51 The open source MapWindow GIS project (http://www.MapWindow.org) is a relative newcomer to the FOSS4G arena, filling a critical niche need for open source GIS development tools specifically intended for the Windows operating system and developers using the Microsoft .NET Framework. With about 2,500 downloads per month and several thousand registered users since becoming open source in January 2005, MapWindow GIS is rapidly becoming adapted throughout the world to uses in academia, government, and business where there is a need for simple, open source GIS developer tools. This workshop will focus on the development of plug-ins for the MapWindow GIS application using Visual Studio 2005 (C# and VB.NET languages) and will also explore use of the MapWinGIS ActiveX component in custom applications. Members of the core MapWindow GIS Open Source Team will present the workshop and participation is welcome from any and all current and future MapWindow GIS users. If you would like to help with the presentation of the workshop, please contact the MapWindow GIS developer team at http://www.MapWindow.org/contact.php. A little bit more about MapWindow GIS: The open source MapWindow GIS application is a free, extensible, geographic information system (GIS) that can be used in many ways: * As an alternative desktop GIS * To distribute data to others * To develop and distribute custom spatial data analyses At the core of the MapWindow GIS application is the MapWinGIS ActiveX control. Using this control, you can program custom mapping functionality directly into your own software. The MapWinGIS ActiveX control has the following features: * Open source component (free distribution) * Complete GIS API for shapefile and grid data * Many built in GIS functions MapWindow GIS is free to use and redistribute to your clients and other end users either as the full MapWindow GIS application or as a custom application that uses the MapWinGIS ActiveX control. The MapWindow GIS application 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. FOSS4G2006 - Free And Open Source Software for Geoinformatics Workshop Session 4 Daniel Ames amesdani@isu.edu Daniel Ames amesdani@isu.edu <MaKaC.conference.ContributionType object at 0xb492f06c> [WKS] Workshop