Global Mapper

What's new in this version:

Global Mapper 26
- A new Global Command Search tool for easily browsing through or searching for any tool or functionality in Global Mapper
- A new option in the Flatten Site Plan tool to keep the entirety of edited terrain within the selected bounds polygon
- 3D line editing just got easier with the option to reposition individual vertices through the use of Perpendicular Path Profile views
- Providing context to the Walk Mode 3D view, enabling You Are Here shows the camera position in the 2D map as the mouse or arrow keys are used to walk over through data in the 3D viewer
- New support for an expanded number of data fields for point cloud data stored in LAS and LAZ formats. These extra fields can be loaded from a file to be explored in Global Mapper and even exported to Global Mapper Package format for sharing with others.
- Copy and paste image and DEM layers to duplicate a layer in a single workspace or easily copy data to additional open workspaces
- Export 3D data including vector features, meshes, and point clouds to Cesium 3D tiles format. Export gridded terrain to Cesium Terrain Tiles.
- Search the Connect to Online Data list of sources to stream just the data you need into Global Mapper, including a new built-in marine basemap source from TCarta


Global Mapper 25.1
- Change log not available for this version


Global Mapper 25
- Change log not available for this version


Global Mapper 24.1
- Change log not available for this version


Global Mapper 24
- Change log not available for this version


Global Mapper 23.1
- Change log not available for this version


Global Mapper 23
- Change log not available for this version


Global Mapper 22.1
- Change log not available for this version


Global Mapper 22.0
Significant New Features:
- New Eye Dome Lighting settings in the 3D viewer help improve visual display of vector and lidar data
- A new tool for simplifying loaded meshes or TINs
- A new Spatial Operations tool to find the intersection of two vector layers
- A new Analysis menu option to find the overlap (both percentage and graphical) between two or more Lidar, raster/image, and/or terrain layers
- An update to the Raster Reclassify tool that allows it to work with continuous data (terrain/slope, single bands of imagery).
- A new sweep selection tool for working with vector data in the 3D viewer
- Dramatically faster rendering of tiled online sources, especially in 3D.
- Support for creating point, line, or area features from a list of coordinates in an MS Excel (.xls/.xlsx) file.
- A new Digitizer menu providing convenient access to all Digitizer functions.
- A tabular preview showing the first ten lines of an imported ASCII or Excel file.
- Significant New LiDAR Module features:
- A new Terrain Paint tool for manipulating elevation values in a free-form way using an interface similar to MS Paint, Photoshop, etc. [Item #GM-1126]
- A new algorithm that improves building classification results on all types of point clouds. [Item #GM-9434]
- Improved building extraction with better 3D shape simplification, including generating building footprints. [Item #GM-2889]
- A new option to generate a process summary report when using Pixels to Points [Item #GM-7612]
- An update to the underlying libraries used in the Pixels to Points process resulting in improved output with certain image data sets. [Item #GM-10386]
- Two new lidar draw modes: [Item #GM-10148]
- 'Color by Source Layer' (allowing easy display of lidar point clouds using a different color for each layer)
- ‘Color by Scan Angle’.Supports for sorting exported LAS/LAZ files by one or more fields (.X, Y, Z, class, GPS time, etc.).
- Dramatically faster rendering of lidar path profiles with a large number of points.
- New Supported Formats:
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Added support for exporting Lidar data to the Leica PTS format. [Item #GM-10284]
- Added ability to import and export Mapbox Vector Tile data sets. [Item #GM-3900]
- Added support for the XTide .dat file format [Item #GM-9424]
- LiDAR Changes
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] The export to Lidar LAS/LAZ files now supports sorting the data by one or more fields (i.e. X, Y, Z, class, GPS time, etc.). A new Sorting tab on the Export dialog and a new SORT_FIELD parameter for the EXPORT_VECTOR command. [Item #GM-10697]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Added new Lidar draw mode 'Color by Scan Angle' to color Lidar point clouds by scan angle. [Item #GM-10834]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Added a new option to allow selecting Lidar points at least some distance from other Lidar or line features to the existing 'Select Lidar by Distance' feature. [Item #GM-10994]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Fixed issue with updating the return number/count of Lidar points when deleting other Lidar points in the pulse. [Item #GM-10838]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Fixed an issue with bin-gridded Lidar data being a fraction of a pixel off from its correct location in the grid. [Item #GM-10917]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Poles that are extracted now have a height attribute [Item #GM-10820]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Pole extraction will now use the workspace projection correctly. [Item #GM-10653]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Pole extraction now handles poles that have a negative elevation [Item #GM-10708]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Fixed an issue where the method that retrieved the nearby points could return no points. This affected pole classification and an other lidar operations that used this method [Item #GM-10868]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Lidar cropping based on selected features now uses the feature bounds instead of a rectangle [Item #GM-10997]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Corrected Lidar spatial thinning when keeping or removing every Nth point. It was off by 1. [Item #GM-10838]
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Fixed issue with image masks not working correctly on the Pixels to Points dialog if the images have been resized prior to loading in the P2P dialog. [Item #GM-11071]

3D Viewer Changes:
- Repair the rendering of 3D vector area features in some contexts. [Item #GM-11267]
- Repair the rendering of 3D vector line (twisting) features in some contexts. [Item #GM-11083]
- Fix a variety of issues in 3D vector feature editing. [Item #GM-11108]
- 3D Sweep Selection [Item #GM-4088]
- New Eye Dome Lighting settings in the 3D viewer help improve visual display of vector and lidar data [Item #GM-9276]
- 3D lines now have constant width. [Item #GM-6847]
- Fixed 3D display and gridding of vector layers that have unit names representing something other than meters or feet (like '500 cm'). [Item #GM-10826]
- Path Profile/Line of Sight Function Changes:
- [LIDAR MODULE ONLY] Dramatically sped up the render of Lidar path profiles with large numbers of points. [Item #GM-10825]
- Made path profile save to CSV use Position Display Format setting for Latitude/Longitude values. [Item #GM-11011]
- Fixed issue with perpendicular path profile not aligning with main path if Bearing Sense was not Grid North. [Item #GM-10809]

Analysis Function Changes:
- Add new option to find the overlap (both percentage and graphical) between two or more Lidar, raster/image, and/or terrain layers. The new option is under the Analysis menu. [Item #GM-10367]
- Fixed issues calculating area volumes. [Item #GM-10614]
- Added features to the Raster Reclassify tool to work with continuous data (terrain / slope). Other new features include creating a spread of output values, Improved diagnostic messages, creation of ranges with equal but opposite ends, and allow multiple transparent colors. [Item #GM-10734]
- Added a new option to simplify when generating a 3D model (mesh) from a loaded terrain surface. [Item #GM-7358]
- Added more output options to Raster Reclassification. It includes palette image, elevation (8-bit integer), elevation (16 bit integer), and an option to set unspecified input values to the transparent color.Raster Reclassification now allows non palette based layers such as elevation and image data. [Item #GM-10842/GM-10816/GM-10843]
- Fixed incorrect units on min/max points while generating contours. [Item #GM-10684]
- Reworked View Shed algorithm to use Measure->Bearing Options to calculate angles. [Item #GM-8409]
- Allow view sheds with over 512 million samples. Users are now prompted to allow the specified size or to automatically increase the Sample Spacing to get the sample count to a reasonable level. [Item #GM-10921]

Digitizer Tool Changes:
- Added a new option to simplify the geometry of 3D models (meshes). The new option is in the Digitizer Tool's right-click Move/Reshape menu. [Item #GM-7358]
- Added new option to allow snapping to Lidar point returns when digitizing. The option is under the right-click Options menu of the Digitizer Tool. [Item #GM-5859]
- Fixed the simplification of area features to remove the correct number of vertices. From v21.0 until v21.1.1, area simplification was often keeping many vertices that should have been removed. [Item #GM-10852]
- Fixed issues creating perpendicular lines when the selected line layer projection is different than the view projection. [Item #GM-10908]
- Fixed issue with ELEVATION attributes of point features changing when moving the features. [Item #GM-11231]
- Made 'Insert Vertices and Split at Intersections' keep per-vertex elevations and times. [Item #GM-11041]
- Add ELEVATION attribute to newly created point features created by snapping to 3D features (Lidar, terrain, 3D models, etc.) in the Digitizer Tool. [Item #GM-10992]
- Allow user to select "Above Sea Level" option when performing multiple volume calculations over a range of base heights. [Item #GM-10575]
- Fixed issue creating a buffer on one side of a line [Item #GM-10888]
- Updated Create Regular Grid operation to obey the Distance Calculation Type setting from the Configuration dialog. This means that if you are using Great Circle or Rhumb Line distance calculation, the grid cell edges will match the specified distance using the Measure Tool rather than being calculated in the current display projection. [Item #GM-5818]

Scripting Changes:
- Added ability to export TINs, Points, and Contours to Land/XML via a script. [Item #GM-7759]
- Added support for TAKE_OFF_ALT parameter for GENERATE_POINT_CLOUD script command. [Item #GM-11030]
- Added parameter to CALC_VOLUME script command to allow user to indicate whether the base height is at sea level or relative to the ground. [Item #GM-10913]
- Added built-in script variables for script file name with and without the extension [Item #GM-11106]
- Made VOID_ELEV parameter be obeyed for BIL elevation export using EXPORT_ELEVATION script command. [Item #GM-11133]
- Updated saved workspace files to remember a user-specified no-data value used when gridding text files on import. The new NO_DATA_VAL parameter for the IMPORT_ASCII command provides this support. [Item #GM-11139]
- Fixed bug causing the CALC_VOLUME_BETWEEN_SURFACES script command to require an AREA_FILENAME parameter to be provided rather than just calculating the volume inside the overlap of the surface layers. [Item #gm-11180]

Online Source Changes:
- Dramatically sped up the rendering of tiled online sources, especially in 3D. [Item #GM-10503]
- Added ability to add or replace layers in an existing MangoMap. [Item #GM-10933]
- Updated the Layer->Find Extrema (Min/Max) Elevation Points option to work with online terrain sources. There is also a new option to create point features at the located min/max points. [Item #GM-11056]

Projection/Datum Changes:
- Fixed issue with NTv2 datum transformations not being used immediately upon load. [Item #GM-10630]
- Added built-in IG05/12 and IG05/12 Intermediate datums and corrected the transform for the New Israeli Datum (NID). [Item #GM-10386]
- Added new Italian versions of ETRS89 and ETRF2000 datums that use NTv2 datum shift files. The base ETRS89 and ETRF2000 datums no longer use those NTv2 shift files as they only covered Italy and caused a slight discontinuity at the edge of the file. [Item #GM-10526]
- Added built-in PROJCS names for EPSG codes 2945-2951 (MTM Canada NAD83 CSRS zones). [Item #GM-10774]
- Improved the behavior of the GeoCalc mode projection selection dialog when loading layers so that transforms are automatically selected or prompted for when pressing OK rather than requiring the user to explicitly double-click on the transform list. [Item #GM-10808]
- When in geocalc mode and files are using a projection that isn't supported by geocalc a warning will appear and let you pick a new projection instead of hard crashing [Item #GM-10571]
- Updated MGI Austria datum shift with new file from Austrian government that fixes an issue in some locations. [Item #GM-6711]
- Fixed issues with display lat/lon grid lines for world-covering data cutting off around 67 degrees (N and S) for Mercator. [Item #GM-10801]
- Updated coordinate system definition files to include some missing EPSG codes. [Item #GM-11021]
- Fixed central meridian for Albers Conus EPSG codes (5069 and 5070) [Item #GM-11024]

Format Specific Changes:
- Added support for exporting terrain data to Land/XML as a TIN. [Item #GM-9472]
- Sped up tiled exports to ECW/JP2 files when multiple cores are available. [Item #GM-5063]
- Updated DXF and DWG exports to handle 3D models (meshes). Each triangle in the mesh is exported as a 3D area feature. [Item #GM-11345]
- Added the ability to customize the No Data value exported in Arc ASCII Grid files through the user interface. [Item #GM-10846]
- Updated projection information stored in GeoTIFF and LAS/LAZ files to include the detailed TOWGS84 datum transformation so that custom datums with unknown EPSG codes can be read back in correctly from exported files. [Item #GM-10849]
- Fixed issues in v21.1.0 rendering JPG-in-TIFF files. [Item #GM-10884]
- Fixed the methodology used to identify a SQLite/Spatialite database file. [Item #GM-7745]
- Updated exports to multi-band image formats (i.e. GeoTIFF, BIL, Erdas Imagine) to allow the inclusion of vector data and map layout items (i.e. scale bar). [Item #GM-8177]
- Fixed issue loading Japanese GML DEM files on systems where the locale was also set to Japanese. [Item #GM-9977]
- Ensure that exported KMZ files containing a 3D model can be read by Google Earth. [Item #GM-10926]
- Fixed slow load of vector files containing area features with large numbers of holes/islands in v21.1.0 release. [Item #GM-11131]
- Fixed issues loading ECW files with non-English characters in the filename or path. [Item #GM-11182]
- Added support for batch converting to the Garmin JNX format. [Item #GM-11334]
- Updated GeoTIFF 16-bit imagery exports to store signed 16-bit samples if any of the input layers have signed values. [Item #GM-10976]
- Added support for loading LandXML Parcels with 3D coordinate lists. Also added support for using Property values from LandXML as attribute values. [Item #GM-11054]
- Added option to use the Ordinance Survey Master Map (OSMM) styling when loading an OSMM file. [Item #GM-9055]
- Add an option to the KML/KMZ export to control the creation of folders for each geometry type. [Item #GM-10579]
- Significantly improved time needed to export data to CADRG format. [Item #GM-5415]
- Improved performance of exporting data to Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) file format. [Item #GM-7830]
- S-52 zoom levels now are used when changing the detail slider on s-57 files. Features that disappear when zooming in will now more closely match the s-52 style [Item #GM-10788]
- Improved the loading of MSI-Planet files. The clutter files now load as a palette-based image layer if a 'menu' file is provided. A prompt to confirm the UTM zone hemisphere is also no longer required if the 'projection' file specifies enough information to determine the hemisphere automatically. [Item #GM-10822]
- Added support for MapInfo datum codes for GDA2020, S-JTSK, and other datums. [Item #GM-10973]
- Dramatically sped up the load of S-63 chart files initially encrypted for a different machine. [Item #GMSDK-240]
- Re-enabled support for loading NetCDF files larger than 2GB (broken since v20.0). [Item #GM-10803]
- Fixed problem with incorrect elevation units when importing Global Mapper workspace file containing TIF files. [Item #GM-10634]
- Fixed error loading some LAS files over 2GB in size. [Item #GM-11337]
- Fixed problems loading some JP2 terrain data, including crashes on load and missing data in parts of the display with elevations below -9999. [Item #GM-11157]
- Fixed problem exporting feature points to shape files when using the "Generate 3D Features Using Loaded Elevation Data" option and the points did not have an ELEVATION attribute. [Item #GM-10564]
- Improved exporting and importing 3D content (mesh data) to and from PDF files. [Item #GM-9727]
- Include color from GM point symbols when exporting to DWG and DXF.Read point color when importing DWG and DXF. [Item #GM-5606]
- Fixed issue where the wrong code page being written to an exported SOSI file. [Item #GM-11200]
- Fixed an issue where the projection was not being identified correctly in an exported SOSI file. [Item #GM-11201]
- Improved resolution when exporting large map layout from the Map Layout Editor to PDF [Item #GM-10629]
- Made ELEV_UNITS get passed down properly when adding terrain layers to map catalogs via script. Also ensure that loading map catalogs doesn't end up prompting for elevation units. [Item #GM-10792]
- Made export to CSV from Attribute Editor handle the case where the first column is empty or hidden. [Item #GM-10815]
- Include map layout elements when exporting to PDF from the main view.Make inclusion of layout elements optional. [Item #GM-10840]
- Fixed the inadvertent duplication of coordinate values when exporting a lat/lon dataset to CSV with the "Export Separate Lat/Lon Coordinates for Each Point" option selected. [Item #GM-10475]
- Removed extraneous vertices from FBX terrain export. [Item #GM-10903]
- Make sure REST and GeoJSON overlays have the codepage set to UTF-8. [Item #GM-10916]
- Remove invalid characters from DXF layer names during export. [Item #GM-10924]
- Automatically detect false easting/northing values specified in the wrong units for some MrSID files and load them with the correct interpretation. [Item #GM-6031]
- Improved display of filled areas in SOLID entities when loading DXF and DWG files. [Item #GM-5955]
- Fixed problem where linked image files were not being saved in an exported KMZ file. [Item #GM-11009]
- Move option indicating whether to load all PDF map frames to the PDF Import Options screen. [Item #GM-11017]
- Fixed DXF exporter so that it respects the label option when exporting point features. [Item #GM-10981]
- Resolved issue with missing attributes when importing OSM data. [Item #GM-11064]
- Fixed issues displaying some BMP files in v21.1. [Item #GM-11184]
- Rendering/Style Changes:
- Fixed issue with custom shape point symbols scaled to be less than 0.5 pixels in radius drawing as 2 pixels width. Also fixed the pixel location of vector data on display and export. It could be up to one pixel right and or down of where it should have been. [Item #GM-7490]
- Check online layers when rendering a texture map. [Item #GM-10860]
- Performance:
- Sped up tiled exports when cropping or tiling to selected area features. Now multiple cores will be used if available. [Item #GM-5063]
- Improved performance when specifying very small custom grid line spacing. [Item #GM-5788]

User Interface:
- Added a new top-level Digitizer menu providing access to all Digitizer functions. [Item #GM-11198]
- ASCII and Excel file import dialogs now have a preview for the top 10 lines [Item #GM-457]
- Added Apply button to the Layer Shift dialog when its opened from the Control Center [Item #GM-11126]
- Added preview of transparent colors in the Raster Options/Display dialog for all raster formats, not just palette based ones. [Item #GM-10675]
- Added new feature to keep Histogram Graph windows open after the metadata dialog has closed. [Item #GM-10883]
- Added options on metadata histogram tab to control display of histogram bin labels and the option to color the histogram bins based on the currently selected shader. [Item #GM-10878]
- Added option for more detailed batch/re-projection processing information during run. [Item #GM-10720]
- Added configuration option for setting water level increment in 2D view. [Item #GM-9475]
- Modified Layer Name input box to only outline the control with a red box if it is blank rather than a blinking color. [Item #GM-10895]
- Allow deleting single color from a list of a layer's transparent colors. [Item #GM-10891]
- Made the band selection dialog for multi-band exports resizable. [Item #GM-10731]

Misc. Changes:
- An update to the Raster Reclassify tool that allows it to with continuous data (terrain/slope, single bands of imagery).
- Enforce multi-part polygon grouping in Attribute Editor. [Item #GM-8068]
- Fixed issues in batch convert from v21.1.0 release, including cropping to selected areas and using other source files as filler. [Item #GM-11023]
- User settings import now will remember toolbar locations. They will be used when imported as long as the version and monitor resolution match. [Item #GM-10615]
- Fixed bug where vertical transformation box doesn't appear in geocalc mode [Item #GM-10560]
- Fixed bug where 3D settings didn't match expected values if there were no GM registry keys yet [Item #GM-10279]
- Global Mapper correctly reads the custom AoU file in geocalc mode [Item #GM-10127]
- Display attribute values in the appropriate code page on the Search Vector Data dialog. [Item #GM-10789]