How do I combine many ECW files in MapInfo?

Question

I have MapInfo 11.5.0.16 (I don't have ArcGIS) and I am trying to combine (in some sense) a large collection of ECW files.

I can load one ECW at a time in MapInfo but I have very many. MapInfo creates one TAB file per image, and I need to manually choose a projection for each image. This is time consuming and prone to human error and I would need to open each tab file, which creates one layer per image.

I would like to open one TAB file in MapInfo which creates one layer in a map, where that layer will display all the ECW files.

I've reviewed the similar questions and Google but I can't seem to find a solution that works for MapInfo. Thanks for your assistance!

Answer 1

I have a few tips/solutions for you, none of them are however the ideal solution.

Here we go:

Creating TAB file for ECW files

1. If you change your Table Projection (Options > Preferences > Map Window > Projections) to match the projection of your ECW file, you don't have to select the projection manually for each ECW. The Select Projection dialog will have this projection select as the default and you can just hit the Enter key on the keyboard.

It's still a manual proces but less cumbersome and error-prone.

2. Nick Lawrence shared a MapBasic script for loading ECW files into MapInfo Professional on MapInfo-L a year back: Open ECW script.

The script isn't perfect as it is. You might need to add your own Datum and Projection to have it load your ECW files and you'll need to compile it yourself as well.

You can get the MapBasic compiler for free: Downloads for MapBasic

Merging Raster Files

As for merging these raster files into one single "raster" file. On option in MapInfo Professional could be to create a seamless table. Have a look at this thread: What is a seamless table?