On Thu, 05 May 2005 15:18:04 +0200, Thomas Friebe wrote:
> To make the research as professional as possible, I would like to
> put everything in a map with different colors, regarding to their
> number in each country or state. But unfortunately I don't know
> whether there is any software available at all and if so, which is
> a good one. Since I need it probably only once, I would prefer
> Freeware.
Hm. There are several programs available which should do what you want.
GRASS will be somewhat above your needs. But if you see chances that
you need to deal with GIS projects more often it should be worth a try.
Look here:
http://grass.itc.it/announces/announce_grass600.html
Simple coloring of maps can be done with the free ArcExplorer software
from ESRI:
http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer
The program supports Shapefiles and PC ArcInfo coverages. In either case
you need to edit the accompanied *.dbf files of the maps to append your
information before you display the maps using ArcExplorer. Use a xBase
editor like dbfNavigator by ALXSoft:
http://www.alxsoft.narod.ru/ENG/dbfnav.htm
Unfortunately, their server responds very slowly. But it is one of the
best free xBase editors available.
Another GIS viewer (with limited edit possibilities) is KartenExplorer.
You find it here:
http://www.bfav.de/kartenexplorer
It is free for non-commercial use, only. I encountered some problems when
installed on systems beside ArcExplorer. So you should be carefully while
testing. (And back up your important data beforehand...)
One possible source of Maps is the ESRI basemap server:
http://www.esri.com/data/download/basemap/index.html
Other sources can be found through the FreeGIS database:
http://www.freegis.org/database
or by asking within a GIS related newsgroup like:
comp.infosystems.gis
HTH.
BeAr
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