Frequently Asked Questions

Question: I want to delineate watersheds. Will MapWindow help me do this?
Answer: Mapwindow itself is a generic programmable GIS and does not include built in functionality for delineating watersheds. However, the Advanced Watershed Delineation (AWD) plugin based on TAUDEM by David Tarboton at Utah State University does delineate watersheds using MapWindow and is shipped with the MapWindow installer.

Question: Does MapWindow include any models?
Answer: MapWindow grew, in part, out of a project that was developing a “TMDL Toolkit” for watershed modeling and water quality analysis. It was in the development of the TMDL Toolkit that a need for a MapWindow-type product was encountered. A number of models have been moved into MapWindow through custom plugin graphical user interfaces. These include HSPF, SWAT, AgNPS, and others. Just do a web search for the name of your model and “MapWindow” and see what you find.

Question: Does MapWindow include or require the licensing of any ESRI products?
Answer: No. MapWindow does not include any ESRI software or code, and does not require the end user to purchase or license any ESI products for it to work.

Question: I don't have any shapefiles or other data yet. Can I create them in MapWindow?
Answer: You can build/create/edit shapefiles code using the MapWinGIS ActiveX control, or through the plug-in developer interface. You can also use the shapefile editor plug-in that comes with the MapWindow application to build and edit shapefiles in MapWindow.

Question: Where can I get data for use with MapWindow?
Answer: MapWindow can use most standard GIS data formats including shapefiles (.shp) and ASCII grid files (.asc) and many more. Data in these formats can be downloaded from many Internet sites including GIS Data Depot, USEPA, USGS and many others. MapWindow can also handle georeferenced GIF, and BMP image files.

Question: Is there any technical support available for this product? Is there a customer support phone center?
Answer: The free MapWindow application does not come with any particular support other than what can be found in the on-line resources and help files. Please refer to our documentation page for documentation, presentations, and posters. You can also visit the discussion forums and post your questions for others in the community to see.

Question: Are there any training materials available to assist me with my use and development with MapWindow?
Answer: Please use the discussion forum, the mailing lists, and the documentation sample code. If you have custom programing needs, please post a note to the developer marketplace forum.

Question: Can I hire you to help develop a custom applications?
Answer: Absolutely! And if we can't help you we can help you identify other individuals and companies using MapWindow who can help you.

Question: If I develop a custom application with MapWindow, what redistribution costs are associated with the license?
Answer: MapWindow can be freely redistributed with your data. If you want to develop custom plug-ins, or if you need to embed GIS functionality directly into your application, you can use the open source MapWinGIS ActiveX control. See the Open Source License page for more information.

Question: How does MapWindow compare to ESRI MapObjects?
Answer: Our experience was with MapObjects LT 1.0 because it was the royalty-free tool. The MapWinGIS ActiveX control, is similar to MapObjects LT 1.0 in that it is an embeddable ActiveX control that provides mapping capabilities to a custom application. The key differences are: MapWindow includes a full programming API that gives you access to the underlying data structure of shapefiles (e.g. you can Get or Set the values of Shapefile.Shape(i).Point(j).X and …Y). MapWindow allows you to modify the underlying shapefile data while it is loaded in the Map, a Map.Refresh call just updates the display with the new data.

Question: Does the MapWindow ActiveX component work in my programming language?
Answer: The MapWindow ActiveX mapping component and API were built in Microsoft Visual C++ and compiled using the version 7 compiler. Because of this, the component works in programming languages that support ActiveX. We have used it in Visual C++, C#, Visual Basic 6, Visual Basic .NET and Delphi.

Question: Can MapWindow perform calculations on shapes and/or grids?
Answer: The MapWinGIS.ocx component comes with built-in utilities to perform some calculations, such as shape intersections. The API provides functions to make it simple to calculate additional formulas based on shape and grid data. Therefore, any calculation you need to perform on a shape or grid may be done through a MapWindow plug-in.

Question: How does the Mapwindow application compare to ArcView, GRASS, MapInfo, and other GIS systems?
Answer: The MapWindow application is not necessarily meant to be used by “GIS Analysts”. Rather, it is a tool for engineers, programmers, and “GIS Tool Developers”. Individuals who have the best success with MapWindow are those who want to build a custom plug-in and deliver it and some data to a third party–typically a third party who is not a GIS analyst. For example, you may have a project where you must deliver to the funding agency all of your spatial data. Instead of just giving them a CD of shapefiles, you could also give them a MapWindow application for viewing the shapefiles, including a custom plug-in that allows them to click on a shape and find out the number of toadstools in a given polygon, etc.

Question: What languages can I use to build plug-ins to the MapWindow application?
Answer: The MapWindow Application was built using a combination of different tools from Microsoft Visual Studio .NET including C++ 7.0, Visual Basic .NET, and C#. This allowed us to incorporate a much more powerful and simple plug-in interface. However, this also limits the languages in which plug-ins can be built to only .NET compatible languages. We have built plug-ins using each of the Microsoft .NET languages, and will be posting the source code for reference, but we have not attempted to build a plug-in using the latest version of Delphi which appears to support the .NET framework. If anyone does this and would like to share their story and possibly their source code, please let us know.

Question: How do I get started creating a plug-in to MapWindow?
Answer: 1) Download and install the Mapwindow developer version. 2) Create a new “Class Library” project in Microsoft Visual Studia .NET. 3) Add a reference to MapWinGIS.ocx and to MapwinInterfaces.dll. 4) Implement the MapWindow.Interfaces.IPlugin interface. Better yet, just open the sample plug-in project posted on the download page.