Technical and Curriculum Writing Sample: MapInfo

1. MapInfo Fundamentals
User Guide
Beginner/Refresher Workshop for
Custom’s Presentation Center Staff
December 28, 2011
Presented by PresGuru Training
For Custom Staffing
Copyright 2007-2011, daCollective dba PresGuru, All Rights Reserved

2. MapInfo Fundamentals Section 1
About This User Guide
Copyright:
Copyright © 2007-2011 by daCollective LLC doing business at Presentation Guru, written
by Sabrina Easley. All rights reserved. This publication, or any part thereof, may not be
reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, recording, photocopying, or otherwise, without the express written
permission of Presentation Guru.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal
copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by
the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Trademark Acknowledgements:
MapInfo are registered trademarks of Pitney Bowes Corporation. Microsoft Word,
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Office are registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation. Other brand names and product names are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Disclaimer:
Presentation Guru assumes no responsibility for errors or omission and assumes any
liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
However, every precaution has been made in the production of this book thereof. These
user guides and workbooks are provided without any warranty whatsoever, including, but
not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
All names of persons or companies in this manual are fictional, unless otherwise noted.
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3. MapInfo Fundamentals Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. What is MapInfo? — Not The Average Application
2. Core Components
a. What is a Table? Overview of a Table’s Files — .Tab, .Dat, .Map, .Id and .Ind
b. What is a Workspace?
c. File Organization Using Template Folders
3. Creating Points Maps
a. Methodology for Creating a Map: 8 Steps to Remember When Mapping
b. Geocode
c. Create Points
d. Thematic Mapping
e. Cleaning up Data for Thematic Mapping
f. Labeling Points
4. Creating Regions Maps
a. What is SQL?
b. Creating Simple Queries—Filtering US State Regions
c. Creating Two Part Queries—Filtering US County Regions
5. Additional Practice Exercises
Workbook Exercises List:
Number Description Page(s)
1 Working with Various Windows (Views) 8
2 Creating a Point Map Using Geocode, Part 1 14–18
Manually Plot a Point, Part 2 19–20
3 Creating a Point Map Using Geocode 21–24
4 Creating a Thematic Map Using Create Points 26–29
5 Creating a Thematic Map Using Create Points 30–32
6 Adding Labels to Points on an Existing Map 33
7 Creating a Region Map—US States 37–40
8 Creating a Region Map—US Counties 41–40
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4. MapInfo Fundamentals Section 1
What is MapInfo
In this section, you will learn to:
 Describe how the MapInfo application works
 Identify the differences between MapInfo and other software
 Recognize and apply basic MapInfo terminology
What MapInfo Is…
MapInfo is a GIS (Geographic Information System) desktop mapping software that can
create a wide range of maps, from state shading maps to point maps, to customized
region and line maps (such as counties), statistical market areas, telecom network lines
and more.
MapInfo can use imported information (or data) from various sources, as long as it is in
database (“dB”) form. Maps are created from the most common types of databases, such
as a client address database. Maps can be created using a client's street address, city and
state or zip code.
There are two ways to visualize GIS data—raster maps and vector maps. For the most
part, raster maps usually fuse satellite photos or aerial pictures with spatial data. Vector
maps, on the other hand, are derived entirely from spatial data that are represented by
points, polygons and lines.
Raster Map Example Vector Map Example
GIS mapping is widely used by several industries including Security, Law Enforcement
agencies, Telecom, Retail companies, the Federal Government and Environmental
agencies, just to name a few.
What MapInfo is Not…
Most new MapInfo users have been known to say, “MapInfo isn't user-friendly” or
“MapInfo isn't an intuitive application.” In the beginning, this is undoubtedly true, given
the years that an operator may have been using insightful software such as Word or
PowerPoint which are world-renowned applications known for ease of use, detailed help
files, and a vast pool of internet resources including video tutorials and books. They are
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5. MapInfo Fundamentals Section 1
user-reliant, requiring user input for an immediate effect such as entering a sentence,
bolding a word, drawing a box or diagram.
On the other hand, MapInfo (“MI”) is a “method-based” software that requires a user to
build or arrive at a solution(s) using one or more databases of geographic and statistical
data. While it has been slated a desktop application, most of MapInfo's primary and most
powerful features are analytical in nature. From this perspective, it is very similar to
Excel and dBase, which are also database-driven applications.
MI's inclusion of “the geographic aspect” is what differentiates it. With Excel, for instance,
when you need to create a chart, you must answer these basic questions:
1) What type of chart is being created?
2) What data is used to create the chart?
However, when you are given a submission to create a map, you are given basic
information such as the region of the map, the type of map to be created and a
submission of data. Before you can create the map, you answer one or all of these basis
questions:
1) Can I create the map with the data available?
2) If unavailable, can the data be bought, found or created?
3) What region template is required?
4) Based on the type of data submitted, what MapInfo function must be used to create
the map, and
5) What reference data must be used?
Overall, the creation of a map is more involved and requires a meticulous processing
methodology. Initially, it may seem profound, but over time and with practice, it will be a
piece of cake.
Most Common Types of MapInfo Maps
MapInfo can create a variety of maps and can be used to perform a wide range of data
analyses. The most of the vector maps created by MapInfo are:
Point Map Example Line Map Example Line Map Example
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6. MapInfo Fundamentals Section 1
Basic Glossary of Terms: How MapInfo Interprets Data
Browser Window A tabular view of a table. Similar to a spreadsheet, it contains rows
and columns of information.
Layout Window Use to arrange one or more windows on one page—similar to laying
out a page in PowerPoint. A layout window can be exported as an
.emf for insertion into other applications.
Map Window A visual view of a table's geographic and graphic information.
Another name for a map window is mapper or view. If a table does
not have geographic information, this option will not be available.
Mapper Another MapInfo term for a map window or map view, the visual
view of a table's geographic and graphic information.
Table A set of data that contains geographic and non-geographic
information. If a table does not have geographic information, it can
not be opened as a map window.
View One of MapInfo’s terms for a table’s window. Browser, map and
layout are all types of views.
Workspace A feature that saves the table information and formatting of map and
layout window arrangements used during a mapping session.
Browser Window Example Map Window Example Layout Window Example
Window | New Browser Window Window | New Map Window Window | New Layout Window
or (F2) or (F3) or (F5)
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