MassGIS - Runtime Data Viewer

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Data Viewer

Runtime Viewer

New - Download a modified version of the Runtime Data Viewer

Want to look at and make maps with MassGIS data but don't have any GIS software?

Try the new 3.1.1 version of the MassGIS "Runtime" Data Viewer!

The Runtime Data Viewer is a stand-alone, "light," or scaled-down version of ArcView GIS 3.1.1 that offers much of the map-making functionality of the full software package. Included with all versions of the MassGIS Data Viewer CD products, the Runtime Viewer lets you bring up all the MassGIS data, change symbolization of the data, add symbols and text to the map, create a map layout with map elements such as a scale bar, north arrow, legend and title, and print your layout. The Runtime Viewer also gives you the ability of saving any finished map layout as a bitmap image, Windows Metafile, or Postscript file, which then may be brought into a variety of other software.

Be aware that the Runtime Data Viewer will not allow you to save your project, edit tables, or create shapefiles, so it may not be comprehensive enough for everyone. But, if you are new to GIS or simply want an inexpensive way to get started making your own maps, give the MassGIS Runtime Data Viewer a try. The Runtime Data Viewer is distributed on a CD-ROM with statewide data or data for a specific geographic area, such as a town or a watershed.

The Runtime Viewer is also included on the MassGIS set of Scanned USGS Quad Images, allowing you to view the familiar topographic maps seamlessly. You may download Installation Instructions for using the Runtime Viewer with the Quad sets in Adobe .PDF format or Microsoft Word 97 .doc format. (Viewing the .pdf version requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, available for download at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.)

System requirements for using the Runtime Viewer (on a vector data CD or with the Quad Images set) are:

a PC with a CD-ROM drive,
40 MB of hard drive space for the program (the data can either remain on the CD or be copied to your hard drive),
and at least 32MB of RAM (memory). (The more memory, the faster the program will run).

The Runtime Data Viewer is a stand-alone piece of software that will run on any Windows PC running Windows 95 and higher. There is no version available for the Macintosh per se, although we've had a report that the Runtime works on a Mac with PC emulation software).

For information on ordering, refer to the "Order Maps & CDs" page.

New ! - Now download a modified version of the MassGIS Runtime Data Viewer that allows users to load any local data using ArcView's standard 'Add Data' button. This version of the Runtime Data Viewer can be used without data - it has been reconfigured to open without complaining about missing data. For example, users may download shapefiles or other data from the MassGIS Web site and display in the Runtime Viewer.

Download Runtime_DV.zip (20 MB)

Once downloaded:

Select all the files in the WinZip file and then extract to a drive. A "Runtime_DV" folder will be created.
Run the setup.exe file and be sure that both checkmarks appear for Data and Program (in the normal Data Viewer installation screen; the first check should appear, the second may not, but they both need to be checked).
The Data Viewer can then be opened with Start > Programs > MassGIS Runtime Data Viewer.

The only difference between this Runtime Data Viewer and the one distributed on CD-ROM with data is that in this downloadable version the 'A' button will not work because there is no accompanying data in the required folder structure. Additionally, there are no legend files included in order to keep the download as small as possible; and, there is not a full environ.txt file.

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Last Updated 6/21/2004
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