What's New?

This page is updated frequently.  Make sure you refresh your browser to avoid looking at an older version cached by your browser!  Visit our Headlines page to see a summary list of topics published earlier, with links to their archived What's New? pages.    

Check out the new Press Releases page for links to press releases issued by manifold.net and see the Customer Comments on Manifold Products page for sample comments from our customers about Manifold and its products.   

Thumbnails above right:  Earth from space shown in Release 5.00. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image. These scenes were created by projecting an image (shown at left) into Orthographic projection and then layering it in a map with several layers using alpha masks, invisible pixels, layer transparency to create the "haze" effect at the edges of the globe. The initial images were created from GLOBE terrain elevation data and had been processed with a Relief algorithm and color changes in ocean areas. One of the images shows a polar aspect orthographic projection, correctly wrapping an ordinary, cylindrical lat/long image into a polar view.  Cool!

Manifold System Release 5.00 Professional Edition Phase 2 is Shipping! 

The final update for Manifold System Release 5.00 has now been delivered to licensees.  Thanks to all 5.00 Licensees who participated in the Phase 1 to Phase 2 program.  Hundreds of user comments were incorporated to make Release 5.00 the highest quality, most reliable, utterly bulletproof Manifold release yet!   Visit the Manifold 5.00 home page.

New Manifold IMS Sample Sites 

These sites show the Manifold Internet Map Server, which is included in Manifold System Release 5.00 Professional Edition.  Manifold IMS provides a high performance web mapping solution that's powerful enough for organizations yet affordable by individuals.  Manifold IMS works with standard web browsers and requires no plug ins or costly middleware!  Manifold IMS automatically creates web sites from Manifold projects using a variety of templates.  The example sites show the use of three different templates:

High compatibility template - This template creates a site that will work with older, "4.x" style browsers from Microsoft, Netscape, Mozilla and Opera.  The sites use more austere style with text link menus instead of command buttons.  Tables created by the Find tool and queries will pop open in a new browser window.  Pan by clicking near the edges of the map.  Two sites show the standard template.

Mexico - A map of mexico with layers using zoom ranges to control which layers come on upon zoom in. Shows labels as a layer.  

Surface with Vector Layers (at right) - Montara Mountain SDTS DEM surface overlayed on a base map of the San Francisco Bay region, with roads and hydrography layers. Zoom in to see the surface. This generates detailed images (due to the surface... same as raster images) that do not compress well and so the image served to your browser may be over 150K in size. If you have a slow Internet link it could take a while for the image to be downloaded. Note how much faster the mexico example is ("sparse" images compress well and so are smaller) even though it too is a large image size.  

Standard template -  This template creates attractive sites designed for newer "5.x" browsers including Microsoft IE, Netscape, Mozilla and Opera.  It provides a point and click Info tool as well as a prettier, tool-based interface. Pan by selecting the Center tool and then clicking anywhere near the edge of the map.

Theater - Architectural plans for the TSB Theater in Plymouth, New Zealand taken from .dxf files. A smaller window, but showing how one can use Manifold IMS to publish CAD drawings. 

Standard template with frames - A very fast and convenient template for newer "5.x" browsers that reports the results of queries, Find and the Info button in tables that appear below the main map display.  With or without frames, the standard template is a good choice for high performance intranet use and internet web sites aimed at more sophisticated users who want greater interactivity with the data sets.

107th Congressional Districts (at right) - A practical application that shows Congressional districts in the United States for the 107th Congress with many IMS features such as a legend, a query and Info and Find tools.  Zoom in to see ever more detailed city names.  Click on the Info tool and then click on a district to see the name of the representative and their web site.  Try entering Barton in the Find box to see a bizarrely "Gerrymandered" district.   The Query pane is set up with a query that will list all representatives in a particular state.  Enter the state's two letter postal code and press Query to see the representatives, sorted by last name.

Advanced usage - The site at left provides an example of programmatic use of Manifold IMS to create web pages.  It was created without use of a template by scripting in Javascript in the .asp files used.   Two new toolbar buttons are added.  Click the Zoom to Cities button and then click near a city dot to get information (lat/lon location) on that city.  Click on the Zoom to Query button and click anywhere in the map to find all cities within the given distance of the clicked point.   A table with hyperlinks to the city appears for all cities within range.

Click here to visit the Manifold IMS home page and learn more about Manifold IMS requirements and capabilities. 

manifold.de Goes Online!

Visit manifold.de the German language portal for Manifold System operated by Manifold experts StrateGIS.  In operation since 1996, StrateGIS focuses on independent software consulting as well as business geographic solutions.  StrateGIS technical and business managers played a key role in the advisory group of Manifold users who advised manifold.net in the creation of Manifold System Release 5.00.   Visit the manifold.de site for cool screen shots and introductory notes in both German and English. 

Manifold 5.00 fulfills all Microsoft "Designed for Windows XP" Criteria

When installed in Windows XP, Manifold System Release 5.00 automatically configures the "look and feel" of the product to match Windows XP.  5.00 qualifies 100% for Microsoft's Designed for Windows XP software qualification program!  Applications meeting the Designed for Windows XP criteria must meet key requirements that assure the software will run correctly on Windows XP.  Requirements include: Support for fast user switching between users; Support for new visual styles; Performance of primary functionality and maintain stability; All kernel-mode drivers that the application installs must pass verification on Windows XP; Applications perform Windows version checking properly; Applications do not attempt to replace files that are protected by Windows File Protection; Applications do not require a reboot unnecessarily.

Image at right: A column formatting dialog for table windows in Manifold seen in XP automatically uses the modern XP look for controls.

Manifold-L List now Up

www.DirectionsMag.com , the premier GIS "ezine" has graciously agreed to host the Manifold-L list. Please visit http://lists.directionsmag.com/discussion/list_info.php?f=29 for instructions on joining the list. We encourage all Manifold users to participate in this list. 

Manifold-L is an unmoderated list that is sponsored by DirectionsMag.com. DirectionsMag.com sponsors the highly-regarded lists for MapInfo and ESRI products. The staff at DirectionsMag.com are well known for their technical expertise and journalistic balance. We are very flattered and proud to have the Manifold-L list hosted by DirectionsMag.com.

Manifold System Release 5.00 Professional Edition Now Shipping!

07 May 2001 - Release 5.00 Phase 1 download shipments have begun to new customers and upgrade orders. Release 4.50 licensees have already received notification for upgrades.  

How good is 5.00?  Early comments from 5.00 users (see the complete quotes in testimonials):

"Your product has no equal!  Congratulations!! I'm incredibly impressed with the quality, stability and value."

"It has by far more analytical capability than ArcInfo 8.  Just playing with it is a joy."

"- It is much faster, more intuitive and fun to use than the previous version  4.50"

"I am a multimedia developer and spend most of my time working with superbly designed graphics tools [Flash, Fireworks, ]. I have thus come to expect sophisticated fast features which are well-organized, and allow me to experiment directly with visual balance and data manipulation. R5 is the first time I have felt this in a GIS thanks to the approach taken and the Raster processing. This tool makes sense."

"Georegistration and raster handling is the best I have ever seen in a GIS - and I have seen a few! Same with the help file." 

For new purchases, please read the preliminary product pages at:

•  Summary  A detailed introduction to 5.00.
•  Information - General information on 5.00 product configurations and pricing.   
•  Requirements - Hardware and software requirements to run 5.00.
•  5.00 User Manual - HTML version of the 5.00 User Manual.
•  What's New - A lengthy list of changes from 4.50 written mainly for 4.50 users upgrading to 5.00.   
•  Currently supported formats - A list of formats 5.00 can import. 

Release 5.00 has been offered for purchase in a special upgrade offer to all Release 4.50 licensees with a valid contact email on file at manifold.net.  Please send a note to sales@manifold.net with your corrected email address if it has changed since you have purchased Manifold System Release 4.50. 

Thumbnails at upper left and right: Military VMAP2 (restricted distribution / classified) high resolution data sets overlaid upon a military DTED Level 2 terrain elevation data set imaged as a grayscale image in 2D.  The thumbnail at right shows hydrography features.  The thumbnail at lower right (590KB) shows a zoomed in view of the entire Manifold console showing transportation layers, plus lakes.  Area shown is near Belton Reservoir, Texas, USA.  The thumbnail at lower right shows a DTED Level 2  surface shaded to provide relief and used with both roads and hydrography layers.

Numerous New Formats added to Release 5.00

5.00 now imports over 60 different raster, vector and terrain elevation formats.   The results when used in combination are spectacular!  Please continue to send suggestions to sales@manifold.net for any additional formats. desired.  Release 5.00 Professional Edition reads numerous formats and writes to the most frequently used GIS interchange formats.   Release 5.00 Enterprise Edition will add additional formats. 

Thumbnail at left: June, 1992 composite scan of US from Pathfinder mission Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor.  Bands 1,2,3 and 4 used to compose a false color RGB image.  Vector outlines of selected Western states overlaid.    Image shown in Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area projection centered on Latitude 45 N, Longitude 100 W.  5.00 can read AVHRR images directly right off the EROS Data Center CDs and manipulate the 5 band AVHRR data as desired to form images.  The image linked to the thumbnail has been greatly reduced to save on web traffic. The original image in R5 is over 4500 x 2800 with each pixel being 1 km wide.

New Tech Support Topic Added

Although ESRI .shp files are a dreadful format for exchanging projected data, quite a few maps have been published as projected data sets in .shp format.  See the Tech Support Topic  "Import a Projected ESRI .shp File" in the Manifold System Support Page for a step-by-step procedure to import such files in Release 4.50 if you have the projection information required.

Join the Great Release 5.00 Format Hunt

We'd like to make sure that Release 5.00 supports all raster, vector and terrain elevation formats in common use in GIS.  Please take a look at the list of currently supported formats and let us know if there is a format you use that is missing from the list. Please email suggestions for additional formats to sales@manifold.net 

Release 5.00 PrintTest Program Published

Here is your chance to join the development team for the upcoming Release 5.00 ! Download and try out the PrintTest program on your computer / printer combination. The PrintTest program is designed to test Manifold System Release 5.00 printing routines. It has been kept simple so that anyone can download it and try it out. 

Beta test programs inevitably involve a very limited number of printers. To assure that R5 works with as many printers as possible we have placed key elements of the R5 printing functions into small application that prints a page. Version 1 of PrintTest tests the most elementary printing capabilities possible. It will automatically mail the results for you (when you order it to) to tech@manifold.net.

We would like as many users as possible to try out this quick routine. Even if you are not sure about using Release 5.00, this is a chance to make sure as much software as possible supports the printer you have.  

Download the PrintTest program and readme file.  

Read the readme.txt file

NTAD 2000 Added to FTP Site

An image of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics National Transportation Atlas Databases - 2000 (NTAD 2000) has been added to the manifold.net FTP site.   visit the Free Maps and Data Page for links to download the North American Transportation Atlas Database 2000.

Sample Manifold System Release 5.00 Manual Pages

Despite the tremendous increase in capabilities,  Release 5.00 will still be priced at only $245.  Until August 31, 2000, Release 4.50 licensees will be able to upgrade to Release 5.00 for only $100, plus shipping.  Detail (right): Click on the thumbnail to see a terrain window, an automatic 3D view of elevation data in Release 5.00.

 Click here to see a 780 KB animation of the Grand Canyon flooding.  This animated .gif was created using a DEM data set of the Grand Canyon imaged in a terrain window in Release 5.00 as seen in the thumbnail above.  5.00 can draw a semi-transparent "waterline" plane through a terrain at a given level for waterline analysis.  The flood effect was created by setting the water level higher in ten even steps and then making an animated .gif of the results using Microsoft GIF Animator.

Release 5.00 includes extraordinary raster capabilities that are perfectly integrated with vector, terrain, and other data types.  Release 5.00 includes astonishing new data mining capabilities, fast and easy georegistration of images no matter what projection is desired, perfect integration with external database sources, integrated neurofuzzy inference engine (click on any record for "More Like This" automatically), external programmability, sophisticated internal programmability with drag and drop forms/controls support, advanced Spatial SQL that integrates raster, grid and vector data seamlessly, integrated analytics between raster data and vector data, simple web server and much, much more.   You can spend $15,000 per seat with competitors and get far less.

What does Release 5.00 look like?  

- Click on the thumbnail at right for an 800K screen shot of a Release 5.00 desktop showing image editing of a satellite view of Washington, DC, with Transformer toolbar and map.

Faster, Smarter and more Capable than ESRI ArcView or MapInfo Professional v6...

Don't get stuck using antique, "toy" GIS packages when you need serious combinations of raster and vector layers.  Manifold Release 5.00 integrates raster images perfectly with vector layers.  Raster images may be re-projected as desired as no other GIS can do and recombined in layers in a way rivaled only by professional raster graphics packages such as Adobe PhotoShop.  Click on the thumbnail at right to see a 162KB shot of 5.00 being used as a graphics arts editor to compose multiple layered images using transparency and other effects.  Three images are layered together to form a composite image.  Two of the images use per-pixel transparency guided by other images that are used as masks.  These are expert-level operations that in some cases exceed the state of the art of professional graphics arts editors.  Awesome!

Neither ESRI ArcView nor MapInfo Professional v6 can project images at all, let alone project them on the fly into simultaneous, different map views using different projections.  Full usage of raster images within a sophisticated GIS environment requires a large and sophisticated array of capabilities such as per-pixel transparency, integrated raster/vector selections, sophisticated layer controls and many other capabilities.  Neither ESRI ArcView nor MapInfo Professional v6 come close to the sophisticated raster capability built into Manifold Release 5.00.  

- Click on the thumbnail at left for a 282K screenshot showing multiple simultaneous projections of the same image. It shows Mollweide, Eckert VI and Miller Cylindrical projections of the "globe.bmp" sample image, overlaid with two drawing layers: world boundaries and (in two of the maps) US boundaries.  Note that Manifold can mix and match the same drawing and images within different maps at the same time.  Images and drawings will be re-projected "on the fly" to suit the visualization needs of each map (the original image is untouched).  The desktop also shows that multiple views can be opened into the same map at the same time with independent pan and zoom.  If your GIS (like MapInfo or ArcView) cannot re-project images you should be paying lot less for it than the $245 cost of Manifold Release 5.00. Why pay much more and get much less?

Transparency:  Release 5.00 includes three methods for transparency: invisible pixels, percent transparency by layer and even RGBa images that allow each individual pixel to have its own percent transparency.   Click on the small thumbnail at left for a 100K image that shows the use of invisible pixels, a very simple method.  We selected oceans in the globe image used in the example above and then pressed Edit - Delete to "delete" the pixels.  This leaves the regions they occupied transparent, so that when the image is used in a layer stack in a map items below it can be seen through the transparent regions.  In this case we see the graticule "below" the floating world land areas. Note how regions of invisible pixels are projected just fine into Mollweide projection along with everything else.  Invisible pixels may be combined with RGBa images where each pixel can have its own percent transaprency.  Neat!  You can't do that with MapInfo Professional version 6 nor ESRI ArcView, no matter how much money you burn.  Invisible pixels are possible, in theory, with ArcView but only with near-infinite hand manipulation of color maps. Neither MapInfo nor ArcView allow percent transparency in layers or (don't even think about it!) per pixel percent transparency.  Thumbnail at left: Transparent layers! - A partially transparent vector layer showing urban areas overlaid on an image.  Manifold can overlay any mix of image or vector layers and set any layer to a desired percentage transparency.  The urban areas drawing has been thematically formatted and is seen in a small window.

- Click on the lower thumbnail at right for a 730K screen shot showing images of the San Francisco Bay region combined with vector layers.  The Landsat 7 image (originally shot in Space Oblique Mercator) was assumed to be an Orthographic image.  It's displayed on the fly within an "Overhead" Orthographic projection in the center map, which also shows US boundaries in a vector layer as well as a layer of hydrography lines from a Palo Alto 1:100K-scale USGS series map. Some of the lines in the Palo Alto set have been selected and appear in red.  The large map in background shows a perspective view from space computed for a point over the Atlantic ocean to show how the Bay Area would appear to an incoming spacecraft rocketing in over the US.  All image projections are done on the fly using the small image in the lower left of the display. Manifold can simultaneously show the same images and drawings in different views using different projections, with simultaneous re-projection of vector and raster data.  Note: Many Landsat images are remarkably close fits when treated as Orthographic or Vertical Perspective images without any need to track down the orbit or other information required to fully utilize Space Oblique projection.  Manifold can easily georegister an image with great precision to any desired projection.  Download an image off the Internet and use it right away! Cool!

Visit these links for sample pages from the Release 5.00 User Manual.  

• Getting Started - Useful overview of the system: drawings, images, terrains, maps, tables and a lot more.
• Selection - Key introductory topic on visual (mouse) selection methods.
• Colorize - A sample "small" topic, one of hundreds of image commands.
• Relief - Everyone's favorite 3D effect to apply to geographic images and terrains.
• Threshold - A very important image processing tool.  Great screen shots!
• Image Filters - Convolution matrix based raster image filters.  Neat!
• Modifying Selections - Expand, Contract, Border and Smooth operations in image pixel selection.
• Form Controls - Manifold has better programming capabilities than any other GIS.    Release 5.00 includes extensive Visual Basic scripting using drag and drop forms creation, elaborate forms editing (just like Visual Studio!) and much more.   Use Visual Studio-style forms-based programming with standard Microsoft dialogs and controls.  This topic provides a survey of the vast number of Windows controls shipped with Manifold.  Remember: to do all this programming in Manifold you need not buy anything else.  It's all included at one low price!
• Controls - Check Box -  A sample controls topic.  This is just one of numerous controls one can use to create forms for user interfaces to scripts, tables, custom dialogs and much more.
• Invisible Pixels -   A very cool topic that shows how images can be combined in many layers to create complex visual effects.   Manifold can replace Adobe PhotoShop in many applications... the raster image capabilities are that good!  When applied in maps in combination with drawing layers, transparency can provide breath-taking effects and unprecedented clarity in presentations.  This topic is from the Release Candidate documentation.
• Gaussian Blur - Add spectacular drop shadows to map elements.  Includes screen shots showing layers using RGBa images in Manifold, where every pixel in the layer can have a different percentage amount of transparency.
• Masks - A lengthy topic with awesome illustrations.  See amazing graphics effects not possible even in Adobe PhotoShop, fabulous color manipulations and the creation of false color images using Landsat 7 infrared images shot using the Enhanced Thematic Mapper instrument. 

Detail (above right):  Manifold System Release 5.00 includes hundreds of new projections, including every projection set forth in J.P. Snyder's USGS technical bulletins - even exotic and difficult projections such as the Space Oblique Mercator.   Parameterized variations include many national grids and other "local" projections.  All of these projections may be applied to raster images as well as to other data types.

Archived News

Check out the Headlines page to see a summary of news items for previous months, with fast links to previous What's New? pages.  You'll be astonished at the range, power and productivity that a relationship with manifold.net provides.