could get the wrong initial setting when using session files from GTField.

- FIX - #6684 - Highlighting priority element with Magnify could cause problems. Introduced with #6632.

- FIX - #6687 - The -GpsOn flag was overriding the default Startup Mode.

-----------------------
10.00.00.08 - 03/19/11
-----------------------

- NEW - #6634 - MoveActionUp and MoveActionDown have been added to the list of commands supported by DGProcessCommand.

- NEW - #6635 - The Pretty function for the Dynamic Graphics expression will now capitalize words after '_', '-', and '/'.

- NEW - #6636 - The following methods have bene added: SaveCurrentStyleMapFile, SaveCurrentStyleDefFile, SaveCurrentLinestyleDefFile.

- NEW - #6637 - Fill option added for Dynamic Graphics Map entries, Simple Highlight mode, and the Highlight Mode's default values.

- FIX - #6638 - The Info1 and Info2 properties were not handled correctly by the Dynamic Graphics.

- FIX - #6641 - Priority Display has been disabled for Dynamic Graphics since this conflicts with the Action drawing order.

- NEW - #6645 - User Mode has been added to Dynamic Graphics Interface.

- NEW - #6646 - The Dynamic Graphics Admin form is now collapsible.

- NEW - #6647 - The Expression Form in the Dynamic Graphics Interface now includes a Clear
and a Set to TRUE button.

- FIX - #6654 - Justification combobox has wrong label for Center/Right in Dynamic Graphics Interface.

- FIX - #6656 - Problem with styles on Complex Elements (Type 1, 2, 3).

- FIX - #6660 - Pressing the Add Attribute on the Expression dialog without an attribute being set would cause problems.

- FIX - #6662 - Dynamic Graphics was not considering Complex Lines as Linear element and Complex Polygons as Polygons.

- FIX - #6665 - Extracting by Shape would not get Shape with Holes elements (type 114).

- FIX - #6667 - Map entries were not correctly saving and restoring the Linestyle and fill values.

- FIX - #6671 - Problem with embedded data in Session Files (.gts).

GTVx verison 10.0.0.7 is Available

Version 10.0.0.7 of GTVx is available.

-----------------------
10.00.00.07 - 03/29/11
-----------------------

- FIX - #6685 - Highlighting priority elements with Magnify could cause problems. Introduced with #6632.

- FIX - #6686 - Changes to the MrSid printing so that it will support larger format prints.

- NEW - #6688 - The ExportFontAsBitmaps method has been added.

-----------------------
10.00.00.06 - 03/19/11
-----------------------

- NEW - #6629 - MoveActionUp and MoveActionDown have been added to the list of commands supported by DGProcessCommand.

- NEW - #6630 - The Pretty function for the Dynamic Graphics expression will now capitalize words after '_', '-', and '/'.

- NEW - #6631 - The following methods have bene added: SaveCurrentStyleMapFile, SaveCurrentStyleDefFile, SaveCurrentLinestyleDefFile.

- NEW - #6632 - Fill option added for Dynamic Graphics Map entries, Simple Highlight mode, and the Highlight Mode's default values.

- FIX - #6633 - The Info1 and Info2 properties were not handled correctly by the Dynamic Graphics.

- FIX - #6639 - Priority Display has been disabled for Dynamic Graphics since this conflicts with the Action drawing order.

- CHG - #6640 - Drawing order for the Dynamic Graphic Actions has been reversed so that the first item in the Action list is the last drawn. This change make the Action list list the Action is the order they appear with the first Action on top, the second action under it, and so on.

- FIX - #6655 - Problem with styles on Complex Elements (Type 1, 2, 3).

- FIX - #6663 - Dynamic Grahpics was not considering Complex Lines as Linear element and Complex Polygons as Polygons.

- FIX - #6664 - RasterPC entries were not processing absolute paths correctly.

- FIX - #6666 - Extracting by Shape would not get Shape with Holes elements (type 114).

- FIX - #6672 - Problem with embedded data in Session Files (.gts).

GTData version 10.0.0.2 is Available

GTData version 10.0.0.2 is available.

-----------
10.00.00.02 - 03/25/11
-----------

- NEW - #6606 - GTFont - The -b2a flag has been added to use the Binary to Ascii mode.

- NEW - #6609 - GTPreset - The Display Definitions will now support wildcards in the GIS() tokens for both feature and component.

- NEW - #6610 - GTPreset - The verbose flag (-v) has been added to the command-line to output all filter id by GIS feature and component name.

- NEW - #6626 - GTVSendClose - New utility added to gracefully shutdown GTViewer when run.

- NEW - #6661 - GTQuery - Key1Attribute and Key2Attribute can now be used in place of GidAttribute and UfidAttribute. Key Attributes are now display in the query output as well.

- FIX - #6681 - GTCompact - The original files Header Info String was not being carried over to the compacted file.

10th Anniversary for GTViewer and Pocket GTViewer

In honor of GTViewer and Pocket GTViewer’s 10^th Anniversary, here are 10 things you probably don’t know about them:

1. GTViewer and Pocket GTViewer were announced at GITA in San Diego, March 4-7, 2001.
   
   
2. Pocket GTViewer was developed on a Hewlett Packard Jornada 430, running Windows CE 2.11, 16M of memory, and a 133MHz processor. Sorry, they are no longer available.
   
   
3. GTViewer’s original purpose was to create Extract files (.GTX) for Pocket GTViewer. We have since found other uses for GTViewer.
   
   
4. The original codename for GTViewer was “Dog”, and Pocket GTViewer was “DogCE”. Some evidence of these names still exist today. The GTViewer Font file format is .DFN (Dog FoNt). Extract files were .DCE (Dog for CE) before .GTX.
   
   
5. Version 1.0 of GTViewer had separate Zoom In and Zoom Out modes which were replaced by the single Zoom mode using gesturing that we have today. Today we would call that Refactoring the GUI.
   
   
6. While there are 10 major versions of GTViewer, there is no version 6.0. There was, however, a version 1.1 to make major 10 versions. The version number roughly corresponds to the year, or at least the year it was released in.
   
   
7. There are no versions with “13” in them. Not superstitious, but not taking any changes either.
   
   
8. There are currently 353 exposed methods in the GTViewer API. So start writing code!
   
   
9. There have been 274 minor versions of GTViewer from 1.1.0.4 to 10.0.0.7. There are probably another 50 minor versions, but the records for version 1.0 are not as detailed as the rest.
   
   
10. GTViewer alone has around 600 pages of documentation not including the numerous blog posting. And people still say there is not enough!
    

GTV Control verison 9.0.0.20 is Available

The GTViewer .NET Control for Windows version 9.0.0.20 is Available.

------------
09.00.00.20 - 03/17/11
------------

- NEW - #6628 - The maximum number of items specified in the tap-and-hold picklist menu can now be set with the MaxPickListItems property.

- FIX - #6658 - Problem with styles on Complex Elements (Type 1, 2, 3).

- NEW - #6668 - More GPS Update Interval Option are now available (1/10, 1/4, 1/2, and 0 seconds).

- CHG - #6669 - The buffer zone when the GPS Indicator is recentered when in Keep in View mode has been increased.

- NEW - #6670 - The IsPointInShape method has been added.


------------
09.00.00.19 - 02/22/11
------------

- FIX - #6624 - FitSessionGraphics method did not fit correctly when GTField elements were present.

------------
09.00.00.18 - 02/9/11
------------

- FIX - #6607 - File Handle test was not being performed before Session Saves and Element Additions. This problem could affect .GTX files
when the machine goes to sleep or some other condition that could invalidate a file handle.

------------
09.00.00.17 - 01/14/11
------------

- FIX - #6602 - GPS Redline trail had problems when control was minimized.

TechAdvantage 2011

Come see us today at TechAdvantage® 2011 Conference and Expo in Orlando. We will be there from March 8-11, 2011.

Our booth number is #1435 on the North-East side of the show floor.

GTWeb Client for Android Demo

Here is a short video showing the GTWeb Client for Android:

http://gti-us.mobi/video/gtwebdemo.html

*** Watch in Full Screen Mode to see all of the details.

For more information on the GTWeb Client, see this previous post.

PGTV .NET Control Version 9.0.0.9 is Available

The PGTViewer .NET Control for Window Mobile version 9.0.0.9 is available.

------------
09.00.00.09 - 02/28/11
------------

- FIX - #6589 - Element selection was not working correctly in some situations.

- NEW - #6627 - The maximum number of items specified in the tap-and-hold picklist menu can now be set with the MaxPickListItems property.

------------
09.00.00.08 - 09/21/10
------------

- FIX - #6485 - Fixes to .MSI Setup.

TechAdvantage 2011

GTI will have a booth at the TechAdvantage® 2011 Conference and Expo from March 8-11, 2011.

Our booth number is #1435 on the North-East side of the show floor.

We invite you to stop by and visit our booth. We will be showing the GTWeb Client for Android, GTViewer's Dynamic Graphics capabilities, GTField's Pole Joint Use application, Outage Analysis, Upstream/Downstream tracing, and much more.

Using GTViewer for Streetlight Inventory

Rather than relying on estimates and negotiation, GTField can be used to determine the actual number of streetlights and attachments on each company owned pole. Too much revenue is lost due to inaccurate or incomplete facility records. GTField provides the ability to easily capture the revenue from those new and changing facilities.

The payback is almost immediate. One of our customers captured well over $100,000.00 in revenue using GTI’s Streetlight Light Inventory/Pole Inspection Application in a city with a population of 65000.

GTI can implement GTField in as little as 2 weeks with no existing GIS or minimal integration with an existing GIS system. Training on using GTField is fast and easy. Implementation of other competitive services takes much longer at a significantly higher cost.

GTVSendClose Utility

GTVSendClose is a new utility that will be delivered with GTData. Running the new utility will gracefully shutdown GTViewer. You may think this is an odd utility to have, but it was requested by a customer who uses a very clever and effective means of distributing data updates to its GTViewer users. I will describe the process below and show how GTVSendClose helps out the process. It may be useful to your workflow as well.

First, a GTViewer dataset is created and placed on a USB Flash Drive along with any GTViewer product updates. An autorun.inf file is also included to run a script which copies the updates from the USB Flash Drive to the laptop. When the USB Flash Drive is plugged-in to the laptop, the update process automatically begins.

Second, once the USB drive is prepared, a USB Flash Drive Duplicator (like this one) is used to copy the flash drive to a number of other USB Flash Drive.

Third, the copied USB Flash Drives are disseminated to the users and they plug them into their laptops and the data is automatically updated, and the USB Flash Drive is returned.

One problem that occurred in this workflow was that the user could have left GTViewer running when the USB Flash Drive was plugged-in and the updates could not be copied because the data files would be locked by GTViewer. Not a terribly difficult problem to overcome (shut down GTViewer, and try again), but there is an improvement that can be made to the workflow.

By inserting a call to GTVSendClose (which can be located on the USB Flash Drive) into the update script launched by the autorun.inf, you can guarantee GTViewer will not be running when the update begins and eliminate the potential for locked files.

There are some caveats here. If a user has created a new session in GTViewer that has not yet been saved, GTViewer will prompt the user for a filename and wait for the user to respond which will interfere with the update. However, there are solutions to this problem as well such as using the External Session only option which will also use a default session name.