MapInfo cannot import NTF or Mastermap GML data directly. To use DIGIMAP data in NTF or GML format you will need a translator. For more details about the free NTF2MIF and OSM2MIF translators go to the MapInfo information pages.

You can download the free translators and Conversion Tools.

Conversion Tools is a MapInfo tool to convert OS grid references to metres for creating point data tables (It also converts Lon/Lat to decimal degrees). Conversion Tools is free for teaching or research use by UK academic users - download here

Registered DIGIMAP users can also download NTF2MIF, OSM2MIF and Conversion Tools from the DIGIMAP website. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding NTF2MIF, please contact Nigel James.

Data is available in DXF or NTF formats (Land-line.Plus is in NTF only). DXF data can be imported into MapInfo without translation, whereas NTF data has to be translated using the NTF2MIF translator program and this is explained in part two. NTF and DXF data does not display identically in MapInfo. DXF is more limited in that it does not recognise line widths or symbols, whereas NTF data retains line widths, styles and colours etc.

MasterMap (which is replacing Land-Line) is supplied in GML format. This can be imported in MapInfo (version 8.5 onwards). For ealier versions of MapInfo use the free OSM2MIF translator (see above).

If you are using Digimap in the Map Room, click the Digimap link on the OXLIP screen to go directly to the Digimap website. If you are accessing Digimap from elsewhere, then go to the Digimap website at http://edina.ac.uk/digimap/ or you can go to the Map Room Home Page at: http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/ then follow the links to the Edina Digimap website.

On the Digimap web page, click Login to the Digimap web service, then on the next page click Login, then enter your username and password. Read and acknowledge the copyright notice and you will then be taken to the main Digimap page. When the Digimap page is displayed, click the Data Download Services link.

On the next page, click the Digimap Download link.

1. When using this option, you will have to enter the coordinates as separate eastings and northings in six-digit numbers. Only the bottom left and top right coordinates are required, to define a bounding rectangle.

2. If you have the corner coordinates of your area in conventional form, they have to be converted to separate values in metres. For example, the NGR SP510060 would be 4510 and 2060, and making this into 6-figure values would be 451000 and 206000. In the Map Room you can use the utility program Converter to make the conversion.

3. Once you have done this and entered the values, select the data series you require (remember that coverage is not 100% for Land-line.Plus data). When you have made your selection, click Continue.

4. You will now see a list of tiles. If this is incorrect, click the back button on the browser and try again, otherwise click Choose Data Format.

5. You have a choice of DXF or NTF formats (currently Land-line.Plus is only available in NTF format). NTF files require the NTF2MIF Translator program to convert the NTF data into MapInfo MIF format (see: Part Two - Converting NTF data to MapInfo format).

6. You can also choose how you wish to compress the data. The quickest method is to use a zip archive, which downloads the data as a single file. This will separate automatically when you unzip the file (see: Unzipping your data, further on). Select your purpose for using the data, then click Extract Data. The extraction process can take a while, so be patient.

7. When extraction is complete you will see various files listed. There is a list of the files extracted, conditions of use, and the data files themselves. When you download the files on the Map Room workstation, place them in your own folder in the usrfldrs folder on drive D. If you do not already have a folder then create one now.

To create your folder, select drive D, then look through the list of folders and open the folder called usrfldrs.Click the New Folder button to create a new folder, naming it with your name. Always use this folder to save downloads and other files.

Downloading Code-Point data is a different process.

The data is available in two forms:

Code-Point is a comma-delimited (csv) text file containing postcode, easting and northing, number of delivery points, health authority code and health authority region code, county, district and ward codes etc. It can be converted to mappable point data in MapInfo, using the Create Points function with the eastings and northings as the x and y coordinates respectively.

Code-Point with polygons is a mappable dataset with unit postcodes as polygons. The data is supplied in MapInfo Import Format (mif/mid). This does not need translation (unlike all other map datasets), so can be imported directly into MapInfo

Conversion is a two-step process. Step one is to convert the NTF file into a MapInfo Import File (MIF). Step two is to import the MIF file into MapInfo, creating a TAB file, which can be saved for reuse. NTF files can be converted individually into corresponding MapInfo MIF files (and then into TAB files), or all NTF files can be merged into a single MIF file and then into a single TAB file (provided they are the same dataset). Merging files is a good move if you are subsequently going to separate the layers (see further on), but bear in mind that the resulting files will be several megabytes (20Mb or more in some cases) and will be slow to process.

To use NTF2MIF you select a file or files to translate, choose whether to combine the files (if more than one) or keep them as separate, then translate them - that's it! The process is easy and different types of NTF file can be selected at one go, so you could translate LandLine and Strategi at once for example (but obviously they cannot be combined!). Network data (link and node) can be extracted from Meridian and Strategi data.

You can also choose to separate text objects into a separate layer, or ignore them. Text strings in NTF are objects, not attributes and so will change size when you zoom the map This can make them unusable at smaller scales - this saves you having to select and delete them all!

Remember that most datasets have an attribute field containing text. This is normally associated with seed objects - symbols which represent the centre of a developed land use area in Meridian and Strategi. For Meridian, label with the field PN_SI and for Strategi use PN. This means that you can choose to ignore text objects when translating and use the labelling function in MapInfo instead.

True-type fonts (The MapInfo font sets Cartographic, Real Estate, Transportation and Miscellaneous must be installed) can be used to improved the appearance of the data - tree symbols, flow arrows, rocks, windmills etc (depending on data set). This option is selected in the Symbol options box.

To translate multiple NTF files, which can be the same type or different types. click the Select NTF files… button and choose the files, which must be in the same folder. When the files have been selected they appear in the NTF File(s) list and the output MIF filename and path has been automatically entered. This will have the same filename as the first NTF file but with "etc" added to the filename and a .mif extension. It will be in the same folder as the NTF files. This is because the default for multiple files is to combine them.

When a NTF file is translated and imported into MapInfo, all data is in a single layer. To work with the data, you may need specific themes or objects. For example, you may wish to use only water features in Strategi or developed land use areas (DLUAs) in Meridian. This is normally done by querying the feature code (Fcode) field in MapInfo. Land-Line.Plus data can be selectively translated in NTF2MIF by selecting object types in the features option. Other data sets are translated as a single layer, but to make separating the data into new layers easier, an additional Layer field is added to the attribute data. This means that a set of related features can be extracted using a single query. Landform PANORAMA does not have a layer field as it contains a limited number of features and so can be queried quite easily. Landform DTM contains only a single feature type - a grid of points.

This means you have two options for creating separate layers - general themed layers or individual feature types. (Note that the Layer code is only created when you translate the data using NTF2MIF - other translators may not do so, but you can still query the feature code).

The layer codes for Strategi are:

The layers attribute means that water features for example can be selected with a single query "Layer = 2".To see how to use queries in MapInfo see Performing a query

The layer codes for Meridian 2 are:

The layers attribute means that hydrology for example can be selected with a single query "Layer = 6".To see how to use queries in MapInfo see Performing a query

To perform a query in MapInfo, open the Query menu and click Select:

A simple select query just needs a column (or field) and an operator (equals, less than etc). The Functions drop-down list contains geographic and other functions which can be used for more advanced queries and these are explained in MapInfo How To No. 13: Using queries and SQL (non-geographic) to select from tables

Separating layers only needs a simple query. To select a feature layer, use the Layer column (this contains the layer code for each object) and this can be selected by clicking the Columns drop-down list and clicking Layer. The Operator is = , so type this (or select it from the Operators list). Finally, enter the layer code number required - in this example the query is to select water features, so enter 2.

Now click OK to perform the query.

You will now see a table containing all the objects in layer 2. To save this as a separate layer, open the File menu and click Save Copy As... If you specified a table name in the Select dialog, then use the same name and save it. Otherwise give it a name first. Note: if you have several tables open you will be prompted to select which table to save - make sure you select the right one! If you did not name your table before running the query, it will be called Query_1 (or Query_2 etc).

To extract an individual object type, for example Minor road over 4m wide , you query using the feature code (You can download an Excel table listing the feature codes for all DIGIMAP series).

For this example, the feature code is 5350 and this is in the FCode column of the the table. To perform this query, choose the FCode column and enter the query as FCode=5350. The query can then be performed in exactly the same way. To extract two or more feature types at the same time, use the OR operator. So to expand the above query to extract minor roads over 4m wide and B road single carriageway (FCode 5343), the query will be:

FCode=5350 or Fcode=5343

Note that the FCode column name must be repeated each time, so FCode=5350 or 5343 will not work. When the query has been performed you can save the results in the same way.