Will I be able to load large geo-referenced map files on iPAD?

You may use PC-GIS PRO 09 to load a geo-referenced ECW / GeoTIFF / GeoJPEG / MRSID map file then save all or part of the map as a .PIM file for use with iCMTGIS II on iPAD or iGPSGIS II on iPhone.

iCMTGIS II and iGPSGIS II do not load entire image into system memory. The programs only extract screen-size image from the map file. The maximum memory used is no more than 800 KByte for iPad, or 120KByte for iPhone. Therefore, the image size is limited by the storage disk size rather than the amount of system  memory. To minimize the disk space used, we suggest that you use PC-GIS PRO 09 to delimit the map to just the region you will be working in.

Where is the User’s Manual?

A state oil & gas officer who purchased the iCMTGIS II app wrote to us: “Cannot find the user manual.”

Please note that the Help function is located on the Main Menu. Tap the first icon on the top-left corner of the iCMTGIS II or the iGPSGIS II application screen to display the Main Menu. Then tap on the Help function to display the Help file for the application. This detailed Help file servers as the user’s manual.

If you have purchased the iCMTGIS II or iGPSGIS II app and would like to obtain a User’s Manual in PDF format, please email your request to support@cmtinc.com.

Worried about iPhone battery

Jim Hester, RF, who is using the iGPSGIS II app wrote:

“I got the .pmp to open on my iPhone.  That worked great with the email.  I am very impressed.  Trying to figure out how to mark points that I have measured.  I guess I can collect feature with GPS. I was also worried about battery. I used GPS to locate the next point to tally and turned off GPS while measuring trees. I did not have a problem with battery life today.”

Yes, you can collect Point Features to mark the points that you have measured. If the points are identifiable on the map, you could digitize them. The device is power-hungry. It is advisable to turn off GPS when not actively recording GPS Features or using it to navigate to a location.

From the software team

Thank you for purchasing the iCMTGIS II for iPAD and the iGPSGIS II for iPhone. Please report any bugs that you encounter so we may fix them. If there are additional functions that you see will help you do your GPS/GIS work more efficiently, please let us know. We plan to add some software enhancements to these apps at about the end of 2012.

We have been developing software for field data collection, GPS, GIS, foretry, land survey, etc. for over 20 years. Most of our efforts have been based on the Microsoft Windows platform. In recent years, we have started to develop apps for the iPhone and the iPAD. People are asking us when we will have software for the Android phone. Our answer is that there is no plan to do it at this moment. If and when we receive overwhelming requests for Android GPS/GIS apps, we may reconsider this issue. We always value the input from our customers.

iGPSGIS II is now available

We are pleased to announce the release of iGPSGIS II version 1.0.0 for the Apple iPhone. This app can be downloaded from the App Store at:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/igpsgis-ii/id519856107?ls=1&mt=8

iGPSGIS II is listed at $44.99 per license.

Besides displaying the GPS coordinates of geographic locations, iGPSGIS II also provides a user-friendly interface to facilitate the following tasks:

• Create Feature Lists to facilitate data collection
• Create sampling grids
• Display Google Map as the background map
• Import and Export Shapefiles
• Collect multi-layer GPS/GIS data
• Update the coordinates for Point Features
• Create new points using angles and distances
• Digitize points, lines and areas
• Assign symbols and attributes to Features and Topics
• View/Edit the collected data
• View the area of an enclosed region
• Measure distances on the displayed map
• Send and receive job files via email
• Store job data on the Cloud
• Get and send job data via ftp

iGPSGIS II comes with a built-in help file.

Can I change the order of the Topic layers?

Under Menu/Topic, there is a Move Topic function. Select that function. Hold down on the right side of the Topic you want to move then drag it to the desired location in Topic View.

Generally, you want the Point Features in the upper layers, followed by Line Feature Topics, then followed by Area Feature Topics.

Can I update a Feature position but keep its description?

Sometimes you may be unsure about the position you have recorded and wish to redo the GPS data logging without having to re-enter the Attribute information.

The soon to be released iGPSGIS II and iCMTGIS II will provide an Update button on the Coordinates page to let you log the position again for an existing Point Feature. The newly logged location will overwrite the original one for the Point Feature concerned.

Recording the track or the flight path

For certain field applications it is desirable to record the track of where you’ve been on the ground or in the air. You know that you could use your iCMTGIS or iGPSGIS to record such a track as a Line Feature. What if you also need to record other Features in addition to your  track?

With iCMTGIS you could store “nested” Point Features without interrupting the Line Feature for the track.

With iGPSGIS, you could stop the recording of the track to record the other Features then record a new Line Feature for the next segment of the track. Later you could use PC-GIS to join the separate line segments together.

The iCMTGIS II and iGPSGIS II to be released in the near future will provide a dedicated function to record the GPS track in the background, regardless of what Features you record in the foreground. It will also let you toggle the track recording on or off as you please.

For airborne applications, we recommend the CMT PC-MAPPER AI 4.0, which will run on a Windows PC, notebook PC or tablet PC, and provides functions specifically designed for airborne surveys and data collection.

The elusive Documents folder

There used to be a Documents tab displayed across the top of the screen in the iTunes® application program. With the current  iTunes® 10 application program, the tab name has changed to Apps. So, after synching your Mobile Device with the iTunes® 10 application program, click on Apps then click on your iCMTGIS or iGPSGIS in the list of apps to make sure they are synched with your computer.

Scroll down to the File Sharing section and click on iCMTGIS or iGPSGIS app name. You will then see the files that are stored in the Documents section for your app, such as the .pmp files, the Shapefiles, the Basemap files and the raster map images

Will iCMTGIS II and iGPSGIS II make it easier to move application data files into and out of iPAD or iPhone device?

To move files between your PC or Mac computer and a locally connected iPAD or iPhone device, first use the iTunes application program to synch the iOS device with your computer. Then you can move the files between the “Documents” folder for your iOS application and your computer. It seems sometime there are difficulties connecting to iTunes or finding the Documents folder for the application.

To provide an alternative way to transfer the data files between the iOS device and the desktop computer, we will add to the iCMTGIS II and iGPSGIS II (to be released later this year) the capability to send or get job files via email. In addition, we plan to add the ability to get and send files via FTP.

How do I get the Feature Labels to display?

If you have used Topic/Auto Label in PC-GIS, PC-GPS or PC-MAPPER to label the Features with Feature ID and Attributes, then such labels will also be displayed in the job transferred to iGPSGIS and iCMTGIS.

You may change the font size, color and orientation of a label. To do so, tap on the label in Map View then tap the Feature Properties icon. Make the desired changes then tap the green checkmark at the top of the screen to confirm the new setup and exit the screen.

How to capture a screen shot from iPAD or iPhone?

Sometimes you may wish to capture a screen shot from your iCMTGIS or iGPSGIS application to incorporate it into a document file. For example,  you may want to include a few screen shots in your entry for the iCMTGIS application competition.

To do so, press the “Home” and “Power” buttons at the same time then release them.

You will hear a familiar camera shutter sound when the picture is snapped and automatically saved as a .JPG file into the Photos app on your iOS device

From the Photos app Camera Roll, you can email the photo file to your PC. If  you use a Mac, then you could synch it with your photo files on your iOS device.

iCMTGIS II and iGPSGIS II coming soon

The iCMTGIS II for iPAD and iGPSGIS II for iPhone to be released in early March 2012 will have a number of software enhancements, including the following:

   1.   iOS5 compatibility – Feature Topic pattern/color assignment

   2.  Send/Get jobs via eMail

   3.  Support iCloud storage

We welcome your comments about these applications. If you have suggestions for other useful functionality, this is a good time to send them in. Thanks!

Can I use my PC to set up the Topics for a job?

Yes, you can run PC-GIS 09 on your PC or in the PC mode on your Mac and use it to create new Topics. You can set up description fields for each topic and also assign a symbol to it.

After you have saved the job as a .PMP file, you can copy it to the Documents folder for  iCMTGPS or iCMTGIS. Then you can work with these Topics in that .pmp job on your iCMTGPS or iCMTGIS.

Similarly, you could import shapefiles and digitize additional Features using PC-GIS 09 then save the .pmp job for use on your iCMTGPS or iCMTGIS.

A more precise stylus for iPAD and iPhone?

Quite a few people asked about a pointy stylus for using on their iOS device.  The design of the iPAD and iPhone capacitive touch screen requires a minimum contact area, on the order of a few mm (about the size of your fingertip) to work properly. This is why capacitive styluses tend to have fat tips.

For the ability to more accurately place your Point Features in the iCMTGIS or iGPSGIS app, you might check out the Adonit Jot Pro Capacitive Touch Stylus, and read the reviews of the other users for the pros and cons of this stylus design.

Within the iCMTGIS or iGPSGIS apps, you can increase the accuracy of dropping the points or vertices by zooming close into your map.