Map Suite GIS Newsletter

TIGER 2006 First Edition United States geographic data is now available in the industry standard ShapeFile (.shp) format. Get the latest and most up-to-date geographic data by the U.S. Census Bureau already converted from the native ASCII text format into the ShapeFile format required by most GIS software applications.

We ship TIGER 2006 FE data to you in a single DVD that contains a complete dataset of ShapeFiles that covers the entire United States and all of its territories. The TIGER 2006 FE dataset is also the perfect plug-in for any of our Map Suite .NET mapping components.

Conveniently Organized & Royalty-Free

With TIGER 2006 FE data, you'll have all the data you need in convenient ShapeFile format to build any GIS application that requires U.S. geographic data. Depending on your needs, you can choose to have your TIGER data organized into one of two datasets: separated into individual counties or separated into individual states. What's even better is the fact that TIGER data is royalty-free, which means you won't have to pay any additional fees to distribute your software applications.

What's New for TIGER 2006 FE?

TIGER 2006 FE includes ShapeFiles for all counties and equivalent entities in the United States as well as Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. This 2006 FE dataset is based on the latest available boundaries of counties as reported to the U.S. Census Bureau. TIGER 2006 FE data consists of line segments that represent physical features and legal and statistical boundaries. In addition, geographic entity codes are included, which can be used with the appropriate GIS software to produce maps. TIGER 2006 FE also includes realigned street feature coordinates for counties that have progressed through the MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project, which is an improvement over the TIGER 2005 FE and SE datasets.

Geographic Features

Here is a short list of some of the geographical features you will have access to with TIGER 2006 FE:

Free Sample for Download

Don't take our word for it; try it for free now! To try out TIGER 2006 FE, please download our free online sample. You can download and try this sample with either one of our Map Suite components or any competing GIS software product.

Find Out More!

For more information about TIGER 2006 FE or other map datasets we offer, please email our professional sales team at sales@thinkgeo.com. You can also call toll-free 1-866-847-7510 to speak directly to a sales representative. To learn about how we can tile a map dataset for you or other custom services we offer, please visit our Professional Services page.

Cygnus Track, our fully-extensible GPS tracking system, now supports the Portman TLU-100 GPS tracking device. This device can communicate via GPRS and is perfect for tracking private or commercial fleets. Also, the Portman device is fully supported and can easily be integrated into your Cygnus Track account.

Portman TLU-100

The Portman TLU-100 is great for tracking trailers, trucks, and containers. Any asset that experiences a lot of outdoor deployment, especially for long periods of time, will benefit from the rugged and weatherproofed Portman TLU-100. This device features unique solar power collectors, which provide 30 days of operation when fully charged. In addition to the solar power collectors, the Portman TLU-100 also features a built-in battery as back-up when it's not self-recharging.

The Portman can communicate via GSM, GPRS, and SMS and is capable of transmitting a variety of vehicle data, such as speed, distance, events, etc. Another nice feature of the Portman device is its low-profile, aerodynamic design. This device also features a configurable sleep mode for maximum power savings as well as a built-in internal tamper switch for extra security. Finally, the Portman is available in GSM 900/1800 MHz and 850/1900 MHz models.

Visit Device Library

Cygnus Track's device library currently includes some of the most popular GPS hardware devices on the market, such as the Enfora MT-GL, Satamatics SAT 101 & SAT 201, Orbcomm, and Falcom Stepp II, to name a few. If you find that a device you're interested in or that you own isn't included in our library, contact us to learn how we can integrate your device!

Find Out More!

For more information about the tracking devices that are currently supported by Cygnus Track or to learn more about Cygnus Track, please request to have a member of our sales staff contact you or email our professional sales team at sales@thinkgeo.com. You can also call toll-free 1-866-847-7510 to speak directly to a sales representative.

The latest release of our Map Suite family of .NET mapping components includes several new and improved features. These latest features include new sample apps, performance enhancements, and improved APIs. With the latest version of our Map Suite family of .NET components, you will be able to quickly and more easily add the power of GIS mapping to any .NET application.

New Features

With this latest release of Map Suite, we have included a new color API that features gradients, which help to enable more attractive map renders. The new color API will enhance your mapping applications and help you produce the best-looking maps possible. Another improvement that we've made is in our sample apps. Now, over 35 sample apps are included with each Map Suite Edition. Further, each sample app is easy to follow and features easy-to-understand line comments.

New Performance Enhancements

On the performance side of things, Map Suite now allows you to simultaneously load hundreds of ShapeFiles at startup without experiencing a significant decline in performance. With this new enhancement, you be able to render maps in no time! Another thing we've done to improve performance is speed up our map rendering engine by greatly enhancing our drawing and rendering controls for each Map Suite product. All Map Suite drawing routines are fast, intuitive, and easy-to-use. With Map Suite's rendering and drawing controls, you will be able to produce stunning maps in a minimum of time.

Free Map Suite Downloads!

Please click any of the items listed below to download free evaluation demos of our most popular Map Suite product editions. These evaluation demos are fully-functional and contain no locked or inaccessible features. By trying out our free Map Suite demos, you'll see first-hand what Map Suite is capable of doing by testing it in real-world project environments.

So what are you waiting for? Try them for free now!

Find Out More

For more information about any of our Map Suite products, please email our professional sales team at sales@thinkgeo.com. You can also call toll-free 1-866-847-7510 to speak directly to a sales representative.

This month's tech tip discusses how you can experience better performance by caching a ShapeFile into memory using the FileIO object.

At each drawing of a layer (refreshing the map, changing extent etc.), it is necessary to read to the files (.shp, .shx). With the FileIO object available in the MapSuiteCommon namespace, you can choose to cache the files into memory. By caching ShapeFiles into memory, you will increases the drawing speed by 100% or more. However, be careful not to load too many layers into memory. It might be appropriate to limit this technique to a few large ShapeFiles where you want the maximum drawing speed.

By declaring at Form level FileIO with events, each time a Layer is added to the Layers collection, the OverrideNewFileStream event is raised where you can load the layer into a Stream.

VB.NET

Private WithEvents mFileIO As New MapSuiteCommon.FileIO

Private Sub mFileIO_OverrideNewFileStream(ByVal FileName As String, ByVal FileMode As System.IO.FileMode, ByVal FileAccess As System.IO.FileAccess, ByRef Stream As System.IO.Stream) Handles mFileIO.OverrideNewFileStream
Dim fsStream As FileStream = New FileStream(FileName, FileMode, FileAccess)
Dim Buffer As Byte() = New Byte(fsStream.Length - 1) {}
fsStream.Read(Buffer, 0, CInt(fsStream.Length))
fsStream.Dispose()
Dim ms As MemoryStream = New MemoryStream(Buffer)
Stream = ms
End Sub


C#

private MapSuiteCommon.FileIO mFileIO = new MapSuiteCommon.FileIO();

private void mFileIO_OverrideNewFileStream(string FileName, System.IO.FileMode FileMode, System.IO.FileAccess FileAccess, ref System.IO.Stream Stream)
{
FileStream fsStream = new FileStream(FileName, FileMode, FileAccess);
byte[] Buffer = new byte[fsStream.Length];
fsStream.Read(Buffer, 0, System.Convert.ToInt32(fsStream.Length));
fsStream.Dispose();
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(Buffer);
Stream = ms;
}