File Menu

Opens the box of the collections of typical maps (topographic, orthophotos, ground cover, protected areas, etc) that conform favorite collections and facilitates to the user the location in the map by place-name or by coordinates from the first moment. The new button

allows access to the favorites box from the button bar.

It is possible to open more than one map at once by clicking on the links, whether it is a map of local collections such as HTML pages or remotes MMZ. It also provides HTML pages that collect most of the thematic cartography available. For more information consult the MiraMon collection of favorite maps.

Open recent

Allows to open any type of open, used or recently created file, both from the main module (MM32) and from any other (MSA, etc), using the "Open recent layer" button

. The new option brings up a list with several fields (name, extension, type, etc) that allows sorting by any of them. A filter has also been incorporated to show only layers of a certain typology.

It also allows to delete from the list, using the button

, located at the bottom right of the box, the items are no longer wantted to have in sight.

Open

It allows to open any element that the program is able to open without importing: maps, compressed maps, raster layers, vector (including GPX, KML, etc), MLC layer catalogs leading to WMS, REL (which are open with GeM+ if they are layer, serial or multiserie metadata, they are open with MM32 as point layers if applicable, or with the notepat if they are REL distributed), DBF (which are open with MiraDades), old palettes (P25, etc, which are open with the notepat), old metadata files (DVA, DOC, etc, which are open with GeM+), etc. The button

of the button bar gives way to this option and, therefore, to the navigation on all the disk resources that can manage the MiraMon. Pressing the "Alt" key together with the push of a button activates the open RGB raster compositions feature. This new feature is also indicated on the balloon that appears when you hover the mouse over the button. This shortcut is especially useful for remote sensing users who very often open RGB compositions.

Open map

MiraMon Maps are text files, with MMM extension, describing sets of raster and/or vector files, arranged in a given way, i.e., heaped in a certain order, and with specific viewing characteristics (color, scale, etc), printing characteristics, etc.

MMM files (MiraMon Maps) define the graphic files to use and how to show them, although they never contain data, but simple references to it (name, path, etc), so saving disk space and increasing data consistency.

Prior to loading a Map, MiraMon shows what types of information it contains in order you indicate which do you wish (for example, you can open a Map only to get the cartographic layers, but you do not want the title, sheet boxes, etc, or, vice versa, you only wish the sheet boxes). Among the available sections on a Map we draw attention to the title, the cartographic layers, the reference frame for printing, the sheet boxes, etc. For more information, consult MiraMon map and template format description.

When you open a MiraMon Map you are never asked about colors, palettes, etc, because all this information is contained in the MMM file. Of course you can modify the viewing characteristics a posteriori.

Open raster

This allows you to open raster files (satellite images, aerial photographs, MDE, thematic raster maps, etc) in IMG binary format (*.img), JPEG (*.jpg), complete JPEG2000 (*.jp2) or without a heading (*.j2c), MrSID (*.sid), etc, which have to have an associated documentation file, with an *I.rel extension in the case of IMG, *J.rel in the case of JPEG, *2.rel in the case of complete JPEG2000, *C.rel in the case of JPEG2000 without a heading and *S.rel in the case of MrSID.

For compatibility with the formats that are supported by MiraMon before version 4.0, the IMG files can have an associated *.doc file instead of a *I.rel file, even though this situation is not so advisable because DOC files are a lot poorer in metadata and they can't have automatic symbolization or links with a related database.

Accepted sub-formats for IMG files are bit, byte, byte-RLE, integer, integer-RLE, long, long-RLE, real and real-RLE, which are described in MiraMon raster format description.

It is also possible to read BMP (Windows BitMaP), RLE (Run Length Encode) and DIB (Device Independent Bitmap) files, either compressed or decompressed files and made from Windows or OS2 platforms. Of these formats, files of 1, 8 and 24 bits by píxel are supported. However, in formats that are different from the ones from MiraMon (IMG, JPEG, JPEG2000, MrSID, etc) there will just be a simple display and we will not have some functions. Translating these formats to IMG allows us, for example, to add the georeference to these files. You can do this by saving the raster file as IMG by using the option Save as IMG/JPEG. In order to complete the import it is only be necessary to open the documentation file made by MiraMon and to indicate the extents, the reference system and the units. For other raster formats, consult consutad Import options.

In order to open a raster, first you must select the file that contains it and next, you must choose the color symbolization table (consult Reading files directory). MiraMon just allows us to see one raster file simultaneously. Therefore, while you are displaying a raster map and you select a new one, MiraMon will automatically close the former. If you need to display more than one raster map simultaneously, you have to open as many MiraMon sessions as you need (File | New MiraMon session). Then resize the windows adequately or commute between them with the "Alt+TAB" keys. However, it is possible to view a raster file simultaneously with other vectorial files (the vectorial files are placed over the raster), although the raster has priority for the zoom levels and the displaying window (its upper left corner is the displaying boundary for up and left). For instance, if you load a vector file whith an extension of the entire country and you open a raster file whose extension is ony a part of the country, the display window will only show the raster extension.

Assigning colors to MiraMon raster files is done by using a color symbolization table (it is also called a palette), in which each color is associated with a category and has its own and isolated meaning to the rest of the categories (in thematic rasters) or is associated with an intensity of light caught at a certain frequency (in remote sensing images or aerial photographs), etc. The RGB compositions and JPEG, JPEG2000, MrSID, BMP, RLE and DIB files are opened directly with no need of palette (color symbolization table). MiraMon includes some colour symbolization tables, for when a palette is necessary and it isn't provided with the raster; palettes are provided for continuous variables (grey level palettes, digital elevation model, etc) and for categorical variables, in both cases in various formats (DBF, P25, PAL, etc). For more information, about color symbolization tables consult MiraMon symbolization tables description. If you press Esc or cancel the choice of color symbolization table, a grey symbolization table will be used. For a bit file (images B/W or 1 bit/pixel) it consists of 0=black and 1=white and for the rest of the files it has a scale of 256 greys.

The initial visualization is always made at the zoom 1 level (each raster cell on a pixel on the screen) and using all the client area available. If the map exceeds the dimensions in the client area, displacement bars will appear through the map. When you are inside the client area the cursor is a special cross, which is visible on any color and that allows you to see the color of the pixel consulted through a small central window the size of one pixel, or through a cross with a bigger window. For more information about cursors and how to move in a raster file, consult MiraMon general visualization characteristics.

When closing a raster, if you have made modifications in the color symbolization table, MiraMon will offer the possibility to keep the new symbolization table, in order to use it next time you open this raster. On the other hand, whenever you store a MiraMon Map composition (file *.MMM), the present visualization characteristics are like the automatic characteristics independent from those specified in the REL file. For more information, consult Appendix MiraMon raster format description and MiraMon map and template format description.

Once the raster is visualized you can query its value in any point of it by simply clicking on it with the left mouse button. However, the raster query cursor (

) or the raster and vector query cursor (

) are necessary. By pressing F9 you can change the cursor mode.

The result of a raster query firstly informs you about generic data of the consulted base, as for example:

If you press the button

you will access the box "Show information about:" in which you will be able to choose the information that you wish to show in a query. The default values are defined through the parameter "ParamInfoConsultaLocalitz" of the MiraMon.par file.

In a location query, when there are several connected tables, the connection will be broken due to the presence of a NODATA value in a field which is implied in the chain of relations. By pressing the

button of this box, you will be able to choose not to show information on the fields that could not have been solved due to the broken connection (default option in MiraMon), or get information about the field that contains a NODATA value, which has caused the broken connection (useful when you purify a base and you do not want to find an empty field but you want to see what is the reason for the lack of data).

The second information block provided in a raster location query is concrete information about the consulted point. All the readings take place in the original data file, independently of the color scale we are using.

Therefore, if your databases contain fields with filenames, you can select these names with the mouse (either dragging and marking or double clicking) and, through the connection button with other programs, open them in the corresponding applications. For example, you can have text names in plain format, text names with a format for any processor, names of databases, spreadsheets, photographs, scanned planes, etc, and you can even open other MiraMon Maps. These connections work for any connection that you have established through the association of extensions and programs that the Windows explorer offers. If an extension is not recognized, you can make it be recognized through these programs. The files can be connected with Windows applications and DOS applications.

By using both buttons in the bottom right corner of the box of query results (

) the size of the box can be modified, in proportional intervals to the usual resolution of the screen. The key "MidaCaixaConLon=" of the MiraMon.par file allows you to automatically control the desired value.

The button "Connection" allows you to connect to other files or web pages. This is useful when the program does not detect the existence of a hyperlink, and therefore, does not mark it with underlined blue text.

MiraMon allows you to carry out very fast extractions to spreadsheets or statistical packages, text processors, etc, by using the buttons that appear under the heading "Copy" of query result box. If you only want to copy the names of the fields, you should press "Fields"; if you only want to copy the data, you should press "Data". If you want to copy only the fragment that you have selected, you should press "Selection"; however, if you want to copy the entire query result, you should press "All".

In thematic rasters, associated with an alphanumeric table that acts as a category dictionary, two fields are shown: a numeric field which acts as an index of the category (and that has a value that agrees with the value found in the raster cell) and the text field that contains the description of the category. From the MiraMon Universal Geospatial Metadata Manager it is possible to indicate, if necessary, that the first of these fields will not be visible.

In queries about multiband rasters we can visualize a single raster or a RGB band combination of one or various images (remote sensing images, multiband rasters, etc). In any of these cases, when a query is made the resulting values in all of the bands are shown as different fields (except if some of them have been made non-consultable by the Universal Geospatial Metadata Manager). The name of the field corresponds to the description indicated in the metadata or, if it is empty, the name of the file; with JPEG, JPEG2000 and MrSID color files without descriptions are given the names R, G and B. In addition, to make it clear what is the value in the band or bands that are being visualized, you can follow the guidelines below:

The units that appear in brackets in the raster queries come from entering "units=" of REL file of images (I.rel, J.rel, etc), editable from the thematic information section of the GeM+.

The property of multiband rasters is not only applicable to remote sensing cases, but also to other cases, such as the following examples:

Example 1: We can have a multiband raster as a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) made up of a Digital Elevation Model, a Digital Slope Model, a Digital Solar Radiation Model, etc. We can also have in the same multiband, 3 bands in a single file in JPEG format that represent a shaded hypsometric view to see the relief better. We can make the 3 bands of the JPEG file non-consultable (because their values are irrelevant from an informative point of view: they are simply intensities of color) except in order to visualize the DTM through the JPEG file. Therefore we have a very attractive chromatic visualization and when we query a point of the land we obtain the elevation, the slope, the solar radiation, etc, in different information fields.

Example 2: We can have a multiband raster that contains different land use maps obtained by classifying remote sensing images made at different times (for example 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2002). We establish the visualization through the most recent map but when making a query we obtain the land use of that point in the 4 years. A variant of this example is to use a view in JPEG format obtained with a shaded DEM of the most recent map for the visualization.

Example 3: We can have a multiband raster that contains the rasterization of a conventional topographic digital sheet (or the scanned and geo-referenced sheet published on paper), which is not for analytical queries but simply for visualization, and have other additional information bands that seem to be of interest, as for example in the country and state, if there is a protected area in that point, etc.

For more information about RGB rasters, consult the corresponding section in Open RGB -> 24 bits.

This allows you to open three byte, integer, real, etc images, and they are turned into 3 images of 8-bit or 256 grey levels/pixel for each one. Every image is associated with a color gun of the R (red), G (green) and B (blue) monitor. The preformed image is a 24(8x3) bit/pixel. These images can hold up to 16.8 million colors, much more than what the human eye can see. For this reason the color quality we get is like the natural one. The RGB combinations can be made with rasters of any format described in MiraMon raster format description. It is also possible to open different formats for each component of the combination (for example if the R component is a byte-RLE image, the G component is a real image and the B component is an integer-RLE image).

When the RGB files correspond to the three channels that collect the red, green, and blue colors of a sensor (and in that order), the image has the same chromatic appearance as it can be seen with human eyes and it is said real color image. In any other case, the colors that can be seen in the image do not match to those seen with human eyes as "real" and that is called a false color image. Remember that JPEG, 24-bit BMP, etc, files are read directly through the "Open Raster" option in the File Menu. This option is also accessible from the menu or with the Alt +

button combination.

Once a RGB combination is visualized, the value of any point can be consulted simply by clicking with the left mouse button. The structure of the information is similar to the Raster query. However, the content of the information is different, as is shown below. In a query about a raster which is visualized in the RGB way the information given is the contents of the pixel in all the bands, not only in the 3 selected for the visualization. This implies that if we make a RGB combination of 3 bands pertaining to 3 different multiband images we will obtain in the location query, information about all the bands in the multiband files to which the bands used in the visualization belong to. Additionally, when presenting/displaying the information, the data of the bands used for RGB visualization are in red (R), green (G) and blue (B) respectively. The other aspects of the raster query can be consulted in Raster query.

This allows you to open three byte, integer, etc images, and they are turned into 3 images of 8 bits or 256 grey level/pixel, every image shows color gun of the R (red), G (green) and B (blue) monitor. Nevertheless, the performed image is not a 24 (8x3) bit/pixel (16.8 millions color) but rather a reduced and optimized palette and an image for 256 color systems (8 final bits/pixel) is computed.

RGB combinations can take place with rasters of any of the formats described in MiraMon raster format description and it is even possible to open different formats for each component of the combination (for example the R component is an image byte-RLE, the G component is real and the B is integer-RLE).

Before starting the computations, MiraMon makes it possible to visualize the composition by using an optimized color symbolization table (made by MiraMon), or to use a preexistent one (made by the user previously or any of the MiraMon color symbolization tables). Independently of the color symbolization table used, MiraMon makes it possible to make a linear expansion of the 3 RGB components. MiraMon activates this option of "Expansion of contrast" but if you have optimized images or scanned rasters you should not activate this option because you will obtain colors that are too contrasted. For more information, consult MiraMon symbolization tables description.

If you press the button "Details..." you will access the box of Image enhancement from which you can indicate a percentage of independent saturation for each end of the histogram (lower and upper). This option usually produces a better quality final visualization, although some zones with very high or very low reflectance can be burned or blackened. MiraMon offers the possibility of saturating the histogram tail (lower and upper) by 1.5%.

In order to define which saturation percentage for each of the tails produces a better visualization, you can repeat the process (Open to RGB - > 8 bits) as many times as necessary, modifying the percentage, or you can make the histogram of each image. As this process is based on a color distribution study of each RGB loaded composite, the color quality we can get is quite acceptable, although not as good as the quality obtained when a 65536 color system (or 16.8 millions) and the "Open RGB-> 24-bit" option is used. Users of systems with 65536 or 16.8 million colors will just use the RGB-> 8-bit reduction when they need to save RAM (24-bit images fill triple amount of memory). On the other hand, they must wait for the time to process the new 8-bit file and its associated palette. Moreover, it results in a worse display. When RGB files belong to the three bands which receive the red, green and blue colors (in that order), the image has the same chromatic view (or very similar) that we see with our eyes. This is called a real color image. In any other case, the colors we see on the screen do not match the colors we see with our eyes as "real" and this is called a false color image (or false color). As the color optimization process and the new 8-bit image formation is quite slow, when you leave the image (by opening another one, closing the current one or leaving the program) MiraMon will give you the chance to save it (as an *.IMG image with its documentation file *.REL) as well as save the color symbolization table (DBF, PAL, etc). Therefore, next time you can open the composition using the saved color symbolization table. You can also use the color symbolization table as a preexistent table if you open the RGB-> 8 bit composition again, and thus you will avoid some of the computations. Remember you have to read 24-bit BMP, JPEG files directly from the Open raster option, in the File Menu. For query RGB->8 bit, the operation is the same as in rasters. For more information, consult the section Raster location query.

Open vector

This allows you to open vector files containing point, arc,node or polygon objects). These files are in binary format (*.pnt, *.arc, *.nod and *.pol) and have an associated table (*T.dbf, *A.dbf, *N.dbf and *P.dbf) and have a file of metadata, relations and automatic symbolization (*T.rel, *A.rel, *N.rel and *P.rel) from MiraMon version 4.0. For previous versions, the file *.rel was relations and symbolization file, without metadata and, therefore there was a documentation file associated with the previous ones (*.dvt, *.dva, *.dvn and *.dvp); in MiraMon version 4.0 these are absorbed by the metadata file. For more information, consult MiraMon vector format description.

In order to open a structured vector, first you must select the corresponding file (*.arc, *.pol, etc). Consult Reading files directory. Unlike rasters, MiraMon allows you to visualize a limitless number of structured vectors simultaneously.

As the NOD files are not so used in visualization, MiraMon does not show them in the file selection window (it only shows files of types PNT, ARC or POL). Even so, if you open the square of file type, you will be able to choose to visualize NOD files, as well as PNT, ARC or POL files separately.

In order to visualize the structured vectors you must define some symbolization parameters (colors, fonts, symbols, etc) depending on the type of structured vector chosen (.pnt, .arc, etc). For example, in the case of PNT vectors, you will be able to choose the font to use in texts, the radius of the point, the symbology for the points, etc. For more information about symbolization, consult MiraMon symbolization tables description.

You do not need to have any loaded raster as background before you open a vector. If you open the vector over other vectors, the total zoom scope results from the addition of all scopes. If you have opened a raster or you open it later, it takes priority regarding the zoom levels and the displaying window (its upper left corner is the displaying boundary towards above and left). For more information about vectors visualitzation, consult MiraMon general visualization characteristics. All the visualization characteristics of structured vectors can be stored in a REL file with the button "Save" from the box; the next time you open this vectorial layer, the present characteristics will be automatically used as the characteristics and the box to define the symbolization will not appear. However, whenever you store a MiraMon Map composition (file *.MMM), the present visualization characteristics will automatically be those characteristics independently of the ones specified in the REL file. For more information, consult MiraMon vector format description and MiraMon map and template format description.

Once the raster is visualized you can query its value in any point of it simply by clicking with the left mouse button. However, the vector query cursor (

) is necessary or the raster and vector query cursor (

). Using F9 you can change the cursor mode.

The result of a query about a vector gives information about data in relation to geometric aspects (length, perimeter, area, etc), topological aspects (initial and final node, etc) and graphic aspects (color, etc). Additionally it shows the content of the associated data base in relation to the selected graphical object.

As with the raster location query, by using the

button you can choose the information that you wish to show in a consultation. You can define the treatment of a broken connection due to the presence of a NODATA value by pressing the

button.

The vectors query box also has enriched text, the buttons to expand or reduce the queries box, it allows you to make links with web pages, other files, etc, and allows you to copy part or all of the consulted information to be transferred to a spreadsheet, text processor, etc.

When the data base contains more than one registry for the found graphic object, the group of buttons

is highlight, allowing any of the registries related to that graphical object to be queried; a typical application of this is storing results of polluting parameters (for example in the atmospheric analysis shown in the previous picture) on the same graphical object (for example a control station).

Once an object is located, the button

allows you to look for another graphical object of the same file or other opened files that are within the scope of the selection window of the cursor. For example, imagine that we have two files open, one of municipal limits and one of rivers, and that one of the rivers is the border between two neighbouring polygons: when we click on this scope, the button "Continue searching" will allow us to obtain data successively about the river, about the first neighbouring polygons and about the second neighbouring polygons. There is no limit on the number of objects that we can found. If, in addition to vectors, you also have a raster loaded, and the cursor is of the type

, the button to continue searching will also carry out the search on the raster.

In the query on vectors the location process is faster if you select a vertex than if you select the segment between two vertices, and it is even faster if the vertex is the end of an arc. However, in the case of structured polygons, searching an object inside a polygon is the slowest. In short, the location of an object is, from the fastest to the slowest: final vertex, intermediate vertex, the segment between two vertexes, inside the polygon. The query inside polygons works in structured files.

In the structured vectors you inquire once for each object when the button

is used. However, in some cases in non-structured files it will show some of the objects previously shown.

The point and node entities are shown with a black circle during the query; when you end the query, the circle will be white until the screen is redrawn. The line, arc or polygon entities are marked with the opposite color; when you end the query the color is returned to the original one. If the object is behind the information box you can move it and see the selection.

Before showing the complete information on a queried vector, but after marking it visually, MiraMon can show a small box that allows you "to continue looking" or "cancel"; this is useful when you have opened many and/or complex vectorial files. This characteristic can be activated using the parameter "PreInfoBox" of the MiraMon.par file, or through the option Pre-info box (vectors) of the Information menu.

The information on lengths and areas can be scaled by using the parameters "ConversorLong" and "ConversorArea" of the MiraMon.par file. The new units are indicated with the parameters "UnitLyng" and "UnitArea". The default units are those of the metadata file. This allows you, for example, to express lengths in m and km and areas in m² and ha.

This allows you to open non-structured vector (points, lines and polygons). This files are in VEC ASCII format (*.vec extension), which must have an associated documentation file (*.dvc extension), for example europe.vec and europe.dvc. The atribute can be text (string), integer (short or long integer) and real. For more information about vector format, consult MiraMon vector format description.

In order to open a nonstructured vector, first you must select the corresponding file (*.vec). Consult Reading files directory. As in the case of the structured vectors, the maximum number of non-structured vectors that can be visualized simultaneously is unlimited.

In order to visualize the non-structured vectors you have to define some symbolization parameters (colors, fonts, symbols, etc) based on the type of object (point, line or polygon), as in the case of structured vectors. For more information about symbolization, consult MiraMon symbolization tables description.

Once you display one vector file, it can be queried by simply clicking with the left mouse button. The result of a query on a vector is similar to the case of Location query in structured vectors. When you query a "line" or "arc" vector, the result is the length of the selected element, when you query "polygon" elements the result is the perimeter and the area of the selected element. Each calculated value is followed by the corresponding unit of reference taken from DVC file (for example "m" and "m²"); if you have "unknown" in the field "reference units" of DVC file, you will obtain "unknown" and "unknown²" in this information.

Open layer in spatial database source

It allows to open point files stored in a table in a database from an SQL query or from the X and Y coordinate field of the point and the reference system.

It allows to directly open layers of points extracted from DBF tables or tables contained in databases such as MS-Access or any large manager via ODBC (SQL-Server, Oracle, XLS, etc.); in MDB and ODBC cases it is possible to define the table via an SQL query. The options are essentially the same as the BDPNT.

It allows to open ArcSDE layers directly. ArcSDE is an interface for accessing geodatabases developed by ESRI, which can use a database manager such as Oracle, for example. The specification of ArcSDE layers is done in the same way as for vectors, but indicating the server and other access parameters. For more information SDEMM: Conversion of ArcSDE geodatabases to MiraMon topological files can be consulted.

Open Internet resources

WMS is the Web Map Service acronym, a specification of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) used for the standardization of the access to cartography across navigation systems based on Internet protocols (Map Browser Systems). A client (typically an Internet navigator) able to use WMS navigation (in Javascript, for example) can access cartography servers that follow the WMS specification, independent of the cartography provider and the manufacturer of the technology.

At present there are navigation systems and servers based on the WMS standard, which can be accessed from the Internet, as for example:

One of the most attractive aspects of the WMS specification is that it offers continuous geographical information about the layer, without sheet divisions. Therefore, MiraMon can use any WMS layer without the user having to worry about opening or closing sheets, or masaicking several sheets to obtain a certain extension.

MiraMon users using individual personal computers or local area networks who have access to directories (folders) where there is a catalogue of information in MiraMon-WMS format will be able to access to this information directly, without needing the http protocol if they do not want to. In other words, considering a directory with a catalogue of cartographic information in MiraMon-WMS format (typically in a server offered through the WMS protocol, to http clients that access from Internet or from the corresponding intranet), this can be seen by the clients of the local area network directly from a MiraMon session.

The main advantages of accessing the WMS information directly in local servers are:

On the other hand, the main advantages of accessing the WMS information via http are:

It is necessary to note that the speed of the network (or of the local bus in case of a disk in the computer) does not involve differences that are too big in any of the strategies (direct access on local server or access on the same server http route) given that it is still necessary to transfer the information of the map.

Choose if the layer is in the local server or in an external server (an option that will require Internet connection).

If it is an external server, it is important to remember that most of the map servers give documents with untrustworthy or incomplete capabilities that need later manual edition. To update the capabilities of the server, push "Update server capabilities". Nevertheless, MiraMon supports an updated and corrected list of WMS layers of external servers that avoids most of these problems. To update it, push "Update server collection". This collection can be extended by clicking on the button "Add". To insert an external server, you must introduce the URL direction, the version, the file name and its title (description), or if it is a XML file, introduce the path and the title. By clicking on the button "Delete" you will be able to erase the server from the server collection.

To open a layer of an external server, choose the server that will open the WMS layer. MiraMon opens a new dialogue box, from which you will have access to the layers of that server. Choose the layer of the menu, the format (if more than one are available), the style, the minimum and maximum scale of the display, as well as other aspects such as semi-transparency, opaqueness of NODATA areas, etc.

Important: Given that many WMS servers limit the scales in which the layers can be displayed, it is possible that you won't visualize the WMS layer on the screen or when printing it. If you have this problem, contact the server manager in order to relax the scales between which it is possible to request the information.

If you only want to show the layers of the server in a specific reference system (for example "UTM-31N-UB/ICC"), activate the corresponding box.

Users of WMS information in the Internet know that one of the most frequent defects is the lack of quality when printing occupies a relatively large surface area of paper (A4, A3, etc). This is due to the fact that WMS specification is essentially thought to satisfy the on-screen information needs of Internet users.

In the MiraMon implementation a maximum quality print is obtained because the necessary resolution is needed in the WMS server (either a MiraMon server or another provider) to extract all the original information given the resolution of the printing device.

The WMS layers are joined to the created MMM. Considering the special nature of the WMS layers (normally enormous volume, access from URL paths, etc), when a MMM is turned into a MMZ, these layers are indirectly referred to, but are not incorporated into the MMZ file.

If you are managers of a MiraMon Map Server it is important to know that the process to create and to prepare WMS layers is done with the CreaMMS application, which prepares the layers in a very optimized structure to obtain quick access in any geographical field and work scale. The files that make up the layer, its relation model and its characteristics are defined in files in REL5 format, (see hereinafter). The file system can be organized in the way the manager of the WMS layers wants; however, it is recommended to follow a system such as the environmental tree of the Departament de Medi Ambient i Habitatge de la Generalitat de Catalunya (SIWeb).

This option allows you to open non-WMS / WMTS layers available on the Internet, such as ECW files accessible via ecwp: // protocol and ArcSDE geodatabases. As for the list of hundreds of MiraMon maps distributed over the Internet (MMZ), you can find them in one of the icons in your favorite collections.

The new window closer, also accessible with the key combination Ctrl + button

, allows to close any open layer.

Save map

Saves as a map the set of raster and vector files currently loaded. Saving a MiraMon Map is an operation totally independent of the fact that some raster or vector files could proceed from other loaded maps: A MiraMon Map does not store other maps, but rather the basic raster and vector files you are looking at. Therefore, you can open two maps (Map A and Map B) and three other vector files (a, b and c). Imagine that you close one vector file from Map A because it has too much information and then you save a new map (Map C); this map will link the set of files of Map A (except the closed vector file), the entire set of files of Map B plus the three vector files (a, b and c).

Note that information in MMM files takes priority over other information, such as the information contained in the REL file of each layer. That is to say, even though each layer automatically has visualization conditions, that are applied when the layer is opened directly (for example through "File | Open structured vector"), with a certain combination of files kept in a map, that layer can have other visualization conditions if necessary. For example, if the hypsA.rel file specifies that the color of the relative hyps.arc file should be indexed by the palette, but prior to saving the map you select constant color ("View | Change palette color, etc") because in this composition you prefer a constant color for all the arcs, the next time you open this map, the hyps.arc will be shown with the selected constant color.

One of the most interesting aspects of MiraMon Maps is that they can contain information related to all your printing parameters (scale, map area to print, reference grid, sheet boxes, logos, etc). For more information, consult MiraMon map and template format description.

Do not hesitate to save MiraMon Maps whenever you feel they will be useful for you later. Among the uses of MMM files, remember these cases:

The normal way for building MiraMon Maps is loading raster, vector or map files and saving them all together as a new map. Nevertheless, occasionally it can be useful to manually edit the MMM files; for these cases, you can find technical information in MiraMon map and template format description. The following are some examples in which it can be useful to edit the MMM files:

Before saving a Map, MiraMon shows what type of information the file you have loaded contains so you can indicate the information you want to keep (for example, the title of the map, reference frames and font for the map legend when printing, coordinates of the map face to print, reference grid, etc).

MiraMon saves the map by writing the paths of the files in relation to the file that contains them. However, MiraMon also offers the possibility to save a map by writing absolute paths, which can:

Another option that MiraMon allows when saving a map is to preserve cartographic series. Automatically, these follow the same criterion as the individual layers: the specifications of the MiraMon Map (MMM) prevail over those indicated by REL of the series. When we save a map, MiraMon writes the visualization conditions of each layer in that moment and any link with the individual REL or series is lost unless you activate the option "Preserve cartographic series". In this case, the visualization conditions indicated in the REL of the series prevail. If you have modified the layer symbolization and you want to keep these changes for all the cartographic series, it will be necessary to activate the box "Save symbolization of cartographic series. For more information, consult MiraMon cartographic series.

In addition, MiraMon allows you to choose the option "Save as printing template". This is useful when you want to save a template in which you have specified some elements such as the reference frame and font for the map legend in the printing, reference frame for map printing, print boxes (title, graphic scale, numeric scale, north arrow, logo) etc, that you want to be in new compositions. The positions and size of the elements of a template are saved in paper coordinates (mm) so that they are independent of the map modifications (for example in a change of scale, size of paper, etc). Moreover, when the coordinates are expressed in page units (mm), character size is expressed internally as conventional typographic points (exactly as they are displayed in the Windows dialog box where the font is selected). You can save templates in the subdirectory "Templates" in the MiraMon directory. For more information about MiraMon templates, consult the section MiraMon templates in the MiraMon map and template format description.

Desar ràster/WMS o WMTS com a ràster

Save palette or symbolization table

It writes to disk any of the symbolization tables (color palettes, frames, etc.) that are currently being used (for raster or for vector). It is recommended to save the symbolization tables in DBF format (256 levels per RGB component) although other formats are also allowed such as PAL (64 levels per RGB component), P25 (256 levels) and P65 (65536 levels, not useful in Windows environment).

Internet/Intranet map publishing

It allows to create compressed maps of MiraMon (MMZ or MMZX) for exchange between users or for publication on the Internet.

Run the MiraMon MMZ support module (Compression and decompression of MiraMon files). The program can compress/decompress all files in a directory or all files linked to a map. It is also the right tool for generating certified maps. Certification is very convenient for generating maps that can be distributed over the Internet; but it is only available to those users who have a MiraMon Internet Map Publisher corporate license. For more information, see the MiraMon MMZ Support Module.

The import menu options run some MiraMon Support Modules (MSA) that allow the user to import different raster, vector and tabular formats.

In the case of BMP, all files can be read directly in MiraMon via "File | Open raster" indicating BMP extension. In order to convert the file to IMG later, it must be saved via "File | Save raster/WMS or WMTS as raster" by choosing the "All raster" option.

In the case of IMG (Idrisi), all files that are binary and decompressed can be read directly into MiraMon via "File | Open Raster". If the file is ASCII or packed, it must be converted to decompressed binary using the "CONVERT" Idrisi utility (for ASCII can also be used, from MiraMon, "File | Import| TXT (ASCII) -> IMG").

All Idrisi VEC (ASCII) files can be read directly in MiraMon via the "File | Open non-structured vector" menu.

If the VEC file is binary, it must be converted to ASCII using the "CONVERT V " utility of Idrisi.

In the case of VEC (Idrisi) files, to convert them to MiraMon structured files (PNT, ARC/NOD, POL) use the "Edit | Buid topology" tools.

Export

The export menu options run some MiraMon Support Modules (MSAs) that allow to export from MiraMon formats to other formats.

To export MiraMon maps (MMM) to Enhanced Metafiles (EMF) or Metafiles (WMF), select "File | Print" and after configuring the appropriate parameters (map field, scale, etc.) press the button

In the case of unstructured MiraMon vectors (VEC), all files are directly compatible with Idrisi (VEC) files and therefore not export is required, except for string and integer attributes with out-of-range attributes [-32768,32767]; in the latter cases, the attributes must be reclassified to one of the types supported by Idrisi (short integer or real).

In case of exporting structured MiraMon vectors (PNT, ARC/NOD, POL) to Idrisi (VEC) files open the structured file ("File | Open Structured Vector"), select all entities ("Info | Query by attributes", GRAPHIC_ID >=0) and save the selection as a VEC file. To convert PNT-> VEC and ARC-> VEC use the "Points" and "Arcs/Nodes" options in the "Edit | Build topology" menu.

This prints the map (rasters and vectors) displayed on the computer screen. The printout may incorporate external elements in the form of boxes, graphic scales, legend, logos, boxes explaining the process, etc.

Designing the page is a complex process with many intervening parameters, some of which play complementary roles while interacting with each other. In cartography a precise control of each one of these parameters is essential when it is to print maps.

In order to create a composition that can be printed, MiraMon offers several possibilities inside the box Sheet printing parameters:

The box of Sheet printing parameters has the tools that allow you to correctly print the chosen elements (map, boxes, legend, etc) without needing to use the wizard. Nevertheless, if it is the first time that you are printing the map, the wizard will be very useful. Next we will describe all the elements of this box to explain how they operate:

: If you click on the button "Map..." (or if you click twice on the map face of the previous printing view or if you click with the right button and select "Properties") the box of Map printing parameter appears. Note that all the boxes refer to the map itself, that is to say, to the mapped part, and not to other elements (boxes, legend, etc) that make up the cartographic sheet. The Map printing parameters are:

-Reference frame: This allows you to indicate the origin and the size of the rectangle in which the printed map will be framed (width and height wished and its situation). These parameters are expressed in paper units.

You do not have to confuse the reference frame with the field of the map. The first one only limits the area where we can print inside the limits of the chosen paper (that is to say, origin and size of the rectangle in which the printed map will be framed). The map face, however, indicates the area of the map that you want to print.

The button "Paper" allows you to indicate that you want to convert all the paper into the reference frame (that is to say, that your reference frame can be potentially all the sheet). It is important to realize that the reference frame not necessarily will be occupied by mapped area. The reference frame only limits the area where we can print a mapped area, but if we indicated a map face (with coordinates) a scale of printing that does not require all the scope of the specified paper, MiraMon will automatically centre the map field within the reference frame. This is particularly useful when cartographic series are printed in which the map field of each sheet is not always occupied exactly by the same surface (for example, when the map is by geodesic coordinates, the zones next to the Poles occupy less area); in these cases the reference frame can always be the same in the printed sheet and the program will properly centre the map field for each sheet. This facilitates the design of cartographic series. Another application of this property is to define a reference frame in which a map is centered is in the standard generation of reports on forms: we will always use the same reference frame and, inside it, the generated maps will be located, which will in the centre although they always do not have the same sizes and/or proportions.

The button "Map face" allows you to make exactly coincide the reference frame with the map face. This case is useful when you have already fixed the coordinates of the map and the scale of the map face and you want to place it again in the sheet. Because when you select this option the map face and the reference frame are the same, the map face is not put in the center of the reference frame.

In order to place the map face from this box (to place it with the mouse interactively, consult the Interactive edition options of the composition elements), you must fix four parameters. When the button "Two points" is disabled, the four parameters to introduce are:

- lft: distance from the bottom left corner of the reference frame to the left edge of the paper.

-btm: distance from the bottom left corner of the reference frame to the bottom edge of the paper.

-width: width of the reference frame.

-height: height of the reference frame.

When the button "Two points" is activated the four parameters are referred the bottom left corner of the paper and, therefore, it is necessary to indicate:

-lft: distance from the bottom left corner of the refence frame to the left edge of the paper (just as in the previous case).

-btm: distance from the bottom left corner of the reference frame to the bottom edge of the paper (just as in the previous case).

-rth: distance from the upper right corner of the reference frame to the left edge of the paper.

-top: distance from the upper right corner of the reference frame to the bottom edge of the paper.

Note that if the button "Two points" is activated, a change in the (bottom, left) position will involve a change in the width and height of the reference frame. In contrast, if "Two points" is disabled, width and height will remain constant. A change in the (bottom, left) position will move the whole reference frame.

If you publish with the keyboard the boxes of print area, and these values exceed the available one of the printer, MiraMon offers automatically to solve it with the value proposed by using a message similar to the following one:

If you wish it, the reference frame can be drawn with black line. This sometimes is useful as a second map frame. The width of this line is indicated, in paper units, in the field "Frame width". If you do not want the line appear on the page, set line thickness to 0.

-Map face: allows you to provide an exact definition of the map coordinates that delimit the area to be printed. They are expressed in the map units of the horizontal reference system (UTM-31N-UB/ICC, etc) that you are using at that moment (m, km, etc.) and can be edited freely within the coordinate scope of all files loaded on MiraMon (you may print zones even if they are not on the screen at that moment).

The buttons "All" and "Current view" make coordinate choice easier in two of the most frequent cases: if you want to print a general view of all the files loaded at one point ("All"), or if you wish to print everything displayed on the screen ("Current view"). When one of the two buttons is pushed, MiraMon performs the following operations:

If "Two points" is disabled, you may observe that either the area required in X coincides with the maximum width selection or that the area required in Y coincides with the maximum height selection, but not both. It is normal to find a mismatch between one dimension (X or Y) and the corresponding maximum dimension selection. This is due to the fact that the reference frame specified will very rarely have exactly the same X/Y proportions as those of the set of loaded files or of the current view.

If you introduce no further modifications, the map will be adjusted completetly to one of the two selected maximum dimensions, and will be centered with respect to the other. Nevertheless, in some cases you may want the map to have some empty space all around it, rather than only along whichever dimension does not occupy the selected maximum space. Two options are available:

Often these options are used for producing maps with rounded up or conventional values for their extreme coordinate and/or scale values (for instance, to avoid printing at 1: 42374.34 by rounding up to 1:50000).

In other cases you may want the map to fill the reference frame completely. The button "Fill the reference frame" tries to adapt the map face to the reference frame while preserving the map's scale and avoiding to move its geographic center from its location on the page. MiraMon displays a message if the filling process implies violating any of the two rules, as the following:

If you are introducing values in the edit boxes X min, X max, Y min, Y max or Scale using the keyboard, you will notice that the read-only "left", "bottom", "width" and "height" in "Required position and dimensions for the map" are updated automatically as you type. Although the latter edit boxes are mere containers of information, they are very useful for controlling the map face dimensions and position of the map that you are trying to print.

If the map face exceeds the reference frame MiraMon offers, among other solutions, the possibility of executing the priting wizard.

If you decide to increase the reference frame to give capacity to the map face and the scale you request and this exceeds the size of the selected paper, MiraMon indicates the necessary paper (A2, A1, etc). If you decide to set a less detailed scale, MiraMon calculates the scale to solve it. If you decide to reduce the map area to be printed, MiraMon includes the maximum scope that, on the scale you have set, can give capacity, maintaining the geographic center of the map.

As in the case of the reference frame, you can draw a frame, that will be printed exactly around the specified coordinates of the map. Normally this frame is drawn as fine as this allows the printer (typically between 0,1 and 0,2 mm); also you can indicate 0 not to print this frame.

This option is specially useful if you do not want "to round" the value of the scale. In case that you assign so detailed scale tha the map field has not enough space in the reference frame, MiraMon offers, among other solutions, the possibility of executing directly the printing wizar opening the box of aid "the map does not fit" commented in the previous section.

-Required position and dimensions for the map: It allows you to know the map face dimensions and position of the map that you are trying to print.

Finally, the button "Advanced..." allows the user to activate special printing options. They are the following:

To summarize, the following protocol can help you in the task of determining the map printing parameters (it is not necessary if you use the printing wizard):

1. Zoom in on the area that you wish to print. Before entering the print option on the File menu, bring the map area to be printed to the screen. Use the tools in the zoom menu and resize the application window if needed. The adjustment need not be perfect: fine control can be achieved later from the Print menu through the map coordinates and scale. This previous step is by no means obligatory, but renders the process much easier.

2. Decide the location of the map frame on the page. Go to "File | Print | Map" and start by setting the location of the reference frame by using the "Reference frame" button. The values provided by the program are those of the whole paper sheet (unless you have opened a map that specifies other values or unless the values have been modified within the current MiraMon session). The button "i" provides information about the highest values available. In print preview mode, if the cursor is moved around in the simulated paper sheet, it works as a ruler: as it is moved around, its position is indicated by MiraMon in mm.

3. Select the area to be printed. Push the button "Current view" to see the view displayed at that moment on screen inside the previously specified reference frame, filling the frame in X and/or Y. If necessary, make slight modifications in the map coordinates and/or scale in order to "round up" values or to adapt them more exactly to your needs. Bear in mind that you should tend to reduce the map area selected for printing and increase the scale denominator. Otherwise you will cause the printed map to exceede the boundaries of your own reference frame. You can control this process through the values given in "Required Position and dimensions for the map". The required area should not exceed the width and height that you provided as reference frame. MiraMon will center the map area selected for printing within the reference frame.

The button "Map...", just as the buttons "Legend..., "Boxes..." and "Foot capt..." can be activated (

) or disabled (

), making possible the visualization or not of theses elements and allowing, therefore, to accelerate the printing when you are proving it. The most typical case is to disable the map and to print only the boxes.

: If you push the button "Legend..." (or if you double click on the legend in a previous view or if you click with the right mouse button and select "Properties") the dialog box Legend printing parameters will appear. This box allows specifying the exact location of the legend; you can set it in paper coordinates (lower left vertex origin) or in map coordinates (in relation to the position ot the map you have set in the "Map" section). The box also allows indicating the font to be used for the legend (size, color, style, etc) and if the legend box should be opaque (and then the background color).

As in the case of map parameter edition, the buttons "Paper" and "Map face" help you define a reference frame for the legend (for all the scope or only for the map face). You can incorporate a frame around the legend box (in paper units) and activate the button "Two points" to define the coordinates with reference to two points (remember that the parameters to define the size and location of the legend are expressed in paper units and that the distances are given with reference to the left bottom corner of the paper). For more information, consult Map reference frame. Remember that you can edit the legend interactively in order to define its location, size, font, etc.

The button "-> Map Coord. " allows the conversion into map units (for instance m); observe then how the title of the parameter group changes accordingly and the button indicates the possibility of conversion back into paper units (if you push the button "-> Paper coord."). Important: whether a box is set with reference to map coordinates or to page coordinates affects how MiraMon processes its position: if it is referred the paper, location and size will not change if we changed the map scale, whereas it will change if it is referred in map coordinates. In addition, when the coordinates are expressed in page units (mm), character size is expressed internally as conventional typographic points (exactly as they are displayed in the Windows dialog box where the font is selected). In contrast, when coordinates are expressed in map units, character size undergoes changes in its scale as the map scale changes, since it is internally saved in map units (although it is always given in typographic units in the dialog box).

The titles of the different legend layers are represented in the same size than the legend entries, but in bold face. Remember than these titles can be changed from the Legend box in MiraMon (F11 and double click on the left of the layer title). For more information, consult Visualization of the layer in the legend.

: If you push the button "Boxes..." (or if you double click on the legend in a previous view or if you click with the right mouse button and select "Properties") the dialog box Edit of sheet boxes for printing will appear. In this box you will find all the boxes that have been made. In the boxes you can locate a graphic scale, a North scale, a text or a plain text (TXT) or raster or vector drawings (bitmaps), art texts, graphics texts from a metafile (WMF and EMF format).

-Reference frame: The definition of the reference frame of the boxes is similar to the definition of the reference frame of the map and of the legend. As it has been explained before, the buttons "Paper" and "Map face" help you define the reference frame of the box (for all the paper or only for the map face). You can incorporate a frame around each box and activate the button "Two points" to define the coordinates with reference to two points.For more information, consult Map reference frame. Remember that you can edit the boxes interactively to define its location, size and also to choose the font size.

When editing a box, simply remember that distances are given with reference to the page's bottom left corner, in page units. Therefore, the button "-> Map Coord." allows the conversion into map units (for instance, m); observe then how the title of the parameter group changes accordingly and the button indicates the possibility of conversion back into page units: "-> Paper coord.". Important: whether a box is set with reference to map coordinates or to page coordinates affects how MiraMon processes its position. For instance, on a standard report template it is necessary to leave logos and form-boxes, etc. with reference to the page, since the coordinates of the maps to be printed will vary; in contrast, when a box contains a metafile which in turn contains an arrow pointing at an element in the map, its position should be given with reference to map coordinates to ensure that if you change the scale, the arrow will continue pointing at the same element. When the coordinates are expressed in page units (mm), character size is expressed internally as conventional typographic points (exactly as they are displayed in the Windows dialog box where the font is selected). In contrast, when coordinates are expressed in map units, character size undergoes changes in its scale as the map scale changes, since it is internally saved in map units (although it is always given in typographic units in the dialog box).

-Content of the box: The content of a box can be:

-Empty: simply a rectangle which can be used as a second frame for a picture, or for the map itself, or to define blank areas on a form for field work, etc.

-Graphic scale: MiraMon allows you to choose the units you want to express the distances in the graphic scale (kilometres, miles, yards, etc), the number of subdivisions to the right and left of the zero in the graphic scale, the width of each division (in the units chosen previously), as well as the visual aspect of the graphic scale. It is important to note that the graphic scale is dynamic, and therefore if you modify the scale of the map, the graphic scale is also modified.

-North Arrow : This allows you to introduce the icon of an arrow pointing to the north.

-Own text: MiraMon allows two types of texts "User text" and "Special text" and in both cases you can centre it or align it to the left or right. In the first case, you can write the text that you wish, whereas in the second case, you can choose redefined texts, which MiraMon manages dynamically, such as for example "Map Title", "Numeric scale", "Printing date" or "Printing date and time". In these cases MiraMon will print the map title (which appears in the bar of the program), the scale used, etc, so that if you introduce a change to some of these concepts, MiraMon will update it for printing. These special subtypes are marked internally by MiraMon through a special name for the box (CaixetiMM_Titol, CaixetiMM_EscalaNumerica, etc). Therefore, a box with the special text "Printing date" will always be updated.

In the special "Numeric scale" type boxes, the number of decimal figures shown becomes sensitive to the scale, so that some decimal figures are hidden if they imply differences in the measurement lowers than 0.1 mm. This avoids seeing, for example, Scale 1:52384.37, when it is not necessary to show the decimal figures. Even so, you continue to have control of the exact value of the scale through the "Map" button.

In addition, in the text boxes you can define a distance between the reference frame of the boxs and the text.

-Text file (TXT) or metafile (EMF, WMF): In the first case, it allows you to introduce a plain text read by MiraMon from a text file (TXT format) that you specify. In the second case, it allows you to introduce a Windows metafile; files of this type may contain raster or vector drawings (bitmaps); art texts, graphics texts, etc. They can be generated by several graphic design applications such as CorelDraw or MiraMon itself. Fore more information, consult emf/wmf/bmp/jpg. Files of the Windows Metafile (WMF extension) and Enhanced Windows Metafile (EMF extension) types can be not only incorporated but also generated by MiraMon for its own use as well as for use by graphic design programs. It is important to note here that metafiles can be "transparent", a feature which makes them ideally suited for superimposing a picture onto a map, for generating reference compositions where the map can be printed, etc.

As far as metafiles are concerned, keep the following considerations in mind:

- Miramon will print them as large as possible within the space provided in the box assigned. If the option "Keep metafile XY aspect ratio" is activated, MiraMon will print them without any deformities, i.e. without altering their original X/Y relationship. Otherwise, it will adapt them to the shape of the box. Proportions should be kept when the metafile is a logo, a photography, etc. In contrast, if the metafile is a symbol such as an arrow, the possibility to deform it makes it easier to reuse and increases the capacity for graphic expression through the printed page.

- If you generate metafiles in a different application, such as CorelDraw, specify "do not include placeable header" when exporting them. If you do otherwise, Windows will be unable to interpret them. If you generate enhanced metafiles, do not replace their EMF extension by WMF as this would mislead the system: Windows 3.x metafiles must have WMF extension and cannot have names longer than eight characters (not even under Windows 9x or NT). Enhanced Windows 9x and NT 4.x metafiles must have EMF extension and can have names longer than eight characters. Furthermore, remember that if you define white rectangles, circles, etc., they will cover elements under them. To avoid it, define them as transparent.

- If you do not indicate extension, MiraMon will assume that it is an EMF file.

The box can be opaque if you wish, and you can indicate any background color. You can choose the face, size, color etc of the fonts of a text box (own text or user text) with the "Font" button. In addition, from the box of properties of the boxes you can edit the name assigned to each box with the "Name" button.

In order to access a box drawn on the print preview, double-click on it or click with the right mouse button and select "Properties".

Boxes allow enormous flexibility when composing maps: you may add logos, situation maps, graphics, complementary explanations, etc. If you let your imagination fly and experience its possibilities "hands on" you will discover that you can attain highly professional performance printing cartographic sheets from your computer while maintaining a precise control of the output metrics. Two further possibilities are:

: If you click on the "Foot capt..." button the dialog box Edit text will appear. This box allows you to insert a multiple-line text that will be printed just underneath the map, just like a caption (of width the map face and aligned with respect to the left bottom vertex of the map face). MiraMon provides a standard text consisting of the title of the main open file (the last map, etc.), its printing scale and the four coordinates that bound the area to be printed, although they can be modified.

If you edit this text or simply press "OK", the current text will become the map caption. The Edit text box allows normal clipboard operations: copy (Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Ins), cut (Ctrl+ X or Shift+Del) and paste (Ctrl+V or Shift+Ins), but its font cannot be controlled (10-point Arial is invariably used). If you need a text whose font you can control, use a box.

: If you click on the "Printer" button you can specify the printer, the page orientation, size, etc, within the present MiraMon session.

The printing parameters used by MiraMon the first time you access this menu (the printer model, the page orientation, etc) are the automatic characteristics of the Windows printer (formed through the Control Board).

When adapting a composition to a new printer, if the size of the paper has not changed (for example it is an oblong A4 in the two printers), the adaptation moves slightly the margins of the elements that could be outside the printable area only slightly because of the fact that the second printer has larger printing margins, but does not change the scale of the map or the size of the objects (unless an object occupies all the printable area, in which case it needs to be smaller to be able to print it). However, if you modify the size or the orientation of the paper of the printer, MiraMon offers the possibility or resizing the composition considering the position and size of the printable area in both papers (origin and destiny) so that this resizing does not imply leaving any element outside the printable area of the new paper. This option includes the position and size of the map, the legend and boxes, thicknesses of the boxes, sizes of fonts, etc. The only element that is preferable not to resize is the thickness of the lines of the reference grid (if you have them selected as visible).

Note: Remember that if you do not have a printer physically accessible at your present location (for example you are designing the printing to plot it externally), you can configure, from the Windows control board, the driver as if you had it, specifying "FILE (Print to a file)" as the port. When you send the map that you are loading to be printed (when you press the button "Print"), the name of the file that stores the document will be requested (and it is saved in a format that can be read by the printer but not by MiraMon). If you do not specify route (that is to say, if you only indicate the name of the file that stores the document), this file is saved in the same directory as the file that you have loaded. If you have more than on file loaded, and these are from different directories, the file that stores the document to print is saved in the directory of the last layer opened in MiraMon. It is also useful to send a file to print to make BATCH processes of massive printings. Fore more information about mass printing, consult the section Printing from Command line parameters.

: This sends the map to the printer or plotter defined automatically or modified previously or to a file (if you do not have the printer available and thus you have defined it in the corresponding driver).

: If you click on the "-> Clipboard" button, it copies the map you have prepared to the Windows clipboard. Once the map is in the clipboard you can switch to other applications such as Word, PowerPoint, etc. To obtain a perfect paste you must select, in the application of destiny, "Special paste" and choose "Picture (enhanced metafile)", do not paste in the usual way nor choose "simple metafile" or the pasted picture will not have a reliable size and scale. The special paste with enhanced metafiles is available in Word 97, PowerPoint 97, Corel 7, etc, and later versions. In previous versions (Office 95, etc), you can obtain a better result by generating an EMF file and inserting it into the document (Insert | Image | from file). In Word 2000 you must always use "Special paste". With the result that you will obtain the map in your Office document, all colored, with correct X/Y proportion and with the correct scale. Many old applications (such as Corel Draw 3.0) are also able to read the maps correctly from the clipboard, but do not interpret the scale suitably and it is necessary to fix it by hand; the most modern versions of these applications no longer have any limitation.

If your computer does not have enough resources, it is possible that very complex maps cannot be copied into the clipboard. In these cases, you must create an EMF and import it from the destiny application.

: This allows you to export the map to a file of type EMF (Enhanced MetaFile), WMF (Windows MetaFile) or BMP (Windows Bitmap) instead of sending the job to the printer. Those files can be imported from graphics design programs where you can make slight modifications to your map, or from word processors such as Microsoft Word for Windows.

EMF files are much better than WMF, that is the reason we recommend them. Even when the destination program has the "Special paste" capability, generating EMF is still useful because very large maps could not be passed through the clipboard due to Windows limitations.

If you save the file as BMP, MiraMon allows you to change the resolution and/or the number of columns and rows (interesting also for generating BMP that will finish being a JPG or a GIF in a HTML page). The generated BMP is always 24 bits of color (you can degrade it if you would like). However, keep in mind that not all the printer drivers allow this resolution. The icon "Permute R and B colors" allows you to interchange red (R) and blue (B) in some drivers that invert these colors. MiraMon activates this option if the driver needs it, but if you see that the red and blue colors are interchanged (only the green ones are correct), change the activation of the option. Supposing that you choose JPG, MiraMon in addition to this, allows you to activate "progressive JPEG" icon (gradually drawn, useful if it is for the Internet) and to choose the quality of the resulting image. It is possible to use a whole value between 1 (minimum size of the file with total degradation of the image) and 100 (maximum fidelity to the original one but a larger file); the value is automatically 75. In addition, when printing BMP/JPEG MiraMon remembers the parameters of the previous execution in the same MiraMon session.

The number of columns must be a multiple of 8 due to Windows internal causes; MiraMon already considers this, and it adapts it properly.

The button "Use screen drivers" allows you to use screen drivers instead of printer drivers to generate BMP or JPEG. This is useful when you have not installed color printer (but remember that you can always configure one although you do not have it physically available. For more information, consult Printer), or if the drivers of your color printer gives you problems. However, usually you will be able to generate higher quality files (more resolution but also more larger) with printer drivers.

: This allows you to close the dialogue box Sheet printing parameters and come back to the main screen of the session that you have open.

All the printing parameters (area, scale, boxes, etc.) can be saved in MiraMon Maps (*.MMM). Therefore, if you wish to save the results of your work on the edition of a cartographic sheet, do not forget to save the corresponding MMM file. In addition, you can also save a composition as a template to be used in other compositions. For more information, consult Save map and Save map as a template.

: This allows you to visualize the coordinates, in paper units, of any point of the paper on which you place the cursor. This information makes locating the different elements from the printing sheet easier (map, boxes or legend). Notice that the origin (0,0) is in the bottom left corner of the paper.

: This allows you to load the set of the printing sheet during the design or before sending it to the printer. The physical boundary of the paper is drawn with a red rectangle.

: This allows you to undo the last action to move or to resize an element of the printing composition.

: The button "Zoom +" allows you to increase the zoom in each pulsation where you click, and the button "Zoom -" reduces it. The button "General view" allows you to return to the general view. If you press the right mouse button you will cancel the zoom functionality and you will return to the interactive edition of the composition elements.

: The direction buttons allow you to move laterally once you have fixed a certain level of zoom that is different from the general view. The percentage of displacement when moving can be changed through the square located next to the buttons.

Show printable area: This allows you to draw the printable area inside the field of the selected paper. The boundary of the printable area is drawn with a pink rectangle.
Show ambit of the elements: This allows you to visualize the limits of the elements of the previsualization if you have not defined a frame thickness for each of them. The boundary of the element field is drawn with a sky blue rectangle.
Show detailed map or detailed boxes: This allows you to avoid redrawing the map or the boxes, drawing a frame in its place. However, this action only works if you have the button "Map..." or "Boxes..." activated.

-Grid: This allows you to overlap a reference grid for the design, as well as fit the objects automatically if you would like to.

Snapping the objects in the grid is made according to a criterion of proximity of the sides of the object to the next line of the grid. When moving an object with the activated snapping function, if the top side is closer to a line of the grid than the bottom side, the object will be snapped to the top side. Similarly, if the left side of the object is closer to a line of the grid than the right one, the object will be snapped to its left side. Since horizontal and vertical snapping is simultaneous, taking into account what we have explained, the object will be snapped to the left top vertex to a grid crossing. Naturally it is not possible to be snapped to the other two sides (lower and right) unless the width and the height of the object are multiple of the spaced of the grid. Important: snapping has less priority than aligning or centring elements with the right mouse button (consult Interactive edition of the composition elements. That is to say, although you have activated the option of snapping elements, if you request for example "to align the top part of the legend with the top part of the map", snapping does not apply, but it will move the legend to align it as requested.

By using the button "Configure..." the grid spacing can be modified (in paper units).

-Use map reference frame: This allows you to define a reference frame in which the map is fitted.

If the square is disabled, the map reference frame agrees with the map face. However if the box is activated, this allows you to visualize the map reference frame defined in the "Map printing parameters". This function is useful for designing cartographic series, when a reference frame of the same size is always desired (independently of the area that the map needs) and the map is centred within this frame, but it is not recommended in general use.

In the case of resizing the map and if the map reference frame agrees with the map face, MiraMon allows you to change the scale (maintaining the field) or change the display field (maintaining the scale). However, the resizing cannot be made if the map reference frame is different form the map face. In the case of resizing a text box or the legend, the font can also be resized, keeping the width of the font or resizing it.

In addition, the printing design box has fast keys as the main screen of MiraMon (like F1 for the help, "+" and "-" for Zoom, F5 to redraw, "Supr" or "Del" to erase, etc).

MiraMon offers the possibility of making a composition to be printed using the Printing wizard that is the recommended option when you begin a printing design, followed by the Interactive edition of the composition elements and, if it is necessary, edition using the keyboard through the Main Buttons. The Printing wizard is structured in 4 steps, which are described below:

It is important to know that the successive execution of the printing wizard does not duplicate the boxes of the template you had before: if the names already existed, the old ones are erased because it is understood that you want the boxes of the printing wizard. Even so, you can select the button "Keep the previous one" in step 3 of the printing wizard in order not to read any template.

With these four steps the printing wizard ends, obtaining a map composition similar to the one below:

Although it is possible to execute the printing wizard repeatedly, we only recommend using it the first time you do a design, and continue with the interactive edition of the composition elements (see next section) or with the keyboard edition through the Main buttons to finish fitting the composition elements. At the end of the following block is the result of the composition once the elements have been interactively edited.

Once you have obtained a result by executing the printing wizard or editing the elements using the main buttons, MiraMon allows you to modify those that you consider opportune.

MiraMon allows several options in the interactive edition of the composition elements. In all cases, it is necessary to select the element to be modified (with a dark blue frame). In order to select an element, you have to click on it with the left mouse button. Once the element has been selected, you can modify it interactively.

In addition, by clicking the right mouse button on the map, the following contextual menu appears, which allows you to make several options as described:

If the element on which you click the right mouse button is not the map, the contextual menu that appears is similar to the previous one, although the option "Resize" changes by "Font":

All the printing parameters (field, scale, boxes, etc) can be stored in MiraMon Maps (*.MMM). Therefore, if you want to save the efforts of editing a cartographic sheet do not forget to save the corresponding MMM file periodically. For more information, consult Save map.

Next is the result of the composition made by using of the printing wizard, once its components have been edited manually.

New MiraMon session

This opens a new MiraMon session without needing to go back to the Windows Startup Menu. It is useful when you want to view several raster files corresponding to the same area, or to view them at different scales simultaneously, etc.

Command window (system symbol)

This opens a DOS box from which you can execute basic operating system commands or console applications. This box works in multitasking, so you can start a long computing process and return to MiraMon (to switch between applications press Alt+TAB [+TAB...] repeatedly).

Exit

This closes the current session of the program. It asks you to save new files or symbolization tables that have been created. You can configure MiraMon as confirmation is necessary before leaving through the "ConfirmacioSortirMiraMon" parameter of the MiraMon.par file; this is useful for those users who sometimes forget to save map compositions.

TXT (ASCII)	E00 (Export ArcGIS/ArcInfo)	BMP	JPEG	JPEG2000	MrSID	ECW
RST (Idrisi-32)	HDF	IMG (Idrisi)	LAN/GIS (Erdas 7.4)	CEOS (Landsat,...)	NDF (Landsat,...)	JPEG2000 (Sentinel)
SPOT (TIFF+dimap)	TIFF, GeoTIFF	GRD (Surfer)	PGM/PPM	CTL (GrADS)	RF (Zebra)	RAW

DBF, Access, etc	DXF	DGN	SHP (Shapefile ArcView)	E00 (Export ArcGIS/ArcInfo)	ArcSDE	Oracle SDO (DSN)	LAS (Lidar)
CDF (NetCDF)	GML (Geography Markup Language)	VEC (Idrisi)	GPS	GPX (GPS eXchange Format)	KML i KMZ (Google Earth)	GeoJSON	CSV

DBF	DXF	SHP (Shapefile ArcView)	E00	VEC (Idrisi)	GML (Geography Markup Language)
GPX (GPS eXchange Format)	KML, KMZ (Google Earth)	GeoJSON	DAT (Surfer)	CSV


in a single column	in one or more columns per entry: each layer starts in the left column but its categories can be presented in multiple columns	in successive columns (layers one below the other, in "snake" shape)	in successive columns with column break at the beginning of each layer (configurable from the layer characteristics in the legend: "New column in the printed legend").

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