displaying geospatial data · displaying geospatial data before getting started it may be difficult...

Tutorial

DisplayingGeospatial Data

with

TNTmips®

TNTedit™TNTview®

DISPLAYING

Displaying Geospatial Data

Before Getting Started

It may be difficult to identify the important points in some illustrations withouta color copy of this booklet. You can print or read this booklet in color fromMicroImages’ web site. The web site is also your source for the newesttutorial and application booklets on other topics. You can download aninstallation guide, sample data, and the latest version of any TNT product:

http://www.microimages.com

This tutorial booklet introduces you to the TNT products from MicroImages, Inc.You may be a professional with years of experience or you may be a studenttaking your first GIS or Image Processing course. Whatever your situation, thisbooklet will help you get started with the TNT products. We recommend thatyour next tutorial be TNT Product Concepts. Once you learn the basics of TNTwith these first two booklets, you will be ready to branch off in any direction toexplore the many powerful features TNT offers.

Sample Data The exercises presented in this booklet use sample data that isdistributed with the TNT products. If you do not have access to a TNT productsDVD, you can download the data from MicroImages’ web site. In particular, thisbooklet uses objects in the CB_DATA, BLACKBRN, EDITRAST, and MAPLO data collec-tions. Make a read-write copy of the sample data on your hard drive so changescan be saved when you use this data.

More Documentation This booklet is designed as the first in the tutorial series.Further general system information is provided in the TNT Product Conceptstutorial, which covers many TNT interface conventions. After you complete theexercises in these two booklets, you will have the basic skills you need to pick upany of the other tutorial booklets.

TNTmips® Pro and TNTmips Free TNTmips (the Map and Image ProcessingSystem) comes in three versions: the professional version of TNTmips (TNTmipsPro), the low cost TNTmips Basic version, and the TNTmips Free version. Allversions run exactly the same code from the TNT products DVD and have exactlythe same features. If you did not purchase the professional version (whichrequires a software license key) or TNTmips Basic then TNTmips operates inTNTmips Free mode.

This booklet refers to TNTmips, TNTedit, TNTmips Free, and TNTview as “TNT.”Since the display features in all four products are essentially the same, you will beable to follow these exercises no matter which product you have with the excep-tion of the exercises on adding web layers, which require the professional versionof the TNT products (except for WMS and ArcIMS layers).

Merri P. Skrdla, Ph.D., 18 September 2010© MicroImages, Inc. 1997–2010


You can install the TNT products from a DVD orafter downloading from MicroImages’ web site. AnInstallation and Setup Guide in Adobe PDF formatis provided in the root directoryof the TNT products DVD. Youcan also download or view the in-stallation booklet from Micro-Images’ web site.

The exercises in this booklet usesample data available with theTNT products. Copy the sampledata to your hard drive. Making aread/write copy enables displayparameters and other informationto be saved. The data and docu-mentation can be downloaded from MicroImages’web site. A large collection of Technical Guides onindividual features is also posted on MicroImages’web site. Consult the TechGuides for newer fea-tures that may not be included in this booklet. Acollection of Quick Guides, which provide helpfulhints for using the TNT products is also available.

The geospatial display process is common toTNTmips, TNTedit, and TNTview. It also is at thecore of the free TNTatlas product.

• TNTview contains the display process, the SMLscripting language, the import and export pro-cesses, and file maintenance procedures.

• TNTedit is TNTview plus the geodata editor, andgeoreferencing.

• TNTmips is the complete suite of TNT display,editing, manipulation, and support processes.

The exercises in this booklet describe the Displayprocess as it appears in the TNTmips Pro, TNTmipsBasic, and TNTmips Free products. Only slight dif-ferences in the way you launch the process appearin TNTedit and TNTview.

The exercises in thisbooklet on pages 4–10introduce basic object anddisplay concepts. Pages11–21 introduce each typeof internal spatial dataobject. More complexvisualization and outputfeatures, including thetypes of Internet-basedlayers supported arecovered on pages 22–42.

Install TNTWindows computers begineach TNT session with theMicroImages splash screen.

A new edition of TNTmipsthat includes the latest errorfixes is posted weekly onMicroImages’ web site (nosoftware is error free, butMicroImages is veryresponsive to fixing errors).The posted developmentversion also contains newlyadded features. You caninstall and run thedevelopment version andalso run the current releaseversion of TNTmips.


Start TNTmips

STEPS launch TNT from the

desktop select Main / Display expose the ToolTip for

each icon button in turnon the Display Managertoolbar

click the New iconbutton and selectEmpty 2D from its menu

The tutorial booklets refer tomenu choices with a menupath notation. For example,choosing Display from theMain menu is indicated withthe menu path “Main /Display.”

You can always tell what an icon button does by exposing its ToolTip: hold yourcursor over an icon button for a moment to see a description of the button’s function.

2008:74

Launch TNT for Windows and Mac computers bydouble-clicking on the TNT program icon createdduring installation. The system also starts the XServer, which provides the operating environmentfor TNT (MI/X on Windows and X11 on the Mac).

TNT displays its main menu with the items Main,Image, Tileset, Geometric, Terrain, Convert, Script,Tools, and Help. This booklet uses the Display pro-cess to introduce the main types of geospatial ob-jects used in the TNT products: raster, vector, CAD,TIN, shape, and database. The exercises show how

to display both simple and multi-object / multi-layer views.

When you choose Display from the Main menu,TNT opens a Display Manager window. Icon but-tons on the toolbar give you quick access to fre-quently-used functions. For these introductory ex-ercises, we will use the simplest form: a 2D displaygroup. The Display process also supports 3Dgroups, display layouts, and page layouts.

When you are finished with a TNT session, closeeach active TNT process. You exit Display by se-lecting Exit from the Display menu in the DisplayManager. You exit TNTmips by selecting Exit fromthe Main menu on the main TNT menu bar. You canalso exit a process using the close icon in the mainwindow’s title bar. The X Server automatically exitswhen the last TNT process is closed.


Display Group View and Manager

STEPS inspect the interface

components of theDisplay Group Viewwindow

click on the main menusin each window tosurvey the drop-downselections

right-click on the DisplayGroup 1 item in theDisplay Manager list andselect Close Group fromits menu (on a Mac, usecommand-click for theright-click function)

The Sidebar may contain thelegend, a magnifier, and alocator for the geodata in theView canvas.

The View canvas of theGroup View windowshows a multilayer display ofyour geospatial projectmaterials.

The companion DisplayManager window providestools to add, remove, andexamine each layer in the view.

When you choose to open an empty group, the Dis-play process opens a Display Group 1 View 1 win-dow (hereafter called the View window) and listsDisplay Group 1 in the Display Manager window.Other choices in the Display Manager will result in aprompt for you to select an object. Object selectionis discussed in the next exercise.

The Display Manager window lets you add and re-move display groups and layers, and lets you exam-ine the attributes associated with each object bymanipulating the expandable list of objects in eachgroup. Many of these functions are also availablein the legend area of the sidebar.

The Display process lets you simultaneously openmultiple View windows, plus 3D groups, displaylayouts, and page layouts. This booklet introducesdisplay for 2D groups. Other tutorial booklets treatusing page layout displays for map and poster de-sign and 3D perspective and stereo visualization.There is a single Display Manager window to man-age all of your views.

These buttons openand close sidebarcomponents.


Each arrow drops down a list of the contentsof drive/directory/file to its left.

A Project File is the TNT data structure for all raster, vector, CAD,TIN, database, and text materials, as well as associated subobjects(such as georeference control and display characteristics).

Click on theicon in thisposition to goup one level inthe directory.

An iconshows thetype of eachitem in thelist.

File and Object SelectionMost processes open a standard Select Objects dia-log so you can navigate through drives, directories,and Project Files to locate input and output projectmaterials. In the exercises on this page and the next,you will select several objects for 2D display fromthe TNT sample data. For purposes of illustration,we assume your sample data is on drive C: in /DATA.

The TNT Project file has an RVC file extension.Many additional file types are supported for directuse or by linking to files in their original format.Shape objects have no corresponding internal ob-ject type and are supported by direct use or linkingonly. File types supported for direct use have asame-named file with an RLK extension when neededfor ancillary information created in TNT, such asgeoreference, styles, and additional database tables.

STEPS select 2D Display from

the New icon menu examine the Select

Object dialog that opens

Grayed-outinterfaceelements are notactive in thecurrent context.

A Project File may contain manydifferent types of objects; thelist can be set to show all typesor only those selectable in thecurrent operation.

You can view all files in adirectory, only RVC files, orother selected file types.

This arrowdrops down alist of recentlyselectedobjects/files.

Already selected items appear in this list.

Switch between Web andlocal layers using thisarrow.


Select the C:/DATA/BLACKBRN directory from theobject list; TNT shows you the Project Files andother file types that can be directly displayed inthat directory.

Navigate into the BLACKBRN Project File from theobject list (click on the icon that represents thefile or double-click on the file name); TNT showsyou a list of objects and folders inside the ProjectFile.

Click the Add All button to add all select-able objects to the selection list (note thatthe layout is not added to the list because it isnot selectable in this case).

Click the [OK] button to complete your selectionand close the Select Objects dialog. TNT auto-matically displays the selected objects in the Viewwindow.

When you complete these steps, your View andManager windows should look like those illustratedon pages 8 and 10, respectively.

Once you have selected the /DATA/BLACKBRN directory, select a ProjectFile from the object list; in thisexample, BLACKBRN.

A Project File or a Foldermay contain severalobjects. For this exercise,you will select all theselectable objects in the list.

Keep this display group onthe screen for the nextexercise.

Select Display Objects

If you do not have thesample data on yourcomputer, copy it from theTNT products DVD ordownload it fromwww.microimages.com.The sample data for alltutorial booklets is in asingle .zip file.

A Project File may be logically organizedto include one or more Folders.Observe the DISPLAYGROUPS folder in theobject list (but do notselect it).

GeospatialObjects

Project FIles are read or write locked during usage to protect your data. A read-locked file can be opened by another process for reading but not for writing. TheWIndows OS manages most file locking but if your files are on a networked drive oryou are using a Mac, file locking is handled by TNT. If your computer shuts downabnormally while a Project File is locked by TNT, you can unlock it by deleting the.LOK file (such as BLACKBRN.LOK) located in the same directory. For additional informa-tion on file locking, see the Understanding and Maintaing Project Files booklet.


Zoomin

Using the View Window

STEPS the Reposition tool

is active bydefault; hold the leftmouse button and dragto reposition the view orroll the scroll wheelaway from or towardyou to zoom in/out

click the Zoom boxto draw a zoomarea

Zoom to MaximumDetail matchesraster cells to screenpixels

In the previous exercise,you selected all thedisplayable objects in theroot of a Project File. Nowyour group contains eightlayers, including: AERIAL (araster object airphoto),FOOTPRINT (CAD outlines ofbuildings), and PARCEL

(vector polygons) amongothers. After layer selec-tion is complete, TNT up-dates the layer list in the

Display Manager window and the Legend (if open)and displays the group in the View window.

Icon buttons across the top of the View windowpresent many display control features. Use the de-fault reposition tool to drag the view in any direc-tion (hold left mouse button) or zoom in and outwith the scroll wheel. Click the Zoom In button toenlarge the contents of the view. Click Zoom Out toreduce the scale of the view. Select the Zoom boxand draw an elastic box on the display image. Whenyou finish drawing the box, the display zooms tothe extents of the box. Click the Maximum Detailicon to see a “1X” view (1:1 raster cell to displaypixel). Click on Full to fit the whole group to thecurrent window size.

The default layer name used in the Manager andLegend can be the object name, object description,or file and object name. This option is set on theLayer tabbed panel of the Options window openedby choosing Options/View Options in the Manager.

Refresh

scale and position readouts areupdated as you change theview zoom and cursor position

Your preference forwhether the zoom box toolrequires a right mouse clickto initiate the zoom or simplyzooms when you releasethe mouse is set with theView Options opened fromthe Display Manager.

A show/hide checkboxdetermines the visibilityfor each layer.

Zoom

Zoom toMax Detail

View-in-View

UnmarkAll

Zoomout

Zoom toActiveLayer

FullZoom toLocation

Snapshot ToggleMarked

MarkExclusive

GeoLock GeoToolbox

PreviousStop

Previous /Next Marked

RepositionSelect

LaunchGeoviewer

Stereo

AddLayer


Legend, Magnifier, and LocatorThe sidebar on the left side of your View windowmay contain three optional components: the Leg-end, Magnifier, and Locator. The sidebar as a wholeand each of its components can be resized. On thepreceding page only the Legend is shown.

The Legend provides many of the same features asthe Display Manager directly in the View window.You can turn layers on and off and open the LayerControls by clicking on the associated icons. Layerorder can be changed by dragging. A right mousebutton menu also provides access to these func-tions and others.

The Magnifier provides a 4X zoom (by default) ofthe layers in the view centered on the cursor loca-tion. The current zoom level of the Magnifier isshown between the control buttons for increasingand decreasing the Magnifier’s zoom level.

The Locator provides an overview of all selectedlayers with a rectangle that represents the currentextents showing in the view window. You can movethis rectangle to change the area being viewed and/or resize it to change the zoom level of the main View.You can turn layers off in the Locator fromthe right-click menu for the Show/Hidecheckbox.

You can also open a separate Locator window (Dis-play/Open Locator View in the Display Manager). Asingle Locator window is used to manage all of theopen views of the same display. A rectangle is usedto represent the extents of each open View. You canchange the colors used by changing the primary andsecondary graphic tool colors in the GeoToolbox(Options/Graphic Tools). The primary color is usedto indicate the view extents for the view the cursor isover. All other view extents boxes are shown in thesecondary color. You can also change the back-ground color for both versions of the Locator.

STEPS use the icons at the

bottom of the sidebar toturn optional compo-nents on/off (note thatthe icon to reopen thesidebar moves to theleft margin of the View)

with the Locator on,turn off several of thevector overlays

choose Display/OpenLocator View in theDisplay Managerwindow

Refresh

Colors

Hide AllLayers

Track mouse cursorbetween views

LegendOn/Off

MagnifierOn/Off

LocatorOn/Off

HideSidebar

Controlzoomlevel ofMagnifier


Using the Manager WindowSTEPS click the expand/

collapse boxes for theParcel layer and againfor its 214 polygons

turn on the show/hide checkbox forthe AUDITOR table

select Expand AllLayers from the right-button menu for DisplayGroup 1

click the object iconfor the Parcel layerand survey the VectorLayer Controls dialogthat opens

inspect the right-buttonmenu for several layertypes

select Remove AllLayers from the right-button menu for DisplayGroup 1 to prepare forthe next exercise

Above: one row for each layer. Left: thelayer tree has been expanded to reveal thehierarchical presentation of features andinformation.

Each primary row in the Manager window corre-sponds to one layer in the View window and givesyou access to features related to the display layers.The layer list is presented with expandable tree con-trols. You can access secondary rows of subordi-nate information and controls for a layer by clickingits expand/collapse box. You can expand the entirelist for a group by selecting Expand All Layers fromthe right mouse button menu forthe group.

An object icon for each layershows the object type (raster, vec-tor, shape, CAD, TIN, ... more onobject types later). Click on an ob-ject icon to open a Layer Controlsdialog that offers display controlsand options for that layer.

A right mouse button menu foreach layer offers functions appro-priate for that layer. Compare the right-button menus

for a raster and vector layer in the list.Also note that every level in the Managerhas an associated right-button menu notjust those representing display layers.

same layers as shownat left with layer namefrom object descriptioninstead of object name

Explore the right mouse buttonmenu for each layer type andlevel in the hierarchy.


Add a Single RasterA raster is a geospatial data object that may containan image, such as a digital photo, a satellite image, ora scanned map or it may contain other numeric data,such as elevation. A raster is a two-dimensional ar-ray of cells. If you have ever used a paint program,you may be familiar with common raster formats, suchas TIFF, PNG, JPEG, and GIF.

An 8-bit “composite color” raster uses a color tableto map each raster cell value into one of 256 discretedisplay colors. Each display color in the color mapgenerally represents a compromise to represent acollection of similar colors that occur within the im-age when the separate red, green, and blue compo-nents are combined. 8-bit rasters that lack a colormap are displayed in grayscale.

16- and 24-bit rasters provide truer colors becausethe image is represented by 65,536 or 16,777,216 pos-sible colors, respectively, instead of a mere 256. 24-bit imagery is more common but cannot be distin-guished from 16-bit by the human eye unless all thecolors in an image fall within a very narrow range ofthe spectrum.

The TNT products support the use of a wide rangeof raster types including 1-bitbinary rasters to 128-bit com-plex number rasters. Gray-scale, color composite, andhyperspectral rasters are sup-ported.

STEPS click the Add

Objects icon in theDisplay Manager

select CB_DATA / CB_COMP /_8_BIT

right-click the layername in the Legend tosee the layer menu for_8_BIT

click on the objecticon then on theEdit button for the ColorPalette and note theavailable colors

choose File/Close in theColor Palette Editorwindow

select Remove Layerfrom _8_BIT’s Legendlayer menu

_8_BIT is a composite color TM(Thematic Mapper) satelliteimage of the Crow Butte 7.5-minute map quadrangle inNebraska. 8-bit color was morecommon in the early days ofdigital imagery when displaymemory and file storage werevery expensive.

Click the rightmouse button onthe layer name inthe Legend andexamine thisdrop-down layermenu .

Note: you could also clickon the Add Raster icon andchoose Single from itsmenu.


Select a Three-Raster RGB Set

STEPS click on the Add Raster

icon, and choose Red-Green-Blue

select TM_5, PHOTO_IR,and RED from CB_DATA /CB_TM in the orderspecified

selectRemoveLayerfrom thelayermenu intheDisplayManager

To select rasters to displayas red, green and blue,click on the object icon ordouble-click on its name toadd in red-green-blue order.

A color image can be created fromthree separate raster objects wheneach raster object is used to controlone color component: one raster ob-ject provides the red component, onethe green, and one blue. Use compo-nent color raster display for viewingselected bands from multispectral im-age sources, such as 7-band TM sat-ellite images. By assigning variousbands to the RGB components, youcan view and analyze false-color im-ages, such as illustrated below. [Other

multiple-component raster display modes use inputrasters for hue, intensity, and saturation (HIS), or ashue, brightness, and saturation (HBS) components.]

You can also add a set of raster objects as a singleRGB layer by clicking on the same icon used to addany type of single-object layer. If you select threecoregistered, coextensive raster objects with red,green, or blue in their object name, they will be addedas a single RGB layer.

If your computer is in a 24-bit color display mode,you will see a true 24-bit color image (each of the

component raster ob-jects provides 8 bits ofinformation). If yourcomputer is in a 16-bitor 8-bit display mode(not recommended),Display automaticallyreduces the 24-bitcolor information fromthe RGB raster objectsinto an optimally cho-sen palette with theappropriate number ofcolors.


Quick-Add an RGB SetIn addition to adding RGB sets as described in theprevious exercise, you can add RGB sets using theAdd Objects icon if the layers in the set arecoregistered (with the same orientation and geom-etry), coextensive (having the same extents), andappropriately named*. Coregistered, coextensiverasters have a 1-to-1 cell correspondence with thesame ground area represented by the correspondingcells in each raster.

This quick-add lets you use the same Add Objectsicon used for single rasters and other single objectsto create a multicomponent raster layer alone or incombination with other layers. Multiple RGB setscan be added with a single use of the Add Objectsbutton as long as they have different extents. Ifmultiple sets with the same extents are selected, allare added as separate, single-raster layers.

If red, green, or blue is included in the object name,it is appropriately named for use with this quick-addfeature. Color name identification is case insenstiveand will utilize localized color names if your TNTproduct interface is in a language other than English.Because the multicomponent band identification ismade by name, you do not need to select the rastersfor an RGB set in red-green-blue or-der.

STEPS click on the Add


select GREEN, BLUE, andRED from CB_DATA / CB_TM

in any order, then selectCBSOILS_LITE from theCB_SOILS Project File

select Remove AllLayers from the right-click group menu in theManager window

* Different null specifica-tions will preventcoregistered, coextensiveraster sets from beingadded as a single,multicomponent layer.Having the same nullspecification means that allthree rasters have anindividual null value, allthree have a null mask, orall lack a null value or nullmask. To read more aboutnull values and null masks,consult the Working withMassive Geodata Objectsbooklet.

Three rasters and vectorselected become onemulticomponent raster layerwith a vector overlay.


A vector is a spatial dataobject containing point, line,and polygon data. Vectorobjects often containfeatures with associateddatabase values, such as• agricultural fields and

crop information,• political districts and

population data,• well locations and

pumping capacity, and• highway segments and

paving type.

STEPS click on the Add


select the /TNTDATA/BLACKBRN directory, theBLACKBRN Project File, andthe PARCEL vector object

click on the vectoricon or selectControls from PARCEL’sright mouse button layermenu in the DisplayManager or Legend

on the Polygons panel,select Style Land_Use

Keep the PARCEL object on screen for the next exercise.

Vector Object DisplayThis exercise introduces the second major type ofgeospatial data object: the vector object. Vector ob-jects may contain point, line, and/or polygon ele-ments with associated database records. A samplevector object from the Blackburn neighborhood inColumbus, Ohio shows property parcels and asso-ciated tabular data from the County Assessor.

The right mouse button menu for a layer providesmost of the same choices in the Legend and DisplayManager so you can use the menu in the windowthat is more convenient. The icon that representsthe layer type provides a shortcut to open the LayerControls for that object.

Vector objects have rigorous topology, which de-scribes the relationships between the elements inthe vector object. The three types of vector topol-ogy supported in the TNT products are polygonal,planar, and network topology. An additional ele-ment type (nodes) is important in topological de-scriptions. All lines start and end in nodes. Nodesare usually hidden for display purposes. For moreinformation on vector topology see the Vector Analy-sis Operations tutorial booklet.

Enable Polygon Filling.

Click on the Polygons tab toexpose the associated panel.

Be sure the selectedstyle is Land_Use.


Vector Attribute DisplayYou can select elements in the View to see theattached database records containing attributesof vector, shape, CAD, pinmap, TIN, and rasterobjects. Vector objects have a separate databasefor each element type (points, lines, and poly-gons). Each vector element type may have anynumber of different attribute tables. You can openas many tables as you want simultaneously byclicking each table’s hide/show checkbox.

The TNT products provide two viewing modes foryour database attributes: single record view (shownbelow) and tabular view. You switch between theseviewing modes from the Table menu for an opendatabase table or using an icon on the table’s tool-bar. When viewing attributes in tabular form, youcan select records and mark all elements associatedwith those records in the View. Thus, you can selectelements in the View and see which records are at-tached or select records in the table and see whichelements are associated with them.

Click on an element in thedisplay to view its attacheddatabase record(s).

STEPS expand the

Manager's tree listuntil it shows the tablesfor polygons in theParcel layer

open the AUDITORtable

click on the Selecttool in the Viewwindow

click on a polygon in theView window

examine the relateddatabase record in thetable window

Click the Select tool.

The Legend shows the drawing stylefor each type of polygon.

Attributetables areopened fromthe DisplayManager.

If multiplerecords areattached, it isindicated herein single recordview.


CAD Object Display

STEPS click the Add

Objects icon buttonin the Manager window

select the FOOTPRINT CADobject in the BLACKBRN

Project File click the FOOTPRINT

layer icon in the layerlist of the Managerwindow

select the Elementspanel in the CAD LayerControls dialog, changeStyle to By Element, andclick on Apply

after noting thedifference in appear-ance, change Style toBy Attribute and click onApply

A CAD object containspoint, line, polygon,geometric shape, and blockelements with theirassociated databaserecords. CAD objects havea single database tomaintain attributes for allelement types.

You can change linestyle assignments byclicking on a style andpressing the Assign button.

This exercise introduces another type of geometricobject: the CAD object. CAD objects are used forinterpretation and annotation layers, as well as foroverlapping, layered spatial elements, such as over-lapping polygons or lines that lie in front of or be-hind polygons. Overlapping polygons are not sup-ported by any other object type. Another uniqueCAD property is that each element can have its ownindividual drawing style created at the time the ele-ment is added. This “by element” drawing style canbe modified in TNT’s Editor.

The FOOTPRINT CAD object in the BLACKBRN ProjectFile contains outlines of the buildings in the studysite. The building footprints may display in a singlecolor (drawing style All Same). To use additionalline styles, open the CAD Layer Controls dialog (clickon the FOOTPRINT layer icon in the Display Manageror the Legend or use the right-click menu in either),and then change the Style option button from [AllSame] to [By Attribute] or [By Element]. When TNTredraws the display, the lines show in different col-ored styles. If you click on Specify in the CAD LayerControls dialog when the style is set to By Attribute,you can change the styles assigned.

Choose the appropriate elementstyle, in this case lines.


Database Pinmap Display

STEPS click the Add

Database TablePinmap icon in theManager window

select the CRIME tableunder the CRIME

database object in theBLACKBRN Project File

click [OK] to acceptdefault display controlsin the Pinmap LayerControls dialog

open the CRIME tablefor the pinmap layerafter expanding thepinmap layer in theManager as you did onpage 15

use the Select toolin the View windowto click on a pinmapsymbol

TNT can link to externaldatabase files in severalformats or use its owninternal database format.

This exercise introduces database objects. Data-base objects may contain records of numeric, text,and logical fields that have some spatial quality. Adatabase record may be related to a spatial coordi-nate system in two ways: 1) each record may con-tain explicit coordinate values, and/or 2) each recordmay contain attributes that are related to geospatialelements or act as key fields that are related to otherattribute tables.

When database records contain map coordinatevalues, TNT can create a “pinmap” from the data-base records. The BLACKBRN Project File includes adatabase of police calls with such map coordinates.Unlike other geometric object types, pinmaps canhave new elements added in the Display processwhen you add new records to the table with coordi-nates for a new pinmap “point.” You can also movepoints by editing the coordinate fields. Like pointsin other geometric object types, you can style pinmappoints to use predefined symbol shapes or customsymbols and styling can be the same for all points orvary by attribute. A more complex option that variesthe style by script is also available.

Use the Select tool to clickon a pinmap symbol andview its associateddatabase record.


Theme Mapping

STEPS click the PARCEL

object icon to openthe Vector LayerControls dialog

select the Polygon taband change Style toAUDI_TX_LAND_VA

click [OK] to initiate aredisplay

close this display Groupby selecting CloseGroup from the right-button menu for Group 1in the Display Manager

Theme Mapping appliesselected values in adatabase to the drawingstyles used for elements invector and TIN objects.

If you click [Edit] next toStyle in the Vector LayerControls when a theme mapstyle object is selected, TNTopens the Theme MappingControls window. You canselect the database table,theme field, number ofthemes, and color spreadfor drawing styles. See theTheme Mapping booklet foradditional information.

Values in theTX_LAND_VA field areused to control thedisplay style of thePARCEL polygons.

Vector, shape, and TIN objects can be displayed “ByTheme” so that selected values in associated data-base tables control the display style of the elements.For example, a “Flow_Capacity” field associated withpipeline line elements could be used to determinethe display color and style for all the pipeline ele-ments in a vector object. Raster objects can also bedisplayed by theme using cell value ranges to de-fine the theme classes.

In this exercise the TX_LAND_VA (land tax value) fieldfrom the county AUDITOR database is used to controlthe display style of the PARCEL polygons. A colorspread from yellow to red has been created so thatchurches, public buildings, and parcels with nobuildings (zero tax value) display in yellow, and par-cels with the highest tax values display in red. Inter-mediate tax values are green, blue, and purple.

The Theme Mapping Controls let you decide howto count the elements being theme mapped (by da-tabase reference, by element size, or using all records)and whether to include all classes in the distribu-tion. Other parameters set in this window are de-scribed at the right and illustrated below.

The style assignment table you select in thisexercise is a previously saved theme map.


Shape Object DisplayShape objects are one of the geometric object typessupported by the TNT products. Shape objects areunique in that they have no internal object repre-sentation and exist only in external formats that areeither utilized directly (shapefiles and LiDAR LAS)or linked to using the Import process (Oracle Spa-tial, MySQL Spatial, ESRI Personal Geodatabase, andPostGIS). Thus, shape objects exist in their original,external format and can be manipulated by both TNTand their native software.

Shape objects can have only one element type (point,line, or polygon) and, as represented externally, onlyone database table that has a single record directlyattached to each element with a record for everyelement. When viewed within the TNT products,additional tables (including relational tables) can beadded. Additional database tables and othersubobjects added using TNT, such as style objectsand display parameters, are maintained in a linkedProject File that is automatically selected along withthe external shape object in the TNT products.

A “shapefile” is actually a collection of files with thesame name and different extensions. The *.shp filecontains the elements, the *.prj file provides the geo-reference, the *.dbf file is the single database tablerequired for a shapefile, the*.avl contains the elementdrawing styles, and so on.When you select a shapefilein the TNT products, you onlysee the one with the shp ex-tension.

STEPS click on the New icon

and select 2D Display navigate to the Crow

Butte data collection andselect the DawesCounty_areawater.shpfile

click on the Selecticon, then click on apolygon

right-click on the groupname in the DisplayManager window andchoose Close Group

Because shapefiles canonly contain one elementtype, lakes (polygons) andrivers (lines) must be indifferent objects. Theshapefile used in thisexercise contains lakes.

currentrecordnumber

total numberof records


LiDAR DisplaySTEPS open a new display

group and select theLIDARCLS.LAS file from theSML data collection

choose Tools/PointProfile (View window)

resize and repositionthe box that appearsand note the effect onthe profile shown

click on the LAS layericon to open the LayerControls and explorethe various options

right-click on the layername and chooseReclassify

note the optionsavailable

LAS is a public format for LiDAR (Light Detectionand Ranging) data that can be directly used in theTNT products. LAS files typically contain tens ofmillions of points that provide high resolution el-evation information acquired by optical remotesensing. These points may have associated classifi-cation information from a standard classificationtable for this data type. This information is presentedas a TNT database table. A tool for classifying/reclassifying points is provided in the Display pro-cess for LAS layers. You use this tool in conjunctionwith the selection tools in the GeoToolbox.

A number of styling choices are available for LASpoints (e.g., by elevation, by class, by intensity).LAS layers can also be displayed as a surface gener-

ated from the point classes you select. The PointProfile tool, which can be used with 3D vector andshape objects as well as LAS files, provides avertical view of the points within a selected area.A number of Technical Guides concerning theuse of LAS files in the TNT products are postedon MicroImages’ web site.

A natural color orthoimageof the area covered by thesample LiDAR points.

The dashed lines that extend from the edgesof the elastic rectangle are used for rotatingthe rectangle. The dashed line in the middleextends in the direction of the profile view.

Search MicroImages' website for a numberof Technical Guides on LiDAR layers.


TIN Object Display and DataTipsA TIN object defines a 3Dsurface with a network ofnode, edge, and triangleelements.

STEPS click the Open

Display icon in theManager

select the the TINGROUP

object from the SF_DATA

data collection and theTINLITE Project File

select the Viewwindow’s Options /DataTips menu cascadeand turn on theMaximum toggle

pause your cursor overa TIN node to expose aDataTip

select Setup DataTipsfrom the right-buttonmenu for a layer in theLegend

choose Display/Close

This exercise introduces the TIN (Triangulated Ir-regular Network) object. TIN objects consist of anetwork of triangles formed from a set of x,y,z coor-dinate nodes in 3D space connected by edge (line)segments. TIN objects provide benefits of speedand efficiency for processes that deal with 3D sur-faces.

The TINGROUP object has three layers: USGS_DEM,RIGHTLITE, and TINLITE. USGS_DEM was extracted froma full-quadrangle elevation raster. RIGHTLITE is a re-duced section of an airphoto. TINLITE was extractedfrom a stereo pair of airphotos in the Photogrammet-ric Modeling process and represents the derivedelevation surface.

TINGROUP is defined so that a DataTip shows valuesfrom two of the three layers in the group. Comparethe DataTip you see when your cursor pauses overthe image with the DataTip definitions for each layer(select Setup DataTips from each layer’s right-but-ton menu in the Legend or Display Manager).

A DEM (Digital ElevationModel) is a raster object withcells that contain elevationvalues for a surface.

For information on the 3D display of TINs, see the tutorial booklet 3D PerspectiveVisualization. To see how TINs are used in Stereo-to-DEM and surface modeling, seethe booklets, Making DEMs and Orthophotos and Surface Modeling.

Pause your cursor over theimage to expose a DataTipthat may give informationfrom several layers.

Raster layers can show athumbnail, image sample, orcolor scale in the Legend.

Define a DataTip by selectinga data attribute, prefix, andsuffix for each layer.


Multi-Layer Display

STEPS in the Manager

window, click AddObjects and select thefirst four objects listed

click on AddDatabase TablePinmap and select theCRIME table listed

click on parcel LayerControls icon in theManager window andadjust its polygondisplay controls(change the Style: toASSIGNED_STYLES)

One of the most powerfulvisualization features ofTNT is the way it so easilyintegrates geospatial dataobjects of all types and mapprojections.

Several multi-object layoutobjects are included with the

TNTmips Free sample data. ClickOpen Display in the Manager andbrowse through the LAYOUTS

Project Files in /BEREA, /BLACKBRN, /CB_DATA, and /SF_DATA.

This exercise builds a complex display from raster,vector, CAD, and database objects. Add these lay-ers to a new group:

Raster: BLACKBRN / AERIAL

Vector: BLACKBRN / STREETS

Vector: BLACKBRN / PARCEL

CAD: BLACKBRN / FOOTPRINT

Database: BLACKBRN / CRIME

When you select multiple objects for display, be sureeach one is registered to some spatial coordinatereference system, as they are in this sample data.TNT automatically reconciles different map projec-tions and coordinate systems, but if one object hasno map registration, then you will get unpredictabledisplay results. (To add map registration to an ob-ject that has none, refer to the Georeferencing tuto-rial.) You receive a warning message if you try to mixgeoreferenced and nongeoreferenced objects in thesame display group.

Objects must also share a reasonable spatial proxim-ity. A raster in Texas and a vector in Japan may beselected together, but a full display would zoom outso far that the objects would be too small to see.

The transparency effectfor the polygons in thePARCEL layer is achieved inthe Polygons tab of theVector Layer Controlsdialog. Set Style toASSIGNED_STYLES (the pre-defined styles for thesepolygons specify 90%transparency in this styleassignment table), andselect one of the Enableoptions in the PolygonFilling option button.

In this illustration, thePARCEL legend has beenhidden (click on the +/-to the left of the layername).


Web Layers: KML and My Maps*My Maps layers are KML layers hosted by GoogleMaps. Google Maps lets you create a My Maps layerfrom directions you get, locations you find, or points,lines, or areas you draw. In order to save a My Mapslayer, you need to have a Gmail email address.

Google Earth also provides sketching tools and letsyou save your drawing as a KML or KMZ file. Eitherof these can be used directly in the TNT products.You can add a placemark (point), polygon, or path(line) and it is automatically remembered and re-loaded as a My Places layer. To use it in the TNTproducts, you need to choose File/Save/Save PlaceAs. You can also choose to save any layer thatappears in your My Places list as a KML or KMZ file.

MicroImages provides sample data in both My Mapsand KML format. If you do not have and do not wantto set up a Gmail account, you can use MicroImages’sample My Maps layers with the email [email protected] and passwordsamplemymaps. The path shown in the illustrationbelow is one of these samples. A path generallyneeds a background image to make it relevant. Thebackground images for the illustration are discussedin the next exercise.

STEPS go to http://

maps.google.com click on Get Directions enter two locations of

interest to you click on Get Directions scroll to the bottom of

the directions click on Save to My

Maps enter your Gmail email

address and password choose Create a new

map and click on Save you can then click on

Edit and change thename of the map, add adescription, and choosewhether you want it tobe unlisted rather thanpublic

open the Displayprocess, click onthe Add Web Layer icon

click on the My Mapsfolder and carefullyenter your authentica-tion (Gmail address andpassword)

select the map youmade above and clickOK

Directions fromLincoln,Nebraska toTownsend,Montanagenerated by

Google Maps weresaved as a My Maps kmlfile and displayed inTNTmips together withInternet tilesets for thestates the path crosses.

Keep this display openfor the nextexercise.

*Use of weblayersrequires aTNTprofessionalproduct.


Web Layers: Tilesets and Preview*A tileset is a collection of small image files, calledtiles, in a predefined file size, format, and directorystructure. It is designed for efficient viewing of verylarge images or maps over the Internet. GoogleMaps, Bing Maps, Google Earth, and World Windhave each defined their own tileset structure.

MicroImages has posted tilesets for each state in theUSA, most with 1-meter resolution collected as re-cently as 2009, and global data with a variety ofresolutions from 500-meter to 10-meter resolution.The imagery for a few cities is also posted with thehighest resolution of four inches.

When you navigate to MicroImages’ Sample Tile-sets, you will find that the majority of the tilesets arein a tileset structure that can be used by both GoogleMaps and Bing Maps. These and the other tilesetstructures can also be used directly in the TNTproducts provided there is an associated tileset de-scription file (*.tsd) that provides information aboutthe structure of the file and location of the tiles.

You can preview any layer that ishighlighted in the list in theBrowse panel whether it is local(on your computer or intranet) orremote (located on the Intranet).Click once on the tileset name tohighlight it for previewing with-out selecting it.

STEPS with your My Maps

layer still in the Display,click on the AddWeb Layer icon

click on the Micro-Images’ Sample Tilesetsfolder, then on theGoogle Maps and BingMaps folder andhighlight the name of atileset after you choosefrom the category thatwould provide anappropriate backgroundfor your My Maps layer(in the States/Nationsfolder within the USAand in the Global folderor Public TIlesets folderfor all other countries)

click on the Preview tabto view it beforeselecting it

click on the tileset iconto add it to the selectedlayers, then click [OK]

The statewide coverages availableas MicroImages’ Sample Tilesetswere assembled from the imagerycollected annually by the USDA asa joint project of the FSA (FarmServices Administration), NRCS(Natural Resources ConservationService) and RD (RuralDevelopment). For moreinformation on these tilesets seehttp://www.microimages.com/geodata/us-orthophotos/index.htm.

*Use of web layers requiresa TNT professional product.


Web Layers: WMS and ArcIMS*

*WMS and ArcIMS web layers aresupported in TNTmips Free.

MicroImages has compiled catalogs of known WMSand ArcIMS services. When you elect to add eitherof these types of web layer, you can select a servicefrom the catalog or search the web for services byusing entered text, by place name (using theGeoNames or Google Maps place database), or bygeographic extents (see the Technical Guide en-titled Spatial Display: Searching MicroImages’Catalog of WMS Layers).

When you choose more than one WMS or ArcIMSservice or choose them in combination with otherlayer types, the first layer offered by each service isselected for display, which can be changed by open-ing the Layer Controls. When you choose only asingle service, the corresponding Layer Controlswindow automatically opens so you can choosewhich layer(s) to display. The first layer offered bythe service is the one shown in the Preview panel.

STEPS in a new 2D Display,

click on the AddWeb Layer icon

click on the WMS folder,then MicroImagesSample Maps andAtlases, and SampleAtlases

click on Apply choose New 2D Display

and switch to web layerselection (click onleftmost arrow head inthe address bar of theSelect Objects window)

click on the Web Searchtab and enter some textrelevant to a WMS layeryou would like to select


Integrated Layer Selection*STEPS click on New, and select

2D Display click on the

arrow to the rightof the Up OneLevel icon,choose Web, andnote that younow have thesame set ofchoices you hadafter clicking on the AddWeb Layers icon in theprevious exercises

choose MicroImages’Sample Tilesets/GoogleMaps and Bing Maps/States/Nations/USStates and selectNebraska 2009

click on the same iconas in step 2 but chooseComputer, navigate toyour cb_data directoryand choose CB_SOILS.RVC/CBSOILS_LITE

click [OK] right-click on CBSOILS_LITE

in the Display Manageror the View legend andchoose Zoom to Extents

The TNT products offer integrated selection of local(your computer or intranet) and remote (Web [Inter-

net-based]) layers with the ability to in-clude multiple layers of both types in asingle selection operation. You can switchbetween local and remote layers at anypoint in the selection process.

There are a number of ways to initiate theselection process (for example, from the

New, Add Objects, and Add Web Layers icons in theDisplay Manager). Whether selection defaults tolocal or web layer selection is determined by howselection is initiated. In any case, it only takes asimple menu selection within the Select Objectswindow to switch between the two. There are twoplaces recent selections can be reviewed and se-lected: from the rightmost arrow in the field thatshows the path and on the Recent panel at the bottomof the Select Objects window. The former showslocations from which layers were selected and thelatter shows the layers selected. Both include recentremote and local locations.

You can also select geodata layers of interest to youlocated on the Internet by clicking to the right of anyentries in the field that shows the path and enteringits URL. The URL may be entered by direct typingor by pasting the URL copied from your browser.Once you have entered a URL, it can be added to yourfavorites if desired so you do not need to enter theURL again. You can also type a local path into thisfield rather than navigating your computer’s hierar-chy if desired.

Click on this icon to enter a URL or local pathto select from, which you then type or pasteinto the field at the left.

Recent arrow

*Use of web layers requiresa TNT professional product.


Rendering to Various FormatsTNTmips supports rendering of all the layers in anydisplay to a raster in Project File format, GeoJP2,GeoTiff, and PNG (also JP2, JPEG, and TIFF). Ren-dering to KML, SVG, PDF, and tilesets is also sup-ported. Rendering to tilesets is not supported inTNTmips Free and rendered raster size is limited tothe TNTmips Free size limit of 314,368 total cellswith a maximum of 1024 cells in either dimension.

Some of the formats rendered can be directly used inthe TNT products (GeoJP2, JP2, GeoTIFF, TIFF,PNG, JPEG, and KML) while others require otherviewers (SVG and PDF). The Render to Raster andRender to Tileset options render the full extents ofthe object(s) in the active View to a raster in thespecified format. The Render to KML, SVG, and PDFoptions let you choose between rendering the fullextents or matching the extents shown in one of youropen View windows.

Geometric layers in your open Views are rendered tothe single raster produced when rendering to raster.When rendering to SVG, all geometric layers are partof the SVG file and anyraster layers in the view aresaved in JPEG or PNG for-mat. The same is true whenrendring to KML, how-ever, the KMZ format op-tion packages them all in asingle file. You retain theability to turn individuallayers on and off whenviewing your renderedPDF output in AcrobatReader if you have the In-clude Layer Controls op-tion on when rendering.

STEPS click on New, and select

2D Display choose one of the

composite color rastersfrom the CB_COMP ProjectFile and the HYDROLOGY

and ROADS layers fromthe CB_DLG Project File

choose Display/Renderto/PDF

check to see that theInclude Layer Controlstoggle is on

accept the otherdefaults or change themas desired, then click[OK]

PDF files can be viewed inyour browser or in the freeAdobe Reader you candownload fromwww.adobe.com.

Show the layers andexpand the group to turnlayers on/off individuallyin the PDF file.


Quick SnapshotsYou can create a new raster in your choice of formatsthat captures the canvas area of any View window byclicking on its Quick Snapshot icon. Your prefer-ences for the format of this raster, whether to savegeoreference information in auxiliary files, and whereto save the raster can all be specified on the Snapshotpanel of the Options window opened from the Dis-play Manager (Options/View Options). If you havenot set up these parameters prior to clicking on theQuick Snapshot icon for the first time, a QuickSnapshot Settings window will open that providesthe same choices found on the Snapshot panel of theOptions window.

The options you set are used when you click on theQuick Snapshot icon so that no further input isneeded from you. If you want to alter the savedlocation or the automatic name for an individualsnapshot, choose View/Save Snapshot As in theView window you want to take a snapshot of. Youneed to revisit the Snapshot panel of the Optionswindow to change other parameters.

A snapshot is a raster with a one-to-one correspon-dence between its cells and the display pixels onyour View canvas. If background area is showing inyour view, it will be captured as part of the snapshot.

These options are notactive if saving tointernal format (RVC).

This number incrementsautomatically as quicksnapshots are saved tothe designated folder.

STEPS zoom in on an area of

interest in the Viewfrom the previousexercise

click on the QuickSnapshot icon inthe View window

make the desiredchoices in the QuickSnapshot Settingswindow if this is yourfirst Quick Snapshot

review your settings bychoosing Options/ViewOptions* in the DisplayManager if this is notyour first snapshot

click on New, choose2D Display, andselect your newlycreated snapshot (allexternal formats listedare supported for directdisplay)

zoom out in the Viewyou created a snapshotof and in the View withthe snapshot raster

With the parameters shown, thenext snapshot saved byclicking on the QuickSnapshot icon would beE:\snapshots\Pic7.tif.

Choose between a varietyof compression options andformatsincludinginternal(RVC) andexternal(GeoJP2,JP2,GeoTIFF,TIFF, JPEG,and PNG)formatfiles.

* If you forget where yoursnapshots are being savedor want to change otherparameters, you can openthis window at any time. You get these four files when you click on the

Quick Snapshot icon with the options shownbelow.


Layer and Detail VisibilityYou can choose whether to devote some of yourviewing area to provide a legend for the layers inthat View. A part of the Legend area may be utilizedfor the Locator, which lets you reposition and zoomyour view by moving and/or resizing the rectanglethat represents the area currently in the view,and the Magnifier, which provides a zoomedview of the area around the cursor.

You decide how detailed you want your Legend tobe using the expand/collapse icon to reveal or hidedetails about each layer. There are also right mousebutton menu options at the display level (group orlayout) to expand or collapse all layers in the Leg-end. When collapsed, only the layer names areshown in the legend.

The default layer name is determined by a View Op-tions setting (see page 40) on the Layer tabbed panel.Your choices are Object Description, Object Name,and File and Object Name. You can also right-clickon the layer name in either the Display Manager orLegend and choose Rename. Your newly enteredlayer name is remembered when the group or layoutis saved.

STEPS open the layout

CB_DATA / LAYOUTS /PAGE25

right-click on thecheckbox for a vectorlayer in the Legend andturn off the ShowLocator icon

drag the separatorbetween the Legendand view canvas

drag the separatorbetween the Legendand Locator

click the expand/collapse box for thesoil layer to hide itslegend

turn off the ShowLegend toggle on theOptions menu in theView window or usethe Show Legendicon

Adjust the width of theLegend and the heightof the Locator bydragging the separatorbetween the panels.

Legend for the CrowButte soils vector layerhas been collapsed.

Locator Off Locator On


GeoFormula LayersSTEPS Select New / Empty

2D in the Manager select Add / Layer /

GeoFormula / AddGeoFormula Layer in theManager window

select Formula / Open inthe GeoFormula LayerControls dialog

use the standard SelectFile process to selectGEOFRMLA / STRETCH2.GSF

in the Select Objectsdialog, select RED, GREEN,and BLUE from CB_DATA/CB_TM

click [OK] to close theGeoFormula LayerControls dialog

This GeoFormula applies a colortransformation to increase colorsaturation. It translates the RGBcomponents to Hue-Intensity-Saturation(HIS) equivalents and applies a saturationstretch.

A GeoFormula is a computed display layer that usesone or more input objects to derive a layer for dis-play. It gives you a way to combine objects “on thefly” rather than preparing objects for display aheadof time with preliminary processing. A GeoFormulais a dynamic display layer that contains a “virtualobject.” The GeoFormula layer does not create anoutput object that is saved in a Project File. In-stead, it creates a display layer that releases all itssystem resources (such as disk space and memory)when you are finished with it.

In the exercise on page 12, you used three rasterobjects for component color from CB_DATA / CB_TM.Here you will use the components that would createa natural color display if chosen as an RGB set. TheGeoFormula creates another false-color image. Ifyou are familiar with a programming language, suchas C or BASIC, you should get a sense of how aGeoFormula works by examining the script illustratedbelow.

Creating and applying GeoFormulas is anadvanced skill in TNT. Begin by workingthrough the tutorial booklets WritingScripts with SML and Using GeospatialFormulas.


Multiple Views with GeoLockingThe GeoLock feature links the position and scalebetween multiple View windows so that scroll andzoom actions applied to one view automatically ad-just the linked views. You can optionally turn offGeoLocking in one or more Views in order to adjustviewpoint and zoom levels independently. A track-ing cursor echoes the position of your mouse cur-sor in all View windows that share some geospatialextents.

In this exercise you will view the GeoLock tool atwork in two views of data from the cb_data collec-tion. In this geodata, which has been prepared towork in the size limits of TNTmips Free, you can seehow the GeoLock feature works. But the real valueof using GeoLock with multiple views comes whenyou are using large-extent project materials in theprofessional versions of the TNT products. If oneview contains a mosaic of several thousand airphotosand another view contains an array of scanned to-pographic maps of the same region, finding the samelocation in both views would be tedious without theGeoLock feature.

STEPS create a New / 2D

Display and selectCB_DATA / CB_COMP / _8_BIT

create another New /2D Display andselect all the objectsin CB_DATA / CB_DLG

verify that theGeoLock feature ison in both Views

apply zoom and scrolloperations and observethe linked view behavior

choose Options/GeoLock Settings inone of the Viewwindows and examinethe choices

turn off the GeoLockfeature and observe theeffect on zoom andscroll operations

A tracking cursor echoes the position ofthe cursor from another window thatshares some geographical extent.


View-in-ViewWhen your display group contains several layers,the layers on top may sometimes completely hide thelayers below. The View-in-View tool provides oneway to hide one or more top layers in order to showthe hidden layers. In a complex, multi-layer view,you can use the Show / Hide checkbox for each layerto select the layers you want the tool to expose. The

View-in-View tool displays the “show” layersinside the box, and the original view elsewhere.The View-in-View tool gives you an excellent

visualization method for comparing multiple layersof geodata.

The View-in-View tool is an elastic box that you canresize or move around as you compare different areasof the layers.

When you choose the View-in-View tool, the toplayer is automatically turned off inside the View-in-View elastic box. You can toggle layers on and offinside and outside the View-in-View rectangle us-ing the visibility checkbox in either the Legend ofthe View window or in the Display Manager. Whena layer is toggled off in any open view, its checkmark is dimmed in the Display Manager.

STEPS open the group

SF_DATA / LAYOUTS /PAGE26

select the View-in-View tool in theView window

notice that when theView-in-View toolis active, anadditional choiceappears on thevisibility checkboxright button menu

draw a View-in-Viewbox on the image

slide the box to adifferent place and usethe elastic box resizingtools

right-click anywhere onthe image to reverse theinside/outside View-in-View rendering

Draw a View-in-View box and slideit around to see alayer that is hiddenbelow other layers.

Right-click on the visibilitycheckbox to toggle on/offlayers in a specific view.

right-click anywhere inthe display to reverse theView-in-View layers


Zooming with HotkeysThe display process provides a set of keyboardshortcuts, or hotkeys, for quick display manipula-tions. These hotkeys apply center, zoom, and panoperations at the location of the mouse cursor.

For example, to zoom in on a feature, you could se-lect the Zoom Box tool (see page 8), and draw azoom box around the feature. But with the hotkeyalternative, you simply move the mouse cursor tothe feature and press the “+” key on the keyboard.

The hotkeys all center the view at the mouse cursor:+ zoom in- zoom out0 full view1, 2, 3, 4 zoom 1X, 2X, 3X, 4Xspacebar recenter (pan) at current zoom

If you have a complex layout with multiple rasters atdifferent resolutions, you can indicate which one touse for the numeric hotkeys in the Raster Layer Con-trols by turning on the Preferred for 1X zoom toggleon the Options panel. That raster is then used sothat one cell corresponds to one screen pixel at 1X,to two by two screen pixels at 2X, and so on.

STEPS open a new 2D

view with SF_DATA /AIRPHOTO / CIR146A

position the mouse on afeature of interest andpress the + hotkey

position the mouse inthe corner of the viewand press the - hotkey

experiment with the 0,1, 2, 3, and 4 hotkeys

recenter the viewseveral times at thecurrent zoom with thespacebar hotkey

The numeric hotkeys workat a set zoom level forraster layers. For example,from any other zoom factor,the 4 hotkey jumps to a 4Xzoom level. But if the viewis already at a 4X zoom, the4 hotkey has the sameeffect as the spacebarhotkey—it recenters theview at the cursor positionwithout changing the zoomlevel. If there are no rasterlayers in your view, 2, 3,and 4 continue to zoom inwhen used multiple times.

Position the mouse cursor at theeast end of the lake and pressthe 2 hotkey ...

... and the displayzooms to 2x, centeringon the mouse position.


Complex Display Layouts

STEPS click on Open

Display in theManager

select the BLACKBRN datacollection, the LAYOUTS

Project File, and thePAGE24 layout

select Expand AllLayers from the right-button menu of Group 1in the Manager

move the cursorbetween the groupsand note the PositionReport coordinates

The exercise on page 31 introduced the ability touse multiple, geolocked View windows for separategroups. You can also open multiple views of thesame group and show different layers or locationsin each. Another level of visualization complexity isoffered by the layout feature. The Display / New /Display Layout and the Display / New / Page Lay-out menu choices let you combine multiple objectsand groups in views of higher complexity.

A sample Display Layout with two groups has beenprepared for this exercise. The layers in these twogroups have sufficient geographic separation thatthey would not create a reasonable display if addedto the same group. Also note that although thesetwo groups are approximately the same size in theView, they represent very different ground areas.This effect is achieved by altering the relative zoomof one of the groups, which is described in the Mak-ing Map Layouts tutorial. The GeoToolbox, whichis discussed in a laterexercise, automaticallyadjusts for the differ-ences in scale whenmaking measurements.

Vocabulary: A group cancontain many layers withassociated map grids andbe presented in many Viewwindows. A layout cancontain multiple groups aswell as legends, annota-tions, scale bars, and othercomplex layout elements.

A layout can accommodatedifferences in location, mapscale, and projection.


Save Groups and LayoutsSTEPS select Open Display

in the Manager choose CB_DATA / LAYOUTS

/ PAGE25 click Add Objects in

the Manager andadd BOUND, PLANDS, andPIPELINES from the CB_DLG

Project File adjust the scale, layer

order, styles, and otherview controls

select Display / Save Asin the Manager andsave your layout with anew name

open your newly savedlayout and the original toview the changes

If you use the Display process to view the samespatial data many times during the life of a project,you should take advantage of saved groups andlayouts. Layout and group definitions can be savedas objects in Project Files. They contain a record ofall your layers, objects, and display options, so thatyou can return quickly to a complex view rather thanadding each component, object by object, every timeyou want to view the materials. When objects areselected for a new group, the last used display pa-rameters are used, such as color map, contrast table,geometric drawing style, and so on. These param-eters are stored with your saved group or layout,which will appear the same as it did when savedeven if these parameters for individual layers havebeen changed subsequently.

In addition to changing layer order using right but-ton menu choices, you can drag layers to new posi-tions with the left mouse button held down over thelayer name. Layers can be repositioned by drag-ging in either the View window Legend or the Dis-play Manager.

A layer's right-mousebutton menu lets youmove it up or down inthe drawing order.

Note that zoom level andposition are retained with asaved layout. If you areworking your way around alarge image at 1X, you cansave then later pick upwhere you left off.


Measuring with the GeoToolboxThis lesson introduces a powerful and richly fea-tured tool in the display process: the GeoToolbox.For a much more complete survey of the tools in theGeoToolbox, refer to the companion tutorial book-let Sketching and Measuring.

The GeoToolbox window offers a row of tools andrelated tabbed panels. The measurement tools letyou draw lines and shapes of all kinds and report acomplete set of statistics for each measurement.

The simple, elastic measurement line you draw in theView window can be resized and dragged to a newposition. The cursor shape indicates what willhappen when you click and drag: the pointing handrepositions the segment as a whole, the crosshairrepositions the closest end, and the left arrow drawsa new line segment. Each time you manipulate themeasurement line, the statistics in the Measure panelupdate. You can change the measurement units fromthe Measurement Units dialog by choosing Options/ Measure / Units in the GeoToolbox window. Youcan record the measurement statistics to a text file byselecting File / Measurement Record in theGeoToolbox.

STEPS using the original CB_DATA

/ LAYOUTS / PAGE25 layout,select the GeoToobox inthe View window

click the Measuretab in the GeoToolboxwindow and selectthe Ruler tool

draw an elasticmeasurement line on theimage

slide the line to adifferent place and useline resizing techniquesto change its length

inspect the measure-ment statistics in theMeasure panel

change the length unitsin the MeasurementUnits dialog that openswith the Options /Measure / Units menucascade

The GeoToolbox provides a large selectionof measurement and sketching tools.


Selecting Elements with RegionsSTEPS click on Open

Display in theDisplay Manager andselect CB_DATA / LAYOUTS /PAGE_27

expand the vectorlayer in the Managerand click on the Enable/Disable for Marking icon

select theGeoToolbox, andclick the Add buttonon the Region panel

select the CB_WELLS /HYDROBUFFER region object

select the Regiontool in the GeoTool-box

choose the Select tab inthe GeoToolbox, andclick Select Elements

change the "which are"option button toCompletely Outside andclick Select Elementsagain

Region objects are composed of polygons and areused primarily for element selection operations. Re-gion objects may also contain points and lines forstorage and measurement purposes. Your regionsmay represent features like property boundaries, wa-tersheds, or land use polygons. You can use re-gions to select point, line, or polygon elements thatlie completely inside, completely outside, partiallyinside, or partially outside the active region (the re-gion highlighted on the Region panel).

In this exercise, a region is used to find all windmillswithin 100 yards of any stream. The region object isa 100-yard buffer zone created around the Crow Buttehydrology. Buffer zone regions can be created di-rectly in the Display process or using the separateGeometric/Compute/Buffer Zones process, whichprovides more options and allows other types ofgeometric output. This buffer zone is applied in anelement selection operation on the WELLS object fromCB_WELLS, which contains point elements. Sincepoint elements have a location but no length or area,there is no possibility of a point element being par-tially inside or outside a selection region.

A buffer zone canserve as a region toselect windmill pointelements within 100yards of any stream.

Four different types of elementselection are offered on the SelectElements option button.


Printing Layouts and SnapshotsSTEPS open BLACKBRN /

LAYOUTS / PARKING andzoom up on part of theraster area

select Display / Print inthe Display Manager

check your printingparameters and click onthe Print button

select View / PrintSnapshot in the Viewwindow, and click onthe Print button

compare the two prints choose Display / Close

in the Display Manager

To use the advanced composition and layout toolswith the intention of printing, select Page Layoutfrom the Manager’s New icon menu. The Page Lay-out window offers the same tools and features as theDisplay Layout process (refer to pages 34–35). Youcan add map grids, scale bars, and annotations forcolor printers of any size and resolution.

For quick and simple printing tasks, you can use thePrint Snapshot option on the View window’s Viewmenu. This option prints the current View contentsscaled to fit your printer page. Of course printingscreen shots limits your output to screen resolutionand the current view canvas contents, but in somecircumstances, that may be all you want. Printing apage layout creates a print over one or more pages atthe map scale indicated on the Layout panel of theGroup Settings window.

For more information on printing and layouts, seethe tutorial booklets Printing and Making MapLayouts. For information onsaving snapshots, see theexercise on page 28.

When printing a snapshot,the extents of the layersshown on the canvas areenlarged or reduced to fillthe printable area of thepage for the printer youhave selected.

Print

(full d

isplay)

PrintSnapshot


Using StylesPoint, line, and polygon elements can be rendered ina wide variety of drawing styles. In several previousexercises you have applied predefined styles to thevector and CAD objects you have displayed. Inthis exercise you will examine the selection of linestyles associated with the ROADSANDSTREAMS CADobject in the MILLNGTN Project File.

Style objects are independent from particular geodataobjects, so one style object can be used by manydifferent geodata objects. Using the same styles formany objects helps you standardize your symbol-ogy and ensure that all your project materials followthe same style rules.

Styles can be automatically selected according tothe attributes of each geospatial element. At thesimplest level that means “roads” will have a differ-ent drawing style than “rivers.” But even more use-ful is the kind of differentiation between classes ofroads and classes of rivers, as illustrated.

STEPS click Add Objects

and select MAPLO /MILLNGTN /ROADSANDSTREAMS

click the object iconin the Manager orLegend list to open theCAD Layer Controls

select the Elements tab click the Specify button

for Style click on the Line icon

to the right of theEdit Styles button

examine the AssignStyles by Attribute dialog(but do not make anychanges)

click [Cancel] to closethe Assign Styles byAttribute dialog

click [Cancel] to closethe CAD Layer Controlsdialog

The Assign Styles by Attribute dialogfor the ROADSANDSTREAMS object showsthe styles in the CADSTYLE object.

ROADSANDSTREAM'sCLASS.Class attributeis associated with thestyles in CADSTYLE.


Select Display OptionsSTEPS select Options / View

Options in the DisplayManager

explore the tabbedpanels for defaultprogram behaviors andalternatives

click [OK] to close theOptions dialog

The display process offers a number of control set-tings that let you customize the behavior of the pro-cess including default choices for layer names, un-der what circumstances to prompt for confirmationwhen exiting the process and your snapshot prefer-ences. If you share a TNT installation with others inyour department or if your TNT installation is con-trolled by a system administrator, some of the de-fault behavior you experience may be different thanwhat you see in this booklet.

TNT opens the Options dialog illustrated belowwhen you select View Options from the Options menuin the Display Manager. The tabbed panels in thiswindow let you specify different default behaviorsfor the process. For example, if you do a lot of workwith multiple View windows and characteristically

want the Views GeoLocked (see page 31),you could save yourself the steps of turn-ing on the GeoLock tool button in your Viewwindows every time by turning on thecheckbox on the View panel to “Automati-cally GeoLock multiple views.”

Tabbed panels in theOptions dialog let you setmany default behaviors forthe display process.


Launching Geoviewers to Match ExtentsSTEPS open a new 2D group

and choose a layer thatyou have usedpreviously in this booklet

click on the LaunchGeoviewer icon inthe View window andchoose one of the threeoptions

You can launch Google Maps, Bing Maps, or GoogleEarth with extents to match your current view fromthe Launch Geoviewer icon. When launching GoogleEarth, you have additional controls for showing theTNT view’s centerpoint and an extents box as wellas a box for the full group extents. The slider in theGoogle Earth Synchronization window determinesthe relative zoom between your TNT view and theGoogle Earth view of the same area. The TNT viewcenterpoint is also shown in Google Maps.

You need to install Google Earth to use that option.Opening a matching view in Google Maps and BingMaps does not require any software installation(other than your browser).


Online Reference MaterialsThe TNT products provide thousandsof pages of reference materials. These

materials include tutorialbooklets, Quick Guides, andTechnical Guides. You mayhave optionally installed thefirst two categories on yourdrive with your TNT product.All three categories and morecan be found on Micro-

Images’ web site. Install Acrobat Reader to viewthe documentation.

The reference-material-related Help menu choiceshave the following actions:Browse Documentation: opens an installed html

file that links to tutorials, Technical Guides, andQuick Guides from a topical list.

Search: opens the page shown below at the left torapidly locate topics in the tutorials, Quick Guides,and Technical Guides installed on your drive us-

ing a previously prepared index.Search Web: opens the search page atMicroImages’ web site that lets you searchall posted materials.Tutorials: accesses a local tutorial index page

and provides menus for se-lection of individual, locallyinstalled tutorials.What’s New: opens an in-stalled html page that liststhe new features in the ver-sion of the TNT productsyou are running.News: provides access tothe News items at Micro-Images’ web site.

STEPS select Help / Search

from the main menu barto open Acrobat Readerand a local Search page

click on the Searchbutton

enter histogram or otherdesired term forsearching and click onthe Search button inAcrobat

Search panel in Acrobat thatautomatically uses previouslyprepared index.


Notes

Advanced Software for Geospatial Analysis

MicroImages, Inc.

www.microimages.com

MicroImages, Inc. publishes a complete line of professional software for advanced geospatial datavisualization, analysis, and publishing. Contact us or visit our web site for detailed productinformation.

TNTmips Pro TNTmips is a professional system for fully integrated GIS, image analysis,CAD, TIN, desktop cartography, and geospatial database management.

TNTedit TNTedit provides interactive tools to create, georeference, and edit vector, image,CAD, TIN, and relational database project materials in a wide variety of formats.

TNTview TNTview has the same powerful display features as TNTmips and is perfect forthose who do not need the technical processing and preparation features of TNTmips.

TNTatlas TNTatlas lets you publish and distribute your spatial project materials on CD-ROM at low cost. TNTatlas CDs can be used on any popular computing platform.

TNTmips Basic TNTmips Basic is a very low cost version of TNTmips for students andprofessionals with small projects with large object size limits than TNTmips Free.

TNTmips Free TNTmips Free is a free version of TNTmips for students and professionalswith small projects. You can download TNTmips Free from MicroImages’ web site.

Indexattribute tables .................................. 15buffer zones ..................................... 31CAD objects .................................... 16database ...................................... 15, 17DataTips ........................................... 21display group ..................................... 7Display Manager window ............ 5, 10Display View window ................... 5, 8expanding layers ........................ 19, 29GeoFormula layers ........................... 30GeoLocking ..................................... 31georeferencing .................................. 21GeoToolbox ..................................... 36groups and layouts ..................... 34–35Help ................................................. 35hotkeys ............................................. 33KML ................................................ 23layouts .................................. 28, 29, 32legends ............................... 5, 9, 11, 23LiDAR layers ................................... 20Locator ......................................... 9, 29map projections ................................ 22

measuring ......................................... 36multiple views .................................. 31object selection ......................... 6, 7, 26page layout ................................. 34, 38pinmaps ............................................ 17printing ............................................. 38Project File ......................................... 7reference materials ............................ 42regions ............................................. 37RGB rasters ............................... 12, 13sample data ......................................... 3scripts .............................................. 24selecting elements ....................... 17, 31shape objects .................................... 19snapshots ................................... 28, 38styles .................................... 14–18, 39theme mapping ................................. 18TIN objects ...................................... 21ToolTips ............................................. 4transparency ............................... 14, 22View-in-View .................................. 32web layers .................................. 23–25

DISPLAYING

displaying geospatial data · displaying geospatial data before getting started it may be difficult...

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