Tim, ive come to this discussion late so i may be missing something or teaching grandma to suck eggs so apologies if i'm off track here..
I work as a lone mapinfo user in an esri-based international mapping org... after 11 years of 'problems with shape files' i'm prepared to bet a lot of cash that the 'source' of the shapefile is the cause of your troubles. for mapinfo to show a square grid of 5degree latlon data not only does the map and viewing window need to be in the correct projection (latlon) but the data must also have been captured/created with the projection of lat lon. Shapefiles are non projected and ESRI format data suppliers are really still only just getting to grips with what 'capturing with a projection' means. The fact that your map 'squares up' when you open a raster gives the game away, mapinfo bends the vector to fit the raster, the raster is a fixed sized grid of pixels (a flat chequerboard...it cannot be squashed into the rectangles that truly reflect a lat long projection) I suspect that your shapefiles have been captured from flat paper maps as 'non earth', and then had a 'conversion' applied to them to make them return 'correct' lat long values on an arcview3 screen. (this is what we used to do and it isnt correct). if possible convert the grid to a mif file or other text format and look at the coordinates buried within, i suspect that your square grid contains some non square values and so when Mapinfo gets hold of it it correctly shows the true coordinate displacement....once you apply the raster, mapinfo is forced to bend the shape to the fixed 'lattice' of the ratser. (ie teh raster overrules the latlong 'oblation') Alternatively import teh shape file as non earth ... again i bet it will come in 'squared up' a sure sign of what i call 'lazy' capture practices. The other common problem i have found are maps captured from UTM projections (with coords shown in degrees rather than the usual metres) being passed to me as lat lon maps (coords also in degrees) these go bananas depending upon where you are in the world. if this is the case then all is not lost, you can play with projectios to see what projection has actuall been used (start with the UTM zone for your area) or you can create mif files and apply transformations to 'stretch' the output back to its proper coords. take a look on the discussion board for doing this... like i said, in 11 years, Mapinfo has only once let me down with a duff projection, my arc3- 9 -using colleagues fluff them nearly everyday. Regards r -----Original Message----- From: Tim Makins [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 18 November 2004 10:37 To: Alan Cooper Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: MI-L Shapefile Opening Hi Alan - no, its not the screen distorting the squares. And I only used the grid as an example - many shapefiles open like this - its just its easy to see the problem with a grid. If I want to open them 'correctly', I open a geo-referenced raster image that is correctly projected to lat/lon 1:1 first. However this seems a crazy way of doing things - I'm sure I'm making some stupid mistake, but can't figure out what it might be ! Tim in Ireland. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan Cooper" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Tim Makins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 8:53 AM Subject: Re: MI-L Shapefile Opening > Tim, > From Alan across the pond in North Wales. > Stupid suggestions in no particular order..... > Could it be your screen distorting the squares? Change the settings and see > if you get squares. > Save a copy - into the projection you want. i.e force the data rather than > accept what it is telling you. > Use Universal translator first and not the 'Open' command. I have found that > to work when I don't get the results I expect. > Chuck the Shapefile and make your own new grid in MI - takes a few minutes. > > Alan > The Lead Partnership > www.leadpartners.co.uk > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tim Makins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 8:14 AM > Subject: MI-L Shapefile Opening > > > > Still no answer as to how to solve the problem in this question - does > > nobody know ? > > > > I have a shapefile containing a world-coverage grid of 5degree squares. If > I > > open this shapefile, the squares, instead of opening as squares, open as > > rectangles - approx on-screen size of x7 y9. I would rather have them > > opening as x7 y7. How can I do this, please ? It seems as if a projection > is > > being imposed on the shapefile, even though in 'Options > Preferences > > Map > > Window' both the 'Table Projection' and the 'Session Projection' are > already > > set to 'Longitude/Latitude'. > > > > So how do I set the projection automatically when the shapefile is opened > ? > > > > > > Tim in Ireland, using MapInfo Pro 7.5 > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Message number: 14106 > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message number: 14110 ********************************************************************* This e-mail message, and any files transmitted with it, are confidential and intended solely for the use of the addressee. 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