XMap at Work
Mobile Airport Authority Chooses XMap for Mapping of Properties and Facilities
 DeLorme is pleased to announce that the Mobile Airport Authority's Brookley Complex in Mobile, Alabama, has selected XMap to help build and manage their Geographic Information System.
MAA staff members are using XMap GIS Enterprise for a wide variety of spatial data management functions, including property and building footprint mapping, tenant and lease management, marketing, strategic planning, and much more.
The MAA opted for the Enterprise version of XMap as it offers a multiple point image registration tool. Having recently captured high resolution aerial imagery of the entire Brookley complex, the ImageReg function was used to accurately create a raster layer as a base map for a variety of mapping tasks.
SPECIAL OFFER
Buy an Earthmate Blue Logger GPS today for under $100 – 33% off the regular price
 The Earthmate Blue Logger is arguably the most versatile GPS receiver that DeLorme has ever produced. This remarkable device can wirelessly transmit a GPS signal to virtually any Bluetooth enabled computer or PDA, turning your laptop, Palm, or Windows Mobile device into a portable navigation tool.
The pocket-sized Blue Logger is also a powerful standalone data collector. Simply turn it on and, as soon as it picks up a GPS fix, it will begin to record its location, speed, and more, at a distance or time interval that is established using the included Blue Logger Manager software. The collected data is downloaded wirelessly in one of a number of formats and can be easily imported, displayed, and managed in XMap.
Click here for more information on the Earthmate Blue Logger GPS, or click here to order yours today.
XMap Q & A
 Can I overlay roads or
GIS data on an aerial
image on my PN-20?
In short, yes you can.
Since it was first released almost two years ago, the Earthmate GPS PN-20 has been periodically updated and enhanced. While the device itself has remained the same, the firmware, or internal programming that determines how the device functions, has been revised and new versions have been released several times. Each firmware update improves the performance of the device, upgrades the existing functionality, and often adds new features and functions. Running the firmware updater is like trading in your old PN-20 for the latest model. If only trading in your car was that simple.
The most recent firmware update (version 1.4) was released in mid-April, 2008 and offers a number of significant enhancements for PN-20 users. Perhaps the most noteworthy, especially for XMap users, is the option to display hybrid maps, meaning that both raster and vector data layers can be displayed simultaneously. For instance, you can now view an aerial image on the PN-20 screen and overlay OpenSpace GIS data layers, which can be independently turned on or off as needed. This function also provides the means to display the roads and streets from the USA Topographic Data on top of an image.
Tab Tip
Adding New Attribute Fields to an OpenSpace GIS Layer
The Field Creation dialog box is among the most powerful components of the GIS tab in XMap. Admittedly, it is quite difficult to find this tool, but if you click the Design View button in the Attributes tab, you’ll see an Options menu that contains several field management tools including Add Field… Sooner or later, most XMap GIS Enterprise or Editor users will encounter a situation that requires that they visit this area of the software.
The basic function of the Field Creation dialog box is to generate a new field or column of attributes for an OpenSpace GIS layer. For instance, if you import a shapefile containing local property polygons, you may need to add a field that allows you to include information on the value of each property, or if you download waypoints from the Earthmate GPS PN-20 and import them into the GIS tab, you will likely need to use the Field Creation function to assign the appropriate data to each collected location.
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Where on Eartha?
Last month we asked you to identify a capital city close to a body of water and the country in which it is located. As many of you pointed out, the body of water is Lake Victoria, which straddles the borders of Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, and it was the latter whose capital was designated with the pushpin. A surprisingly high number of entrants were able to correctly identify Kampala, which is situated just north of the equator.
The first correct response drawn at random belongs to Jacque La Croix from the La Croix Computer Services in Kearns, UT. Jacque will be receiving a copy of XMap Professional with USA Topographic data and a USB GPS receiver, which will turn his laptop computer into a voice-controlled, in-vehicle navigation system.
If you'd like to join Jacque as a winner of XMap, take a look at the location of the pushpin in the image below and try to figure out the name of the capital city and country on which the pushpin has been placed. Write your response in an email and send it to contest@delorme.com before
June 6, 2008.
 DeLorme Professional Newsletter now available in PDF format
Over the last few weeks, we have heard from several subscribers who have told us that the articles in the reformatted newsletter are difficult to print. Many of you, we have learned, like to keep your own archive of stories, features, and user tips for future reference.
To simplify the process, the entire newsletter is now available for download in PDF format. In the coming weeks, we will work on converting the previous editions into PDF files. Check the newsletter page for the latest information.
Did You Know...
Did you know that you can publish a map to the Web using XMap? In fact, XMap offers two innovative tools for creating an online map.
The first option is MapShare, a free service hosted by DeLorme that allows a snapshot of any map to be captured from within XMap, transferred to DeLorme’s MapShare server, and assigned a unique URL, all within a few seconds. Instantly share map views, including route details, GIS layers, imagery, or any other user-added feature, with a virtually unlimited audience. MapShare sites are managed from within XMap and can be deactivated or deleted by the user as needed.
 MapShare, which requires an active Internet connection, is managed using the MapShare button in the toolbar. If you don't see the button, right-click anywhere on the toolbar to drop down a list of available toolbar options and make sure it is checked. To see an example of a MapShare site, click here.
Users of the Editor or Enterprise versions of XMap can share data by creating an XMap Web site, to which they can publish OpenSpace GIS layers. Visitors to the site can zoom and pan the map, select on an object on the map to all of the available attribution, run queries, print a custom map, and much more. As the site administrator, the XMap user can decide who has access to the site, what level of data will be available, how it will appear, and if it can be downloaded.
XMap Web is a subscription-based service; however, all registered XMap customers can create a free 30-day trial site. Just click the XMap Web button in the Workspace area of the GIS tab, and within minutes your custom site will be up and running. For an example of an XMap Web site showing property parcels, click here.
We Want to Meet You!
Visit us at this upcoming event:
Windpower 2008
Houston, TX
June 1-4, 2008
Stop by the DeLorme booth and enter to win a drawing for a DeLorme product.
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