Hi folks,
I'm sort of entering this conversation late, but I thought I'd throw in my
two cents as well. James is quite correct, if your careful you can make
very good applications using integrated mapping. The one point that I would
like to add is that integrated mapping and mapbasic are not mutally
exclusive choices. MapInfo's object model exposes the collection of running
mapbasic applications. Therefore, if you prefer writing the strictly
mapinfo/geographic routines in mapbasic, go ahead and just set up a
messaging routine between mapbasic and visual basic. There are some
idiosyncracies (sp?) involved with this, but nothing constituting a "bug
laiden hell" as andy put it. I can expound on the messaging routine, or any
other points if anyone is interested.
Hope this adds some/any value to your conversation.
Joe Moore
At 08:56 AM 2/2/99 -0600, James Marlow wrote:
>Hi Andrew
>
>It is quite possible to build a VB (or Delphi or C++) application that
>uses Mapinfo in the background while only showing the user your
>program's interface. The process is called integrated mapping and it is
>discussed in Mapbasic manuals.
>
>You have to do a bit of development to make the interaction between VB
>and MI "enjoyable" but if you are comfortable with classes in VB this is
>not really an issue. The reason for this is that the MI object does not
>have the complete Mapbasic command set available. You do, however, have
>a Do and Eval method to use, both of which take a command string (just a
>string of Mapbasic commands) as an argument. The Eval method passes back
>a string. The problem with this is that it's a bit of a pain to assemble
>the command string - especially one using quotes. I wrote a class to
>wrap up any procedures / functions I need and this makes calling things
>a lot easier. Once you get the feel of how the interaction works it
>really isn't that bad at all.
>
>I have written a number of applications in VB and find the process quite
>useful. Since my class module containing the MB commands is now fairly
>complete I have even found that certain applications are easier to write
>in VB with MI just used for the back end.
>
>Feel free to drop me a note if you have more questions.
>
>Regards
>
>James
>
>--------------------------------------
>James Marlow, Director of GIS
>Channel Marketing Corporation
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cmcus.com
>Telephone: 972-858-9600 x 331
>Facsimile: 972-858-9601
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Andrew Bailey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>> Sent: Monday, February 01, 1999 10:55 AM
>> To: James Marlow; 'Dr. Rajendra Kumar Gupta'; Mapinfo-L (E-mail)
>> Subject: Re: MI problem in calling dll
>>
>>
>> I'm not too sure of what i'm reading here - my knowledge of
>> VB is mild, my
>> knowledge of DLLs is milder to say the least. But you both sound like
>> people who have had experience of VB and Mapinfo working
>> together. Is it
>> possible to build a VB application using VB dialogs to
>> interact with MI
>> workspaces, and not let the user see the MI window? Do VB and
>> MI interact
>> well enough to make the process enjoyable or is it a walk through a
>> bug-laiden hell?
>>
>> andy b
>>
>> ----------
>> > From: James Marlow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> > To: 'Dr. Rajendra Kumar Gupta' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
>> Mapinfo-L
>> (E-mail) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> > Subject: RE: MI problem in calling dll
>> > Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 2:45 PM
>> >
>> > Hi Rajendra
>> > �
>> > Unfortunately, VB5 does not produce the type of DLL that
>> Mapbasic can
>> > call. There are actually two types of DLL that can be produced -
>> > standard and ActiveX. Mapbasic uses the standard one and VB5 only
>> > produces ActiveX DLLs. Supposedly there is a class module
>> you can get
>> > from Sheridan Software that will make a VB5 dll work, but I
>> have never
>> > managed to find it.
>> > �
>> > Something else you might consider is the PowerBasic
>> compiler (available
>> > at www.powerbasic.com) which costs $179US. I have never
>> used this, but I
>> > know a couple of people who have and they say it is very
>> good. The main
>> > advantage is that it uses the BASIC language but produces small,
>> > efficient DLLs for windows. There are 16 and 32 bit
>> versions available
>> > �
>> > Alternatively, you could do what I do and write your DLLs in Delphi.
>> > However, that requires a knowledge of Pascal and that may
>> be too much
>> > effort for what you want to do.
>> > �
>> > Feel free to e-mail me if you want more info.
>> > �
>> > Regards
>> > �
>> > James
>> >
>> > --------------------------------------
>> > James Marlow, Director of GIS
>> > Channel Marketing Corporation
>> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]� http://www.cmcus.com
>> > Telephone: 972-858-9600 x 331
>> > Facsimile: 972-858-9601
>> >
>> > �
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Dr. Rajendra Kumar Gupta [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>> > Sent: Monday, February 01, 1999 3:19 AM
>> > To: MapInfo-L
>> > Subject: MI problem in calling dll
>> >
>> >
>> > The dll has been created in VB5.0 and has to be called in
>> > mapbasic.However we get a run time error that the external
>> library does
>> > not contain the function.The function is written in class module in
>> > VB.There is no compiler error in mapbasic and the dll is
>> called in the
>> > usual way
>> > �
>> > ��� declare sub reversename lib "c:\test.dll" (str as string)
>> > �
>> > � call reversename(str)
>> > �
>> > can anybody help me in solving this problem?
>> > or
>> > provide any sample program?
>> > �
>> > thanxs
>> > �
>> > rajendra
>> >
>> >
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put
>> > "unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put
>> "unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put
>"unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Joseph Moore
Sr. System Analyst
Forth & Associates Product Development
919.467.3440
888.427.2403
http://www.transfinder.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put
"unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
