Mapping Concepts - General

A map is a set of layers of objects that are representations of the earth’s surface…

One map can have many (unlimited) views of the world. It could, for example, have an unlimited number of farming properties on it with an unlimited number layers.

Map objects are:

Polygons: Polygons are closed areas which are defined by individual points that draw on the map. These are used to draw the filled areas such as areas of salt. For polygons you can specify their colour, the pattern of the filled area and the thickness of the border.

Lines: These are used for objects such as Power Lines, Roads and Cables. For lines you can specify the line style, colour and the line thickness.

Circles: Circles are used to represent Circular Production areas, “centre pivot” irrigation systems or whatever you may care to use them for.

Symbols: Use symbols to represent things like gates, buildings, pumps, windmills, air strips, bridges and other man made objects and structures.

Text: Add labels to your map. Labels can be attached to any layer. Labels can be scaled and will grow and shrink as you zoom in and out… or you can make them a fixed size. We’ll look at these options in more detail later.

Each object can have its own style…

A object’s style can be defined as one of or a combination of the following (depending on the type of object it is)

line pattern, line colour, line thickness, fill colour

We provide you with a style selector to enable the setting and editing of object styles. as you create an object, you can set the style of that object. If you want to change the style of an object later, there's an "Attributes" button that will become enabled when you have selected an object with your mouse. Clicking on the Attributes button enables you to change the style of the selected object or all objects on a layer.

A layer is a collection of map objects that you draw or import. Only one map object type can exists on a layer. A layer can either be on display or not… when a layer is on display, all objects on that layer are on display together. We provide you with a “Layer Manager” to manage your layers.

A layer can be any one of the following:

“Vector” data… lines, circles, polygons, points that someone has drawn using a mouse… These objects represent objects on the earth’s surface… sometimes objects like rivers, lakes, height contour lines (natural features) and sometimes, roads, fences, telephone lines, power lines and other man made features (cadastral data).

Symbols… small icons that represent objects on the earth’s surface… usually man made objects like dams, tanks, buildings.

Layers can be on display or not… It’s a simple mouse click to show or hide a layer.

How many layers can you have on a map? As many as you want!

The most complex job you’re going to face is managing your layers. To assist you, we provide you with a Layer Manager. This enables you to

Create new layers

Delete unwanted layers

Rename layers

A Layer Group is a collection of layers that you can create and name. They enable you to keep your layers better organised. Layer groups can be added, named, renamed and deleted.

How many layer groups can you have on a map?

As many as you want!

You could have a layer group called “Maps of the world”, another called “Current Farm Layout”, another called “Future plans”.

A view is a set of visible map layers within a defined area. In our case the bounding area is a computer screen. To create a view you use the zooming and panning facilities to zoom in to or out to an area of the map you would like to save as a view. Then decide on the layers you want visible in your view… set the required layers “on”… then save the view using a name that has a relevant meaning. /Save View As… to save your new views.

PLEASE NOTE: The visibility settings of the Object Name Labels & Area Labels (where relevant) are also saved when you save a view.

How many views of your map can you have? As many as you want!

You’ll find views are an extremely useful and powerful feature of the program. Your map can consist of as many views of the world as you like. Let’s just think of it as your complete set of views of the world!