Positioning and Sizing your Map Objects - MapInfo_Pro - 2023

To move an object to a new location, make the object's layer editable and click the object to select it. Hold down the mouse button for at least one second until the cursor turns into a four-headed arrow. Drag the object to its new location and release the button. The object maintains its shape.

To move an object (in an editable layer) one pixel at a time, click it and press and hold the Ctrl key and press the Arrow key corresponding to the direction you want the object to move. To move the object 10 pixels at a time, press and hold the Ctrl and Shift keys and press the Arrow key corresponding to the direction you want the object to move.

Also, if you click the on the fifth edit handle (rotate handle) and hold down the mouse button, you can rotate the highlighted box to the desired angle. A rubber banding box is drawn representing the bounds of the rotated object. If you press and hold Shift key while the rubber banding box is being drawn, the rotation will be limited to 45 degree increments.

Moving Objects on the Map

You can move selected objects within its editable map layer easily.

To move an object on the map:

1. Click your map to make it active.
2. On the HOME tab, in the Windows group, click Tool Windows, and click Layers from the list, to open the Layers window.

   You can also see map layers in the Explorer window.

   Click the Editable icon beside the layer name to turn On editing.

   Click the Selectable icon beside the layer name to turn On selection.

3. On the SPATIAL tab, in the Selection group, click Select, and Select and then select the objects on the map.

   If you select more than one object at a time to move, the objects move in the same way. Take care to ensure that you do not move an object off the map or off land by mistake.

   Note: When you move the objects, you move them all at once, maintaining their positions relative to one another.
4. Do one or all of the following:
   • To move the selected object(s) using the mouse, hold down the mouse button and drag the object to its new location
   • To move the selected object(s) one screen pixel at a time, press and hold the Ctrl key and press the Arrow key in the direction you want the object(s) to move
   • To move the selected object(s) 10 screen pixels at a time, press and hold the Ctrl and Shift keys and press the Arrow key in the direction you want the object(s) to move
     Note: Since the moves are made in screen pixels, the zoom level affects how far the object is moved.

Offsetting Objects on the Map

The Offset Object feature makes a copy of the object(s) you select from the original source object(s) and saves them in the original data file.

You can both move and offset the objects you select using this process. The difference between these two operations is whether MapInfo Pro makes a copy of the data (as in the case of copy) or simply moves the objects and stores the new value in the original table.

The offset/move functionality is available when any layer is editable, not just when the objects you want to move or offset are in the editable layer. However, you can only move an object within its editable layer. Copy is always permitted as long as a layer is editable.

To move/offset selected objects on the map:

1. Click your map to make it active.
2. On the HOME tab, in the Windows group, click Tool Windows, and click Layers from the list, to open the Layers window.

   You can also see map layers in the Explorer window.

   Click the Editable icon beside the layer name to turn On editing.

   Click the Selectable icon beside the layer name to turn On selection.

3. On the SPATIAL tab, in the Selection group, click Select, and Select. Click on the object in the map.
4. On the SPATIAL tab, click Transform > Offset Object.
5. In the Offset Objects dialog box, to move your selected objects, enter or select from the following options and click OK to apply the changes. To copy your selected objects to offset them, enter or select from the following options and click Next. Then go to step 6.
   • Angle - To offset your selected object at an angle, type the angle (in degrees) in this field. The new object is created based on the original object and is offset in the direction of the angle you specified, measured from the positive X-axis. If you enter a positive angle, the object is offset counterclockwise; if you enter a negative angle, the object is offset clockwise.
   • Distance/Units - To set the offset distance and units, type the distance and select the units in the Distance box. The list of units is as follows: inches, links, feet, U.S. Survey feet, yards, rods, chains, miles, nautical miles, millimeters, centimeters, meters, and kilometers.
     Note: MapInfo Pro takes the default units from the map window in which you've selected the object.
   • Create Copy - Click this option to create a copy of the selected object(s) in the data. When you complete this process, MapInfo Pro saves the copy to the editable layer.
   • Move Objects - Click this option to move the object without creating a copy in the data. You can only move an object within its own editable layer. When you move objects, the Data Aggregation dialog box does not display, since you are only moving the data within the layer.
   • Copy or Move Distance Using - The option you select in this box depends largely upon the projection of your source map. If your map has a latitude/longitude projection, MapInfo Pro enables the Spherical type only. If you are working with a non-Earth projection, MapInfo Pro enables the Cartesian type only.

     When you click Spherical, MapInfo Pro calculates the copy/move distance by mapping the data into a Latitude/Longitude On Earth projection.

     When you click Cartesian, MapInfo Pro calculates the copy/move distance by considering the data to be projected to a flat surface and distances are measured using Cartesian distance calculations.

6. The Data Aggregation dialog box displays if one of these conditions are true:
   • You clicked the Create Copy option.
   • You selected objects in a different table from the table associated with the editable layer
   • The editable layer is not the cosmetic layer and has no text associated with the spatial objects in it

     You may notice that the only controls available to you in this dialog box are Blank, Value, and No Data.

     Type a value you will remember in the Value field of this dialog box. For more information about data aggregation, see Aggregating and Disaggregating Data.

7. Click OK to copy the data and offset the objects you selected.

Rotating Objects on the Map

To rotate an object or objects by a specific angle, use the Rotate Object command, which is available whenever you have selected an object(s) in an editable layer in a Map window.

To rotate an object or objects in a Map or Layout window:

1. On your editable layer, select the objects that you want to rotate.
2. On the SPATIAL tab, in the Edit group, click Rotate Object to open the Rotate Objects dialog box.
   
   

   

   
   

   These entries can be in degrees decimal or degrees/minute/second format and are determined by the display Coordinates setting in your Map Options dialog box. You cannot use the Military Grid Reference or the US National Grid Reference here.

3. In this dialog box, you specify the angle and the anchor point of the rotation. Type the rotation angle in the Rotation field. The rotation angle can be positive (counter clockwise) or negative (clockwise).
4. Determine the anchor point by doing one of the following:
   • Accept the default anchor point of the selected object(s) by leaving the X and Y coordinates that display in these field as they are
     Note: The default anchor point varies depending upon how many objects you have selected and the kind of objects they are. See Understanding an Object's Default Anchor Point for more about default anchor points.
   • Type new entries in the X and Y coordinate fields to select a new anchor point
   • Click the Pick from Map button and click the anchor point you want on the Map or Layout window. Click the mouse button only once to establish this point.
     Note: When the Pick from Map button is disabled, you can select locations directly from the open map. If a map is not open, you can select another command (like the Select command) and use that command instead of the Pick from Map functionality.

     To return to the default anchor point, click the Reset Anchor button.

5. Decide whether or not you want to lock the anchor point. Click the Lock Anchor Point Position check box to lock the anchor point.

   When you lock the anchor point, you ensure that the anchor point will not be recalculated when you return to the Map or Layout window. If you do not lock the anchor point, MapInfo Pro recalculates the anchor point based on the rotated selection. Once the objects are rotated, they may have a different anchor point.

   Note: You cannot maintain an anchor point lock when you change the selection from the Map window to the Layout window or from the Layout to the Map window.
6. When you have completed these entries or selections, click OK to rotate your object(s).

Understanding an Object's Default Anchor Point

When rotating objects in an editable layer, the default anchor varies depending upon how many objects you are rotating and the kind of objects you select. If you select:

• A single object (not a polyline), the default anchor point is the object's centroid
• A single polyline or several objects, the default anchor point is the center of the polyline's or the selected objects minimum bounding rectangle (MBR)
• Multiple objects, the default anchor point is the center of the MBR of the selected objects