DYNAMIC MAPS READ ME FIRST

Thank you for using Dynamic Maps from Dynamic Planet (www.dynamicplanet.com). Dynamic Maps is free to use, copy and distribute.

You can do a lot with Dynamic Maps! You can use the "Query" and "Class Rendering" functions to show on a map how data relate and integrate. You can tie your own documents, pictures, web links to features on a map so that the map becomes a reference point and document management system. You can publish your map as a PowerPoint slide. You can even work in Excel and map the result. There are a lot of easy and powerful functions available in this product.

Introduction -- Getting Data / Atlases for Use

Dynamic Maps uses data that are structured in an integrated "Atlas". See the "Downloads" section of the Dynamic Planet web site (http://www.dynamicplanet.com/Support/DP_Downloads.html) for sample Atlases for Dynamic Maps to use. A software program called Dynamic Knowledgebase is used to create atlases for use and distribution. Dynamic Knowledgebase is available from the Dynamic Planet web site in the Downloads section as well.

1. Install Dynamic Maps

For clients in large organizations, please make sure you are logged onto your computer with "administrator/full" privileges so that you are able to install software. Download and run the "Dynamic Maps 3.1 Install.exe" and follow the prompts for the install. Reboot after installing to properly complete the install. (If you do not reboot, the software may not work.)

2. Get an Atlas and Set It Up

If you don't already have an Atlas of data, download one from the Dynamic Planet web site (http://www.dynamicplanet.com/Support/DP_Downloads.html). Copy /unzip the atlas onto an area of your computer. Atlases are distributed as self-extracting executables in order to help ensure that the files they contain remain intact and in their proper directory structure. Double-click on the Atlas file to begin the extraction process. Choose a location on your computer near a root directory level in a place that will be easy to navigate to when registering this Atlas with Dynamic Maps (the default location is C:\Atlases).

3. Run Dynamic Maps and Import an Atlas.

(These instructions assume you are not running Dynamic Maps on a network or with Dynamic Knowledgebase. If you are using Dynamic Maps on a network or using a Global Warehouse Manager with Dynamic Knowledgebase, please refer to the Dynamic Knowledgebase manual for instructions on how to set up the software for creating, managing and accessing the atlases. Even if you are running on a network, you are still able to have "local" atlases as well.)

a) Launch Dynamic Maps. The first time, the Atlas Name listing (showing the available atlases) will be blank.

b) Click “Import” and navigate to the parent directory of the atlas (e.g. “C:\Atlases\{AtlasName}”) and click OK. The Import process will begin and the atlas that you copied and extracted onto your computer will now be available for use in Dynamic Maps. If you get an import error, then either you picked a directory that did not contain an Atlas; or, some of the files in the Atlas were not found. Ensure that none of the files or folders were altered and try again.

d) The Atlas now appears in the list. Double-click on it to launch it.

Repeat the import process for each new Atlas that you register locally.