Mapping Hacks

Extract Data from Maps with Manifold #65

Chapter 6, Mapping on Your Desktop

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HACK

If Python and wxWidgets are more to your liking than C++

and Qt, you might have a look at Thuban, which has many

features similar to QGIS, as well as a similar license. We

don’t have the space to cover Thuban as well, so we’ll just

point you to its web site, http://thuban.intevation.net/.

—Gary Sherman

HACK

#65

Extract Data from Maps with Manifold Hack #65

Just getting map data isn’t enough to give you all the information the map

might contain. If you’re working with complex data, a GUI interface that lets

you select the areas you consider relevant and then calculate the results can

be extremely convenient—if you can do it cheaply!

Manifold (http://manifold.net), a Windows-based GIS application, costs

$245 but offers much of the same functionality as its “traditional” but much

more expensive GIS counterparts. It can read a wide variety of map formats

and provides a user interface that’s deliberately familiar to people who work

in Windows. You can open a map, select the bits in which you’re inter-

ested, and do quick calculations on the data associated with your selected

areas. Manifold also lets you create maps and perform sophisticated analy-

sis, though this hack doesn’t have the space to go into that.

For a recent project, I needed to know the population and number of houses

in a specific area. While I’ve usually