MapInfo is the market leader on the desktop and Arc/Info is trying hard to catch up

• MapInfo is available in 16 different language versions.

• MapInfo has hundreds of thousands of copies in use worldwide.

• MapInfo (not Arc/Info) is the official government mapping standard in Australia.

• MapInfo is the defacto worldwide standard for telecommunications applications.

• MapInfo is in wide use at the USGS, at international forest product companies, and other "real" GIS sites.

• It is true that Arc/Info is the market leader in universities and colleges. It is also the GIS market leader in large government agencies that emphasize UNIX computers. Intergraph Corporation software is the market leader in GIS if we just consider Windows NT software. Tens of thousands of ArcView software packages have been distributed. However the overwhelming majority of these appear to have been sent to organizations which already had UNIX Arc/Info.

MapInfo Professional is one of a family of products ranging from the very simple to the very technical

• Did you know that MapInfo has a server version that runs with Oracle on high-end UNIX workstations and competes against ESRI SDE?

• Did you know that MapInfo's programmable "map object" technology, embedded in Microsoft Office since 1995, is available today as a separate product?

• Did you know that Microsoft Excel's mapping feature, used by more than 1,000,000 people worldwide uses native MapInfo map format files.

• Did you know that MapInfo's ProServer product enables Internet and Intranet mapping-and offers ALL the technical features of standalone MapInfo Professional?

MapInfo Pro out-of-the-box does important things that even Workstation Arc/Info (much the less Arc/View) does not do

• MapInfo Pro, because it supports the OLE industry standard, lets you simply "drag and drop" a map into Word (for example). This MapInfo map, although embedded in Word, can still be changed. ArcView does not support the OLE standard. If you cut and paste a map into Word from ArcView, you get a static bitmap which cannot be changed.

• MapInfo Pro's "animation layer" makes possible new cost-effective GPS and AVL and simulation applications. With the animation layer, MapInfo can show moving objects on the screen. In contrast, with Arc/Info, the screen re-draws each time any object moves.

• MapInfo Pro Rev 4.1 lets you directly use data tables in MS-Access, WITHOUT TRANSLATION. No more slow-and-complicated ODBC connections. Nor do you need to export Access data into DBF format (as required by ArcView and UNIX Arc/Info).

• MapInfo has always supported the industry-standard and powerful SQL query language. So in MapInfo, unlike in Arc/Info, you can simply and quickly combine data tables having "many-to-many" relationships; create sub-totals or other aggregations using the SQL "group by" clause; and use SQL's "sub-selects" to combine data in several tables. ArcView uses its own ArcView/Avenue syntax rather than SQL...except when you are connected to a remote database in which case you switch (mental) gears and have to use SQL.

• MapInfo Pro lets you display two images (raster layers) simultaneous for the same place. This is possible because with MapInfo, unlike Arc/Info, you can set one color of an image to be transparent. One useful application: powerful combinations of scanned USGS quad sheets and digital ortho photos.

• MapInfo Pro can display and symbolize groups of maps, as though they were a single seamless map. Using this "seamless map" feature, you can treat, for example, all county street maps for California as though they were a single file. Similarly you could give a single name to a group of all orthophotos of Columbia County. With a single name, you can turn these many maps OFF or ON with a single mouse click. ArcView does not offer this feature at all. With Workstation Arc/Info you can simulate this feature by using the Arc/Info Library commands, but the process is much more complex than with MapInfo.

• MapInfo can handle very large files. In our office at SGSI, we commonly display line and polygon maps that are bigger than 100 mB in size. MapInfo Pro can also manage raster files, such as 200 mB ortho photographs. You can also print these large maps, without add-on software. In contrast, Arc/Info users are accustomed to having to segment their files in to smaller pieces in order to get adequate performance. Many Workstation Arc/Info sites also use extra cost add-ons such as ArcPress or Image Alchemy in order to print even small raster images.

• When splitting map lines or regions, MapInfo Pro automatically splits data values associated with each map feature. The same functions are built into MapInfo for situations where you are combining or merging map regions or lines. In Workstation Arc/Info you can write a program to do this.

MapInfo Pro out-of-the-box includes "serious" GIS features

• Fully programmable, including complete control over the user interface, access to the coordinates of individual map features, and ability to "call" external DLLs or other programs. Programmatic control can be from Visual Basic, C, Powerbuilder, or other programs that support the OLE standard. Alternatively, users can use the separate MapBasic programming language.

• Full polygon overlay, including splitting one feature with another.

• Full polygon, line and other feature editing include adding and moving shape points plus the ability to move any coincident nodes in the same layer.

• Creates new permanent buffer zones around points or lines, including automatic scaling of the buffers based on data table values.

• Vector and raster map combinations, including ability to use TIFF, BIL, JPEG, GIF and other formats. MapInfo can register images interactively on screen and can print large raster maps (without add-ons like ArcPress or Image Alchemy).

• Integration and overlay of map layers built with different coordinate systems. This can occur on-the-fly for display. UNIX Arc/Info cannot do this. Alternatively maps can be re-projected and saved with permanent new coordinates.

• Supports WinTab and VTI digitizing tablet interfaces. Note: MapInfo Pro, in the current revision, does not have "clean & build" capability. [Neither does ArcView.]

• Supports OLE automation for "drag and drop" placement and "in place editing" of maps in word processing documents.

MapInfo and Arc/Info can EASILY trade map data

• It didn't used to be so. But with MapInfo's ArcLink program, now at Rev 3.12, MapInfo can easily import Arc/Info data and vice versa. ArcLink is available as a free premium from MapInfo for users who buy or upgrade to MapInfo Pro Rev 4.1 or can be purchased separately for $125.

What do you mean by saying "MapInfo is easier to use"?

• MapInfo uses "wizard" helpers to help you make thematic or "shade by value" maps. In Arc/View, you are on your own. Don't even ask about Workstation Arc/Info and thematic maps.
• Need to map points for which you have latitude-longitude coordinates? In ArcView you need to (are you ready?): Open a New Project; Add the file to your Project; Start a new View [for the Project]; Add the Event Theme to the View. These steps are scattered among different branches of the menu tree and require that certain map windows be Active or the commands do not show in the menu tree at all. Compare this to the process in MapInfo of File > Open Table ... and the way MapInfo intelligently understands that you want to see the table in a map window. By the way, in ArcView an "event theme" is similar to, but different than, a point map "coverage".
• As a MapInfo user, aren't you glad you can get the job done without having to plough through terminology like "event theme", "polygon overlay", "build polygon topology"?
• Try "registering" a scanned photo in ArcView or Workstation Arc/Info and compare the process to MapInfo.
• ArcView cannot make "dynamic" labels that display automatically as you pan an zoom around the map. Basically, ArcView uses a label procedure that it similar to MapInfo's old "Draw Autolabels" method.

• More examples to be added. Call us with your own...

Why do Arc/Info organizations typically have a separate "GIS group" with several "GIS Analysts" and perhaps even a "GIS Manager?"

Could it be because Arc/Info technology is complicated enough to warrant a sizeable technical staff? Could it be because GIS "the Arc/Info way" is commonly done by dedicated GIS systems analysts who do not have day-to-day responsibility for engineering, planning, and managing?

Why is Arc/Info software typically more well-known in government organizations, while MapInfo software is more well-known in business organizations?

Are the GIS-related uses of telecommunications, forestry, insurance, & health businesses categorically different from government's uses? Are business organizations or government organizations best known for attention to issues of "cost-effectiveness" and "bang-for-the-buck"?

Why does Arc/Info cost so much?

ESRI, the developers of Arc/Info, is a for-profit corporation that is closely held by the Dangermond family. As suggested by a recent article in Forbes magazine, the Dangermond family earns millions in profits annually based primarily on sales of its UNIX software to government agencies. MapInfo is also a for-profit corporation. It is publically traded on NASDAQ.

More details to come … eMail us with your opinions, too!