February 15, 2007 10:22
What gets rendered is purely up to the application or more specifically MacENC. S-57 ENC is a database made of of objects and attributes. Those attributes describe the geographical location and the physical elements of the object. There are no predefined images in the S-57 ENC database. Its respective records are full of numbers.
With a paper chart (and for the most part a raster chart) ALL information must be put on the surface of the paper. A kind of what you see is what you get approach. There is no additional information than what is printed on the chart.
With an S-57 ENC chart there are three dimensions. The surface/screen and then the ability to query any object on the chart. So the rendering does not need to put ALL attributes right on the chart as less important details can be queried for by simpling clicking on the object (i.e. buoy) and a whole list of attributes is displayed in the Navigation panel.
MacENC does attempt to show the more important attributes of an object right on the chart. For example its geographic position, its color, its geographic size. Since MacENC has to run on the older G4 Macs and small screen laptops rendering performance is key as is avoiding clutter on the chart. MacENC uses a consistent model for rendering navaids such as buoys.
The new rendering engine does enhance the drawing of navaids with the addition of light characteristics (i.e. QFl 3s) to the name label and buoys are round and beacons are square. These navaid labels are displayed when the zoom scale is 1:15,000 or larger OR the cursor is hovered over the navaid.
Other objects such as anchorages, pipelines, buildings, obstructions are rendered on the MacENC chart consistent with paper charts.
To get an idea of how many objects and attributes there are in the S-57 ENC database go to this site..
http://www.s-57.com/
Objects (i.e. obstruction) are on the left column, and Attributes (i.e. color) are on the right column.
With a paper chart (and for the most part a raster chart) ALL information must be put on the surface of the paper. A kind of what you see is what you get approach. There is no additional information than what is printed on the chart.
With an S-57 ENC chart there are three dimensions. The surface/screen and then the ability to query any object on the chart. So the rendering does not need to put ALL attributes right on the chart as less important details can be queried for by simpling clicking on the object (i.e. buoy) and a whole list of attributes is displayed in the Navigation panel.
MacENC does attempt to show the more important attributes of an object right on the chart. For example its geographic position, its color, its geographic size. Since MacENC has to run on the older G4 Macs and small screen laptops rendering performance is key as is avoiding clutter on the chart. MacENC uses a consistent model for rendering navaids such as buoys.
The new rendering engine does enhance the drawing of navaids with the addition of light characteristics (i.e. QFl 3s) to the name label and buoys are round and beacons are square. These navaid labels are displayed when the zoom scale is 1:15,000 or larger OR the cursor is hovered over the navaid.
Other objects such as anchorages, pipelines, buildings, obstructions are rendered on the MacENC chart consistent with paper charts.
To get an idea of how many objects and attributes there are in the S-57 ENC database go to this site..
http://www.s-57.com/
Objects (i.e. obstruction) are on the left column, and Attributes (i.e. color) are on the right column.
Scott Dillon
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA