Here is a little fun on YouTube....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1iPe0LtCew
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Benefits of 64-bit Architecture in Geospatial Imaging
I asked Hammad Khan, an ERDAS IMAGINE Software Engineer, to write a discussion of 32- and 64-bit processing in ERDAS IMAGINE. Thank you, Hammad.
--
Recently, we have noticed a lot of discussion in our community centered on the benefits of 64-bit computing. Having discussed 64-bit processor architecture with customers and product managers here at ERDAS, I felt it may help to share some thoughts on how 64-bit computing impacts our work in the geospatial imaging world.
As opposed to their more common 32-bit counterparts, 64-bit processors have two major advantages: the ability to access more memory, and an increased number of General Purpose Registers (GPRs). Memory is used by programs to store data needed for calculations. Registers, by contrast, are used to store specific values (a single number, for example) for very quick access in calculations. Data is moved from memory to registers prior to calculations being performed. Another advantage of 64-bit processors worth mentioning is the introduction additional SSE/SSE2 registers, which are registers used for highly-optimized, highly-repeated calculations.
What does this mean for software designed for geospatial analysis? By nature, geospatial analysis algorithms must run on imagery, data which are large, and getting larger. As such, geospatial analysis algorithms rarely hold entire datasets in memory, and are almost always written using techniques such as tiling data access to allow the program to run to completion.
For example, an ADS-40 sensor will frequently generate data that is hundreds of gigabytes in size. Further, we are beginning to see multiple-terabyte images pop up, such as the data used by the Oregon Imagery Explorer project at the Oregon State University. Processing data of this magnitude will require tiled access or another clever data access technique; regardless of how many address bits are available, the entire dataset has a good chance of not fitting in memory.
To illustrate, most traditional classification algorithms may be performed by loading a tile of the image into memory, processing the tile, writing the output, and then loading the next tile. This approach may be (and, in ERDAS IMAGINE, is) optimized by loading the next tile to be worked on while the current tile is being processed. Notable exceptions to this tile-based data-access approach include terrain generation, where generation of a TIN cannot be neatly broken up: features in one tile may, and frequently do, influence features in adjacent tiles. This limitation can be circumvented by using a spatial index (say, using a quad-tree) to intelligently access appropriate tiles; regardless, loading the entire image into memory is not a recommended option.
As computation seems to be our focus above, does this imply that geospatial analysis can then benefit from the computational speedup offered by the additional registers available on 64-bit processors? It is true that the ability to have more data directly ready for access will speed up calculations. However, frequently, the processor is not the bottleneck in executing algorithms. Disk access speeds, and data transport speeds over the associated buses, are frequently seen as bottlenecks. Note that the speed here is primarily getting data read from the disk into memory, not the speed of getting the data from memory to processor registers.
A number of techniques are available to speed up algorithms in the 32-bit world. Examples include pipelining data read and processing, where the next tile is accessed while the current one is being processed; multi-threading processing, where the algorithm is split to be performed in parallel; and using multiple processes wherever possible (say, simultaneously processing multiple independent frames of an RPF dataset) to take advantage of dual- and quad-core architectures. These represent just some of the many tools available to optimize geospatial algorithms. Moving to a 64-bit architecture is another available tool.
This is not to say that moving to a 64-bit architecture will have no benefit whatsoever. Optimization of an algorithm must take a holistic view of the algorithm. The appropriate tools for optimization must then be selected to address bottlenecks specific to the process in question. As such, the benefits of a 64-bit architecture must be kept in perspective.
While there is no doubt that in the near future, we will move to a 64-bit processing environment, and while personally, I look forward to the day where a 32-bit architecture presents primary limitations to our processes, we have found that our bottlenecks lie elsewhere. As such, certainly within our problem space, other optimization techniques offer more bang for the proverbial buck.
We continue to work to make ERDAS IMAGINE the strongest package available for working with geospatial imagery. We aggressively remove bottlenecks as we find them; in addition to the significant performance improvements seen over the previous release, scalability over computing resources will be especially notable in the upcoming release. In fact, of all the releases I have been involved with, and I am particularly excited about the upcoming release. We hope to demo some of the new features at ASPRS in March, and hope you find it as exciting as we do.
--
Recently, we have noticed a lot of discussion in our community centered on the benefits of 64-bit computing. Having discussed 64-bit processor architecture with customers and product managers here at ERDAS, I felt it may help to share some thoughts on how 64-bit computing impacts our work in the geospatial imaging world.
As opposed to their more common 32-bit counterparts, 64-bit processors have two major advantages: the ability to access more memory, and an increased number of General Purpose Registers (GPRs). Memory is used by programs to store data needed for calculations. Registers, by contrast, are used to store specific values (a single number, for example) for very quick access in calculations. Data is moved from memory to registers prior to calculations being performed. Another advantage of 64-bit processors worth mentioning is the introduction additional SSE/SSE2 registers, which are registers used for highly-optimized, highly-repeated calculations.
What does this mean for software designed for geospatial analysis? By nature, geospatial analysis algorithms must run on imagery, data which are large, and getting larger. As such, geospatial analysis algorithms rarely hold entire datasets in memory, and are almost always written using techniques such as tiling data access to allow the program to run to completion.
For example, an ADS-40 sensor will frequently generate data that is hundreds of gigabytes in size. Further, we are beginning to see multiple-terabyte images pop up, such as the data used by the Oregon Imagery Explorer project at the Oregon State University. Processing data of this magnitude will require tiled access or another clever data access technique; regardless of how many address bits are available, the entire dataset has a good chance of not fitting in memory.
To illustrate, most traditional classification algorithms may be performed by loading a tile of the image into memory, processing the tile, writing the output, and then loading the next tile. This approach may be (and, in ERDAS IMAGINE, is) optimized by loading the next tile to be worked on while the current tile is being processed. Notable exceptions to this tile-based data-access approach include terrain generation, where generation of a TIN cannot be neatly broken up: features in one tile may, and frequently do, influence features in adjacent tiles. This limitation can be circumvented by using a spatial index (say, using a quad-tree) to intelligently access appropriate tiles; regardless, loading the entire image into memory is not a recommended option.
As computation seems to be our focus above, does this imply that geospatial analysis can then benefit from the computational speedup offered by the additional registers available on 64-bit processors? It is true that the ability to have more data directly ready for access will speed up calculations. However, frequently, the processor is not the bottleneck in executing algorithms. Disk access speeds, and data transport speeds over the associated buses, are frequently seen as bottlenecks. Note that the speed here is primarily getting data read from the disk into memory, not the speed of getting the data from memory to processor registers.
A number of techniques are available to speed up algorithms in the 32-bit world. Examples include pipelining data read and processing, where the next tile is accessed while the current one is being processed; multi-threading processing, where the algorithm is split to be performed in parallel; and using multiple processes wherever possible (say, simultaneously processing multiple independent frames of an RPF dataset) to take advantage of dual- and quad-core architectures. These represent just some of the many tools available to optimize geospatial algorithms. Moving to a 64-bit architecture is another available tool.
This is not to say that moving to a 64-bit architecture will have no benefit whatsoever. Optimization of an algorithm must take a holistic view of the algorithm. The appropriate tools for optimization must then be selected to address bottlenecks specific to the process in question. As such, the benefits of a 64-bit architecture must be kept in perspective.
While there is no doubt that in the near future, we will move to a 64-bit processing environment, and while personally, I look forward to the day where a 32-bit architecture presents primary limitations to our processes, we have found that our bottlenecks lie elsewhere. As such, certainly within our problem space, other optimization techniques offer more bang for the proverbial buck.
We continue to work to make ERDAS IMAGINE the strongest package available for working with geospatial imagery. We aggressively remove bottlenecks as we find them; in addition to the significant performance improvements seen over the previous release, scalability over computing resources will be especially notable in the upcoming release. In fact, of all the releases I have been involved with, and I am particularly excited about the upcoming release. We hope to demo some of the new features at ASPRS in March, and hope you find it as exciting as we do.
Friday, January 23, 2009
How To Fold a Map Properly
The ERDAS Product Line Director of Remote Sensing, Ian Anderson (not the same Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame) gives a training session on “How To Fold a Map Properly” on ERDAS TV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3063VGrrAdg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IABDEK-LByI
There are two installments of "Inside the ERDAS IMAGINE War Room".
Webisode 1
Webisode 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3063VGrrAdg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IABDEK-LByI
There are two installments of "Inside the ERDAS IMAGINE War Room".
Webisode 1
Webisode 2
Thursday, January 8, 2009
ERDAS and ERDAS IMAGINE ads
What are all these old ERDAS and ERDAS IMAGINE ads? Some time back I was thumbing through my old PE&RS Journals to decide what to do with them. I came up with a crazy idea to collect the ERDAS advertisements, and the convert the analog ads to digital before they became too faded. So I purchased a good desktop scanner. As usual, it sat in the box for over a year.
One day just before the 2008 US Thanksgiving holiday my wife said, "Now what is it you planned to do with this thing, and when?" So, I was properly motivated. I started scanning advertisements over the 2008 Christmas holidays.
The ads I have posted on right column of this blog are thumbnail versions of selected ads. I plan to donate full resolution copies to ERDAS for their use as well.
At the same time I purchased a scanner (before my wife properly motivated me) I started collecting ERDAS history. I told Brad Skelton, Ruth Lutz, Larry Brantley and others of the idea, and in just a few days I started seeing floods of information roll in.
Then I contacted Bruce Rado and Nick Faust. As most of you know, they are two of the founders of ERDAS. Nick has donated time to review and correct the history, as well as look at his old magazines to help find the first ERDAS advertisement. I believe the 1987 ad I have is the first. If not it is very close.
Bruce has donated time to review historical information and a box of his old 35mm slides. I will scan some of these slides soon. The slides will make for very good quality scans as will negatives (I have a slide and negative scanning option on my scanner).
At any rate, with luck and motivation we should see the history of ERDAS, Inc., ERDAS, and ERDAS IMAGINE be better documented from this point forward.
One last thing I need to get is a copy of Tom Foresman's "The History of GIS: Perspective from the Pioneers." Bruce, Nick and Lawrie Jordan worked with Foresman on this in 1997 and the perspective is 10 years closer to 1978 founding of ERDAS than we are today.
One day just before the 2008 US Thanksgiving holiday my wife said, "Now what is it you planned to do with this thing, and when?" So, I was properly motivated. I started scanning advertisements over the 2008 Christmas holidays.
The ads I have posted on right column of this blog are thumbnail versions of selected ads. I plan to donate full resolution copies to ERDAS for their use as well.
At the same time I purchased a scanner (before my wife properly motivated me) I started collecting ERDAS history. I told Brad Skelton, Ruth Lutz, Larry Brantley and others of the idea, and in just a few days I started seeing floods of information roll in.
Then I contacted Bruce Rado and Nick Faust. As most of you know, they are two of the founders of ERDAS. Nick has donated time to review and correct the history, as well as look at his old magazines to help find the first ERDAS advertisement. I believe the 1987 ad I have is the first. If not it is very close.
Bruce has donated time to review historical information and a box of his old 35mm slides. I will scan some of these slides soon. The slides will make for very good quality scans as will negatives (I have a slide and negative scanning option on my scanner).
At any rate, with luck and motivation we should see the history of ERDAS, Inc., ERDAS, and ERDAS IMAGINE be better documented from this point forward.
One last thing I need to get is a copy of Tom Foresman's "The History of GIS: Perspective from the Pioneers." Bruce, Nick and Lawrie Jordan worked with Foresman on this in 1997 and the perspective is 10 years closer to 1978 founding of ERDAS than we are today.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Latest ERDAS IMAGINE Development Team YouTube Video
Here is a link to the latest ERDAS IMAGINE Development Team video on ERDAS TV.... this is directly from the ERDAS, Inc. site and is a little higher quality than at YouTube. Look at Webisode 3: Inside the ERDAS IMAGINE War Room (Part 1).
http://www.erdas.com/Resources/erdastv.aspx
There is more to come from the ERDAS IMAGINE Development Team soon.
The others are good too!
http://www.erdas.com/Resources/erdastv.aspx
There is more to come from the ERDAS IMAGINE Development Team soon.
The others are good too!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
ArcCatalog no longer seeing Raster Data?
I am providing this information for the benefit of ERDAS IMAGINE customers who are using ArcGIS as well.
The problem: ArcGIS can no longer see raster data in ArcCatalog using ESRI’s File Chooser. The only way the customer can add raster data to ArcMap seems to be a drag and drop from Windows Explorer.
A friend told me said the problem started appearing with ArcGIS 9.2. I have experienced it in 9.2 as well. This is the result of a setting in ArcCatalog being changed somehow. The friend said the problem occurred on systems with both ESRI and ERDAS products loaded as well as with ESRI products alone. To complicate things, it doesn’t happen on every machine (a phantom problem).
Notwithstanding the illusive nature of the problem, it is easy for the customer to correct on their computer.
To resolve the issue, go to ArcCatalog – Tools – Options. From the General Tab under the "Which types of Data do you want the Catalog to show?" section, check the checkbox next to Raster Files and apply the change. This will restore ArcMap and ArcCatalog’s ability to display rasters in the file chooser dialog and catalog listing.
The problem: ArcGIS can no longer see raster data in ArcCatalog using ESRI’s File Chooser. The only way the customer can add raster data to ArcMap seems to be a drag and drop from Windows Explorer.
A friend told me said the problem started appearing with ArcGIS 9.2. I have experienced it in 9.2 as well. This is the result of a setting in ArcCatalog being changed somehow. The friend said the problem occurred on systems with both ESRI and ERDAS products loaded as well as with ESRI products alone. To complicate things, it doesn’t happen on every machine (a phantom problem).
Notwithstanding the illusive nature of the problem, it is easy for the customer to correct on their computer.
To resolve the issue, go to ArcCatalog – Tools – Options. From the General Tab under the "Which types of Data do you want the Catalog to show?" section, check the checkbox next to Raster Files and apply the change. This will restore ArcMap and ArcCatalog’s ability to display rasters in the file chooser dialog and catalog listing.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Create an IMAGINE Image File List (.fls) for use in MosaicTool and MosaicPro.
I originally created this procedure while at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) Center for Geographic Information Systems.
The structure of .fls format is documented in ERDAS IMAGINE as follows:
n number-of-images
i reference-image
0 imagename_1
1 imagename_2
.
.
.
n-1 imagename_n
An example is as follows:
3 number-of-images
1 reference-image
0 R:\Data\wasia1_mss.img
1 R:\Data\wasia2_mss.img
2 R:\Data\wasia3_tm.img
How do I create a .fls for all TIFF images in a directory and in all sub-directories?
First, use a DOS Command Window
1. Open a DOS Command Window
2. Change to the appropriate directory
3. Use "dir" command as follows: dir *.tif /b /s > mosaic-list.txt
(The /s parameter looks in sub-directories; the /b makes the list 'bare')
Next, use MS Excel to organize the list
4. Open "mosaic-list.txt" in Excel
5. Insert a column to the left of the list
6. Insert 2 rows at the top of the list
7. Add 0 in the first column of the third row
8. Add =A3+1 to the first column of the forth row
9. Copy formula from #8 above to all rows with images
10. Copy the number for the last image to the first column of the first row
11. Select an image number for the reference image (can change in Mosaic later) and put in the first column of the second row.
12. Find / Replace all \" with "/", in the image column.
13. Save as the file to a text file to your desired txt filename.
Next, use MS Word to remove tabs introduced by Excel:
14. Replace tab "^t" with a space " " (do not enter quote marks)
15. Save as text with the extension of .fls
Finally, open in Mosaic Tool or Mosaic.
The structure of .fls format is documented in ERDAS IMAGINE as follows:
n number-of-images
i reference-image
0 imagename_1
1 imagename_2
.
.
.
n-1 imagename_n
An example is as follows:
3 number-of-images
1 reference-image
0 R:\Data\wasia1_mss.img
1 R:\Data\wasia2_mss.img
2 R:\Data\wasia3_tm.img
How do I create a .fls for all TIFF images in a directory and in all sub-directories?
First, use a DOS Command Window
1. Open a DOS Command Window
2. Change to the appropriate directory
3. Use "dir" command as follows: dir *.tif /b /s > mosaic-list.txt
(The /s parameter looks in sub-directories; the /b makes the list 'bare')
Next, use MS Excel to organize the list
4. Open "mosaic-list.txt" in Excel
5. Insert a column to the left of the list
6. Insert 2 rows at the top of the list
7. Add 0 in the first column of the third row
8. Add =A3+1 to the first column of the forth row
9. Copy formula from #8 above to all rows with images
10. Copy the number for the last image to the first column of the first row
11. Select an image number for the reference image (can change in Mosaic later) and put in the first column of the second row.
12. Find / Replace all \" with "/", in the image column.
13. Save as the file to a text file to your desired txt filename.
Next, use MS Word to remove tabs introduced by Excel:
14. Replace tab "^t" with a space " " (do not enter quote marks)
15. Save as text with the extension of .fls
Finally, open in Mosaic Tool or Mosaic.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
ERDAS IMAGINE / LPS 9.3 Shipping complete - SP 9.3.1 available
The final few media packs containing the ERDAS 2009 DVDs (which include ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS 9.3) are being shipped from ERDAS, Inc. we I write.
Look on the ERDAS, Inc. Support Web site to the latest Service Pack for ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS 9.3 as well. The service pack upgrades ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS 9.3 to 9.3.1.
There is a Service Pack for ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 as well.
Have y'all started using ER Mapper 7.2 yet? It is included on the ERDAS 2009 DVD and in the IMAGINE Professional license files. Give it a try.
Look on the ERDAS, Inc. Support Web site to the latest Service Pack for ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS 9.3 as well. The service pack upgrades ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS 9.3 to 9.3.1.
There is a Service Pack for ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 as well.
Have y'all started using ER Mapper 7.2 yet? It is included on the ERDAS 2009 DVD and in the IMAGINE Professional license files. Give it a try.
Monday, November 24, 2008
ERDAS IMAGINE / LPS 9.3.1 available
ERDAS IMAGINE / LPS 9.3.1 and ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 SP1 are now available for download from the erdas.com support website. There are customer reported issues and some enhancements available in these service packs.
ERDAS IMAGINE / LPS 9.3.1 requires a pre-installed version of ERDAS IMAGINE / LPS 9.3. ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 SP1 requires installed version of ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2.
ERDAS IMAGINE / LPS 9.3.1 requires a pre-installed version of ERDAS IMAGINE / LPS 9.3. ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 SP1 requires installed version of ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2.
Friday, November 14, 2008
ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 Shipping
ERDAS took receipt of the ERDAS 2009 DVD Media Kits on Oct. 31, 2008 and began shipping ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 on the following Monday November 3, 2008. I have spoken with the ERDAS shipping department recently and they expect to have all DVD Media packs shipped out to ERDAS customers and ERDAS Distributors by early December.
The ERDAS 2009 DVD Media Kits consist of two dual-layer DVDs containing all ERDAS software and data examples for all ERDAS products. Be sure to load ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 and give it a try, especially the mosaic tools.
Also, if you have not tried ERDAS TITAN, you might want to give it a look. I believe Universities will especially benefit from ERDAS TITAN’s sharing ability. I know when I was at the Georgia Tech Center for GIS I always had staff and students in the School of Architecture want to know if I had data in this area or that area. If ERDAS TITAN was around then, it sure would have saved me time and maybe kept me from being grumpy when the tenth student emailed about this data or that data for the project they have due in one week. Students…. Gotta love ‘em.
Back to ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3, you could download the install executable from the ERDAS Website under the Products > ERDAS IMAGINE > Download page. Here's the link.
http://www.erdas.com/Products/ERDASProductInformation/tabid/84/currentid/1050/default.aspx
The ERDAS 2009 DVD Media Kits consist of two dual-layer DVDs containing all ERDAS software and data examples for all ERDAS products. Be sure to load ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 and give it a try, especially the mosaic tools.
Also, if you have not tried ERDAS TITAN, you might want to give it a look. I believe Universities will especially benefit from ERDAS TITAN’s sharing ability. I know when I was at the Georgia Tech Center for GIS I always had staff and students in the School of Architecture want to know if I had data in this area or that area. If ERDAS TITAN was around then, it sure would have saved me time and maybe kept me from being grumpy when the tenth student emailed about this data or that data for the project they have due in one week. Students…. Gotta love ‘em.
Back to ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3, you could download the install executable from the ERDAS Website under the Products > ERDAS IMAGINE > Download page. Here's the link.
http://www.erdas.com/Products/ERDASProductInformation/tabid/84/currentid/1050/default.aspx
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Strange Rumor Concerning Backwards Compatibility in 9.3
I have recently heard a strange rumor concerning backwards compatibility in ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3. In case you hear the rumor, just ignore it. ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 has image and vector backwards file compatibility to pervious verisons of .img, .lan, .gis, .tif and many more raster data, as well vector data created within the product line since the introduction of commercial ERDAS software in 1982.
I had another question on "backwards compatibility," dealing with license files rather than data files. Here is a comment on that:
The entire licensing technology was changed for ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3. The FlexNet license manager is now used and the system IDs are thus required to be different. Nevertheless, customer can have ERDAS IMAGINE 9.2 and earlier versions of license managers on the same system as ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3. As with all versions, only one version of IMAGINE can run at a time.
When ERDAS switched to the new licensing system, ERDAS streamlined the process and addressed many of the places where errors occurred for customers installing license files. So, ERDAS hopes the pain of obtaining new license files has been minimized.
Finally, note that there is no price difference between node-locked and floating licenses for ERDAS IMAGINE. If a customer receives node locked license and rather wanted floating licenses (and are not changing the license manager machine), they need only ask for floating licenses. This has been ERDAS policy since ERDAS IMAGINE supported floating license files in about 1992.
I had another question on "backwards compatibility," dealing with license files rather than data files. Here is a comment on that:
The entire licensing technology was changed for ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3. The FlexNet license manager is now used and the system IDs are thus required to be different. Nevertheless, customer can have ERDAS IMAGINE 9.2 and earlier versions of license managers on the same system as ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3. As with all versions, only one version of IMAGINE can run at a time.
When ERDAS switched to the new licensing system, ERDAS streamlined the process and addressed many of the places where errors occurred for customers installing license files. So, ERDAS hopes the pain of obtaining new license files has been minimized.
Finally, note that there is no price difference between node-locked and floating licenses for ERDAS IMAGINE. If a customer receives node locked license and rather wanted floating licenses (and are not changing the license manager machine), they need only ask for floating licenses. This has been ERDAS policy since ERDAS IMAGINE supported floating license files in about 1992.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 and ER Mapper 7.2 now share licensing codes
On May 21, 2007 ERDAS announced the purchase of Earth Resource Mapping Ltd (ER Mapper). Among the products ERDAS acquired in that purchase was ER Mapper Professional. For almost two decades, ER Mapper Professional and ERDAS IMAGINE competed for market share in the remote sensing segment of the mapping community. Until ER Mapper moved its focus to enterprise development, ER Mapper Professional owned the second largest market share, second only to ERDAS IMAGINE.
ERDAS announced on October 6, 2008, ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 and ER Mapper 7.2 now share licensing codes at the IMAGINE Professional level. This means customers purchasing new licenses or receiving licenses through software maintenance (SWM) for IMAGINE Professional 9.3 and ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 will be able to use both products at the same time on the same desktop, with one license of either of these ERDAS products.
At first glance it may appear customers will now receive two licenses for every one license. This is not correct. The customer will continue to have one license.
To help explain, allow me to introduce the idea of an “ERDAS Session.” An ERDAS Session begins when the customer launches an ERDAS product on a computer. Each session consumes a single license of an ERDAS product. ERDAS allows only one session per computer.
When a customer launches ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 or ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2, they launch an ERDAS Session. Because ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 and ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 use the same license codes, they also use the same session. Thus, the customer can launch both products on the same computer at the same time.
To help make this clearer, let's look at a few scenarios. Assume we have one floating license of ERDAS Professional 9.3 and one floating license for ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 on a network to be used among three people.
Scenario 1:
- Shirley begins an ERDAS Session by launching ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 on her computer. She then needs to use a classification tool found in IMAGINE Professional 9.3, and launches it as well (not closing her ER mapper tools). No problem, she has occupied 1 license within her ERDAS Session.
- Soon thereafter, Stephanie begins an ERDAS Session by launching ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 on her computer. No problem, she has occupied the second (and final) license within her ERDAS Session.
- A few moments later, Jessica tries to launch ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 and is denied a license by the license broker. Jessica’s problem is both licenses have been consumed by Shirley and Stephanie’s two ERDAS Sessions. Her solution is to ask Shirley or Stephanie to close their sessions, or purchanse another license.
Scenario 2:
- Matt begins an ERDAS Session by launching ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 on his computer.
- Soon thereafter, Chenda begins an ERDAS Session by launching ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 on her computer. No problem, she has occupied the second (and final) license.
- A few moments later, Trey tries to launch ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 and is denied a license by the license broker. Trey’s problem is both licenses have been consumed by Matt and Chenda two ERDAS Sessions. His solution is to ask Matt or Chenda to close their sessions, or purchase another license.
Scenario 3 (added 2 days after original post by popular request). Assume we have one floating license of ERDAS Professional 9.3 on a network:
- Troy begins an ERDAS Session by launching ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 on his computer.
- Soon thereafter, Michael tries to open an ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 session on his computer and is denied by the license broker. Michael's problem is the one license is occupied by Troy's session. His solution is to ask Troy to close his session or purchase another license.
ERDAS is creating the next generation of desktop geospatial authoring tools. These new tools are being developed from customer’s demand of a fusion of the best of ERDAS IMAGINE, ERDAS ER Mapper, other existing ERDAS technology (desktop and enterprise), as well ERDAS' desire to introduce new technologies under development at ERDAS (not yet released).
Because the fused product will have a 100% capability match at the ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 and IMAGINE Professional 9.3 level, ERDAS decided to provide both tools to customers, today.
It is my opinion, ERDAS is providing a future vision while delivering some of the capability in that vision, today. The combined licensing of ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 and ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 delivers the most powerful geospatial imagining offering available today. Making the change today provides ERDAS customers an opportunity to experience the power of both products, and knowing their SWM has value today and in the future.
A few benefits to existing ERDAS ER Mapper 7.2 Customers are:
- Expand ortho-rectification capability with many different sensor models supported in IMAGINE Professional
- Expand the raster data format support to >150 formats
- Provide robust native vector editing/attributing capability found in ERDAS IMAGINE (arc coverage & shapefile)
- Provide pathway to all of the IMAGINE Add-on Modules (VirtualGIS, Vector, Radar Mapping Suite, Objective, and so forth)
A few benefits to existing ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 Customers
- Rapidly mosaic, color-balance and compress massive volumes of image data. Using the 32-bit compressor on a 32-bit OS, mosaic terabytes of imagery (limit between 1 and 5TB) Using new-64-bit compressor on a 64-bit OS, mosaic many terabytes of imagery (limit estimated above 72TB)
- All image processing is dynamic / on-the-fly; process to screen rather than process to disk
- Domain specific workflows and wizards suitable for a range of industries and specialized applications (e.g. Oil and Gas)
A few benefits to new ERDAS Customers
- ERDAS customers will have both ERDAS IMAGINE and ER Mapper on the same desktop
- ERDAS customers do not have to pick between the products, making their decision easier and quicker
- No need to study both products to determine which meets their need
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