Understanding MapInfo: A Structured Guide (Paperback)

~ Ian Johnson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This volume aims to digest the wealth of information in the official MapInfo manuals, explain what it really means, and present it in a well-structured and readable format to allow easy lookup of topics. It contains copious illustrations (over 200), including explanatory diagrams and screen images. The end product serves as an introduction to the software and as a handy guide for more experienced users. It is suitable for both classroom use and as a reference manual. Understanding MapInfo: A Structured Guide covers MapInfo Professional Version 4 features, but is largely applicable to Version 3 or MapInfo for Mac. The volume includes an introduction to mapping concepts, and extensive sections on relational joins and SQL. The book emphasizes the link between graphical (map) objects and database tables, as a means of understanding vector GIS.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Archaeological Computing Laboratory (April 1996)
• ISBN-10: 1864510161
• ISBN-13: 978-1864510164
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,310,301 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction to Desktop Mapping, January 10, 2003

By	George Johnston (Anchorage, Alaska United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dr. Johnson is a thoughtful writer as demonstrated in this book on MapInfo. He makes the distinction that MapInfo is a desktop mapping system, as opposed to what we think a "true" GIS (one attached to a large server) should be. As a 14 year user of MapInfo this book cleared up some mysteries for me and gave me insight as to why MapInfo Corporation chose to build their application as they have.

MapInfo is a great stand alone desktop mapping solution, practically indistinguishable from what is considered a GIS, but is usually used in stand alone data collection applications. It is an inexpensive and very powerful program (ever ask an ESRI user how much it costs for the add-on package to do datum transformations) that delivers on it's promise to be fairly easy to learn and intuitive to use. Dr. Johnson introduces you to the application and how to use it, as well as what you have a right to expect MapInfo will do for you and what it won't, in a fairly straightforward and practical manner.

There are some good general references of using MapInfo in the natural sciences and some field examples as well. All in all I found this book to be well worth the time and funds I invested in it. Very well done.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for new and experienced users, May 8, 2000

By	Jens Wolf Jespersen (Denmark) - See all my reviews

The writer is an experienced user of MapInfo, and this book descripes how to use the software from a users point of view. I describes the forces and how to overcome some of the weekness of this great GIS program.