Editor / Viewer Common Questions

For Editor evaluators and Viewer users:

• Editor trial version for 10-day evaluation period.
• Help file documentation online (also from the Help menu).
• Video tutorials available online.
• Searchable online knowledge base with answers on hundreds of topics.
• Editor product technical support during evaluation period.
• Dozens of Pascal and Basic source code scripts providing additional features or tutorial examples how to customize the Editor or implement new features.
• Editor built-in scripting engine API Documentation online.

For Editor licensed users (with active maintenance), additionally:

• Regular (typically monthly) product updates providing bug fixes and improvements. (Report bugs to support).
• Product upgrades introducing new features and functionality.
• Product technical support via email.
• Online Question and Answer resource (write access).
• Consideration of new feature requests.
• Access to TatukGIS hosted world map web tile server (OpenStreetMap).

Because the TatukGIS Editor is developed and compiled from the TatukGIS Developer Kernel (DK), the two products inherently share many features and performance characteristics.

The DK is a set of powerful GIS development libraries, each compiled natively for a leading development platform, that can be used to develop truly custom GIS applications for most operating systems or to add geospatial functionality to existing products. The DK object-oriented API contains hundreds of classes and thousands of GIS related method and properties, offering comprehensive geospatial functionality.

The Editor is a ready-to-use, general-purpose Windows desktop GIS application (for data creation, mapping, analysis, etc.) with built-in scripting environment enabling customization and feature extensions. The scripting IDE exposes, within the Editor, the entire DK API. This means any DK-supported functionality can be selectively added to the Editor as a scripted plugin, without overcomplicating the user interface with unnecessary features. Sometimes the Editor with a few scripts can completely fulfil customer requirements for a much lower cost than using the DK to develop a whole new application.

The relative advantages and disadvantages of the Editor versus the DK for custom GIS development are presented in knowledge base item KB10868.

The TatukGIS Editor and free TatukGIS Viewer products are highly similar, reflecting the same source code. A feature-by-feature comparison of the Editor and free Viewer is presented at Editor/Viewer Features.

The Editor includes five main areas of functionality not supported in the free Viewer.

• Creating and editing map data, including import and export, format translation, topological error review...
• Built-in scripting environment for creating and running plug-ins to customize or extend Editor features.
• 3D map visualization including DTM's and draping, 3D vectors, light/shadow control, texturing, fly over, etc.
• Raster analysis functionality.
• Layer rectification to correct distortions and transform a layer to a coordinate system.

The Editor is a professional desktop GIS program requiring purchase of a license, which includes 12 months of upgrades and support maintenance. The Viewer is licensed as freeware.

The free Viewer is useful for creating and saving custom map projects from existing data, distributing GIS data and projects to users, and evaluating the TatukGIS technology.

The free TatukGIS Viewer may be redistributed to others (such as with map data or a map project) under the following rules:

• Only the most recent product version may be redistributed.
• Redistribution must be with the full, original setup procedure.
• Redistribution must be done on a free-of-charge basis.
• If packaged with map data sold to others, users of the redistributed product must be informed that the TatukGIS Viewer is an unsupported, free product and any user support (which is likely to be data specific) is the responsibility of the map data vendor (not TatukGIS).

The free Viewer (unlike the TatukGIS Editor) cannot be customized or extended because:

• The Viewer does not support plug-ins (customization scripts).
• The license forbids making modifications to the Viewer.

The TatukGIS Editor supports a number of SQL database map layer formats, including advanced spatial databases such as PostGIS, Oracle Spatial/Locator, Oracle GeoRaster, Microsoft SQL Server Spatial, ESRI ArcSDE and ArcSDE Raster, IBM DB2 Spatial Extender, and others. The support includes a SQL database connection wizard.

Supported database layer formats and compatible database engines are presented in knowledge base item KB10639. Guidance on connecting to supported database layers is presented in KB10765 and the documentation wiki.