What’s New in Tumonz 9

Tumonz 9 can be ordered and downloaded online

Tumonz 9 can be downloaded from the Tumonz website. After making payment you will receive the Product Key (formerly CD Key) and the next job is to visit the Support/’Tumonz 9 Install Manager’ page and download the ‘Tumonz Installation Manager Downloader’. This is a small program that does just what it name implies (downloads and locates the Install Manager (hereafter IM)). You need to grant permission when prompted (allowing the program to make changes to your computer). One of the IM’s tasks, both at Tumonz 9 installation and later at pre-programmed intervals, is to check online and download any files that are newer than any that may already be on your computer. This is generally a hands-off process. When running, the IM will display a small Icon in the bottom-right system icon tray. You can click on this icon to display the IM window. When its tasks are finished, the IM will wait a minute and close and the Icon will disappear. The IM downloads files to your User Dir and when finished downloading, another small program pushes files to your Install Dir.

The registration process is unchanged from previous versions. The CD/Product key is entered and if online, just select the ‘Quick Internet Registration’. If you are unable to do this, then the manual option is to select ‘Continue registration..’ and enter the generated License Key into the web Support/Activation page to manually retrieve your Registration Activation which you must then enter into the Tumonz 9 registration window.

Some important browsing changes you should know about

We haven’t changed the Map Browsing actions but we want to remind you that you can select the ‘Touch-screen enabled’ style under the main page ‘Map Browsing’ node to align Tumonz browsing more closely with Google Maps browsing. ‘Touch screen enabled’ pans the map with left mouse and you can zoom using any of: the on-screen zoom controls, left and right mouse clicks and mouse wheel.
Introducing the Temporary User Data node. This is visible on the ‘My Data/Linked Data’ and the ‘On-line Map’ pages. This node is like the User Shapes & Text node and the User Icons node combined (e.g. you can add Folders, Layers, and Objects) with one very important difference – when you close Tumonz 9, nothing in the Temporary User Data Node is saved. This will allow you to view information during a Tumonz session without you having to manage the information when you close down. For example; we have added the capability to select say 100 nearest parcels and view them in the online map. These are copied to the ‘Temporary User Data’ node. They will disappear when you close Tumonz 9. However, you can save anything in the ‘Temporary User Data’ node by dragging or copying it to the permanent nodes; ‘User Shapes & Text’ and ‘User Icons’. When closing Tumonz 9, if you have information in the ‘Temporary User Data’ node, you will be prompted before it is lost. More below.
Major new capabilities and functions in the Online Map page. Depending on what you have selected in the Online Map tree you will see different function buttons appearing in the short Toolbar under the sidebar tree. These functions can also be selected from the right mouse menu displayed when right mouse clicking in the Tree window within the sidebar. More about this below and in other tutorials.
Make space available in the sidebar tree window. This is not new but is worth commenting on. With all the new capability accessed from within the sidebar. You need as much space as you can get. Apart from grabbing and dragging the edges of the main Tumonz window you can adjust the space within the sidebar by grabbing with left mouse and dragging the right margin of the ‘tree’ window and the bottom margin below the ‘short toolbar’ buttons (hints will appear). Grabbing and dragging down will ‘wrap up’ the sidebar pages into selectable buttons across the bottom of the sidebar. Dragging back up will restore the full sidebar page description.

Major changes in the Online Map sidebar (Tutorial available)

The Temporary User Data node. This node is present in both the ‘My Data/Linked Data’ and the ‘On-line Map’ sidebar pages. The same controls and functions (display/hide, add/delete Folders/Layers and Objects; change colours, line thicknesses, fills, transparencies and full editing behavior) are consistent with the controls and functions in the ‘User Shapes and Text’ node and in the ‘User Icons’ node as they apply in the respective two sidebar pages. This node has full functionality but what is in here will be lost when Tumonz closes. If you want to save – then drag or copy/paste to a permanent node before closing Tumonz.
Major new Functionality in the online map. You may now stay in the Online Map sidebar page to add Folders, Layers, and Objects; Change display colours, line thicknesses, and transparencies; and build/edit objects. All these functions are common across the 3 nodes (User Shapes & Text, User Icons, Temporary User data). Although the outcome in terms of object building/editing and display properties are the same, the methodologies are different between the My Data page and the Online Map page. Previously in Tumonz 8 it was necessary to return to the My Data page to add lines and shapes and alter display properties. This all now happens in the Online Map page as well. Adding a shape ‘drops’ a triangular shape on the map. Adding a line ‘drops’ a 3 point line on the map. Left-clicking an object initiate’s edit mode -allowing you to move and add points. A second left-click (on an object edit point) hides the points and you are out of edit mode. Right-click an object and you are in drag mode (the transparency and the line colour changes). The next right-click takes you out of drag mode. See the sidebar ‘short toolbar’ below the tree or right mouse menu to access ‘properties’ which allow you to alter colours and transparency (with the Layer or Object selected).
As in previous versions, 3 background map styles are available. Street, Satellite and Hybrid are selectable from the tree. Print is available under the Map Functions node. If you are out of edit mode, the edit points are not printed.
There are few practical restrictions on displaying large numbers of objects in the Online Map. In earlier Tumonz versions you needed to browse to each map object and ‘display’ by selecting its tick box. Now you can turn all objects to Show/Hide at the Folder or Layer level using the Right mouse menu and choosing the ‘Show/Hide’ command. For instance, you can show a complex map (say a farm map) over satellite photos with a single command. (Note, Text is not supported in the Online Map.)

Copying one or many parcels to the Temporary node

Using the Vector with Property Information Map Style, use Ctrl key down & Left Click the area of interest to see and select the “Copy this to My Data” command. Options will appear; ‘Selected item’ means just the selected parcel while ‘Items Closest to Selected (100)’ copies the boundaries of the 100 closest parcels to the Temporary User Data node. Adjust colours and transparencies and perhaps save some parcels of interest by grabbing/copying to a new Folder or a permanent node.

Sharing user objects with remote devices (Tutorial available)

In the My Data page; at the Layer level ‘Export to KML’. Open your Google Account. In Google Maps/My places import your kml file. This is now visible in your remote device OR if ‘shared’ in someone else’s device. The round trip is also possible i.e. the remote party can modify the object (if you grant permission) and you can open the altered object in your Google Maps, export the kml and in Tumonz 9, import the new kml file (for the import, use the Tools menu to ‘Import kml file’). There are many possible uses for this capability. Some examples: send an outline of your land to a service provide (a paddock to a fertilizer spreader, a forestry stand to a harvester, a land parcel to an engineer) send a mountain bike track or a hiking track to a friend, and so on.

New updated layers