Pitney Bowes MapInfo Professional - Manual (Page 45)

Your data may also contain graphic objects. Once you assign X and Y coordinates to your data records,
your table will also contain graphic objects. In
Geocoding - Assigning Coordinates to Records , you
will learn how to assign X and Y coordinates to your data records so you can display them on a map. If
you already have graphic objects in your table, there are two more files associated with the table:
• .MAP: This file describes the graphic objects.
• .ID: This file is a cross reference file that links the data with the objects.
For a Microsoft Access table, there will be a file SOMEFILE.AID associated with the table instead of
SOMEFILE.ID. This file is a cross reference file that links the data with the objects for a Microsoft Access
table.
Your table may also include an index file. The index file allows you to search for map objects using the
Find command. If you want to locate an address, city, or state using the Find command, those fields
must be indexed in your table. The index is located in:
• .IND
There is a two Giga Byte (2 GB) file limit on these files after which MapInfo Professional displays
an error message: "Cannot write database row. Possibly out of disk space. Out of disk space Note:
while saving table [tableAlias] ..." If you see this message, check the file sizes and consider
reducing the amount of data you are saving.
Opening Your Data in MapInfo Professional
Using Local Data (Located on your Machine)
You can open your Excel (.XLS or .XLSX), dBase (.DBF), Microsoft Access (.MDB or .ACCDB), and
ASCII (.TXT) in MapInfo Professional and display that data on a map. There are three steps to
accomplishing this:
1. Creating a copy of your data in MapInfo format.
2. Creating points on a map using either coordinates in your data or by matching your data to a search
file (see When Do I Geocode vs. Create Points? for this process).
3. Display your data on the map (see How Do I Get My Data on the Map? to complete this process).
Using Remotely Located Data
If you are accessing your data remotely or use an ODBC supported database product, see Getting
Started for additional support.
For information about opening remotely located data, see Opening Data in Remote Tables . For
information about converting, displaying, and printing your data, see Understanding Your Data .
Using Introductory Data
If your copy of MapInfo Professional includes introductory data, you may want to install it now, as described
in the MapInfo Professional Install Guide. You can then view the sample data in MapInfo Professional
as a map while getting familiar with the features of this product.
• For more information, see Opening MapInfo Professional Introductory Data in the Help System.
MapInfo Professional Data File Support
You can open the following file types in MapInfo Professional on the File menu by pointing to Open:
• ACCDB – Microsoft Access 2007 or later files
• CSV – Comma Delimited files
• DBF – dBASE DBF files
• MDB – Microsoft Access files
• TAB – MapInfo .TAB files
45 MapInfo Professional User Guide
Chapter 3: The Basics of MapInfo Professional