Greetings as we head south on I-65 on our journey home from Huntsville, Alabama. Day 2 and 3 at IGUG meant getting down to business and taking part in workshops and presentations showcasing the latest GeoMedia product line.

I am happy to report that I followed Intergraph’s recommendation and completed the GeoMedia Certification requirements by attending numerous technical presentations, workshops and user presentations. I now have a much better understanding of the GeoMedia product suite and look forward to reporting the numerous implementations of GeoMedia products planned over the next few months.

About GeoMedia 4.0

The latest GeoMedia core product line includes:

• GeoMedia, for viewing, analyzing, and plotting spatial data
• GeoMedia Pro, for advanced data capture and analysis
• GeoMedia Web Map and GeoMedia Web Enterprise - for viewing and analyzing spatial data over the web

Bruce Jenkins, VP of Daratech Inc. is impressed with Intergraph’s GIS strategy and the GeoMedia 4.0 support for that strategy. He adds “… [I am] equally impressed with GeoMedia’s open architecture and web- enabled tools to facilitate the broad use of geospatial technology both inside and outside the enterprise.”

Getting Down to Business With GeoMedia

I spent a full day attending GeoMedia presentations including 2 hours of getting started with GeoMedia in a hands-on workshop. I used GeoMedia to access data from a variety of sources (CAD, ArcView, and MGE) and projections. The data was easily integrated and accessed by GeoMedia where I then viewed, queried, and analyzed data from multiple sources and created output with ease, all using GeoMedia 4.0, which will commence shipping next month. We'll be sure to offer up a more detailed product review in the near future.

Major milestones with the release of GeoMedia 4.0

• Support for Oracle 8i Spatial via the object data server
• Support for Microsoft SQL Server
• ODBC Tabular data server
• High quality output enabled without migrating to another environment
• Advanced plotting using GeoMedia “smart plot” tools
• Improved data capture tools with CADlike functionality
• Expanded data server support
• Added functionality including a dynamic segmentation extension

"Cool" Features of GeoMedia Pro

GeoMedia Pro has many "cool" features and it was difficult narrowing them down. However, my favorite "cool" features of GeoMedia Pro would have to include (1) the enhanced image registration capabilities, (2) the smart snap glyphs, and (3) the simple editing of connected features -- where connected or adjacent polygons can be easily edited without duplication of effort.

The topology on demand function is also a very cool way of building topologies from your data without any effort. These functions are definite proof that GeoMedia is not only an excellent analytical and logout tool, but very effective for data capture, editing and building of topologies.

GeoMedia Transaction Manager

An exciting component of GeoMedia which must be given special mention is the open architecture enabled by the GeoMedia Transaction manager. This enables multi-user access to data from a variety of sources and projections all in an effort to remove barriers to data access. Obviously, this fosters an environment of open access to make spatial data more accessible. My first impressions are that this is a simple to use, friendly release and that it definitely promotes an open architecture which is very easily web-enabled.

Some Very Popular Improvements in GeoMedia Pro 4.0

Based upon discussions with some of the conference attendees, I have determined that the most popular improvements in 4.0 are the expanded output capabilities within the GeoMedia environment. This includes more map symbols, plus more redlining, plot layout windows & batch plotting capabilities.

Standard plot layout templates are included. Several new extensions will be made available for government land management, public works, and transportation management. These should be very popular with the users in these verticals. Look for GeoMedia 4.0 Pro to commence shipping this July.

The Need For Speed!

Supporting Intergraph’s commitment to enable simple migration of GIS data to the web is the development of what they have termed “dynamic display cache”. In a display of this technology (provided in GeoMedia web map and web enterprise products) I was shown an impressive display of speed as a spatial database of more than 11,000 features was served up to a website in about 4 seconds. A more typical time for most web map servers to display a dataset of this size would be roughly 20-30 seconds. This technology is very fast, and I must admit, very impressive!

Customizing GeoMedia

So what about customizing GeoMedia 4.0? GeoMedia does not require users to learn a proprietary development language in order to design custom applications. The product is customizable using standard OLE automation tools like Visual Basic, Visual C++, Microsoft Excel (with VBA), or Powerbuilder.

Web Enabling GeoMedia

Intergraph has made web enabling a top priority in the latest release of GeoMedia. GeoMedia Web Map is a solution to put GIS information on the Internet or on an intranet. This visualization tool can link real time to GIS data warehouses, enabling users to share their GIS spatial data.

Enhancements to look for in Web Map 4.0 include expanded support for Oracle 8i and MS SQL data servers, as well ODBC tabular data. Significant performance enhancements have been achieved via the dynamic display cache capability and added computing power realized through hardware clustering.

Productivity enhancements include greater application development tools, improved raster color mapping, and more support for developers by including a Web Map license with GeoMedia.

Plotting Solutions and DPR

GeoMedia 4.0 has been warmly received largely due to the enhanced plotting and output capabilities. In support of Intergraph’s plotting solutions is the Digital Print Room commonly referred to as the DPR. The DPR enables users to share images and maps very efficiently over the web by providing users with the ability to search, locate, view, print, and share maps and images while accessing the DPR from any web accessible client.

With the DPR, users have an expandable plot repository that is easily set up by using the “add printer wizard” in the MS Windows environment. Once properly configured, plot files are named according to user defined conventions and targeted to any specified location. Output from GeoMedia is sent to PDR plot files archived in the clients print room. DPR files can be easily related to a web page, PDF file, and project identifier (ID) to convey valuable project information necessary to efficiently share output in a multi user environment.

What to Look For...

Look for more perspectives from IGUG over the next few days. We'll be following up on products and announcements from some of the Team GeoMedia partners and posting some images from the show.

Related Web Links:

• http://www.intergraph.com/geomedia/
• http://www.intergraph.com/software/geo_map/
• http://www.intergraph.com/software/geomedia_pro/
• http://www.intergraph.com/interplot/default.asp