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Introduction to GIS

GIS

INTRO

GIS

TNTedit™ and TNTview®

Introduction to

with

TNTmips®

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Introduction to GIS

Before Getting StartedTNTmips®, TNTview®, and TNTedit™ all offer a wide variety of tools for thoseworking in the many fields that make use of Geographic Information Systems(GIS). The purpose of this booklet is to acquaint you with the concepts andtools required for the management and analysis of spatial data, which is theprimary focus of GIS. All of the features required for a robust GIS system areavailable in TNTmips, which is used to demonstrate some of the tools and con-cepts described throughout this book.

Prerequisite Skills This booklet assumes you have completed the exercises inDisplaying Geospatial Data and Navigating tutorial booklets. Those exercisesintroduce essential skills and basic techniques that are not covered again here.Please consult these booklets for any review you need.

Sample Data This booklet does not use exercises with specific sample data todevelop the topics presented in this booklet. You can, however, use the sampledata distributed with the TNT products to explore the ideas discussed on thesepages. If you do not have access to a TNT products CD, you can download thedata from MicroImages’ web site. Make a read-write copy on your hard drive ofdata sets you want to use so changes can be saved.

More Documentation This booklet is intended only as an introduction to theGIS functions in TNTmips, TNTedit, and TNTview. Consult the TNTmips ref-erence manual and booklets in the Getting Started series for more information.

TNTmips and TNTlite® TNTmips comes in two versions: the professional ver-sion and the free TNTlite version. This booklet refers to both versions as “TNT-mips.” If you did not purchase the professional version (which requires a soft-ware license key), TNTmips operates in TNTlite mode, which limits the size ofyour project materials and enables data sharing only with other copies of TNT-lite. All of the GIS processes described in this booklet can be performed inTNTlite.

It may be difficult to identify the important points in some illustrations without acolor copy of this booklet. You can print or read this booklet in color fromMicroImages’ web site. The web site is also your source of the newest GettingStarted booklets on other topics. You can download an installation guide, sampledata, and the latest version of TNTlite.

http://www.microimages.com

Merri P. Skrdla, Ph.D., 6 May 2005©MicroImages, Inc. 2000–2005

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Introduction to GIS

An Introduction to GISGeographic Information Systems (GIS) is an evolv-ing, catchall phrase that initially referred to man-agement of information with a geographic compo-nent primarily stored in vector form with associatedattributes. This definition quickly became too re-strictive with advances in software and ideas aboutinformation management. An advanced GIS sys-tem should be able to handle any spatial data, notjust data tied to the ground by geographic referencepoints. The capacity to handle non-geographic spa-tial data was formerly the domain of systems referredto as AM/FM (Automated Mapping and FacilitiesManagement). Other non-geographic applications,such as interactive medical encyclopedias that re-trieve information based on the human form, shouldalso be manageable by a robust system.

Integration of imagery with vector data is now anecessity for a full-featured GIS system. Imagerywas once thought to be the exclusive domain ofimage processing systems, but is now often requiredas a backdrop for vector, or other data, types.

No up-to-date GIS system is complete without sur-face modeling and 3D (technically 2 1/2 D) visual-ization with “fly-by” capability. In addition to draw-ing a path for the simulation, you should be able toorbit with the view directed at a specified point orhave the view pan around a stationary viewer. Vec-tor overlay on this 3D surface should also be anintegral part of the package.

A GIS system should be production oriented, whichmay or may not mean product oriented. Productionwork in GIS involves making maps (a product), butit also involves interactive analysis (a result whichmay have no tangible product). This booklet startsby looking at these two aspects of GIS systems andthen describes the facets of GIS systems needed toreach the integrated goals.

Pages 4–5 introduce thepotential of GIS systems.The different object typesused in managing spatialdata are described on pages6–13. Subsequent pagesdiscuss other processesused in GIS systems, suchas region and vectorcombinations, and additionalfeatures for the alreadydescribed object types, suchas theme mapping andlegends.

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Introduction to GIS

Making Maps and PostersGIS map making should transcend traditional car-tography—roads, streams, and political boundariesalong with map grids, scale bars, and legends maybe sufficient for some maps but are not an adequatereflection of a fully featured GIS system. You shouldbe able to incorporate a satellite or airphoto imageas the background for line and polygon data withtransparent polygon filling to reveal the backgroundthrough vector or CAD overlays. You should beable to incorporate enlarged insets and elements thattie the components at both map scales together.

To make map making easy, a GIS system shouldinclude a variety of standard map components thatcan be readily added to a layout. These includemap grids, scale bars, legends, annotation text, anda means of mixing georeferenced andungeoreferenced groups (north arrows, companylogos) to complete the map. Each of these map com-ponents should be easily customizable; for example,with map grids you should be able to control thesize and color of the text and lines, the grid spacing,the components of the grid, and so on.

A mapis...

...builtfrom...

...manypieces.

Maps can take avariety of forms.

For a more complete treatment of this subject, seeGetting Started: Making Map Layouts

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Introduction to GIS

Interactive GISAnother important aspect of a GIS system is the as-sociation of attributes with elements and the abilityto select elements and view their attributes and touse attributes to select elements. You should alsobe able to quickly identify elements that have noattributes attached and elements with multiple at-tribute records attached.

Attributes should be dynamic so that new valuescan be calculated on-the-fly from values in otherfields or other tables. Such computed fieldsare then updated whenever the fields usedin their calculation are updated. If valuesfor a computed field will not change oncecalculated, there should be a means to makevalues permanent. Attributes should alsobe useful for theme mapping and be avail-able for direct display (pin mapping) pro-vided each record includes spatial coordi-nates.

select polygons;view attributes

select attributes;view polygons

use attri-butes toassignstyle

Generatebuffer zonesaroundselectedpolygons.

Buffer zones used to extract rivers within 500 m (in red) ofthe selected soil types. Attributes for one of the extracted

lines (magenta) are shown.

For a more complete treatment of this subject, seeGetting Started: Interactive Region Analysis

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Introduction to GIS

Raster ObjectsA raster is a two-dimensional array of numbers thatresults in a screen image. Each array position de-

fined by a line and col-umn number is called a“cell.” Cell values can beof many types rangingfrom 1-bit (binary) to128-bit (complex num-bers). In between theseextremes are signed andunsigned integer data

from 8- to 32-bit, 16- to 64-bit floating point, and16- and 24-bit composite color rasters. Your GISsystem should display all these data types regard-less of your display’s pixel depth, and color imagesshould be generated from composite color rasters(8-, 16-, and 24-bit), color map application (8- and16-bit), and multiple component raster display.

Raster values are often modified or interpreted from

color map

Cell values can representeither continuous orcategorical data. Thecontinuous red, green, andblue bands (left) of anairphoto can produce a colorimage (center) or beautomatically classified tocreate a categorical raster(right).

Multiple raster componentsused to produce a color-infrared image (photo-infrared as the red displaycomponent, red as green,and green as blue).Contrast was applied toeach component before thecolor image was derived.

cell values

8-bit composite colorraster object (unsigned)

the original values by application ofcontrast tables, color maps, or bothbefore producing a screen image. Theability to alter display characteristicswithout altering original data valuesis essential for meaningful image pro-cessing and analysis.

The speed of display for large rastersand the size of raster supported are often as impor-tant as the variety of the data types allowed. TNTprofessional products support all the data types de-scribed in raster objects as large as four terabytes*.Sampled display of the full image of such a largeraster can be achieved in just a few seconds in theTNT products.

or

* A terabyte is 1000gigabytes.

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Introduction to GIS

Coordinate Data ObjectsCoordinate data objects use XY or XYZ coordinatesto describe the elements in an object. Coordinatedata objects include vector, CAD (Computer AidedDesign), and TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network)formats. These coordinates may directly representgeographic position (decimal degrees or UTM inmeters, for example) or may be derived from screen,raster, digitizer, or other arbitrary coordinates.

Vector

CAD

TIN

This CAD drawing is madeup of 43 blocks with 1–92elements in each.

This TIN contains 3725 nodes,11144 edges, and 7420 triangles.

This vector contains 1504 nodes(not drawn), 2237 lines (all samein black), and 777 polygons(filled solidly or with bitmap orhatch patterns).

Coordinate data objects are made up of specificelement types commensurate with the data for-mat. Each of these element types can also haveassociated attributes stored in database form. Eachof these coordinate data types is best suited to par-ticular applications. Vector data is necessary forapplications that require ground area to be in-cluded in one polygon only, such as land owner-ship maps. CAD objects are best suited for archi-tectural drawings and other applications requir-ing geometric shapes or repetition of groups ofelements (blocks). TIN objects are best suitedfor compact representation of 3D surfaces. Ad-ditional features of these data types will be de-scribed in the next few pages.

All coordinatedata objects inTNTmips canhave more than

2 x 109 elements. Vector lines can have this many verticesin a single line—in essenceelement complexity and objectsize are unlimited.

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Introduction to GIS

Vector ObjectsVector objects may include nodes, points, lines,

polygons, and labels. Strict topological vec-tors are an absolute must for a GIS system.Strict, or polygonal, topology requires thatno two nodes have the same X and Y coor-dinates, all lines start and end in nodes, linesdo not intersect other lines or themselves(nodes are inserted where lines would oth-erwise cross), enclosed areas are defined aspolygons, and any point can be in at most

one polygon. When these stringent requirementsare met, other vector topologies can be consideredto reduce overhead requirements as discussed on thefollowing page.

Another requirement of a GIS system is associationof attributes with vector elements. Maintainingthese attributes in relational databases associatedwith the vector elements simplifies attribute man-agement. Once you have associated attributes, youneed to be able to assign drawing styles to reflectthe attributes. Ideally you can choose from a selec-tion of symbols for points, patterns for lines, andbitmap and hatch patterns for polygon filling, anddesign your own if you don’t find the style youwant. You should also be able to create permanentlabels or generate them on-the-fly.

The number and complexity of elements that canbe included in a vector object may also be an issue.For example, ARC/INFO Coverage limits the num-ber of vertices in a line to 500, which is many fewervertices than in some of the contour lines in the ob-ject illustrated on this page.

roads, hydrology, andpoint featuresin a ruralarea.

TIGER datain urban (left)and ruralareas.

soil type polygons

contours (isolines)

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Introduction to GIS

Topology TypesPolygonal topology, which is described on the pre-vious page, is necessary if you want ground mea-surements, but it takes time and rigor to maintain.Other topology types, such as planar and networktopology, require fewer system resources to main-tain and are adequate or even better suited for appli-cations not requiring ground area measurements.

Planar topology requires that all lines start and endin nodes and no two lines cross, as with polygonalobjects, however, polygon information is not main-tained. Planar and polygonal vectors appear thesame except polygon filling is not available for pla-nar vectors because there are no polygons. Planartopology may be appropriate for hydrology if nolakes are present or for road systems that lack over-passes, underpasses, and other features that requirenetwork topology for correct representation.

Polygonal and planar topology can be either 2D or3D, but topology is maintained in the X-Y plane for3D objects of these topology types, which meansthat nodes separating lines that would otherwisecross are determined by projection onto the X-Yplane. Such lines may not actually intersect in threedimensions and would be better represented usingnetwork topology.

Network topology places nodes at the start and endof all lines, but lines may cross themselves or otherlines. As with planar topology, there are no poly-gons. Note the absence of nodes where lines crossin the grid at the right. Although nodes need notoccur where lines cross, they can be present at anyintersection and are necessary for use in networkanalysis (routing and allocation). The constraintsimposed by 2D topology on 3D objects are elimi-nated by choosing network topology, which allowstwo nodes to have the same X and Y coordinates.Lines that appear to cross in a planimetric view maybe separated in 3D by their Z values (lower right).

PolygonalTopology

PlanarTopology

NetworkTopology

2Dview

3Dview, same object

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Introduction to GIS

CAD ObjectsCAD objects have free-form topology; they aremade up of elements that retain their own shape re-gardless of the relative position or changes to otherelements. The elements in a CAD object may over-lap one another and have a defined drawing order,which may be changed, that determines which ele-ments appear to be on top. CAD elements includepoints, lines, polygons, text, and a variety of geo-metric shapes. The geometric shapes are definedby center points, radii, and angles. These character-istics are maintained after elements are added, re-gardless of the other elements in the object, andcan be modified in later editing sessions. Unlike avector polygon created with the circle tool, a CADcircle can be resized by changing its radius or movedby changing the location of its center point.

CAD elements include points, lines, polygons, regu-lar polygons, boxes, circles, arcs, arc chords, arcwedges, ellipses, and text. Individual CAD elementscan be organized into blocks that are inserted at oneor many positions within a single drawing or usedthroughout a series of drawings. The short and longdirection points in the North arrow at the left areeach blocks made up of polygons. Polygons andother closed shapes can be filled with solid color ora fill pattern. The outline can be omitted, be a solidcolor, or be a line pattern.

X 1

X 4

X 4

X 5

=elements displayed usingattributes to assign style

block insertionmade fromtriangularpolygons

three filled circles andtwo outlines

text element

block insertionmade fromtriangularpolygons

Other examples of CAD objects shown belowinclude structural drawings and additional Northarrows.

All North arrows shown(and more) are suppliedwith TNTmips.

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Introduction to GIS

TIN ObjectsTINs (Triangulated Irregular Networks) are com-posed of nodes, edges, and triangles. The nodes areirregularly spaced three-dimensional points, con-nected by edges to represent a surface as a set ofadjacent, conterminous triangles constructed so thatevery triangle satisfies the Delaunay criterion.Delaunay triangulation requires that triangles con-structed from a randomly dispersed set of points areas small and equilateral as possible. Choosing pointsfor a triangle is an arbitrary process; results areunique; from a set of points there is only one set oftriangles that meet the Delaunay criterion.

TINs are one of three formats commonly used torepresent functional surfaces, such as the Earth’ssurface. [The other two are Digital Elevation Mod-els (DEMs) and contour maps.] The TIN data struc-ture minimizes the number of points needed to ac-curately represent surface variations.

TINs can be represented directly as contours, eitheralone or in combination with nodes, edges, and / ortriangles. The standard attributes calculated for TINobjects include slope and aspect, which can be usedto shade the triangles so these attributes are readilyconveyed even in 2D representations.

A TIN object shown in 3D perspective viewwith overlaid contours generated on-the-fly(above) and the contours alone (below). The2D view of the same TIN (right) shows thetriangles filled with a color assigned by ascript that uses the slope and aspect of thetriangles to determine the color.

When standard attributesare generated for a TINobject, slope and aspect arecalculated for each triangle(in addition to area,perimeter, and centercoordinates). Theseattributes can be used todetermine fill colors for thetriangles that convey a gooddeal about the topographyeven in a 2D view (below).

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Introduction to GIS

Making Pin MapsA pin map directly visualizes database informationif each record has coordinates for the location ofthe observation or report. You could plot telemetrydata for a variety of animals, the location of cities,or the position of trucks on the road. Direct displayfrom database offers some advantages over vectorformat for point data. New points are added simplyby adding records to the database and the locationof points can be updated by changing coordinates.

In TNTmips databases used for pinmap display canbe in internal format, linked to a supported format

Pin mapping should providea means to distinguishmultiple pins with the samecoordinates, such as thepins shown below for thesame sites in three differentyears. Symbol scale canalso vary with field values.

(such as dBASE IV, INFO, or FoxPro), or com-municated with using ODBC (Open Database

Connectivity to Oracle, for example). With directlinking or ODBC, the database can be maintainedby external software and viewed with all updatesavailable the next time you redraw the pinmap.

You can display all locations in the same style oruse other attributes to determine how a “pin” is dis-played. For example, you can use production todetermine the size of symbols for oil wells or, in thecase of telemetry data, you can represent observa-tions for different animals with different symbols.You can even incorporate multiple attributes into apie chart or bar graph.

You should also be able toinclude values for multiplefields from the same record.The TNT products let youchoose between bar graphsor pie charts with the optionof including multiple linelabels.

The samerecords shownas a bar graph(left) and a piechart (right) withdifferent back-ground layers.The bar graphincludes labelsfor each of thefields graphed.

For a more complete treatment of this subject, seeGetting Started: Pin Mapping

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Introduction to GIS

Attribute DatabasesAttribute databases keep track of information asso-ciated with coordinate data elements, suchas a polygon’s soil class, the road type of aline, or the identity of a point. These kindsof attributes are generally primary keys,which can be used for styling by attribute.Other attributes, such as population of a city orcrop yield of a polygon, can be used for theme map-ping or styling by query. You shouldbe able to calculate new informationfrom values in existing fields, suchas population density from popula-tion and area fields or the percent-age of the population in the four larg-est cities as shown at the right. Stringfields can also be concatenated if de-sired.

Attribute databases can alsobe associated with raster ob-jects by cell value, which maybe useful for rasters createdby interpretive processes,such as Feature Mapping andAutomatic Classification.

You can select elements and view theirassociated attributes or choose attributesand highlight the elements that havethem. You can query the database toselect elements with particular attributevalues.This query selects allstate polygons withpopulation greater than3 million in 1990. Thenumber of polygonsselected (reported atbottom of query window)is much larger than thenumber of states because most coastalstates have islands offshore.

All of thesefields are“computed,”which meansthey arederived fromvalues inother tables.

For a more complete treatment of this subject, seeGetting Started: Managing Geoattributes

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Introduction to GIS

Using RegionsRegions are areas of interestused primarily for selection—selection for viewing at-tributes, for extracting, or forother processing. In somecases, such as flood zone orwatershed regions, the regionitself is the desired product.

Use the linedrawing tool ora selected lineto evaluate apotential damsite.

Regions can be interac-tively and iteratively cre-ated. You choose the cellsor elements of interest,then the desired region cre-ation process, adjust region

parameters, generate a region, alter parameters as

Hold the left orright mousebutton to getDataTips.

The region can delimit eitherthe potential lake area be-hind a dam of specifiedheight (above) or the areathat would flood if the dambroke (right).

necessary and generate another regionuntil you are satisfied with the results andchoose to keep that region. Regions canbe temporary, available only for the cur-rent display session, or you can choose tosave a region to be used at a later time orin other processes.

Region generation methods available inTNTmips and not mentioned elsewhere onthis page include selected polygons, bufferzones, viewshed, Voronoi regions, rastertexture growth, and cell values.

Internal.ElemNum <= 54 or Internal.ElemNum >= 144

K Means cluster regions with all (left) or query selected points (middle) and the regionformed by Polygon Fitting (Tessellation, right) with the same query selected elements.

For a more complete treatment of this subject, seeGetting Started: Interactive Region Analysis

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Introduction to GIS

Generating Buffer ZonesGeneration of buffer zones can be muchmore sophisticated than the simplisticone buffer distance for selected ele-ments available for regions. You canelect to buffer all lines or lines selectedfrom the screen or by attribute, as is thecase when creating buffer zone regions.Additionally, when making vectorbuffer zones, you can assign differentbuffer distances by attribute values andchoose whether to maintain separate

Hydrology withlines classifiedas intermittent(thin) orperennial (wide)streams orshorelines.

Buffer zone regiongenerated at 200meters fromselected lines(also shown).

buffer zones by attribute or merge buffer zones thatintersect. The attributes of elements buffered canalso be transferred to the resulting buffer zone vec-tor polygons (regions do not have as-sociated attributes).

This buffer zone polygon wascreated by buffering both anintermittent stream and theshoreline of an intermittentwater body, so both attributesare attached.

The setback distance canbe designated separately foreach attribute value. Here,a buffer distance of 200meters is specified forintermittent water featuresand 400 meters forperennial features.

You canchoose tobuffer anyor all of theelement types in a vectorobject. If you want bufferzones to be separated by theattributes of the buffered elements, onlyone element type can be selected.

Buffer poly-gons merged(left, default)or separatedby attribute(below, right).

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Introduction to GIS

Region and Vector Combinations

For a more complete treatment of this subject, see Getting Started:Vector Analysis Operations and Interactive Region Analysis

Region and vector combinations let you combineobjects mathematically by georeference. Combi-nation by geographic extent is a very powerful fea-ture that allows input with different scales and mapprojections, which are resolved on-the-fly to createthe output object.

The three major differences between combining vec-tors and combining regions are that region combi-nation is accomplished interactively in the displayprocess, vector combination preserves attributesfrom one or both of the input objects (regions donot have attributes), and many more combinationoptions exist for vector objects.

10 mile buffer aroundcities with population< 20,000

100 mile buffer aroundcities with population >500,000

region within 10 miles of city< 20,000 and at least 100miles from city > 500,000

Regionsgeneratedand com-bined in SpatialData Displayprocess.

source operator geographic overlay

result (all polygons)

result (without islands)Region Combination

Vector Combination

Vector combinations alsoallow you to restrict theelement set used in thecombination by attribute, byquery, or by direct selection.By selecting which polygonsto use in a vectorcombination, you can eitherinclude or exclude islands inthe equation.

Many vector combinationsare “cookie cutter”operations, such as the oneshown, which is not anoption in regioncombinations. Regions,however, can be used ascookie cutters on vectorsdirectly in the displayprocess.

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Introduction to GIS

Making Measurements and SketchesThe ability to get real ground measurements fromany georeferenced or scale calibrated object is animportant aspect of any GIS system. A variety oftools for obtaining measurements isalso important.

The most common measurements areprobably from one location to an-other. TNTmips provides two tools,the ruler and line tools, so you canget either an “as the crow flies” or acomplex path measurement. Arc andarc wedge tools provide protractor, or angular, mea-surements. A polygon tool lets you determine thearea and perimeter of irregular shapes.A number of tools for measuringaround regular shapes (rectangles,circles, ellipses, regular polygons) arealso provided. A wide variety of units,which can be changed at any time, is available formeasurement reports. Measurements can also berecorded in a text file.

The TNT products use these sametools for sketching so that you cancreate quick annotated layer inter-pretations. Since both the sketch-ing and measuring tools are part ofthe GeoToolbox, you can view andrecord the size of each sketch element, if desired,before adding it to a sketch.

For a more complete treatment of this subject, seeGetting Started: Sketching and Measuring

Use the ruler tool to mea-sure the distance betweentwo points, such as countyroad intersections.

Use the arc or arc wedgetools to determine the anglebetween linear features.

Measured areas can becomesketch elements (right mousebutton click) and annotated.

Use the polygon tool tomeasure irregular areas.

page 18

Introduction to GIS

a symbol withvariable color

and colorspread from

cyan to yellow

Making Theme Maps

theme map by state population withlegend

Theme mapping is a powerful means to look at

The samecolor scheme asabove used with avariable color bitmap fillpattern. Using a bit mappattern gives a hint of theattribute being mapped andalso lets you see through toany background imagery.

quantitative trends and classes of attributes associated with vector and TIN elements. Theme maps provide a ready means for visualization of this in- formation without the need for you to design the scripts that identify the classesand assign meaningful styles. Theme map-ping treats the values in a designated fieldstatistically and assigns styles to the classesidentified according to the parameters you specify.

Themes can be created for point, line, and polygon elements. Themes are main-tained using style assignment tables andstyle objects, just as when drawing style isassigned by attribute.

the same mapwith color

spread fromblue to red

Choose betweencounting allrecords, records byreference, or byelement size (lineor polygon themes).

Thedistributioncan beequal count,equalinterval, oruser-defined.

For a more complete treatment of this subject,see Getting Started: Theme Mapping

page 19

Introduction to GIS

For meaningful visualization ofgeospatial data you should be ableto display and print at specifiedmap scales and control the visibil-ity of layers in a layout by the mapscale (layers/elements appear anddisappear as you zoom in and out).Automatic legends that can beturned on and off for viewing arealso an important feature. To makemap making easy, a GIS system should include avariety of standard map components that can be eas-ily added to a layout. These include map grids,scale bars, legends, annotation text, and a means ofmixing georeferenced and ungeoreferenced groups(north arrows, company logos) to complete the map.Printing to a wide variety of printers, including print-ers not attached to a computer with the GIS soft-ware, is another important feature.

Once you have data in a GIS system, you need to beable to correct and update it. You also need a way tocreate and edit objects using any kind of data youalready have as a reference. All new objects createdshould automatically acquire map registration fromtheir reference objects so that they can not only bescaled and displayed with the original reference ob-jects, but with any other georeferenced objects inany map projection.

One very important feature of an advanced GIS sys-tem is that it continues to evolve and incorporate

Other Important Features

Theme map of countypopulation density inNebraska displayed at1:10000000 with anautomatic legend.

The ability to add map grids,scale bars and text, as wellas to create legends, shouldbe an integral part of themap layout process.

Vector needingupdate...

...overlaid on recentimagery for reference...

...and updated.

new technologies.This evolution mustmaintain backwardcompatibility so thatlongtime clients don’thave to start over whensignificant changes infile formats or featuresare introduced.

Advanced Software for Geospatial Analysis

MicroImages, Inc.

Voice: (402)477-9554www.microimages.com

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

TNTmips 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.

TNTserver TNTserver lets you publish TNTatlases on the Internet or on your intranet.Navigate through geodata atlases with your web browser and the TNTclient Java applet.

TNTlite TNTlite is a free version of TNTmips for students and professionals with smallprojects. You can download TNTlite from MicroImages’ web site, or you can orderTNTlite on CD-ROM with the current set of Getting Started booklets.

Indexannotation ............................................... 17attribute databases ............................. 5, 13bitmap fill patterns ................................. 18buffer zone regions ............................ 5, 15CAD objects ............................................ 10Cluster regions ........................................ 1 4computed fields ....................................... 13contours (isolines) .................................... 8coordinate data objects ............................ 7data types .................................................. 6flood zone regions .................................. 1 4GeoToolbox ............................................. 17interactive GIS .......................................... 5legends .......................................... 4, 18, 19map grids ............................................ 4, 19map layout ......................................... 4, 19map scale ................................................. 1 9measuring ................................................. 1 7

multiple line labels .................................. 1 2network topology ..................................... 9ODBC ....................................................... 1 2pin mapping ............................................ 12planar topology ........................................ 9Polygon Fitting regions ......................... 1 4polygonal topology .................................. 9raster objects ............................................. 6region combinations ............................... 1 6sketching ................................................. 1 7style by attribute ......................... 5, 13, 18theme mapping ................................ 18, 19TIN objects ............................................. 11vector buffer zones ................................. 15vector combinations .............................. 16vector editing .......................................... 19vector objects ....................................... 8–9vector topology ........................................ 9