Global Mapper v25.0

Global mapper unable to recognize any dem formats from national map seamless viewer

tombell
tombell Global Mapper User
edited May 2011 in Bug Report
I just upgraded to Global Mapper 12.02 from Global Mapper 9.02. The new version has so many problems I wonder if I got a bad download.

First, it does not recognize a DEM in BIL or ArcGrid format. I get this message when trying to load either one: "The overlay type could not be determined from the filename you selected". A list of common file types is presented and when I choose BIL/BIP... I get a new message: "Unable to load header file" with the path ...\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\content.IE5\MOXWKIOE\0400237[1].ers.

The path above does not point to the correct file location though it does reference the correct filename except for the "[1]" and the file extension ".ers" instead of ".bil".

This problem is probably related to another problem. When I try to open any file, the file view dialog box points to this path. GM forgets the last path used and always points to the temporary internet file folder.

A couple of other serious problems. I have the 64 bit version and it can take an hour to mosaic even a few small raster images. Exporting a tiff also seems to be flawed. I can view the exported tiff in an image viewer but when I load it into ArcGIS, it is a uniform blue color. If I export a jpg, it works fine.

It is a good thing I still have GM v9 loaded on another computer. All of the files that cause GM v12 to choke run fast and flawlessly on GM v9.

Comments

  • global_mapper
    global_mapper Administrator
    edited May 2011
    That is strange, I would expect v12.02 to generally be both faster and more seamless than v9. When you are loading the BIL or ArcGrid files, what file are you loading exactly? Is it a .zip file or are you directly loading a .bil or w001001.adf file? Are you using the File->Open Data File menu command to load them?

    What is the format of the data that is slow to mosaic?

    When you export to a TIFF file, what option are you choosing on the export dialog, including the format? It sounds like you are maybe using an option that your version of ArcGIS doesn't support, like perhaps including transparency?

    Thanks,

    Mike
    Global Mapper Support
    support@globalmapper.com
  • tombell
    tombell Global Mapper User
    edited May 2011
    Here is a little more detail. It seems that GM is no longer able to read these files when they are still in their zipped container. GM v9 can read them directly from a zip file. GM v12 can't.
  • global_mapper
    global_mapper Administrator
    edited May 2011
    Can you either post one of those .zip files here or email it to support@globalmapper.com so that I can take a look and see what is happening?

    Thanks,

    Mike
    Global Mapper Support
    support@globalmapper.com
  • tombell
    tombell Global Mapper User
    edited May 2011
    Hi Mike,

    I have attached examples of DEMs in two formats. If I extract the files from their zipped folders, GM works fine. If I try to load them from within the zip file, GM doesn't recognize their extensions and then can find the header file. GM 9 has no problem reading the files in either of these zip files.

    The mosaic operation is being slowed by some other problem. When I load two 100 meg geotiffs from zip files and then export the mosaic, it takes the same 6 or 7 minutes whether they are read from zipped archives or not. GM12 renders the mosaic tiff approximately twice as fast as GM9. No surprise there since GM12 is a 64 bit program and GM9 is a 32 bit program. However, the two computers they are running on are vastly different (see attached specs). I guess I would expect a bit better performance from GM12 than I am getting.

    Exporting a tiff with transparent background pixels causes the tiff to be completely blue when loaded into ArcGIS, Unchecking the box creates a usable tiff. I also found that the same source file exported using the transparent background is approximately five times the size of an export made without transparent background pixels.

    I hope this helps the GM team improve an already invaluable tool in my GIS kit.

    Cheers
    Tom Bell
  • tombell
    tombell Global Mapper User
    edited May 2011
    Hi Mike,

    I can't seem to upload the zipped folders to this forum. I'm not sure why. You can download your own examples here. Use the menu in the left pane to put the following coordinates in:

    -106.1 42.2
    -105.6 42.0

    Click the "Add Area" button then hit the "Modify Data Request" button on the next page that pops up. This takes you back to a window where you can select a new layer to download. You should scroll down and select "National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1/3 Arc Second". You can toggle between file format on the right. Then go to the bottom of the page and click the "Save Changes & Return to Summary" button. Download your files on the page that comes up.
  • global_mapper
    global_mapper Administrator
    edited May 2011
    For some reason I wasn't able to get any data to pop up from the seamless site for those coordinates, but I did zoom in to a random area in Kansas and get both ArcGrid and BIL .zip files and they both loaded just fine for me. I have attached those .zip file so that you can try those.41950360.zip53341082.zip

    For the display speed, just moving from 32-bit to 64-bit doesn't double your speed, in fact it is typically just a small increase in speed on the same hardware. I suspect that your hardware change is the cause of most of the doubling in speed.

    Some versions of ArcGIS don't like TIFF files with alpha channels (i.e. transparency), so you just have to not create transparent TIFF files if an older version of ArcGIS is the target.

    For the original problem, you might try getting the absolute latest build of Global Mapper just in case you have one with a strange problem or something. I have placed a new build at http://www.globalmapper.com/global_mapper12.zip with the change for you to try. Simply download that file and extract the contents into your existing v12.xx installation folder to give it a try. If you are using the 64-bit v12 version there is a new build at http://www.globalmapper.com/global_mapper12_64bit.zip .

    Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

    Thanks,

    Mike
    Global Mapper Support
    support@globalmapper.com
  • tombell
    tombell Global Mapper User
    edited May 2011
    Thanks Mike,

    There is something here that I don't quite understand and it seems to be related to which pane I use in the file selection dialog box.

    If I select the zip folder in the left pane, the unzipped folder within the zip file opens. If I then select that folder in the left pane, I can see the contained files in the right pane. If I then select the .bil file in the right pane, GM 12 doesn't recognize the file type and I have the problems described in my first post.

    Clipboard01.jpg

    If I select the zip folder from the right pane, I never see the contained unzipped folder or its contents yet GM 12 opens the contained .bil file without any trouble.

    Clipboard03.jpg
  • global_mapper
    global_mapper Administrator
    edited May 2011
    I think what is happening is that the built-in support for compressed libraries (like .zip) files in Windows (although I've never seen the interface you are seeing and I have used Windows XP through Windows 7, which version do you have?) is causing the problems here. When you select the .bil file in the right-pane Windows is extracting just the .bil file to some temporary location then pointing Global Mapper to it. Since the .bil file can't be loaded by itself (it needs the other supporting files), without those also being extracted Global Mapper can't find them and open them. If you just select the .zip file none of that special behavior happens and Global Mapper extracts the entire .zip file so all of the metadata files are available.

    Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

    Thanks,

    Mike
    Global Mapper Support
    support@globalmapper.com