Troubleshooting

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These are known issues and how to handle them.

 

Installation:

 

1.        When I install SpatialXL I do not see the SpatialXL tab appearing in Excel.

a) Sometimes the add-in is not activated in Excel.  You can turn on this add-in by going to the File > Options > Add-ins > Manage Com add-ins > Go

    You can then activate the SpatialXL add-in by making sure it is selected and pressing OK.

          b) If your SpatialXL tab is still not appearing then contact support@primethought.biz for assistance.

 

2.        When I run the SpatialXL installation, I get an error that complains about corruption.

This occurs with a slow internet connection and means that SpatialXL.exe has not downloaded correctly and that the download is corrupted.

To handle this you have to simply re-download with a better connection. Using a program such as Free Download Manager also assists.

 

3.        The prerequisites to installation from the Microsoft sites take a very long time to download and install.

This also occurs with a very slow internet connection.  You can look for the prerequisites on the internet and install each seperately,

but the best solution is to make sure you have a good internet connection to do this installation and download with.

 

Viewing:

 

1.        When I open my workbook, my sub- layers are not appearing under my main layer

This can be a refresh issue.  Clicking in the graphics pane (map area) and zooming in and out by mousewheeling in and out will handle this refresh issue.

This especially tends to happen if there is an error in one of the layers.

 

2.        I cannot see my data, but the hourglass is gone, so it seems the data has loaded and there are no errors on the layer.

Try the following options:

a) You might be looking at a different area, so if you zoom fit on the layer or on all the data, that might bring your data into view.  

    See Zoom fit section.  If you have zoomed to fit but still do not see anything try b) or c).

 

b) You might not have loaded data, the file could be empty or could be incorrectly loaded.  

    To explore this option you can open the data grid to see if there is any data in it.

 

c) Your data might be so widely distributed that you cannot see any of it, because the points etc might be too small over the entire area.  

     In this case you can open your data grid and zoom to one of the elements in the grid.  

    That way you can pinpoint where this element is without trying to see everything at the same time.

 

3.        The data is looking strangely distorted or in the wrong position.

Check out your map projections.  

Sometimes if you are trying to view data from one projection in another, the data looks distorted or appears in the wrong place.

 

4.        There is a red x next to the layer.

This is an error message.  See the Error Message section.

 

5.        My 3D data is not looking completely 3D, I can see through objects that are in front or the objects do not appear in the right order.

This is an issue with the renderer that you are using. Try flipping to the DirectX renderer.  

This renderer is not good for 2D data or big amounts of data and can give an error on some machines depending on the strength of the graphics card.

So remember to flip back to GDIPlus when you don't need to use the DirectX renderer anymore.

 

6.        When I try to select my data, the mouse does not hook anything.

This can happen with the GDIPlus renderer sometimes, because GDI does not always draw in the true order.  

You can try panning back out of the scene a bit.  

You can also try putting on the DirectX renderer, but do not use this option with 2D only data and large amounts of data.

 

7.        My data loads very slowly or even runs out of memory when I load.

There can be a few reasons for this, these are the most common reasons:

 

a) Large datasets: If you are trying to load a large dataset, imagine loading an 8 Gig dataset on a machine that has only 2 Gig memory,

    One of the ways of dealing with this is to set your layer properties to dynamically load the data.  

     In this way, only the data in the viewing range will be loaded.

 

    Another way of dealing with this is to go to your source data and split this into smaller bits

    so that you are for instance only viewing files much smaller than your memory limitation.

 

    You can also see what type of data you are trying to load.  3D text elements for instance are very expensive as drawing operations.

    You also do not always need to use the 3D text.  Export the data without these elements from the source data.

 

b) Wrong renderer:  If you are trying to view map data with a DirectX renderer, instead of GDIPlus, there could be a performance problem.

    DirectX is more 3D orientated and for smaller sets of data.

    Flipping your renderer should handle this issue.

 

c) Mini map: Your mini map is a proper rendition of the scene. Turning it off can enhance performance.

 

d) Not much memory:  If your PC does not have much memory, for instance only 1 Gig, and you are trying to look at sizable files.

    Getting a more powerful machine or increasing memory will help with that.

 

e) Images:  Some image file formats such as Tiffs, JPEGs, and so forth uses contiguous memory (memory has to be in one chunk).  

    This means that even with more memory, images even of 50 MB might load very slowly or you may even run out of memory.

    This does not occur with Erdas images for example because the memory handling for these image formats are much better.

   

    A very powerful machine with lots of memory will help.

 

8,        Which layer properties should I set for optimum loading?

Read the following section : Autoload or dynamic load

 

9.        The layers eyes are closed, yet the data loaded. How do I get them to be visible?

Read the following section : Layer properties to change visible from and to

 

 


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