TatukGIS Consulting will offer in-person training courses for TatukGIS software in the US in the third quarter of 2012.

Two training courses will be offered: (1) TatukGIS Editor Training, and (2) TatukGIS Developer Kernel (or Editor Customization) Training.  Class sizes will be limited to 30 students.  Course summaries are listed below.

Training will be held in centrally-located Dubuque, IA.  Dubuque is a beautiful old town located on the Mississippi River and is a few hours drive from Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and St. Louis.  The Dubuque Regional Airport is served by American Airlines via O’Hare International Airport and is a quick 10 minute drive to downtown Dubuque.

If you are interested in attending and would like to provide input for the dates of the training please email contact@tatukgisconsulting.com.  The training dates will be set by the beginning of June. 

(1) TatukGIS Editor Training:  This one day course will cover a broad range of the functionality offered by the Editor.  A hard-copy training manual is included with the course.  Students will be required to bring their own laptop computer with the Editor software already installed.  The cost is $499/seat.  The course outline is as follows:

(2) TatukGIS Developer Kernel (or Editor Customization) Training: This two day course will cover a broad range of the functionality offered by the DK.  A hard-copy training manual is included with the course.  Students will be required to bring their own laptop computer with the DK or Editor software already installed.  The cost is $999/seat.  The course outline is as follows:

LESSON 1. CREATING A NEW DELPHI SOLUTION THAT USES THE TATUKGIS DK VCL CONTROLS, .TTKGP PROJECT FILES, AND ADDING & REMOVING LAYERS FROM THE DISPLAY

LESSON 2. CHANGING THE MAP EXTENT, ZOOMING, AND SETTING THE SCALE

LESSON 3. SELECTING FEATURES: SELECT BY ATTRIBUTES, ZOOM TO SELECTION, SELECT BY LOCATION, AND MANUAL
SELECTION. IN-MEMORY LAYERS AND THE TGIS_LAYERVECTOR.LOOP METHOD ARE INTRODUCED

LESSON 4. USING THE TGIS_EDITOR OBJECT TO CREATE NEW SHAPES, SAVE AND ABORT EDIT OPERATIONS, EDIT VERTICES,
UNDO/REDO, DELETE LAST SHAPE, ADD PARTS, DELETE PARTS, AND DELETE VERTICES

LESSON 5. CREATING NEW VECTOR LAYERS, EDITING SHAPES WITH CODE(AS OPPOSED TO USING THE TGIS_EDITOR OBJECT),
BUFFERING SHAPES, CREATING AN ‘IN-MEMORY’ LAYER, AND EXPORTING VECTOR LAYERS

LESSON 6. GEOPROCESSING: SPLITTING SHAPES, UNIONING SHAPES, SUBTRACTING SHAPES, CLIPPING SHAPES, MERGING
VECTOR LAYERS, AND GENERATING RANDOM POINTS

LESSON 7. ATTRIBUTING FEATURES, THE TGIS_CONTROLATTRIBUTES OBJECT, AND THE TGIS_DATASET

LESSON 8. SYMBOLIZING FEATURES USING THE LAYER PROPERTIES DIALOG AND VIA CODE AND SAVING SYMBOLOGY TO LAYER PROPERTIES .INI FILES

LESSON 9. SETTING THE TGIS_VIEWERWND AND LAYER COORDINATE SYSTEMS, REPROJECTING-ON-THE-FLY, AND EXPORTING LAYERS TO A DIFFERENT COORDINATE SYSTEM

LESSON 10. MEASUREMENTS: AREAS, DISTANCES, XY COORDINATES, CONVERT PROJECTED POINTS TO GEOGRAPHIC, AND CREATE POINT B USING BEARING AND DISTANCE FROM POINT A

LESSON 11. WORKING WITH ENTERPRISE GIS DATABASES: THE SQL LAYER AND THE PIXELSTORE LAYER

LESSON 12. MAP OUTPUT: EXPORT TGIS_VIEWERWND DISPLAY TO IMAGE, SEND MAP TO MS WORD AT A CERTAIN SCALE,
PRINT PREVIEW, PRINT SIMPLE MAP, USING MAP TEMPLATES

LESSON 13. USING GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM INPUT

LESSON 14. ADDRESS MATCHING AND ROUTING

LESSON 15. USING OTHER DATA FORMATS

LESSON 16. USEFUL FUNCTIONS IN THE TGIS_UTILS CLASS

LESSON 17. USING THE 3D VIEWING MODE, THE TGIS_CONTROL3D OBJECT, USING 3D LAYERS, CREATING 3D FEATURES, AND SETTING UP A DEM

∞ TatukGIS Consulting

The Washington State County Road Administration Board (CRAB) uses the TatukGIS Developer Kernel (.NET edition) for its “Mobility” road inventory and management system.

The mission of the Washington State CRAB is to preserve and enhance the transportation infrastructure of Washington counties by providing standards of good practice, fair administration of funding programs, visionary leadership, and integrated, progressive and professional technical services.

Mobility software is a comprehensive road inventory and management system provided to all Washington State counties to enhance a county’s ability to make quality decisions through consistent, equitable, and defensible management plans and operations.

Mobility highlights: Asset Management, Maintenance Management, Pavement Management Systems, Road Log Management, and Reporting Services.

CRAB used the TatukGIS Development Kernel to create and incorporate a map viewer tool within Mobility that ties a county’s GIS map data to data located in the State’s Road Log database. This allows a visual perspective of roadway information such as type of pavement, Federal Function Class, pavement condition, sign locations, accident locations, etc.

CRAB IT Systems Manager Bob Davis says that “TatukGIS provides us with this innovative mapping capability and has proven to be a valuable asset in our on-going programming efforts. Thank you TatukGIS…we’re very happy with your product and look forward to working with you for many years to come.”

For more about the Washington State County Road Administration Board, refer to: www.crab.wa.gov

Most GIS-savvy professionals have heard of ESRI’s ArcSDE.  ArcSDE is a black-box piece of software that allows spatial features to be stored in an enterprise database.  ArcSDE is sold separately from other ESRI software.  Typically one or more individuals within an organization must be trained in the use of ArcSDE so that they can administer the ArcSDE database for the organization.

The Enterprise GIS Database

Traditionally, GIS software vendors have put a large cost premium on the ability to store map features in an enterprise database. (An enterprise database is a database accessible by all levels of the organization and is typically located on a server.) This premium has led to the common belief that what’s going on behind the scenes of an enterprise GIS database is overly complex. The truth is that it’s not complex at all, it’s rather simple.

A database can be used to store any type of information that is usable on a computer. The most common kinds of data that people are familiar with are text, numbers, and dates.

But databases can also store more complex kinds of data like pictures, videos, and map features. These more complex data types are typically stored in a special binary field type (sometimes called a BLOB or Binary Large OBject) within the database. As long as we know the complex format of the data we are placing into a binary field, we can read and write the data to and from the database just as easily as we can write text and numbers.

As stated previously, traditionally GIS vendors have charged their customers a lot of money to store their map features in an enterprise database. TatukGIS gives their customers the ability to utilize layers stored in an enterprise GIS database with the purchase of either the TatukGIS Editor, the TatukGIS Developer Kernel, or the TatukGIS Internet Server. And all three of these products are quite reasonably priced.

The SQL Layer

The TatukGIS term for a map layer that is stored in an enterprise GIS database is ‘SQL Layer’. A SQL Layer is technically comprised of the following items:

1. A simple text file (with the .ttkls extension) that lists the database connection string, the layer name, the data storage type, and the database dialect. The contents of an example .ttkls file are shown below:

[TatukGIS Layer]

ADO=”Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=Layers.mdb”

Dialect=MSJET

Layer=COUNTIES

Storage=Native

2. A valid connection to the database listed in the .ttkls file.

3. Once the connection is made (with the proper credentials) by the TatukGIS software, the following three tables will be created automatically in the database: ttkGisLayerSQL (lists all the SQL Layers in the database), LayerName_GEO (stores the geometry for each map feature in the SQL Layer), and LayerName_FEA (stores all attributes about each map feature in the SQL Layer).

The .ttkls text file and the database connection and information can be handled by an organization’s database administrator or IT specialist. No individual with specialized expertise in enterprise GIS database management is required.  The rest of the details are handled by the TatukGIS software.

Compatible Enterprise Databases

TatukGIS software can create SQL Layers in any of the following enterprise databases:

Microsoft Access/MSJET (though not technically an ‘enterprise’ database, SQL Layers stored in an Access database provide better performance than shapefiles on the desktop when the file size exceeds 200 mb)

Microsoft SQL Server

Interbase

Firebird

MySQL

DB2

Sybase

Oracle

Progress

Informix

Advantage

Sap DB

PostgreSQL

Flash Filer

NexusDB

BlackFish SQL

Compatible Enterprise GIS Data Formats

TatukGIS can utilize SQL Layers within a given enterprise database in a variety of data formats, several of which are listed below:

TatukGIS Native format (optimized for speed!)

ArcSDE

Oracle Spatial

OpenGIS WKB

OpenGIS WKT

OpenGIS Katmai

Katmai

PostGIS

GeoMedia

Creating SQL Layers using the TatukGIS Editor

Once you have a good understanding of how map features are stored in an enterprise GIS database and how the SQL Layer works, it is fairly easy to create a SQL Layer using the TatukGIS Editor.

Creating an Access database SQL Layer

You can create a SQL Layer in an Access database with a single command using the Editor. As stated above, for shapefiles on the desktop that are larger than 200 mb, performance can be greatly enhanced just by converting the shapefile to a MS Access SQL Layer. Fortunately the Editor can do this without MS Access. Any vector layer can be exported to an Access SQL Layer in the Editor.

Use the Layer > Export command to export a shapefile to a SQL Layer as shown in the image below.

Then just select the GIS data format within the Access database to create the SQL Layer as shown in the image below.

Creating a Firebird database SQL Layer

For best SQL Layer performance in a free enterprise GIS database, TatukGIS recommends Firebird (http://www.firebirdsql.org). (For best SQL Layer performance in a non-free enterprise GIS database, TatukGIS recommends MS SQL Server.)

Firebird is the free and fast, open-source enterprise database (formerly known as Interbase by Inprise Corp.). In addition, it is easy to install and use, especially with the FlameRobin Database Admin tool (http://www.flamerobin.org/)

To create a SQL Layer in a Firebird database first install Firebird, register a server within Firebird, create a new database on the server and test the connection. Then install a Firebird ODBC driver (such as the one on this page http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=files&id=odbc). Then optionally create a DSN using the Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator (Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Data Sources(ODBC)). Finally, create the .ttkls text file. The contents of an example .ttkls text file used with a Firebird database are shown below.

[TatukGIS Layer]

Storage=Native

Dialect=INTERBASE

ADO=”DSN=Firebird;UID=ADMIN;PWD=PASSWORD;DBNAME=ENTERPRISE_GIS.FDB”

Layer=COUNTIES

The method used to create a Firebird database SQL Layer is the same as the method used to create an Access database SQL Layer. Use the Layer > Export command in the Editor. This time, however, select the .ttkls file as the export target, as shown below. If the database connection parameters are correct, then the Editor will create a new SQL Layer in the database.

To create another SQL Layer in the same database, just create another .ttkls text file with the same parameters as the previous one, but with a different layer name as shown below.

[TatukGIS Layer]

Storage=Native

Dialect=INTERBASE

ADO=”DSN=Firebird;UID=ADMIN;PWD=PASSWORD;DBNAME=ENTERPRISE_GIS.FDB”

Layer=SOUTH_AMERICA

Then use the Layer > Export command in the Editor as illustrated above, but instead refer to the new .ttkls text file.

A quick look inside our Firebird database using the FlameRobin Database Admin tool shows the tables created in the database that represent the two new SQL Layers (see image below).

Conclusion

Creating SQL Layers in an enterprise GIS database involves a little more overhead than creating a shapefile on the desktop. Fortunately an organization’s existing database administrator or IT specialist will take care of this overhead.

Once SQL Layers are created, manipulating them is exactly the same as manipulating a shapefile on the desktop using the TatukGIS Editor.

TatukGIS has simplified the enterprise GIS database and put it within reach of almost any organization.

∞ TatukGIS Consulting

The TatukGIS DK ActiveX Training Kit has been updated to DK v.10.

Updates include full compliance with DK v.10 code changes as well as a
new chapter on using the new 3D viewing capabilities of the DK.

For more information, please see the following link:

http://training.tatukgisconsulting.com/2010/01/tatukgis-developer-kernel-activex.html

“Our company writes the TownSuite® (www.townsuite.com) suite of software products targeted to smaller municipalities with populations of 65,000 or less. TownSuite encompasses all aspects of municipal operations, e.g., Finance (GL, AR, AP, Banking, Payroll, etc), TCA (tangible capital asset tracking), Planning (Building permits, Subdivision applications, Fire Inspections), etc. All products are integrated with GIS. In 2011 we moved our GIS development from the ESRI MapObject model to the TatukGIS Developer Kernel (.NET edition).

Before moving to TatukGIS, we considered ArcObjects Engine, but the run-time and other license fees were too costly for the small municipalities we serve. We also considered other GIS development products such as ThinkGeo, but concluded after a month of investigation and testing that the TatukGIS Developer Kernel is the best in just about every category. Now, I have completely re-written our software from MapObjects to the TatukGIS Developer Kernel, and it is working great!

More recently I have become very impressed with the TatukGIS Editor product. I have used ESRI ArcView and ArcSDE products for the last 15 years, and I am blown away by the Editor’s intuitive editing interface, native SQL Layer integration, and the comprehensive features available out of the box. And the Editor’s built-in scripting tool – which exposes the same object API which I am already using with the Developer Kernel – will come to the rescue in the future if any features are found lacking. While our products support some basic map editing features, we are going to suggest to our clients to purchase the TatukGIS Editor for their heavy editing, since it is really affordable and quite extensive. While will continue to add editing functionality to the interface of our DK based software that is specific to our processes, it would not be cost effective or desirable to try to duplicate in our product everything TatukGIS Editor does.”

Brad Leslie
Procom Data
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada

∞ TatukGIS Consulting

“We chose the TatukGIS DK-ActiveX product after determining that no other product even came CLOSE to the DK in terms of features and price! I tried a few other products (there are not many software development components out there which support DGN files!) and none could match the ease of use and features of the DK.

The DK product has allowed me to develop my application extremely quickly and painlessly! Although we will continue to use the DK to implement additional features to our GIS application, our users here in the county government are already extremely pleased with what we have provided them in such a cost-effective manor.”

Frank Cisler
Suffolk County Clerk’s Office
Riverhead, New York, USA
www.suffolkcountyny.gov/clerk

“We selected the DK for a GIS software application being developed under direct contract with the Land Forces (Army) element of the Canadian Forces (CF).

We had previously developed a prototype application for placing safety templates on digital maps using ArcView 3.2a, but found the cost of user licenses to be impractical considering the demand for deployment across the army.

The Land Forces considered using the MapObjects (ActiveX) component with Delphi, but found MapObjects to lack certain functionality and involve license restrictions that could hinder distribution.

The final decision to opt for the TatukGIS DK was based on favorable results from an initial DK-based prototype and on the prompt and helpful insight into difficult features provided by the TatukGIS support center.

Because there are no DK license restrictions in desktop deployment situations, the cost of distribution across the army will be negligible.”

Private Contractor

Canadian Department of Defense – Land Forces

Ottawa, Canada

∞ TatukGIS Consulting

(The following description of this TatukGIS DK based application was provided by Niall Donald, with Oxford Archaeology. Niall has been a DK-VCL licensed user since March, 2002)

Based in the United Kingdom, Framework Archaeology, a joint venture between Oxford Archaeology and Wessex Archaeology, used the TatukGIS DK to handle the archaeological mapping when distributing the results of archaeological investigations at London Heathrow and London Stansted airports, on behalf of BAA, the operators. The Framework Free Viewer is intended to accompany the publication of the results of the excavations and will be distributed on CD-Rom but is currently being used to aid communication between different communities of archaeologists analysing the results of the work in the field.

In capturing and analysing the work done on site, Framework Archaeology used modern surveying methods to build digital maps of the using standard mapping software from leading software companies. These could be attached to databases of the objects recovered and used as an aid to understanding what was being excavated and what had been excavated. However, in order to distribute these maps and databases widely Framework Archaeology needed to be able to side-step licensing issues with the chosen software. While royalty-free viewers are widely available for geographic information systems data, typically a user might require a detailed knowledge of the data in order to get best use from them. Framework Archaeology chose therefore to write its own viewer specifically for the types of data it was producing with an emphasis on simplicity and ease of use.

Why Framework Archaeology chose TatukGIS

Once Framework Archaeology had decided to create its own viewer, it was necessary to find the right tool to allow us to successfully create a simple but sophisticated GIS driven application which could be easily deployed. Royalty-free distribution was essential, but the final choice of tool was decided by price and by the clarity of the TatukGIS object model. Both were essential factors in allowing Framework Archaeology to minimise risk at the outset of designing the Free Viewer. It was clear that to succeed we needed to cover a lot of ground very quickly in the development, and from a programmer’s point of view, the ease with which a new tool could be understood, was critical. Support from TatukGIS support staff was always prompt and effective. The finished product uses a 3.1MB executable to handle more than 300MB of data.

The product was written with a specific, if wide-ranging aim. Subsequently, Framework Archaeology has found practical uses beyond the initial target audience. Field staff who need to refer to earlier field work carried out for BAA at T5 actively choose to look things up using the Framework Free Viewer, rather than using the system provided for the purpose which was based on standard desktop database and Geographic Information software. At the end of the day, the latter is more difficult to learn and more expensive to support.

A specialist in the analysis of ancient flint tools commented that the Framework Free Viewer, in comparison to using standard methods of team working in archaeology:

“Allowed a much better conceptualisation of the spatial distribution of finds, features and phasing. Vastly more convenient than grappling with plans and databases for the context information – therefore reducing time spent liasing with Project Officers. Allowed distribution of other finds (pottery, animal bone, etc.) to be viewed, thereby avoiding the tendency to treat different material types as isolated categories. Will in turn allow wider and more complex distributive patterns to be identified”



Framework Free Viewer: main application window showing the excavated areas and base mapping. The list of options in the tree view to the left gives some idea of the complexity of archaeological data.



Some Bronze Age settlements shown with their surrounding field systems and trackways

Locating archaeological deposits of medieval date by looking at the distribution of broken medieval pottery



Zooming in on the main concentration of medieval pottery and looking at part of the medieval landscape



Summary interpretations overlaid on the map



Textual descriptions and clickable, thumbnailed cross-sections across a ditch constructed in the Middle Ages



Details of any objects found, within the highlighted medieval ditch.



Graphing of the dating assigned to the objects and a thumbnail enlarged using the default image viewing program (in this case Irfanview) on the user’s machine.

∞ TatukGIS Consulting

J3llyh34d 1ndu5tr135 Limited

“Our development using the TatukGIS Developer Kernel depends on a huge TatukGIS PixelStore image layer store, comprised of multiple layers created from 25 GB of Ordnance Survey TIFF images of England, Scotland and Wales.

We are very impressed both with the PixelStore performance and that the resulting PixelStore-JPG database (in SQLite) is only 41 GB.

Believe me, the modest increase in size is a small price to pay for the PixelStore performance, which is absolutely fantastic. We also evaluated the MrSid image compression format for this project and determined that PixelStore was better when used with TatukGIS Developer Kernel.

And, besides just the PixelStore, the TatukGIS Developer Kernel (we use the .NET edition) generally compares very nicely to the other GIS SDK products which we carefully evaluated before purchasing the DK.”

J3llyh34d 1ndu5tr135 Limited
United Kingdom
info@j3llyh34d.com
http://www.j3llyh34d.com/

The TatukGIS DK VCL Training Kit has been updated to DK v.10.

Updates include full compliance with DK v.10 code changes as well as a new chapter on using the new 3D viewing capabilities of the DK.

For more information, please see the following link:

http://training.tatukgisconsulting.com/2010/02/tatukgis-developer-kernel-vcl-training.html

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