New features in MapInfo Pro Rev. 6 make this easy. For users of MapInfo Pro 5.5 and earlier, there are add-on MBX's such as SGSI's HotPix.mbx.
(Application ideas)
- Fire & public safety: Link CAD or MapInfo-format floor plans and other pre-fire drawings to street maps.
- Public works: Link scanned title and survey documents to land parcel maps.
- Real estate: Link building photos to maps of properties for sale or lease.
- Crime analysis: Link photos of suspects, parollees, or others to residence or incident maps.
- Telecommunications/engineering: Link XLS-format or scanned specification documents to maps pinpointing equipment locations.
- Etc.
File > Open Table > "hazmat.tab"
2. Select the Hotlink "Lightning Bolt" tool button.
3. Click on the map to trigger the "hotlink" action.
Usually this is an existing map layer.
Often it is a layer of points.
2. Add a "Character" column to HazMat.tab. This column will hold the filename or url for the document you will launch when the hotlink fires, so make it wide enough.
Use Table > Maintenance > Table structure then "Add"
If unsure about column width, try 40 characters wide.
Call this column "HotlinkDoc" for example.
3. Before leaving the "Table Structure" dialog, highlight the "HotlinkDoc" and click the "Hotlink" button.
4. "Save hotlink options to Metadata".
5. Exit the Table > Maintenance menu and type-in the file name or urls for the "HotlinkDoc" column.
Lots and lots. E.g.,
Bitmap images, MapInfo workspaces, MapBasic app's, executable programs, and any document associated with an application (based on its filename extension). Note: Set file name "associations" for Windows using My Computer > View > folder Options > File types.
Can I hotlink to web
site url's or fire emails via the hotlinks feature?
Yes.
If creating hotlinks with urls, do you need to
include the "http://" part?
Yes, or MapInfo won't know it is a url rather than a file name.
How is this feature different from the "HTML
Image Map" tool also included in MapInfo Pro Rev. 6?
The HTML Image map feature creates html files for use on a web site.
The Hotlink feature of MapInfo 6 does not make html files for your web site.
Instead it links MapInfo Pro, typically on a LAN or WAN, to other LAN/WAN documents
or to web addresses. In either case, MapInfo Pro stays running as an
"index" to the external documents.
Can you hotlink from one MapInfo table to another
MapInfo table or to a MapInfo workspace file?
Yes.
When I hotlink to an aerial photo, it appears in
another Window in MS Paint, Photoshop, or Internet Explorer. But I want the aerial
photo to appear as a new base layer in my MapInfo map window?
You don't need the Hotlink feature to display aerial photos such as
orthophotos as a layer in your map window. Instead, use the normal File > Open
Table menu command (specify the File Type as "Raster" if you have
not viewed the aerial photo in MapInfo before).
I don't see the Hotlink button in my Layer Control
dialog.
Verify that a map window is active and displays your map layer.
Verify that you have map objects in this map layer (not browser only).
Verify that you are running MapInfo Pro 6, not Rev 5.5 or earlier.
If I hotlink to a MapInfo workspace or MapInfo
"tab" file, will this start a second (unwanted) instance of MapInfo Pro?
No.
Can I have more than one layer with hotlinks in the
same map window?
Yes.
Can I have more than one field in a single map
defined as a hotlink in the same map window?
No.
Can I have hotlinked objects stacked on top of each
other?
Yes. You get a tiny pop-up menu to allow you to chose which hotlink
will fire.
Select the new "SGSI HotPix" menu option from the "Tools" menu and start the program. Doing this adds a new button to the "Tools" button pad: the HotPix "camera" button.
File > Open Table > "SGSI_Pnt2.tab"
2. Select the HotPix "Camera" tool button.
3. Click on a hotlinked point on the map. Thic causes the picture to pop-up in a new map window..
Use your standard MapInfo pan, zoom and other tools to adjust your view of the picture.
Use your standard Windows tools to re-size the window displaying the picture, move the window, minimize or close the window.
Pix_Title Character (40)
Pix_Path Character (80)
You can certainly have other columns in this table, as well.
2. There should be one point on the map for each "picture" you will pop up. If you have several "pictures" you want to associate with the same place on the map, add several points to this table at the same spot.
3. Fill in the special columns in the point map table.
4. While we refer to them as "pictures" or "images", they can be any kind of MapInfo map layer including raster layers such as scanned photographs and drawings (e.g., BMP, GIF, TIFF, JPEG formats) or vector map layers in the standard MapInfo format (points, lines, regions, text, or combinations thereof). But note that these pictures are expected to already to have MapInfo "TAB" files. A standard MapInfo format point, line, or region map always has one of these "TAB" files.
- MapInfo Pro 6 Supplement manual, pp. 54-58.
- MapInfo Pro 6 Online Help. Search for "hotlink"