MI Custom Symbol Maker Frustration!

[empirepd]

Hello,

I am trying to make a custom symbol for the first time using the
MapInfo Custom Symbol maker .mbx that comes with MI Pro. OK, thought I
was doing something simple, basically making a symbol with three
concentric circles, but when I go to save the symbol, MI keeps on
giving me an error that I can only have 200 nodes in my symbol. OK, so
I try to play around with the node thinning routine, but the symbol
maker appears to make duplicates of the circles before it thins them,
so although I end up with a set of circles that where thinned to under
200 nodes, the original full-node circles still remain in the
window.....so same error again. Is there any way around this?

If the answer is "No, MI is stupid and you can't get around this as
they haven't updated this code since MI v 3", then what is this I hear
about pulling in a .bmp or .gif? I trying to copy and paste a pic I
have of the symbol (it is my company's logo)...I figured that wouldn't
work and big surprise, it didn't. Can I import this image to the
symbol maker somehow?

Thanks,
Sam

[Peter Horsbøll Møller]

Sam,

 

I think you are mixing a couple of symbol types here.

There is a MapBasic tool called Symbol Maker that helps you creating a MapInfo 3.0 Compatible symbol. This new synbol will be stored in the MapInfow.fnt.

The MapInfo 3.0 Compatible symbols are somewhat limited, so you will easily reach the limits.

 

I would recommend that you use either a True Type Font symbol (TTF) or a Custom Symbol (a .bmp file and with MapInfo 9.5 are wider range of filetypes).

 

In your case where you already have a "picture" of your company's logo I would choose the later, the Custom Symbol.

If you are using a later version of MapInfo Pro there is almost no limit to the filetype and zise you are using. The later versions even have a Add button in the Symbol style dialog that you use to add you own bitmaps (pictures) to the list of MapInfo Custom Symbols.

 

Otherwise you would have to manually copy the file with the logo to the custsymb folder located under C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\MapInfo\MapInfo\Professional\950\CustSymb where username is your Windows username.

 

Also note that with MapInfo 9.5 you can even create your own folder within this folder, and you can in your preferences point to a location on your servers containing these symbols (and other program files)

 

Peter Horsbøll Møller