Identify Data Type to Open

The program forces you to select the type of data because:

• Some data formats, like Geotiffs, could be either DEMs or imagery, and nothing in the file or its metadata makes this apparent.  The program needs to know the type of data, because it supports different menu choices depending of the data's characteristics.
• The program originally had completely different display operations for DEMs and imagery.  While this has mostly been replaced with a common map window, the data structures for a DEM and an image remain quite distinct.
• In the early days of GIS and remote sensing, completely different programs were used for the two operations, and that philosophy still has some remnants in the MICRODEM source code.

The most important data open operations:

• Open DEM
• Open image
• Open Vector Map
• Open shape file map--open blank map and display shape file filling the display area.
• Open point clouds

Last revision 9/28/2017