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Create Complex Military Symbology EasilyMilitary Overlay Editor Now ShippingMilitary Overlay Editor (MOLE) is a new symbol generator and editor for military applications from Esri. Designed as an easy-to-use tool for symbology creation
At right: MOLE creates platform-independent exchange files that ArcView GIS can import using the MOLE extension. "MOLE provides an essential component for developers creating modern, commercial off-the-shelf-based command and control systems," says David Swann, defense industry manager, Esri. MOLE is not a mapping tool, but a symbol generator and editor to compose and position unit symbols against a background of geographic data. This data can be traditional vector formats (Esri shapefiles and coverages as well as VPF data) or various raster image formats. Complex military situation maps are often cluttered and need to be sorted. With MOLE, users can place leaders, either manually or automatically, for many symbols that occur at the same location. MOLE also stacks symbols of identical unit types that occur at the same location. Once the battlefield symbology is composed, draft copies of the map can be printed to any standard Windows output device. The symbol graphics can also be exported to ArcView GIS, where they become standard graphics and can be further edited. While MOLE is designed to accompany ArcView GIS, it can operate by itself within a simple, map-based application to create symbols and 15-character message codes and associated fields and then export that information for other uses. Symbolsets exported by MOLE are platform-neutral, which allows both UNIX-based and Windows-based ArcView GIS users to use MOLE-generated graphics. MOLE operates in the Windows 95, 98, 2000, and NT environments. For more information or to order MOLE, call Esri at 1-800-447-9778 or visit www.esri.com/mole. For availability outside the United States, please contact your local Esri distributor. |
within battlefield planning applications, MOLE reads the MIL-STD 2525B 15-character message string, along with all the other unit descriptors specified in the standard.