Register and Use the Chart FX Maps Extension Handler

Chart FX maps, or .cmf files, are complex because they not only contain different layers and important information that you must use to ensure your data can be represented in the map, namely the data dictionary. For this reason, each map you download is accompanied by a .txt file describing all the elements contained in the map. Nevertheless, if your application handles a large volume of map files, you may end up trying to manage hundreds of txt files that will make the process even more complicated.

For this reason, Chart FX maps provides a more powerful and flexible approach to handling map files via a shell extension handler called MapExtensionShell.dll. This handler has been implemented for a variety of actions that will make the process of managing map files much more simple:

Firstly each map thumbnail will be fully displayed directly from the Windows File Explorer, allowing the process of locating and identifying each map directly from the file system, as depicted in the following picture:

Please note, you can select the desired size of these icons just as you would normally do with other files such as image files like jpegs and bmps.

In addition, when a cmf file is right-clicked you can access a properties page that includes a proprietary tab named map that provides access to the different map elements such as layers and the data attributes for each layer so you can easily identify each layer and their corresponding data attributes. These attributes can be accessed via the Chart FX Maps API.

Also the polygon names for the main layer will be listed so you can easily access the data dictionary for any given map file and making sure your data conforms with those names.

Simply download the Chart FX Maps extension handler and register using regsvr32 using Administrator permissions. Please note this map extension handler can only be used in Windows and it is available in both 32 bits and 64 bit versions.

	<Download location for 32-Bit Chart FX Maps Extension Handler>
	<Download location for 64-Bit Chart FX Maps Extension Handler>