Hi Robert, I too have found no explicit way of getting the thematic info layer and its symbology. There is, however, an implicit way of doing it(and many other things). In a way, you do a save without the save. All you have to do is use the WindowInfo(FrontWindow(),Win_Info_CloneWindow) command assuming the map is the frontwindow. This produces a string that has most all of the information put into a workspace. You simply parse out the thematic info(i.e. start with an Instr command looking for "shade") and then pick out the symbology from there.
-----Original Message----- From: Robert Crossley [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 4:49 PM To: MapInfo List Subject: Re: MI-L sorting tables - Don't Get Defensive, Please The idea of only allowing thematic shading as a way of differentiating objects has its merits as it means what you see is whats in the database. It does however seem to come at a performance cost, viz, displaying a large layer thematically is always slower and it displays in smaller chunks. Particularly in cases where the thematic is based on a reasonably complex expression. I personally like the ability to show default settings. Users that are not familiar with your data can see what it is supposed to look simply by opening it. The idea of a lyr would be an interesting implementation into mapinfo, perhaps writing thematic settings into the metadata section. A few years back, I wanted to write a tool that could read the thematic settings once you had created it, and alter all the objects default setting based on those settings. It would be a trivial exercise if there was a way of reading the thematic settings without saving it as a workspace and sifting through the text. Unfortunately, there is no ThematicInfo or LayerInfo(xx, THEMATIC_INFO) command in MapBasic, so it just became too messy to bother about. This is a very similar vein to MapInfo's ability to show points, lines and regions in the same layer? Although 99% of the time I avoid it and only have one object type per layer, I have on occasion used this feature. It is a classic GIS purist crime against humanity, but it is quite useful sometimes. Notice that Mapinfo's later version stopped showing different object types for a thematic layer in a legend? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Would the cosmetic layer work anymore if it couldn't have all sorts of objects in it? r > > Regarding storing geographic styles in the TAB, I thought this was really > cool when I first saw it in MapInfo. The way ArcView 3.x handles this > is to > thematically alter the data, then store that file off with the shape > (TAB)...when the shape is loaded into a view (mapper) it automatically > picks > up that file and instantly applies the style. Two ways to do what is > essentially the same thing...which is better? I haven't decided yet. > But I > do know that the way Arc8 does it appears to be the best because it's the > most flexible: you get a layer looking the way you want it, then save > off a > "lyr" file, which is a very small file that tells Arc what to do with the > data when it loads. That's the best of both worlds. It's akin to my > daughter playing with dolls: a Barbie is a Barbie, but when you put > different clothes on her, she becomes a different person. An Arc8 "lyr" > file works the same way...the data is the same, but the "lyr" file > dresses > it up the way you want to see it when you load it. > > Frank > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bill Thoen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 12:22 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: MI-L sorting tables > > > "Phillips, Frank" wrote: >> >> Hi, Carri. I am also a former ArcView user, and I'm shocked by >> MapInfo's >> inability to do "on the fly" sorting of browser fields. Yes, there is a > way >> to do this, but you have to do a new SQL query to get your sort. I have > not > > You make this sound so difficult... Just choose Query > Select, > and fill out the Select dialog, choosing the field you want to > sort on. > >> yet found a way to do what I "think" you want to do (that is, the easy >> way >> that ArcView can do it on the fly simply by rearranging the order of the >> rows in a browser window). There must be some technical limitation >> inside >> of MapInfo... > > Huh? "...ArcView can do it on the fly simply by rearranging the > order of the rows...?" That's the result of a sort. How does that > define what to sort on? > > But you're right. It could be made easier. A click on a column > name could indicate that the user wants the browser view > ascendingly sorted on that column. A second click could mean > "sort descending." But MapInfo doesn't do this yet. > > A lot of the shocks that ArcView users get when they switch are > just that they don't know how to do things the MapInfo way. I've > had the same experience learning ArcView, and it's just a little > culture shock. I can remember waxing wroth one day trying to > change a value in an ArcView "browser." In MapInfo this is easy > to do; just highlight it and change the value. But in ArcView you > have to know about unlocking the table first or you can't do > squat to it. I was so used to MapInfo's way, I couldn't see why > ArcView made this so hard to do. > > In truth, it turned out to be easy, and it made sense, once I > knew how and why it's done that way. Another shocking > first-encounter thing about ArcView is that it doesn't store > graphic styles with its map features. I thought that was a real > limitation at the time, but once I learned how styles are applied > and saved, it wasn't such a pain, and in fact, I've come to see > that convention as a more pure GIS implementation than MapInfo's > way. MapInfo's combining styles with objects is certainly an > easier implementation to use, but I now think that logically > styles are not an intrinsic component of the geometry. > > I wonder if anybody could design a perfect GIS tool. There's > always such a range of needs, abilities and budgets in any large > user community that you just can't please everyone all the time > with a single product. I guess I'm happy when I've learned enough > about a product that it pleases me. > > - Bill Thoen > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message number: 10942 > -- Robert Crossley Agtrix P/L 9 Short St PO Box 63 New Brighton 2483 Far Southern Queensland AUSTRALIA 153.549004 E 28.517344 S P: 02 6680 1309 F: New Connection M: 0419 718 642 E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] W: www.agtrix.com W: www.wotzhere.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message number: 10945 --------------------------------------------------------------------- List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message number: 11186
