Forest GIS fGIS

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Forest GIS (fGIS)

• Created by the University of Wisconsin and DNR
  Division of Forestry

By Rich Friedman GIS Supervisor City of Farmington
NOTE This image, and many of the images in this
presentation taken from the Help File and
www.digitalgrove.net
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This image taken from www.digitalgrove.net
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Supported File Formats
This image taken from the help file
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fGIS Features

• Create and edit point, line and area shapefile
  objects and their associated data attribute
  tables. fGIS also edits and writes MIF, DXF, DLG
  GML vector layers.
• Buffer point, line or area objects at any
  designated radius or width
• Select an area object and fill it with either a
  random or ordered grid of points
• Design maps with pre-defined layer symbology, or
  use advanced layer properties to define your own.

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fGIS Features (continued)

• Copy and paste shapefile objects from one layer
  to another
• Designate the direction and distance of the next
  leg of a line or polygon with the COGO-like
  Traverse Tool
• Split a polygon or line into separate units by
  drawing a line with the Split Shapes Tool
• Clip Shapefiles to the boundaries of a polygon
  layer
• Merge multiple shapefiles into a new one

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fGIS Features (continued)

• Customize map properties including line width and
  color, area fills, label fonts and positions,
  image transparency, thematic rendering of data
• Measure areas and distances. fGIS reports
  distances and areas in English units (feet, miles
  and acres) and metric units. Area and perimeter
  measurement fields can be added to data tables
  and updated automatically
• Display data at user-specified scales

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fGIS Features (continued)

• View maps in 3D
• Map live GPS positions from any connected GPS
  unit with NMEA output (beta)
• Extract geo-referenced images of selected
  portions of a screen display
• Export part of a vector layer and save it as a
  new file
• Manage large data sets organized in dBase tables
  with the "Load Library Layer" utility

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fGIS Features (continued)

• Join dBase and Access tables to shapefile
  attribute tables
• Create point shapefiles from comma delimited text
  files with xy coordinates
• Convert Geographic WGS84 coordinate shapefiles to
  and from worldwide UTM zones and Wisconsin
  Transverse Mercator

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fGIS Features (continued)

• Print the map with three flexible output options
• Simple Print command will add a map title,
  subtitle, footer and the scale to the page
• Send Map to Word command will send an image of
  the view at a user specified resolution and scale
  to Microsoft Word document
• Export Image tool will send the map to a
  technical illustration/page layout module called
  Diagram Designer
• add headers, legends, annotations and non-spatial
  symbols from template palettes in the Diagram
  Designer module
• Save WMF files for use in publishing programs

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Vector Layer Properties
Images from the help file
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Raster (Image) Layer Properties
Images from the help file
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Images from the help file
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Database Explorer/Editor
If the shapefile attribute table contains any of
the following fields, their values can be
automatically updated with the Table/Update
Shapes Measurements Fields command Area Fields
Acres or Hectares Length/Perimeter Fields Feet,
Miles, or Meters Point Coordinate Fields X or Y
Images from the help file
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Images from the help file
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Images from the help file
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The Buffer utility can also be used to create
buffers around multiple selected objects or all
the objects in a layer
Images from the help file
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Images from the help file
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Conclusions

• Great starter or simple data entry GIS package
• Ideal for use with laptops for field data
  collection or for additional GIS seats in other
  departments or remote locations
• Good for use as a GIS data viewer
• Good Image/Vector File Support
• Strong Continued Development
• As in all free products, there are some risks
  that development and support will disappear

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fGIS Links and Support

• fGIS Home Page
• http//www.digitalgrove.net/fgis.htm
• List Serve/Forum
• fGIS Group at Yahoo.com