MANIFOLD SYSTEM

 

Manifold System Release 5.50 Professional Edition is the most comprehensive, the most powerful and the easiest to use GIS and mapping system ever created.

Release 5.50 Professional includes a fabulous array of features while being easier to use and providing rock-solid reliability. The program includes over a million and a half lines of code and has been thoroughly debugged in the hands of thousands of users in over 80 countries during an extensive 5.50 release campaign.  

Whether you are new to GIS or an expert with many years' experience, you'll be glad you found Manifold:

"This product is AWESOME. Not only does the price blow everything else away but it's capabilities are seemingly endless.

I'm new to the world of GIS. I use Manifold 5 to create trail maps for the Front Range here in Colorado . Although I've encountered a few hurdles, Manifold 5 has been extremely simple to jump into and be productive after just a few hours in the help file and no real previous experience in GIS. The customer service has been top notch and in my case, extremely patient and helpful to a GIS newbie.

 

Because I'm not an experienced user of GIS applications I may not be able to trumpet all kinds of technical jargon about this feature or that, but I do know Manifold seems to have it all wrapped up into one amazing package." - User Comment

"Manifold does more than ArcGIS (which I teach) (It is also 1000 times more stable!) or ArcView (which has been the source of my income for the last 8 years)." - User Comment

One program for all of your GIS needs -  Manifold System 5.50   is an integrated system that simultaneously works with vector drawings, satellite and aerial photos, other raster images, raster data, multichannel remote sensing images, 2D and 3D surfaces and terrain simulations, multilayered maps, user supplied or automatically generated labels and a vast range of database table formats.  Manifold does it all in one seamlessly integrated, high performance package.  Manifold 5.50 even includes a sophisticated, fast, powerful Internet map server that's built right into Manifold so you can publish your maps to the web for browsing by anyone.

 

 

 

Superior Microsoft Windows Compatibility - Designed for Windows XP Today !  - Manifold System Release 5.50 runs in Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT4.0, Windows ME, and Windows 98 and 98SE.  Manifold System Release 5.50 is the only professional GIS program that has achieved Microsoft's coveted "Designed for Windows XP" compatibility status with Windows XP.

Import and use maps and data from over 80 different formats - Manifold System can read data from over 80 different vector, raster, terrain elevation and database formats including specialty formats such as grids and the very latest government formats such as HDF EOS used with ASTER Earth observation satellite data. Manifold reads all GIS industry standard formats, including government formats in which millions of free maps and databases are published for free download via Internet.  Read .shp , .mid/.mif , .e00 , SDTS , TIGER/Line (through 2002) , DLG , VMAP/VPF , NTF , TAB , DXF , TAIF, DGN, DEM, SDTS DEM, NITF, Space Shuttle SRTM  and dozens of other formats. This allows users to access terabytes of free GIS data by Internet directly from the source, and to use data from every GIS system known as well as from numerous specialty software packages.  Manifold System 5.50 exports to .shp , .mid/.mif , .dxf , mfd/mdb , SDTS and .e00 (Enterprise Edition required for .e00 export);  image formats such as .bmp , .ecw , .png , .gif , .jpg , .tga , .emf , .tif  and GeoTiff ; .bil surface format; database table formats such as Access .mdb , Excel .xls , Paradox .db , Dbase .dbf , Lotus Wkx , HTML and ASCII text .csv formats as well as to any OLE DB or ODBC database or to database providers such as Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 or MySQL if installed.

 

 

 

Create and edit sophisticated map
Manifold can create new maps from the ground up or edit any map, drawing, image, surface or data set imported into it.  Manifold has extremely powerful, CAD-like editing capabilities for creating and editing detailed drawings.  Unlike an ordinary CAD editor like AutoCAD, Manifold always maintains correct geographic context plus a link to database information for objects in the drawing.

 

 

 

 

Superior image capabilities - Manifold has by far the best image commands and features of any general purpose GIS package.  One can spend tens of thousands of dollars for ESRI's ArcGIS 8 and get far fewer image capabilities than are in Manifold. Manifold 5.50's image capabilities are so powerful and so extensive they are rivaled only by professional quality remote sensing / image processors and by professional quality graphics arts programs like Adobe PhotoShop.  Like PhotoShop, Manifold 5.50 provides a vast range of image commands and can work in RGBa images for per-pixel, Alpha channel transparency.  Manifold even goes beyond PhotoShop because unlike PhotoShop Manifold can also edit vector drawings and surfaces and combine image and vector layers with per-layer transparency for all layers.  Images may be imported, georegistered, reprojected to any projection and then exported into common interchange formats like GeoTIFF. 

 

 

 

Unlimited Sized Projects with Unlimited Sized Images and Terrain Elevation Surfaces - Advanced memory management technology allows Manifold System to operate with no limit on the size of projects, no limit on the number of layers in maps and no limits on the size of images and surfaces.  

Remote sensing image processing -  Manifold includes sophisticated functions to combine data from multi-channel remote sensing image formats into synthetic RGB images, including a wide range of features for image enhancement using sophisticated algorithms.  

  

 

 

 

Image Fusion - Image fusion can produce images with vivid colors and high resolutions by combining  lower resolution color images and higher resolution panchromatic images.  Typical examples are:

 

• SPOT panchromatic image + Thematic Mapper multi-channel color image
• ETM panchromatic + Thematic Mapper color bands.
• IKONOS panchromatic + IKONOS color images.
• Satellite image + aerial photograph

 

 

 

 

Seamless, smooth data raster layers - Using surfaces, Manifold can plot data variables in seamless raster layers that are automatically colored by value. Show temperature distributions, chemical plumes, population densities or any other variables in combination with images or vector drawing layers.  Manifold can create smooth raster data layers from unsmooth point data sets by automatic Kriging interpolation in a simple Copy the points drawing and Paste as a surface user interface.

 

Integrated surfaces and terrains for 2D and 3D visualization - Manifold can import terrain elevation data from almost any format known and incorporate surfaces into maps as shaded 2D images showing relief, slope, aspect or visualized as realistic 3D terrain views. Terrains may be overlaid with any combination of vector drawings or raster images. Surfaces are also used to provide continuous gradient displays of data such as population, temperature or other variables. Surfaces may be shown automatically colored with custom palettes, by value or using preset palettes designed for fast and easy terrain visualization.  Perform waterline analysis or create slope and aspect maps.  Automatically create contour lines or area polygons from terrain surfaces.  Manifold's 3D visualization and 2D surface analytics are included within Manifold 5.50.

 

 

Integrated Internet Map Server - Manifold includes a powerful Internet map server that can publish your maps to Internet for people worldwide to view. The map server allows browsing, panning, and zooming within maps that you choose to publish as well as support for queries, information tools and layer selection if desired. Advanced users can customize the map server to create spectacular Internet pages. Manifold IMS (Internet Map Server) 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, no programming and no costly middleware.  The map server is built into Manifold itself so that Manifold can be used as a WYSIWYG development environment to create a project.  Based on a few mouse clicks and choice of preset templates in the Export Web Page dialog, Manifold will automatically create a set of .asp pages to dynamically publish the project to the web.   Manifold IMS delivers blistering hot performance through sophisticated features, such as object pooling, that are tightly integrated with Microsoft Internet Information Server for maximum performance, security and reliability.  

 

 

Easy Georegistration - Georegister any image, drawing or surface using any other image, drawing, surface or set of control points.  Manifold will "rubber sheet" warp images, surfaces and raster data sets as necessary with automatic interpolation and pixel management from any projection into any other projection desired.  Fast and easy control point management allows precise placement of control points in a rapid workflow pattern.  Manifold includes three georegistration methods to allow tradeoffs between the number of control points that are placed and the precision of the georegistration.  These include a simple method and a numeric method as used by most high-end GIS packages. In addition only Manifold provides an affine georegistration that uses sophisticated mathematics to achieve georegistration with many fewer control points than are required by ordinary numeric methods.  Manifold 5.50 also automatically generates a root mean square error surface for immediate control of georegistration precision.  Manifold's fast and easy georegistration dialogs make it possible to scan paper maps and to rapidly make use of them in GIS digital mapping.

 

 

 

Superior Database Capability - Modern maps link the objects in drawings with records from database management systems. One can then use the map as a visual interface to the data. Manifold includes the most sophisticated database management system capabilities of any GIS system to allow work with tables linked to drawings, standalone tables or tables resident in remote database providers like Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 or MySQL.  Manifold's database manipulation capabilities are so powerful they exceed those of most dedicated DBMS systems!  Including standard SQL, Manifold also includes Spatial SQL and "fuzzy logic" SQL extensions.  Unique to Manifold System the Transform Toolbar allows unprecedented manipulation of database tables without any SQL programming required.  Tables may be imported into a Manifold project or linked into the project from external providers. Manifold's database facilities are so strong that people will often use Manifold to explore and manage databases having nothing to do with maps.

"The actual database tools available for Manifold utterly kill ESRI's Arc(Anything)."   - User Comment (experienced user of both Manifold and ESRI ArcView, ArcINFO and ArcGIS 8).

 

 

 

Intrinsic Fields- Automatically computed values for objects in drawings that appear as table columns if you want them.  See locations, areas, bearings, lengths and similar without any need for computations or scripting.  They're built right in!  As one user put it: "The intrinsic fields in the data table can NOT be stated enough. I find it incredible that I can take a "stupid" AutoCAD drawing, with no attached data, and just bring it in and bang. I have a whole bunch of useful data attached. The centroid coordinates really are great. I use them almost every day. I even took my entire land parcel drawing, and brought it in just to get coordinate points, so now I have not only the areas, but the points to attach data to for certain labeling etc."

 

 

 

Active Columns - Active Columns (TM)  are like a combination of database tables, spreadsheet and ActiveX scripting.  Add an Active Column  to any table and specify the formula the Active Column should compute.  Automatically, the values for every row in the table will be computed and will be displayed in the column. 

 

 

 

"More Like This" Technology  - Manifold System 5.50 is the first and only GIS at any price to include a sophisticated neurofuzzy inferencing engine that powers Manifold's "More Like This" technology.  With a single mouse click "More Like This" harnesses the incredible artificial intelligence power of neurofuzzy inferencing without programming : open atable and right click on a record and choose More Like This from the pop-up menu.  Manifold will automatically resort the table so that records similar to the one you clicked on will be at the top.   Based on the record selected Manifold automatically creates a fuzzy query and launches the integrated neurofuzzy engine to  find more records like the one you are interested in.  It works so well the results are positively spooky, like magic!

 

 

 

Decision Support System  - While "More Like This" provides a fully automated, single mouse-click way of using the Manifold neurofuzzy engine, the Decision Support System provides a more flexible, point-and-click console for creating, editing and viewing sophisticated queries using fuzzy logic.  "Fuzzy" logic allows queries that automatically make tradeoffs in a flexible way to find information that traditional SQL queries cannot.  For example, if searching for a new home that has a "short" commutewith "good" schools SQL would force you to specify fixed criteria. Perhaps you would search for a home that was within 10 miles of work with a school district that had an average math SAT score of 650.  However, such queries would miss homes that had an 11 mile commute and a school district with average math SAT scores of 720.  You might want to make the tradeoff of one more mile of commute to get a truly extraordinary school district, but old fashioned SQL won't let you.  Manifold's Decision Support System provides a point and click, visual way of specifying that you would like a "short" commute and "high" educational achievement that will automatically make tradeoffs using the neurofuzzy engine to score combinations that match exceptionally well your desired criteria.  No other GIS at any price includes a Decision Support System .  Illustration (above right): A DSS query to find a nice place to live.  The Hedge column let's you "nudge" a query by emphasizing or de-emphasizing a particular criterion.

Superior Spatial Analytics - In addition to Spatial SQL, Manifold includes numerous subsystems and capabilities for spatial analysis and transformations.  Each field in any drawing's table can have a Transfer Rule that specifies how that field will be combined in 1 to N and N to 1 spatial transformations.  The transfer rule will be used by spatial operators such as Spatial Overlays (point in polygon, polygon in polygon, etc) operations or in Transform Toolbar spatial operators.  For example when using the Centroids operator to find the centroid of a selection of points the  N to 1  transfer rule might be set to assign the Average value of a given field from all the different points to the centroid.   If using point in polygon operations to transfer the values of all points in an area to the area object and the field of interest is a population, one might use Sum as the transfer rule so that the population values of the points in the area are summed to find the total population in that area.   Manifold has a vast array of spatial operators for use in spatial analytics, including 27 different operators for different combinations of points, lines and area overlays (Areas to contained points, Areas to contained areas, Areas to intersecting areas, Areas to contained lines, Areas to adjacent areas, etc, etc).

 

 

 

Superior Spatial Editing - Manifold includes sophisticated Boolean editing operations that allow unions, dissolves, clips and other operations using some objects to "cookie cutter" other objects or to combine objects using their data fields as a guide.  Manifold's spatial editing operators are unusually sophisticated in that they can work with any combination of objects no matter how bizarre the topology.  For example, a pattern of areas that include multiple branches including disjoint "islands" and "holes" can be used to cookie-cut through other lines, points and similarly disjoint areas without problems.  Manifold is the only interactive GIS system that can perform such complex operations while automatically maintaining and cleaning topology on the fly.   

 

A Spatial Editing / Selection Transfer example - Manifold 5.50 can transfer selections from vector drawing layers in a map to image layers or surface layers and vice versa.  This technique allows "cookie-cutting" of images using drawing areas as a guide.  The thumbnails  at left show an image of Afghanistan that has been cookie-cut out of the NASA "Blue Marble" image of the Earth as seen from space.  The Afghanistan image has been exactly trimmed to the borders of Afghanistan shown in a countries drawing.  One screenshot shows just the Afghanistan image alone in Latitude / Longitude projection.  The other screenshot shows the Afghanistan image in Orthographic projection (a view as the Earth appears from space) overlaid upon a background of the original NASA Blue Marble image.  Image effects include use of transparency to de-emphasize the background and Gaussian Blur to create a drop shadow.  Manifold can easily re-project drawings, images, surfaces or anything else seen in maps.  The maps shown consist of several image, drawing, and label layers.

Automatic Contouring - Manifold can automatically create vector drawings from surfaces that show contours as areas or lines.  Contours can be created for regions above given heights for a "wedding cake" effect, regions below heights or regions between heights.  Intervals may be specified individually or a sequence of heights can be automatically generated at a desired interval range.

Statistics and Analysis - Manifold's operators and analytic subsystems include hundreds of analytic capabilities in statistics, general purpose mathematics, network analysis, graph theory, database logic, topology and computational geometry. Active Columns™ and ViewBots™ provide a new style of interactive analysis that's easy to use.  Transform operators with drawings include sophisticated network operators such as automatic creation of Gabriel Networks, Relative Neighborhood Network, Spanning Tree, Clusters detection, Emergency Center and Service Center siting, Shortest Path,  Delaunay Triangulation and more.  Geometry operators include Voronoi diagrams, Buffer Zones of various types, Centroids using circle, box or center of balance, Cluster detection using standard and Zahn algorithms and many more.

 

 

 

Integrated GPS Capability - Manifold can work with any NMEA compatible GPS device connected to your computer's serial port.   Use the GPS for a "moving map" effect to automatically move the map as you travel.  Automatic data acquisition can sample the GPS on demand or automatically by time interval.

Charts - Manifold 5.50 includes fast and easy 2D charting.  Create a chart from any numeric field in any table, or show multiple fields at the same time.  Group and order fields automatically in the X axis using any field for better comprehension of data that makes more sense when aggregated.  Manifold will automatically label axes using ordinary or logarithmic scales.

Powerful Programming Included -  At no additional cost, Manifold 5.50 includes a complete programming system for scripting in Microsoft ActiveX scripting languages (Manifold is a Microsoft ActiveX scripting host). The power of Manifold System may be extended by writing scripts in Visual Basic Scripting Edition or Javascript, the default languages used in Manifold. For casual customization, Manifold includes Active Columns, ViewBots and SQL "ad hoc" programming.

Windows Copy / Paste Paradigm - Manifold uses standard Windows power moves like Copy and Paste to make conversions and to move data about.  Want to see a geocoded table as a drawing in a map?  Simply Copy the table and Paste As a map - automatically, points will appear for the table's records.  Have a map that shows European cities and want a table of their latitudes and longitudes?  No problem! Copy the drawing and Paste As a table.  You can even Copy an image and Paste As a table to see a table of the RGB values for image pixels. When transforming data using copy and paste, Manifold will automatically pop open dialogs allowing user choices in a very flexible way.  For example, when pasting a drawing as a table, Manifold can automatically compute numerous "intrinsic fields" for objects in drawings, such as Latitude and Longitude, X and Y coordinates in native projections or pixel image coordinates, Area, Length and Bearing of lines, selection status and more.

Transparency:   Release 5.50 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.  

Requirements and Limitations

Manifold System 5.50 runs with Windows XP, 2000, NT 4.0, ME, 98SE, 98 and 95.  A reasonably modern PC with at least 128MB of RAM and at least 50MB of disk space is required.  IE 6 (or IE 5.5 with Windows 95) must be installed on the system even if you choose to use a different browser, such as Opera, as your default browser.  The IE installation is used to assure that the Windows system is fully upgraded with all required XML parsing and ActiveX scripting Windows components.

 

 

 

Manifold System Release 5.50 Enterprise Edition

Manifold System Release 5.50 Enterprise Edition is the most modern and reliable GIS package ever created for collaborative GIS work using centralized storage of GIS data in enterprise-class databases. Unlike older products that require a special "spatial" DBMS version, GIS packages, Enterprise Edition uses a higher level of object storage with automatic caching for high performance. Unlike older "SDE" architectures, Manifold's Enterprise Edition automatically su pports reliable, fault-tolerant multi-user operations within collaborative teams with automatic protection against editing conflicts.  

Writing .E00 Format - .E00 format is a GIS format used by ESRI's ArcINFO product.  All Manifold editions can read .E00 , but only Enterprise Edition can write .E00 . If you would like to have seamless back and forth interchange with ArcInfo installations, use Enterprise Edition.

 

 

 

Enterprise Features - Manifold's Enterprise Edition provides centralized geospatial storage on enterprise-class DBMS products such as SQL Server, Oracle or IBM DB2 as well as .e00 write capability and the ability to suppress the Manifold logo line in IMS web sites.  For a complete discussion of Enterprise features, see the Enterprise Edition web page .  Universal Edition delivers an Enterprise Edition license together with Business Tools and Surface Tools extensions.

 

Enterprise Edition includes all Professional Edition and Debugger features and also extends Manifold so users can save and share drawings, images, tables, maps, scripts, and other components within geospatial databases hosted in multi-user DBMS products like Oracle, SQL Server, IBM DB2, MySQL and many others. Such geospatial databases are called Enterprise servers.  Enterprise Edition allows multiple users to share the same components and to edit them without fear of multi-user conflicts.  Enterprise Edition also adds the ability to write ArcInfo .e00 files for easy data interchange with legacy GIS packages.  Finally, Enterprise Edition includes an option to turn off the "Powered by manifold.net" banner embedded in Manifold IMS (Internet Map Server) pages.

 

Enterprise Edition includes at no additional charge the Microsoft SQL Server  2000 desktop engine for use in creating your own Enterprise servers if you do not already have an enterprise class DBMS. SQL Server 2000 is a high performance, multi-user database management system that provides world-class capabilities to Enterprise Edition users.  Enterprise Edition is perfect for organizations where many users work with the same maps and where editing must be controlled so that two people cannot simultaneously edit the same drawing in incompatible ways, or for situations where large amounts of data must be kept and used in an organized way.

 

Key Benefits

Enterprise Edition is not only more economically efficient than older "spatial" GIS products, it is faster, more flexible and more reliable as well.  Enterprise Edition delivers the following key benefits, which older "SDE"-style products do not have:

 

• Faster performance , at times by a factor of 100 or more in interactive GIS operations as compared to older architectures.
• Reliable, conflict-free editing of complex data in a multi-user environment. Surprisingly, even some very expensive older systems cannot guarantee conflict-free editing as does Manifold.
• Freedom to choose almost any DBMS vendor . Enterprise Edition works with dozens of different database management systems. The Manifold model by default allows use of almost any DBMS that allows transactions and that has an ODBC driver.
• No expensive, performance-draining "middleware" required.  A high performance database like Oracle or SQL Server is designed to work directly with high performance clients like Manifold. Enterprise Edition connects directly to your DBMS for unsurpassed performance.  Don't waste thousands of dollars on costly middleware that works more slowly than Manifold.
• Works with the standard DBMS products offered off-the-shelf by dozens of DBMS vendors.  No need for costly "spatial" versions.
• Heterogeneous DBMS utilization.   Within the same project Manifold can transparently include multiple components from different Enterprise servers hosted by different DBMS vendors.
• DBMS fault tolerance. If the DBMS crashes while working on an Enterprise project the project is still safe and can be saved with no loss of data.
• Network fault tolerance. If the network crashes while working on an Enterprise project the project is still safe. Transient disconnects won't even be noticed, and lengthy disconnects still allow a local save of the project. Work can continue even without the network. When the network comes back up the project can be opened and automatic synchronization will occur.
• Practical Internet capability. The high bandwidth requirements of older architectures mean that connecting over Internet to a remote DBMS is not usually realistic. With Manifold, the more efficient Enterprise architecture means that it is realistic in many cases to connect to an Enterprise server via corporate Internet links.
• Off-line working capability. Older systems cannot work without a constant, "live" connection to the DBMS. Manifold allows transparent off-line work, such as with laptops when traveling away from a direct connection to an Enterprise server. Enterprise Edition users can continue working while away from their corporate network.
• Automatic compression.   Data saved in the DBMS is automatically compressed, which usually requires four to seven times less connection bandwidth and storage capacity for the DBMS.
• Mix and Match Enterprise and Local Data. Manifold projects can include a free-form mix of data from Enterprise servers or local data.
• Compatibility with Professional Edition.   Instant, transparent compatibility with Professional Edition users is a snap with Enterprise Edition.
• Easy to Use. No programming required! - To share components on an Enterprise server all you need do is create a blank database for Manifold to use within the host DBMS system.  After that, users can easily share items to the DBMS and link in items from the DBMS using standard, point and click Windows-style commands found in Manifold.  Enterprise Edition is so smooth and easy to use that users will never realize their data is hosted on an enterprise-class DBMS.  Whether you use IBM's DB2, SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL or any other DBMS, compare the easy simplicity of Manifold Enterprise Edition with the baffling  complexity of using ESRI ArcSDE with Oracle Spatial and you'll agree no geospatial DBMS GIS has ever been this easy to configure and use!

 

Centralized storage allows multi-user use of common components so different users can simultaneously use the same component within their projects. For example, many users in a town's GIS department can use a base map drawing of a town within their projects. Another benefit to storage of components within an Enterprise server, in addition to the multi-user access thus provided, is the ability to share a single copy of a component within many different projects.

 

For example, if the same drawing of Europe or the US is frequently re-used as a background layer in a map we can share that drawing into an Enterprise server and then get it whenever needed. Only one copy of the drawing will be maintained, the copy within the Enterprise server. If a drawing or other component (such as an image) is used in hundreds of different projects we will see considerable savings in disk space.  Having a single, master copy of a drawing also guarantees that all users will be working with a single, authoritative version.

Manifold 5.50 Surface Tools Provides a highly sophisticated surfaces calculator, a new Transfer Heights command, expanded interpolation and Kriging options and the ability to work with Profiles and Elevations