This tool has always been welcomed by users every time it is mentioned over the years.
The idea behind this tool is it allows you to create a bookmark for a specific map view and allows you to return to this bookmarked view at any time (similar to saving your favourite webpages as bookmarks in your internet browser for easy access anytime).
It can be a very effective time-saver if you need to pan or zoom to specific locations within your maps on a regular basis. For example, if you have a bunch of store locations across a country, named views could be used to save the view of each store location therefore making it very convenient to change the map view directly to the specified store location in just two clicks!
Using Named Views
After loading Named Views in the Tools list, navigate by panning/zooming the map view to an area of interest.
Once the view has been added to the list, it can be accessed at any time by clicking once on it to highlight it, then clicking on the 'Goto' button. This will change the map view of the current active Map Window to the chosen predefined view as you can see below for the 'Australia' view. Alternatively, double-clicking on the desired view will also achieve the same result.
TIP – the ordering of the Named Views list can be modified by dragging and dropping an individual view up or down.
Grouping lists by folders
The list of Named Views can be grouped into a specific folder and/or subfolders which follows a tree structure. Folders and subfolders can be created by clicking on the 'New Folder' button and then giving it a desired name. The folders can be expanded or collapsed in the tree and existing views can be dragged and dropped into the folders to allow you to organize and keep the list accordingly structured. For example, the folders can be useful for classifying store address locations geographically by region.
Sharing lists of Named Views
The list of Named Views is saved to a file named nviews.xml. This file can be accessed via C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\MapInfo\MapInfo\.
This file can be copied and distributed accordingly where required. For example, when using MapInfo Pro on a new machine or sharing it with colleagues who are working within the same study areas. You may wish to keep a copy of your original named views file and restore it when required.
Accessing the Named Views tool
The Named Views tool can be accessed in MapInfo Pro 64-bit version via HOME tab > Tool Extensions > Registered tab > look for 'Named Views' in the list then hover the cursor over it and click on the 'Load Tool' symbol (a symbol which contains a spanner). It should then appear under the Running tab and you can right-click on it and then click on 'Open Named Views…' to access it.
For users on MapInfo Pro 32-bit version via Tools > Tool Manager... > look for 'Named Views' in the list and enable the 'Loaded' checkbox > OK. You can then access via Tools > Named Views > Named Views…
Are you already using the tool? If yes, please share your experiences – do you find it useful?
This was another article in the MapBasic Tool of the Week #series
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Dave Kuo
Software Support Analyst
Pitney Bowes
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