This WallsMap installation contains a preliminary GIS project named Texas Public Caves, one that's similar to the karst database being maintained by the Texas Speleological Survey. It might interest you if you would like to share data with the TSS, or if you're developing a project where data of various kinds (reports, images, etc.) are associated with point locations in Texas.

After installation, the Texas Public Caves project will be at this location:

C:\Users\Public\WallsMap Projects\Texas Public Caves\Texas Public Caves.ntl

Build 10/25/2016

• The links to downloadable imagery provided in the Help file topic, "Available Background Imagery", all point to a new location. The About box link was also revised to point diectly to a page at texasspeleologicalsurvey.org.
• A change was made to make the program more usable on computers with screens of very high pixel density, 276 dpi being typical for the newest laptop displays. Recent builds were incorrectly compiled as being "dpi-aware", which prevented Windows from performing a suitable scaling. This caused text sizing issues in some parts of the program. (Adobe's CS6 programs also have this problem, but fortunately an unofficial fix for this is available.) True dpi awareness will appear in a future WallsMap build.

Build 07/05/2016

• Miscellaneous minor improvements. Examples: The "Compare with Other layers" log reports more diagnostic information, such as indicating the specific records where the CREATED timestamp would be modified in a database update. The WallsMap setup now launches the application at the user's, not installer's, privilege level, allowing operations that would otherwise be prohibited, such as opening files by left-dragging them from Windows Explorer.

Build 03/08/2016

• In rare situations, the program has been unable to reliably determine whether or not Google Earth (Pro or Standard) is available for "fly to" operations. Now you can specify the path to the GE executable manually. (Or you can change the program that's launched.) This setting is in the Preferences -> Google Earth (KML) Launch Oprions dialog.

Build 12/04/2015

• Within the Image Viewer's Properties dialog, any links (urls) inserted for the image's caption are now live and can be immediately tested for validity. (They aren't live, however, in the thumbnail's "tooltip" window.)
• The "Add Similar Point" function would not initialize drop-down list values properly. The behavior now is to duplicate the data in all editable, non-memo fields that aren't subject to location-dependent initialization.

Build 09/03/2015

• Miscellaneous fixes. Examples: The text normally displayed alongside a memo field's button would sometimes be missing or truncated if the field began with a lot of rich text formatting codes. The Find Broken Links function could force a shutdown if the bad pathnames were too deeply nested.
• The program was ported to the latest version of Microsoft's compiler (VS 2015).

Build 06/17/2015

• The method used for accessing Google Earth was improved. The new method depends on files of extension .kmz having been assigned to "open with" either Google Earth or Google Earth Pro, a process done at the time of GE installation. NOTE: If both versions of GE are present, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the latest GE Pro release for it to acquire the kmz file association. Peter Sprouse reported this GE launch issue.

Build 04/23/2015

• The context menu for a record highlighted in the Selected Points dialog now has a "Set unlocated" option. Like "Paste coordinates", it fills the location edit boxes with a set of coordinates, in this case the set you've chosen to assign to unlocated features. As before, this choice of Lat/Long is made via the .FLDKEY directive in the shapefile's .tmpshp component.

Build 04/16/2015

• File types .htm and .html were added to the set of types (.pdf, .kmz, etc.) that one can open by double-clicking a thumbnail in the WallsMap image viewer. The file can be a complete web page, with links to files stored locally, or a simple html file that automatically opens a page on a remote site.
• More formats are accepted when coordinate pairs are pasted into dialog boxes.
• Other fixes: When entering UTM coordinates in the Selected Points dialog, clearing the field would trigger an annoying "parameter is incorrect" message. When rendering a shapefile layer, the label of a multi-ring polygon was sometimes missing or not positioned at the centroid.

Build 03/09/2015

• When left-dragging with the distance measuring tool, the distance and azimuth are displayed next to the mouse cursor instead of on the status line.
• Improvements were made to GPS-related functions related to port connectivity and tracking. When tracking is in progress, with the GPS placemark displayed, the map view's right-click context menu has an option to add (and select for editing) a shapefile record with the current GPS position assigned.
• Miscellaneous enhancements and fixes: The algorithm for choosing the initial color assignments for added shapefile layers was improved. In a table view, the Find dialog that's accessed via the header's context menu has an option to *not* ignore RTF markup codes (e.g., font assignments) during a search. Network pathnames are no longer added to the recently-opened files list. The handling of point shapefile records recognized as "unlocated" was fixed or improved in several functions.

Build 01/12/2015

• To assist with shapefile editing, a "Replace..." function exists alongside the "Fill field..." function in a table header's context menu. It requires careful use since it's a "non-prompted" search-and-replace that can affect many records when invoked for a specific field, which can be of type memo or fixed-length text.
• Miscellaneous improvements, particularly to the Compare function which now supports management of databases using UTM coordinates.
• A "Test memo field integity" option in the Layers context menu checks that all data blocks pointed to in the shapefile's DBT component are accessible. It also restores the file's list of reusable freed blocks in case it was lost due to an abnormal program shutdown. With previous builds, such a loss would leave regions of the file innaccessible and removable only with an export. For shapefiles you routinely edit, you should enable an option in the Symbols dialog to automatically perform this test upon project load.

Build 12/03/2014

• With use of a new "Fill field..." feature, it's possible to quickly initialize a field in multiple shapefile records with the same information. The field type can be logical (Yes/No), fixed-length character, or memo (with rich text supported). You can access the pop-up menu with this function by selecting records in a table view, then right-clicking the field's label in the header.
• Miscellaneous improvements, some for appearance sake and others for data safety. For example, message boxes requesting user confirmation were changed to have more descriptive button labels, with "Yes No Cancel" mostly avoided.
• Help file corrections and additions.

Build 10/01/2014

• The Help file's Available Background Imagery section has links to several more Texas geologic map layers derived from USGS publications. There are two layers for each region studied: a shapefile that can be used for location-based field initialization (say of geologic unit codes), and an NTI image of the complete geologic map. There are now 9 such datasets, including the statewide GAT.
• The functions for reading and exporting shapefiles can more efficiently handle component file sizes approaching or exceeding the official ESRI limit of 2 GB. Concatenating large files via the "copy to layer" function is many times faster.
• To help protect against abnormal program or computer shutdowns, edited coordinates are committed to disk as soon as the corresponding record in the Selected Points dialog ceases to be highlighted with fields displayed. Until now, only edited attribute fields were handled this way.
• A bug was fixed that in some cases prevented the "Find broken image links" function (accessed via a table view's context menu) from working properly when the option to actually repair the links was chosen.

Build 08/20/2014

• Selected Points window enhancement: When records with the same field structure are switched between, the vertical scroll position of the field display is preserved, making data comparisons much easier when there are many fields.
• A bug in the shapefile compare function caused revisions in outdated records to be applied when the "Create updated reference" option is selected. Normally a reviewed update shapefile won't have such records when it's used to create a new database snapshot.

Build 07/13/2014

• When creating an update archive, the compare function could on rare occasions fail to include image files linked to new records. This bug was fixed and minor improvements were made to the program and help file.

Build 06/20/2014

• Automatic field initialization for new or relocated point features can now occur when the point is covered by any one of several polygon shapefiles -- for example, a set of geologic map layers when the field contains a geologic unit name or abbreviation. Previously only a single polygon layer could be used to initialize a given field. In the Help file see Export Operations | Template File Format | Controlling a Field's Behavior | Location-dependent Initialization.
• Location-dependent initialization now works as expected for unlocated features.

Build 05/05/2014

• Links to six more DRG/DEM layers covering 483 7.5' Texas quadrangles can be found in the Available Background Imagery section of the help file. This extends the seamless coverage to all of Far West Texas (1177 quadrangles total).
• In maintaining the TSS database we've often needed to reconcile changes made by different contributors to reports in memo fields. To make this easier the text editor has new options that allow quick side-by-side comparisons of memo field text. For details, see the new section, "Editing Memo Field Content", under "Searching and Editing Shapefiles | Editing Records" in the Help file.
• A spatial indexing checkbox was added to the Symbols dialog for polygon shapefiles. The program will use the index for determining which polygon contains a specific point, such as when initializing field values that depend on location. The speed-up is dramatic when a large shapefile is used to initialize thousands of records during an export or database update. I suggest leaving the index "depth" option set at 5.
• Miscellaneous improvements and minor bug fixes. Attempting to launch the program with a project that's already open in another program instance will activate that instance instead of opening an empty application window and displaying an annoying message.

Build 03/29/2014

• The compare function was enhanced to support more types of keys and tests for consistency. For example it can check whether or not a point falls within an appropriate boundary, say of a county, and report the distance to that polygon if it fails the test. The help file was updated, particularly the Template File Format section.
• Miscellaneous minor bugs were fixed. For example, sorting table columns for character fields containing leading numbers could sometimes produce an unexpected result.

Build 03/09/2014

• More features were added to help with database maintenance in a multi-user setting. The shapefile compare function, for example, can create an update archive for submission to the database maintainer and also update the master copy on the receiving end. This can involve the generation of keys for new records.(See new Help file topics under Keeping the Database Current.)
• Three more DRG/DEM layers covering areas surrounding Upton, Irion, Reagan, and Tom Green counties are linked to in the Available Background Imagery section of the help file. The total coverage is now 694 7.5' Texas quadrangles.

Build 12/18/2013

• This build uses a newer graphics technology (Direct2D) that's available only in versions of Windows later than XP (preferably 7, 8, or 8.1). Depending on your video hardware, you should notice much faster display of very large shapefiles. An XP-compatible alternative will also be available for awhile.
• The NTI export feature was enhanced with more options and documented in a new Help file topic.

Build 09/28/2013

• Miscellaneous improvements include the option to add a generated NTI file to the project as opposed to just replacing the source, simplifying before-and-after comparisons. A rare bug that could corrupt project tree structure was also fixed.
• Google's new WebP image format is now supported, both as an image type (extension .webp) and as a tile compression option for creating NTI files. My tests so far indicate that compared to JPEG2000 the WebP option can produce higher- quality NTI files of similar or smaller size.

Build 09/05/2013

• GPS tracking is enabled in this build. Establish a connection via a real or virtual COMM port by selecting "GPS" -> GPS Port Connection from the program's main menu. A small dialog window then remains open (possibly minimized) to allow a GPS placemark and track line to appear on georeferenced map views. There are options to customize the marker and line styles and to save the logged track as a shapefile. My thanks to Peter Sprouse for lending his Bluetooth GPS receiver and tablet computer for the development and testing of this build.
• The program was modified to improve compatability with tablet computers like Microsoft's Surface Pro. Gestures commonly used on touch screens are supported. For example, a "touch and hold" gesture will open a context menu.

Build 05/05/2013

Compatibility with Windows XP is restored after having been broken in the previous build. The symptom was a failure to start. There are no other changes.

Build 04/30/2013

• This build introduces a shapefile comparison function, its main purpose being to help maintain a database when multiple users are independently making contributions. The function logs the differences between an unedited reference shapefile, say a snapshot of the master database, and a selected set of shapefiles having the same structure. The selected set will presumably have records for new features as well as updated versions of records existing in the reference. Besides the log file, the function optionally produces an "update archive", a ZIP file containing a shapefile of revised records along with any new local files referenced in memo fields.
• To initiate a comparison, right click on a suitable reference shapefile in the Layers window and select "Compare with other layers." For you to see this menu item the reference must have a .tmpshp component that specifies which field to use for identifying new and existing records. The TSS uses field TSSID with a reference shapefile named "TSS All Types.shp" that's shipped with each database release.
• The dialog "URL for Web Map Navigation" was overhauled to allow replacement or modification of all (now six) of the built-in mapping site addresses. Details are in a Help file topic under "Preference Settings." New to the built-in list is TxDOT's Statewide Planning Map, which can display eight kinds of environmental overlays, including major aquifers, watersheds, natural regions and sub regions. It also can provide the coordinates of Texas mile post markers.

Build 03/24/2013

• The KML files generated for Google Earth for displaying multiple placemarks werei> revised to prevent an annoying tilting if the view, both initially and when zooming to features clicked on in the sidebar. Oddly, this is the default behavior beginning with GE version 7. With this fix you can expect to be looking straight down, with all placemarks in view and with the maximum scale determined by your Range setting in WallsMap's Google Earth (KML) Launch Options dialog (accessed via Preferences). Also, a label size setting was added to this dialog.
• The Help topic, Available Background Imagery, was updated with a link to a 0.15- meter aerial image encompassing several karst preserves near Cedar Park in southern Williamson County.

Build 02/11/2013

• Links to three new 0.15-meter resolution aerial images (NTI files) can be found in the Help file under Available Background Imagery. The USGS orthoimagery was acquired in 2010 and covers all or most of Honey Creek SNA, Government Canyon SNA, and the Spring Branch karst area of Texas.
• Repairs made: Under Windows XP, grayed checkboxes in the Layers window would not display, resulting in confusing behavior. Support for TIFF files larger than 4 GB had been inadvertently removed in recent builds. In the View menu, the options to outline all or selected layers should have been disabled (grayed) for non- georeferenced image files.
• Miscellaneous minor improvements. Examples: The distance measure tool now displays the direction (degrees azimuth with respect to the map's up direction) on the program's status bar. Polylines are drawn with round linecaps to eliminate the "broken" appearance of traverses that connect end-to-end, as in exported Walls survey data.

Build 11/25/2012

• More coordinate system types, such as state plane, are recognized in this build, even though support for mixing or converting between different types remains limited. Projection details are displayed in the layer's properties window. When an image file doesn't embed this information, a projection (.prj) file is read if one is found.
• Fixed issues related to the handling of deleted records in 2D polyline and polygon shapefiles. Undeletion and deletion is now allowed in table views, with the map and layer extent (if displayed) updated dynamically.

Build 11/15/2012

• In table views, the Find dialog accessed by right-clicking the header will allow searches for deleted records when the column clicked on is that of the record number. As before, an opened table view will not show the deleted records. To include them click the Reload button and choose option "All records."
• The deleted status of selected records is now retained during "Copy to layer" operations from either a table view or the Selected Points window. In a shapefile export, however, including the deleted records is still a dialog option that's unchecked by default.
• "Move to Top" and "Move to Bottom" were added as context menu choices in the Column Visibility dialog for table views.
• The Find Broken Image Links dialog, accessed by right-clicking a memo field's name in a table view header, now has a "Create Log" button that's enabled when the memo field contains links to non-existent files. This function will create or append to a text file, _log.txt, listing the links alphabetically.

Build 11/04/2012

• A recently-introduced bug was fixed: The program would abort upon completion of a successful NTI file export.

Build 10/15/2012

• Bugs fixed: (a) Reordering visible layers by dragging a folder wouldn't in itself cause the map view to be updated. (b) Setting line width to zero with antialiasing turned off now removes the outlines of rendered polygons as one would expect.
• Fixed several issues relating to the handling of 3D shapefiles, with three M types (pointM, polygonM, and polylineM) now recognized along with the corresponding Z and 2D types. Also, a new checkbox option, "Make 2D shapefile", was added to the shapefile export dialog. For details, see "Exporting and Merging" in Help.
• The Texas project was updated with the 3rd Qtr 2012 roads shapefile from TxDOT, with its format converted from polylineM to polyline to save space.

Build 10/10/2012

• The program was overhauled to support a tree-like hierarchy of map layers instead of a simple list. In the Layers window you'll find options for creating named groups (folders) in the context menu for a highlighted item. Like layers, the folders have visibility check boxes and can be rearranged by drag-and-drop. Scale range settings can also be applied to folders. The Help file was updated with images and additional text, mostly in topic "Getting Started."
• Some fancier user interface controls of Vista and Windows 7 are now enabled. Under Windows XP you should see no significant differences.
• A new menu option, "Preferences > Preferences for this document > Save and restore Layers window size", preserves the size and column widths of the Layers window in the NTL file. Also, when you move between multiple open documents by clicking on the corresponding map or image, the Layers/Properties window resizes to match the active document.
• Revised the image previewer so that an image opened indirectly via the "double extension" feature can optionally be added as a layer if it's compatible. A large, rarely-used DOQ might be opened this way. Documentation for the previewer is now included in "Getting Started."
• Improved dialogs: (a) When opening a project for which some layers are missing you're offered the option to skip the remaining missing files without additional warnings. (b) The dialog requesting an editor's name that pops up when one attempts, for the first time, to edit a shapefile with timestamp fields, has the checkbox option to make the name persistent across program invocations.
• Bug fix: Some file timestamps were wrongly converted to UTC in exported ZIP files.

Build 7/30/2012

• Updated online help by adding new topics and detailing previously-available operations. Additional info for most (but still not all) dialogs can be accessed by pressing F1 when the dialog is open. The Available Background Imagery topic has a link to a another DEM/DRG NTI file set for West Texas, this one covering Terrell and eastern Pecos counties (63 7.5' quads).
• The list of up to 8 text strings (with matching criteria) that were last used successfully when searching for shapefile records is now a project setting that's optionally saved in the NTL file. Enable this option by checking "Save and restore search history" in the "Preferences > Preferences for this document" menu.
• Fixed a bug reported by George Veni. Pasting rich text into a memo field already containing plain text would not function as designed, the program inserting a plain text version without offering to switch the editing mode to rich text.
• Miscellaneous improvements: The Image Opacity dialog has a "Preview" check box. KML was added to the list of media types that can be opened from the image preview window. You can toggle a shapefile's editable mode in some situations where a record is already open in one or more windows. Some unhelpful options in edit box context menus were removed.

Build 4/22/2012

• The "Copy to layer" functions no longer require that the source and destination shapefiles have the same attribute structure. Each can have fields not present in the other. Also, fields with matching names can have different lengths, with conversions between memo and fixed-length text fields possibly occurring. The user is warned when structures are different and when data might be (or have been) truncated.
• The image viewer now recognizes non-raster graphics and media files, but only if they exist alongside a suitable raster image file. For example, if you wanted to link a pdf document named "Hueco Tanks.pdf", you would actually link a specially- named raster representation of it, say "Hueco Tanks.pdf.png." Then, whenever this png image is being previewed, the "Open File" button will open the corresponding pdf file in the associated application -- most likely, Adobe Reader.
• Double-clicking a thumbnail in the image viewer is now equivalent to clicking the "Open File" button. Except for the special case described above (item 2), this causes the previewed raster image to be opened as another document in the instance of WallsMap you're running.

Build 12/31/2011

• At least the prior build (12/14/2011) contains a Windows 7 dependency that causes it to display an error message, "entry point not found...", when run under Windows XP.

Build 12/14/2011

• A new toolbar icon (cross-hair symbol) opens a dialog where you can enter coordinates for centering the map. The dialog also appears when "Center on point" is chosen from the view's right-click menu, in which case the coordinate boxes are initialized to the position clicked on instead of the previous centered-on position. A cross-shaped placemark is optionally produced that remains in place until the next centering operation.
• Common formats for lat/long coordinates, such as N 30 25' 30.5" W 97 15' 2" (or simply 30 25 30.5 -97 15 2) can be pasted or entered directly into the Selected Points and Center on Point coordinate boxes. As you type, validity is indicated by an enabled "Relocate" (or "OK") button.
• Opening projects (NTL files) at a network location is supported.

Build 10/27/2011

• The NTI/NTE elevation layer format is improved so that the visible NTI component can have a higher resolution than the associated DEM component (NTE file). When made partially transparent (see item 5) it can provide an attractive 3D shading for an underlying USGS topo map. Also, elevations retrieved from the DEM are of maximum possible accuracy and no longer affected by the screen map's zoom level.
• The downloadable NTI imagery was updated with new sets of DEM/DRG layers that allow the DEM components to produce a shading effect for the topos. The number of 7.5' quads covered has increased from 245 to 506. The links to these and other NTI layers for regions of Texas are in the help file topic "Available Background Imagery", which was moved from the TSS project section to the public section.
• Spreadsheets (xls files) compatible with Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice.org can now be created directly, thanks in large part to code developed by Yap Chun Wei and Martin Fuchs. This export option for shapefiles is a right-click menu choice for the selected items in a table view. Worth noting is the fact that memo field text can be exported without truncation as long as it's no longer than Excel's 32K cell size limit. Also, rich text (RTF) is optionally transferred intact.
• To greatly simplify proofing of data in ranges of shapefile records, memo fields are presented differently in table views, with up to 80 characters of field content displayed to the right of the button that opens the editor or image viewer.
• Raster image transparency is supported, which allows the setting of both overall opacity and a specific color to be treated as transparent. For hiding the margins of lossy-compressed images, an error tolerance for matching the transparent color can be specified. These layer-specific settings are accessed by clicking an "Opacity" button in the Layers window, or by right-clicking a map image and selecting "Image opacity" from the pop-up menu.
• Exploring a location at a web mapping site is more efficient. From the context menus you can either open the default site or select one of five suggested URLs and tweak its parameters. The default is optionally changed in the process. The suggested URLs are for Acme Mapper (my preference), Gmap4, Google Maps, Bing Maps, and ArcGIS Online.
• Minor fixes: Saving new shapefile records with empty label fields is now easier, requiring only confirmation. Changing marker and label visibility sometimes failed to update all windows properly.

Build 06/12/2011

• Miscellaneous improvements: Thumbnail captions in the image preview window can be edited in place, with the default captions for new images more likely to be acceptable. Certain rarely-used characters in labels could cause Google Earth to reject a KML file without explanation. This was fixed with proper formatting.

Build 05/08/2011

• The "Locate in Google Earth" feature now works for multiple point features, such as a branch in the Selected Points window or all selected items in a table view. When you choose "Options" instead of "Fly Direct", you can specify the attribute fields (if any) to be used for constructing the descriptions that appear in GE when you click on a placemark icon. The placemark symbols for multi-point exports and single-point exports can be specified via two URLs. See "Preferences | Google Earth (KML) launch options" on the menu.
• WallsMap uses the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (http://ww.gdal.org) to display many types of raster imagery. This build incorporates the latest release, 1.8.0, instead of 1.7.2.

Build 04/22/2011

• There's a new section in the help file, "Available Background Imagery", containing descriptions and download links for sources of image data suitable for adding to the TSS_Data project. Apart from the public sources, the WallsMap site now has a starting set of 8 images comprised of 245 USGS 7.5' topos at full resolution, along with a corresponding set of DEM images for retrieving elevations in those regions. These cover more than 60% of the caves, sinks, and shelters now in the database. There are also links to some 6-inch resolution photography for the GCSNA and Spring Branch areas.
• Miscellaneous fixes: Text can be copied from fields in shapefiles that have been set read-only; the text editor has a checkbox for toggling toolbar display when in rich text mode; a certain kind of JPEG file would fail to open on Vista or Windows 7 when located on the system drive. The user is prompted only once when multiple NTI files requiring overview generation are added to a project.

Build 02/25/2011

• Paired with the ability to launch Google Earth at a selected location is a new option to open a web mapping application. This can be a quicker alternative when the goal is to explore the geography surrounding a single placemark, possibly to retrieve new coordinates. An application named Gmap4, for example, can display relief-shaded USGS 7.5' topographic maps in addition to Google's standard map types. The web site accessed and type of map initially shown are determined by a Preferences menu setting labeled "URL for web map navigation." The help file has more information about it under "Configuration Settings."
• Miscellaneous fixes: Field descriptions display as tooltips on table header; Linked local files, not just images, are tested for validity and included in exported archives. Layer context menu option to close a shapefile and delete its files; more coordinate pair formats can be copied and pasted; option to abort opening a project instead of skipping each layer file that can't be found; memo field links to local PDF files now work properly; better handling of corrupted shapefiles; some incompatibilities with non-standard numeric field types used by other SW removed; recognition of Global Mapper prj files.

Build 10/10/2010

• A bug was introduced in the previous build that caused a "Decompressing tile..." error when accessing 256-color NTI images. This was fixed, along with an error in the function that converts from Lat/Long to UTM where latitude is negative.

Build 08/03/2010

• This build was created with a new compiler version (Microsoft VC++ 2010), requiring that a DLL for reading MrSID (.sid) image files be distributed with the executable. This module from LizardTech (www.lizardtech.com) is loaded only when required.
• The newest versions of supporting libraries Kakadu (v6.4) and GDAL (v1.72) have been incorporated, one result being that certain JPEG2000 (.jp2) files are now displayed with the correct colors.
• The function that copies shapefile records to a destination shapefile was broken in build 06/27/2010. This is fixed starting with build 07/05/2010.
• Miscellaneous improvements and fixes, such as the ability to delete or undelete shapefile records in a table view. (The "Reload" function now optionally includes the deleted records.) The timestamp of an edited DBF component was not updated in earlier builds.

Build 06/27/2010

• A number of obscure or display related issues were addressed. Occasionally 2D point coordinates in a shapefile would change unnecessarily due to round-off errors during coordinate system transformations. The About box now contains a live link to a web page from where updates can be downloaded. The zip archiving function offers more options for choosing which layers to include. The setup and uninstall programs won't proceed when WallsMap is running. The help file, still incomplete, has some new sections.

Build 04/19/2010

• The display of shapefiles has been improved through the use of Cairo, an open source 2D graphics library that can render visually appealing shapes and lines. The various symbol dialogs have new options and controls. NOTE: Since the marker symbol size units have changed, a project saved with this build will appear with oversized markers in an older program version. A project saved with an earlier version, however, should look approximately the same.
• The PNG export function, useful for creating map images for printing, has new options for controlling the sizes of rendered shapefile features (text, symbols, and line widths), for including a scale bar, and for immediately opening the image as a georeferenced document.
• The logic for determining layer compatibility when coordinate system info is incomplete has been overhauled.
• The beginnings of an online help file is provided with this build.

Build 01/03/2010

• The File menu now has an "Export project as ZIP archive" option. The archive stores a project script, .NTL, along with all associated layer files, with hidden (unchecked) layers optionally excluded. There's also an option to include the targets of links in memo fields, whether they be image files accessed by the viewer or local files (such as PDFs) targeted by links in ordinary text memos. A file won't be included, however, if the corresponding link is broken (obviously), or if it resides outside the directory branch whose root is the parent of the NTL file's folder. If a report of such instances isn't displayed when the archive is created, the project will be fully self-contained and can be extracted to any folder and opened. This feature, by the way, complements the "Fix broken links" dialog (accessed by right-clicking a memo field name in a table view) in that it can be used to discover orphaned files you may still want to add to the project (or delete). Just extract the ZIP to a new location and do a directory comparison.
• Field descriptions can be stored in a shapefile's template component (.tmpshp file). These will display as multi-line tooltips when the mouse pointer hovers over a field name in the Selected Points dialog.
• Minor fixes and improvements. The layers list did not update properly when layers were added via drag-and-drop or cut-and-paste. The "Fix Broken Links" dialog now has a "Select Record" button, which is useful when more than the path portion of a link needs to be repaired.

Build 12/14/2009

• Editing of attributes can be controlled by options specified in a template file (extension .tmpshp) that might exist alongside the shapefile's other components. You can make specific fields read-only, have alternative choices appear in drop-down list boxes, and specify how fields in new records are to be initialized. The initialized value can be a fixed string or, depending on where you right-clicked, a value such as a quadrangle name retrieved from a polygon shapefile or an elevation (converted to feet or meters) retrieved from an NTI/NTE image layer. To view or edit the template for a shapefile that has one, right-click the shapefile's title in the Layers window and select "Open (name).tmpshp" from the context menu.
• There is a new dialog for finding and optionally fixing bad image links in memo fields, particularly those for files that have moved relative to the shapefile's location. To access it, open a table view of the shapefile, right-click on a memo field's name in the header and select "Fix broken image links...". This makes it convenient to store images comprising a future project update in a separate folder to minimize the size of the archive that would need to be distributed.
• It's no longer necessary to have either the Layers window or the Selected Points dialog open to add new point features. Just right-click on the map and appropriate options will be presented in the pop-up context menu. Similarly, to copy items from one shapefile to another it's only necessary to have the items to be copied present in the Selected Points window. The right-click context menus for both tree branches and individual records now have a "Copy to shapefile..." option, with the suitable target shapefiles listed in a submenu. Unlike the drag-and-drop method, the copied items in the source shapefile remain selected, allowing them to be easily deleted to complete a move operation. As before, the source and target shapefiles must have identical attribute structures.
• Miscellaneous improvements. Checkboxes now represent Yes/No attribute fields. Tooltips are enabled for the memo field buttons in a table view. It's now possible to add layers to a project by dragging or copying file names in Windows Explorer and dropping or pasting them in the Layers window. To simplify file management, including deletion, there is a new "Open containing folder" option in the Layers window context menu. Units conversion is now possible when exporting via a template.
• UTM zone numbers are handled more flexibly in the Selected Points dialog, making it easier to enter UTM coordinates in projects covering multiple zones.
• Among the bugs fixed is the potential mishandling of deleted records in a shapefile export. The other issues fixed were less serious.