This thread describes the last batch of updates to the 9.0.179.x build series.

The builds are available on the Product Downloads page.

Changes

The Layers pane shows 'none' overlap mode as 'none', not as an empty string. This helps distinguish label layers with 'none' overlap mode from non-label layers.

Re-projecting a component into a new component copies the component style.

Re-projecting a component into a new component selects the new component in the Project pane.

The Style pane remembers the method used to produce intervals for thematic formatting by saving it in style data.

The map window allows setting the center of the view to explicit coordinate values using the new Center command in the context menu for the Position status bar pane. The center can be specified as:

• latitude / longitude, or
• pixels / stored coordinates, or
• projected coordinates.

The layout window allows setting the center of the view for the active layout frame to explicit coordinate values using the Center command for the Position status bar pane. If the layout is read-only, the command is not shown.

Dragging and dropping a single MXB file into the Project pane opens it instead of importing, similarly to dragging and dropping a single MAP file.

(Fix) Rendering a layout frame with italic text aligned left or right no longer sometimes slightly clips the first or last letter.

End of list.

Very nice to now have a way to center on a lat long. Generally though, I'd use it for zooming to a lat long. Currently that requires centering then using the separate scale dialog to zoom in if your currently zoomed out. I think it would be worthwhile adding a scale option in the center dialog to make it a one step process.

The centre command was one of the totally basic things M9 interface lacked. (The next ones still missing is measuring areas using the tracker. After that, plus buttons ("tree view") for table-drawing-label/table-image hierarchy, although it is not so of a lack, but a quality of interface thing.)

Maybe the centre command deserves a button next to the zoom buttons, because it is too important to be a bit hidden like it is now. And anyway, the Position status bar is about units displayed, not navigation. On the other hand, same could be said about scale, that the Scale status bar is about current scale and not changing scale. But for some reason changing scale using the scale display status bar doesn't seem to me so odd.

Maybe the centre command deserves a button next to the zoom buttons, because it is too important to be a bit hidden like it is now.

I'd like to see a "Go to" box in the toolbar. If you enter lat/lon, it goes there. If you enter a place name, it uses whatever is the default geocoder specified in Tools - Options to go there. Might even allow specifying a hierarchy of sources, so you could specify a .map file that contained a drawing with points, where the "go to" lookup matched the nearest name in some default field and went to the location of that point. If there wasn't a match, it could drop down to the next default geocoder. That would allow using the Go To box for applications involving, say, hundreds of numbered oil or gas wells. Enter the well number and it goes there. Enter a place name, and it goes there too. Or, enter a lat/lon and it goes there.

Yes, this would be great. The Select pane is powerful but it is tedious for common searches that are worth the time setting up a more automatic method if it was available. It also doesn't work on tables that are not selectable. The solution should rapidly take you to the location on map or table and not just select it.

Hi Adam, I'm not sure if this is the best topic, but given the debate about coordinates, probably my picky scalebar question is not too far removed from the subject. Is it possible to change the way the text is displayed in the scale bar, namely removing the comma that separates the thousands?

In my usual work, it's not very accurate to have a comma separating the thousands, as commonly it is used to separate decimal values.

I have sent a suggestion about more options for scale bar customisation. That would include the option to view the absolute scale and the option to use a user defined unit text. The later would be used for not Latin script unit display. I suppose yours is a useful addition too.

We will try to provide means to customize scale bar text, yes.