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MapInfo Monday: Help! I'm Lost in my Map

  • 1.  MapInfo Monday: Help! I'm Lost in my Map

    Employee
    Posted 04-01-2024 03:00

    Happy #MapInfoMonday!

    I bet we all from time to time have lost our way in our map. We have been zooming and panning to the extent that we no longer know where we are.

    In this article, I'll give a few ways to find your way back to the world.

    View the Entire Layer or Entire Map

    The first option is to zoom to the extent of one of your layers. This will align the extent of the map to the extent of the data in the selected layer.

    You can right-click a specific layer in the Layer List and select View Entire Layer.

    You can also right-click inside your map window and from the context menu select View Entire Layer.
    This will open the View Entire Layer dialog where you can pick the layer you want to zoom to.
    There is also a View Entire Map which you can access via the right-click of a map in the Layer List or via the View Entire Layer dialog. In the View Entire Layer dialog, it's called All Layers.
    Keep in mind that when you use View Entire Map, it will also include a potential base map with global coverage and therefore zoom to a view of the world.

    Previous View

    MapInfo Pro also comes with a basic Previous View option. You can find this in the context menu of the Map window. It can also be found on the Map tab in the Navigate group. 
    Unfortunately, this option only allows you to go one step back.
    I would recommend downloading the great tool Zoom History from the MapInfo Marketplace. The tool has been developed by @Kalu Ribush.
    It allows you to go back and forth in your "zoom history" using two buttons on the Map tab: Step Back and Step Forward.

    Zoom to Selection

    You often work with a combination of base maps and some vector layers. Let's call the later business layers.
    You can open a browser with one of your business layers, select one of the records from the browser window, and then use Zoom To Extent of Select Objects to zoom to the selected record in your map. You find this option in the Zoom To dropdown on the Map tab, again in the Navigate group.
    There is a different version of this capability too. It's called Find Selection and will zoom/pan to the selected record(s) in all windows - both maps and browsers.

    Named Views

    If you often go back to the same locations on your map, Named Views would be a good tool for you. It comes pre-installed with MapInfo Pro. You only have to load it from the Tools window and if you end up using it, I'd also recommend setting it to Autoload.
    Once you have loaded the tool, you can open the Named Views window via the Tool Windows dropdown on the Home tab.
    Named Views allows you to create new views and store them in a list. You can also organize your views as you can see below where I have created a folder called Europe and one called Asia.
    You jump to the view by double-clicking on the view in the list.
    The list of views is stored in a file in your local preference folder.

    Move To Feature

    For those who have purchased the Bing Premium option, the Move To feature is very helpful when looking for specific places.
    The Move To window can be opened from the Tool Windows dropdown on the Home tab,
    The Move To window allows you to search for countries, places, and addresses. When found, you can either zoom to the location using your current zoom or zoom to the best view of the location.
    Above I searched for Denmark but the Move To window also allows me to be more specific and search for an address.
    I hope some of these suggestions can help you find your way.


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    Peter Horsbøll Møller
    Principal Presales Consultant | Distinguished Engineer
    Precisely | Trust in Data
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