Tutorials

GIS 'How to...' Guide 2: Installation Notes

Installing Map Explorer

Insert the CD, double click the folder 'ME2', double-click the 'setup' file, click 'OK', 'I agree', 'next' etc when prompted (you can 'skip' registration if you wish).

Accessing the Data Files

In essence the GIS software is very simple, but there are two snags:

(a) The full set of available data is very large, and
(b) GIS can only see data by using drive letters - drive C, drive D etc.

This means there are some decisions to be made which are specific to the school and the user.

You should be able to work out which is best for you from the following sections.

Simplest and easiest (though it takes a while)

If you only want to use the software on one computer (and it has about 9GB of available disk space), the simplest solution is as follows:

1. Install Map Explorer as normal.

2. Create a folder on C-drive called (for example) 'GIS'.

3. Within the new GIS folder, create folders called 'aerial photos', 'historical maps', and 'CD_data'.

4. Copy all the data from the two aerial photo DVDs into the 'aerial photos' folder.

5. Copy all the data from the historical maps DVD into the 'historical maps' folder.

6. Copy all the data from the CD except the 'ME2' folder into the 'CD_data' folder.

7. When you want to add a theme from within Map Explorer, you can simply double click the 'C' drive, double click the 'GIS' folder, and select the correct folder.

Lowest use of hard drive space without using a network.

1. Install Map Explorer as normal.

2. Create a folder on C-drive called (for example) 'GIS'.

3. Within the new GIS folder, create folders called 'aerial photos', 'historical maps', and 'CD_data'.

4. Use the help files to decide which aerial photography data you want - usually this will be only one or two lettered 'tiles' - let's say letter 'H'...

5. From the two aerial photos DVDs, locate the two 'H' files, and copy them into the 'aerial photos' folder you created.

6. Start Map Explorer and add the themes you want from the 'CD_data' folder - probably the OS maps from the two folders 'OS50k' and OS250K'.

7. When you want to add aerial photos, you can double click the 'C' drive, double click the 'GIS' folder, and select the correct folder.

8. When you want to add historical data you can will need to put the historical data DVD in your DVD drive.

Installation on a network for multiple users (not for beginners!)

If several users in the school want to use the software, it is more efficient to store the data you only use occasionally on the server.

Since servers can be configured very differently between schools the following is only a suggested set up for Windows servers - there are a number of other ways of achieving the same effect, and your support staff may suggest alternative strategies.

1. Install Map Explorer as normal on each PC which is going to use it, but do not copy any other files from the CD or the DVDs onto the PCs.

2. Log on to the server as administrator, and create a new folder called 'GIS'. This should be done on the part of the server used for sharing applications to the network: this may be called 'apps' or 'programs' or simply be a lettered drive with similar data in it.

3. Within the new GIS folder, create folders called 'aerial photos', 'historical maps', and 'CD_data'.

4. Copy all the data from the two aerial photo DVDs into the 'aerial photos' folder.

5. Copy all the data from the historical maps DVD into the 'historical maps' folder.

6. Copy all the data from the CD except the 'ME2' folder into the 'CD_data' folder.

7. Right-click on the GIS folder and choose 'sharing and security'. Choose to share the folder as 'GIS', setting permissions for everybody as 'read'.

8. You now need to map a drive to this folder.

There are a number of ways of doing this:

(a) If you run a log on script which already maps drives, simply add a new line to it for the new share, for example 'net use g: \\[servername]\GIS'. This will allow you to use drive 'G' from within Map Explorer to access the data on the server for aerial photos etc.

(b) On the PC you are using, not the server, right click 'my computer', choose 'map network drive', choose a drive letter e.g. 'G', and enter the correct path e.g. '\\[servername]\GIS'.

(c) Create a batch file on your desktop which can be used to map a network drive when GIS is used: make a new text file, enter 'net use g: \\[servername]\GIS', save it and close it, then rename it from ****.txt to ****.bat. Double click this to map the drive. You must do this before starting Map Explorer in order to be able to see the drive.