When opening universal data, you can select the data you want to open and specify the name of the dataset you want to display.
The process for opening this data is the same regardless of the format.
To open the universal data directly:
- On the HOME tab, in the File group, on the Open list, click Universal Data.
- In the Specify Data Source dialog box, in the Format drop-down list, click More Formats....
- In the Formats Gallery, select the format for the data you wish to open and click OK.
To obtain a free trial of the FME Suite and add more formats to this list, click Add More Formats.
Note: Personal Geodatabase and ArcSDE always display in the Formats Gallery but they may be grayed out if you do not have the appropriate client DLL or applications installed. See Setting the ArcSDE Data Options and Setting the ESRI Personal Geodatabase Data Options for these details. - In the Specify Data Source dialog box, click Open file browser
beside the Dataset field.
A dataset is defined as a set of data in the same format.
- In the Select File dialog box, locate and select the data file. If you do not see your data in the list, then select All Files (*.*) from the Files of type list. After making your selection, click Open.
The Specify Data Source dialog box refreshes with your selection. If the Dataset field remains blank, then check that you are selecting data that matches the format in the Format field.
- To open a directory of data in the Specify Data Source dialog box, click Open advanced browser button beside the Dataset field.
The Select File dialog box opens and you can select:
- Directory-based formats by clicking Add Folders... and browsing for a specific directory name. Check the Subfolders check box to include all sub-folders below that directory. Click OK. The new data appends to the original data.
When adding a directory, MapInfo Pro opens all of the data of the specified format it finds in the directory. If you select the Subfolders check box, MapInfo Pro opens all of the data with the specified format in the sub folders. The data is merged together when you open it.
- File-based formats by clicking Add Files and browsing for a specific file name. To select multiple files, press Ctrl while making your selections. Click Open.
Select the Identical Schema check box if the files have the same schema.
Click OK to close the Select File dialog box.
- Directory-based formats by clicking Add Folders... and browsing for a specific directory name. Check the Subfolders check box to include all sub-folders below that directory. Click OK. The new data appends to the original data.
- Optionally, click Parameters to set how to handle the output format. This is how you set the display settings for your data.
- If the coordinate system for your data selection is unknown, then click Coord. System beside the field to select the projection. If you do not specify the coordinate system, you will be prompted to do so later.
Some data contains the coordinate system information in it and others do not, so you may need to specify the coordinate system projection for the data you are opening. For more information, see Coordinate System Behavior and Universal Data.
- Click OK.
- In the Select Layers dialog box, select which layers you want to include in the output. By default all layers are selected.
To set display characteristics for one or all of the layers, see Changing Display Settings for Universal Data.
- In the Directory field, type the location to save the output to or browse to select a location.
- From the Preferred View drop-down list, select whether you want to view the output in a Map window (Current Mapper or New Mapper) or in a Browser table.
- Click OK.
If you did not specify the coordinate system in step 8 and the coordinate system is unknown, the Choose Projection dialog box displays, so that you can select the projection for the data you are opening. The system defaults to your Table Projection setting in the Map Window Preference if you do not select a projection here.
The data opens in MapInfo Pro.
Changing Display Settings for Universal Data
When selecting to open universal data, the Select Layers dialog box offers control over how the output data will display.
Changing Layer Names
To change the name of the layer, select it, type a new name in the File Name field and click Apply. Use the Check All and Uncheck All buttons to select or deselect the Open check box for all of the layers. Click the Back button to return to the Specify Data Source dialog box.
Selecting Layers to Apply New Display Options to
All layers you select together will share the same display characteristics.
- To change the display options of all layers, click the layer name of the first layer, press the Shift key, and click the layer name of the last layer
- To change the display options of some layers, click the layer name of the first layer, press the Ctrl key, and click the other layers that require the same change
- To change the display options of one layer, click the layer name of the layer
Setting Display Styles for Selected Layers
After selecting layers, use the display buttons to apply new display styles for the geometry in the layers. If the layers contain:
- Point data, click the Symbol Style button to change the symbol options
- Line data, click the Line Style button to change the line options
- Region data, click the Region Style button to change the background options
- Text data, click the Text Style button to change the text options
If you want to open maps based on data that is thematically related, assign the same styles to the layers that contain that information.
Avoiding FME License Failures when using Two Versions of MapInfo Pro
If you are using side-by-side installations of both the current version of MapInfo Pro and an older version and you remove the older version, you may remove the current FME license by mistake. You will know when you start MapInfo Pro and an error displays informing you that the FME license failed. FME may be looking in the registry for the ProgramDirectory key under the earlier version of MapInfo Pro.
To work around the problem:
- Start the current version of MapInfo Pro.
- When the FME license failure error message displays on the screen, close MapInfo Pro and then restart it.
Avoiding Out of Disk Space Errors when using Universal Data
When you open universal data using this feature, the data is stored locally temporarily so you can reopen it faster the next time you use MapInfo Pro. For example, the temporary file folder location is:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\MapInfo\MapInfo\Professional\<versionum>\UniversalDataCache\
If you find that you are opening large files with many layers using this feature, these files can get very large and may impact the performance of your system. If you see Out of Disk Space errors, you may want to delete these files to see if this data is the cause of the error. Whenever you delete temporary files, you will have to reopen that stored data to display it again.
Coordinate System Behavior and Universal Data
Some of the universal data you are working with contains coordinate system information and some do not. If you are opening Spatial Data Transfer Standard data and some of the ESRI data, the coordinate system information entry is handled for you. Coordinate system information for AutoCAD, Microstation Design and VPF data must be specified, although VPF data is usually in the Longitude/Latitude WGS 84 projection.