Bentley Map Mobile Release

Hi Dan.
Could you give us a quick summary of the major changes in the new IOS version? Having a couple of local problems getting it downloaded which should be resolved shortly.
I believe from the Publisher end Bentley was looking at adding some password protections, redlining capabilities and enhancements to allow the edit of feature information in the field and subsequent integration back into Map.
Has this been achieved in the April IOS release you mentioned?

Cheers.
Alan

Greetings Alan,

As Dan indicated, the Bentley Map Mobile for iOS 05.02.01 update was released in the Apple App Store in early April which included the following enhancements:

• Additional Language Support - Added Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Spanish languages.
  
  
• Updated User Interface – Revised user interface design to support the addition of new app tools and functionalities, including Sort and Search capabilities in File Open and Saved View selector screens.
  
  
• Improved Performance – Significant performance improvements have been made for Search, Query and Locate operations, allowing users to work more efficiently with extremely large data sets.
  
  
• Measuring Tools - Measure Area and Measure Distance Tools have been added that include virtual mouse support, providing AccuSnap like capabilities for precise measurements.
  
  
• Expiry Date – Ability to set expiration date of Bentley Map Mobile i-model after which the data can no longer be opened.
  
  
• Text Search by View – Ability to search and locate any text currently displayed in the view.
  
  
• OS Grid - Search / Locate – Ability to enter Ordnance Survey National Grid references and perform locates.
  
  
• Saved View Selectors – Updated user interface to present thumbnails of Saved Views in File Open screen. Once a file has been opened a “Saved View” tab allows easy access to saved views for quick navigation to predetermined locations.
  
  
• XY, LAT/LON and OS Grid - Coordinate Readout – Ability to readout X/Y, Latitude/Longitude and Ordnance Survey National Grid coordinates.
  
  
• Complete Display Updates – Display of mapping data now continues until all map features are visible regardless of size.

Please note that you can always view details of each Bentley Map Mobile app update release using the "Version History" in the Apple App Store.

We are working to add redlining/markup capabilities into Bentley Map Mobile with Bentley Map desktop support later this summer with data editing workflows planned for next year. Ability to password protect published .imodels is under consideration but a timeframe has yet to be determined.

Hi Jeff.
With regards to 'Expiry Date', I appreciate it looks like an effort to get the 'functionality' in there ASAP and tidy up the interface when you can. Sounds very practical to me! Thank you.

If you're looking at possibly doing an 'intermediate' release of Map Mobile before the 'big' release next year(which would be much better :-) ), perhaps at least the redlining/mark up functionality could be included sooner? To me the product has two major parts..........firstly to get the information out there in the field but secondly to capture any errors/omissions and feed these back into the system ASAP. The second part seems to be totally missing at the moment and at least the redlining/mark up would give us a start and could be further refined with backend integration as a follow up. Allow an easy export of a redline file with some basic functionality (such as being able to circle some areas and make comments) and allow this file to be imported or referenced in Microstation/Map. Some sites may not even go beyond this functionality so why hold up everything for the Rolls Royce solution?

We'll use the "map query browse all" to see what we can find and do some further testing to see what seems to be causing the other problems.

Thanks again for your help Jeff.



Cheers.
Alan

Alan,

We hear you (and many others) on the importance of having redline/markup in Bentley Map Mobile sooner rather than later. I can assure you that the Bentley Map Mobile team along with our core mobile platform architects and software engineers have been working hard towards those objectives. The reality is that we are still a few months away from a public commercial release.

In each of my Bentley Map Mobile related lectures at the Bentley LEARNing Conference last week in Indianapolis, Indiana I provided attendees a "sneak peek" of the progress made on the upcoming redline/markup capabilities. So for now, I offer the following image from one of those presentations.

Ahhhh..........that looks like what we need Jeff. Let us know if you need some early testers.........we seem to be good at finding problems! :-)

Also, is there any way, or will there be a way, of restricting the published i-model to a 'fence' or the like extent? If for example, you have base files made up of quite large areas, you may logically want to restrict certain published i-models to smaller areas for nominated projects without having to create new files. Why publish the entire State for an individual Park contract? I'd think we'd simply need Map Mobile Publisher to obey certain standard limits such as defined by shape, fence etc. It doesn't seem to obey these or existing clipped reference files at present.

This links to the time it takes to create the original i-model. I have (generally) been blown away with how good the performance of the i-model is on the iPad. It is MUCH better than I would have originally expected, however it would also be good if the time it takes to create the original i-model with Map Mobile Publisher could be improved. 25 minutes isn't unusual for us for a 20 Megabyte i-model. Going back to the above, being able to limit published i-models by fence etc. would help with this in some cases.

Finally, while the aerial photography looks good in some of the images, practically we find incorporating orthophotography into the i-model makes it quite large. I'm not sure how this could be balanced. I presume you've looked at trying to 'reference' raster imagery on the tablet into the i-model in some way (if that's even possible?) but being able to use high resolution photography over a reasonably large area with Map Mobile would be the icing on the cake.

Although we regularly mention what improvements we'd like/need to see, this product is potentially one of the most exciting developments we've seen from Bentley for many years. It has huge potential to add productivity to a number of areas.

Thanks Jeff.


Cheers.
Alan

Alan,

Last week during my Bentley Map Mobile related lectures at the Bentley LEARNing Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana I provided a preview of the next generation Bentley Map Mobile Publisher currently under development. In this preview I demonstrated how Bentley Map Mobile Publisher will be integrated as a plug-in for the Interoperability application within Bentley Map, allowing users to "Export" data for Bentley Map Mobile use and at the same time leverage capabilities such as spatial and attribute filters. This will provide users more granular control of what data is exported.

For example users will be able to export only those feature instances that match one or more attribute filters (e.g. poles inspected in the last year) within a given spatial constraint (e.g. view, fence or selection set). In addition this new Bentley Map integration will provide Bentley Map Mobile Publisher the ability to export data leveraging Map Manager defined thematic resymbolization rules. Based upon this new architecture export performance will be "significantly" improved.

Your presumption that we are looking into ways to open/reference high resolution raster imagery loaded on devices is correct. I hope to be able to discuss more regarding that topic in the coming months.

And finally, we appreciate your interest in Bentley Map Mobile and look forward to receiving additional feedback as you evaluate its potential use within your organization.

Sounds fantastic Jeff!

Looks like it has heaps of potential and I just hope it get to market ASAP.

Sounds fantastic Jeff!

Looks like it has heaps of potential and I just hope it get to market ASAP.