XViewSDTS has two main purposes.

First, as its name implies, it allows you to view map data that has been made available on the Internet from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for free download in the Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) format.

Second, it allows you to use this data as a base map for custom maps that you create by adding an overlay map with your own objects.

Base Maps

Five themes of SDTS data are supported:

• Boundaries (such as state, county, township, parks, wildlife refuges, etc.)
• Hydrography (such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, wetlands, and other water features)
• Roads and Trails (from hiking trails to super highways)
• Railroads (including rail yards, sidings, etc.)
• Miscellaneous Transportation (such as airports, power lines, etc.)

• Small Scale
• Intermediate Scale
• Large Scale

Overlay Maps

To create overlay maps you add objects. Two kinds of objects are supported: pointnodes and lines.

You position pointnodes with your pointing device (e.g., your mouse). The pointnodes are used to anchor labels, symbols, and rings that you define.

You add lines by drawing them manually with your pointing device, or by copying lines from the SDTS data. You then may define the color, width, and style of the lines.

Your custom maps may be printed, exported to image files, or exported to HTML files. In the last case, you may also export lists or tables of data based on the attributes that you have assigned to your pointnodes, and you may use the map as an image map in your HTML files (allowing viewers of your file to navigate your web site by clicking on the pointnodes that you have defined).

Note that XViewSDTS uses the Athena widget set. If you have not worked with this widget set before, you may find the behavior of menus, scroll bars, and text boxes to be different from what you are used to. In that case, you may want to read the appendix on Athena Widgets at the end of this user guide.

Copyright © 2005 by Dapper Mapper