MapWindow GIS Open Source Project

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MapWindow GIS Open Source Software
The MapWindow application is a free, extensible, geographic information system (GIS) that can be used:

As an alternative desktop GIS
To distribute data to others
To develop and distribute custom spatial data analyses

MapWinGIS ActiveX Control
At the core of the MapWindow application is the MapWinGIS ActiveX control. Using this control, you can program custom mapping functionality directly into your own software.

Open source component (free distribution)
Complete GIS API for shapefile and grid data
Many built in GIS functions

What makes this GIS tool different than the others?
MapWindow is free to use and redistribute to your clients and other end users.

Unlike other free tools, MapWindow is more than just a data viewer, it is an extensible geographic information system. This means that you can write plug-ins to add additional functionality (models, special viewers, hot-link handlers, data editors, etc.) and pass these along to any number of your clients and end users.

MapWindow includes standard GIS data visualization features as well as DBF attribute table editing, shapefile editing, and grid importing and conversion.

MapWinGIS ActiveX includes a GIS API for shapefile and grid data with many built in GIS functions.

MapWinGIS ActiveX can be redistributed royalty-free. No fee is required, although we happily accept donations to help support this effort. See Why MapWindow?

If You Are New to MapWindow:
Start by viewing the Overview document as well as the Why? document. These should help you better understand the purpose of MapWindow, what it is used for, and how you can use it to build GIS enabled applications.

Please sign up for our mailing list to receive an occasional e-mail about new upgrades, features and downloads.

If you have any unanswered questions, please contact the ISU Geospatial Software Lab.