In case anyone is interested in why, technically speaking, this 'wandering text' problem occurs, Eric Blasenheim explained it a few years ago. See below.
Tim Nuteson Target [From Eric Blasenheim]: It is not entirely clear to me that all the recent questions on label plotting all relate to the same issue. Some may be a result of misunderstanding how dynamic labels are composed. In particular, many people still think that labels in the Layout are supposed to be the same as those in the Map window. This is not correct. The labels, which are always sized using paper (Points) units, fit differently in the Layout paper space than they do in the Map Window which has only the screen connection. However, there is a bug in the layout label calculation that may be the source of a number of these inquiries. There is also a workaround until that bug is fixed. When the labels are composed, their location is determined by translating the label location of the object (usually the centroid) from geographic units into a location on the page. This location is then adjusted according to the nine label positioning and offset options and the text size which is determined by querying the operating system (Windows). Once these labels are located only changes in the label settings for that layer, the scale of the map or the size of the layout frame will cause the labels to be recomposed. A simple zoom change in the layout, will not cause this. It only changes the display size of all the labels. This is how it should be. However, when the screen display size of the labels is quite small, the conversions between geographic, screen and paper locations result in loss of precision resulting in the labels not being correctly located. Basically we are querying Windows with user point sizes (8, 10, 12 point) scaled down to 1 or 2 points. This commonly occurs with large size plots and/or small screen resolutions where a view which encompasses the entire layout results in very small on screen text sizes. The workaround is to force MapInfo Professional to recompose the labels when the screen size of the text is more reasonable. So, if you zoom in to the layout to where the text is readable and do any of the following the labels should recompose correctly: 1) Change any setting in the label settings dialog or the check box for dynamic label visibility at the first level of layer control. Obviously, if you choose to turn off visibility you will need to turn it back on again. 2) Run any of the MapBasic "Set Map Layer Label" commands from the MapBasic window. These are the same commands generated by the Layer control/Label settings dialogs. 3) Change any of the zoom/scale settings in the Change View dialog or the MapBasic commands that they generate. 4) Change the size of the Layout frame where the Map is contained via the Frame dialog or by dragging the frame corner or side. Also note that any workspaces that you save can automatically use this workaround by saving them at a Layout zoom where the text size is not too small! Opening the workspace causes the layout frames including the labels to be recomposed from scratch and if the viewed text size is reasonable, the correct calculations will occur. We are looking into a fix for this problem. Eric Blasenheim [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill Thoen Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 6:26 PM To: MapInfo List Subject: SUM: [MI-L] Wandering Text Problem Carl Schaefer got it one. Thanks! Here's the solution for getting labels to stay put when creating a large-scale Layout window: >The way I correct the labelling problem is to: >1) "View Actual Size" in the layout >2) double click on the map frame and change the scale ever so slightly >(say 1cm = 500m to 1cm = 500.01m) - also make sure the "resize >frame" toggle is checked. >3) double click again and change the scale back to your original > >All labels are happy now..... > > And I agree with you all -- why HASN'T this bug been fixed yet? In fact, if MapInfo needs some featues to add for the next release that will actually excite people and motivate them to upgade, why not fix all the layout bugs and add some features that will allow us to put a finish on our maps that makes them look like cartographic art rather than 'toons? Why not add antialiasing like what's in SVG? Why not text on a curve, and some of the smart street labeling that's in MapText's Label-EZ? Why not provide line styles where you can change both the inside AND outside color? Why not color gradational fills? How about vector layer translucense? How about finishing the cartographic legend utility? Whew! (got a little wound up there...) _______________________________________________ MapInfo-L mailing list MapInfo-L@lists.directionsmag.com http://www.directionsmag.com/mailman/listinfo/mapinfo-l _______________________________________________ MapInfo-L mailing list MapInfo-L@lists.directionsmag.com http://www.directionsmag.com/mailman/listinfo/mapinfo-l
