MalaysiaGIS.com

The company said ArcView is an affordable package that allows organizations to display, browse, query and analyse geographical data in meaningful ways.

ArcView links traditional data analysis tools, such as spreadsheets and business graphics, with maps, tables and charting capabilities as an integrated analysis system.

ESRI said like a spreadsheet package, ArcView can be used by managers, planners and analysts to understand and address real-world problems.

For example, by selecting a single store location on an ArcView map, a manager can analyse the previous month's sales figures, view site plans and a street-level photo of the store, and highlight competitors' locations on a larger map - all on the same screen during the same work session.

"Managers and planners will be able to make better-informed decisions with ArcView. It allows them to see relationships between data they may have missed by integrating diverse data and presenting it on the map," said ESRI's ArcView product manager Rich Turner.

"Looking at a map is much easier than squinting your way through a spreadsheet," he added.

Among the features in ArcView, is an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) which has the look and feel of mainstream business software.

The package has an online help system that users can customize and link with other components of the software.

The software's relational capabilities allows users to link any structured query language (SQL) database management system (DBMS), ASCII, dBase or Info files to their geographical data and retrive files by clicking on a specific feature on the map.

Images such as pictures, video clips, or detailed maps can also be linked to features on the map.

Using standard protocols, such as dynamic data exchange (DDE) for Windows, RPC for Unix and ApplEvents for the Macintosh and PowerMac, ArcView can work with most business software and with other GIS software such as ESRI's Arc/Info.

According to him, development is going well and the results have met ESRI's expections for the platform.

The company expects to ship ArcView Version 2 for the PowerMac later this year.