Managing Coordinate Systems Using MAPINFOW.PRJ

Coordinate systems can be added, modified, and removed by editing the MAPINFOW.PRJ file.
Note: Extensive information on projections and coordinate systems can found in the MapInfo Pro documentation set.

As an example, create the following coordinate system using these parameters by adding a new entry to the MAPINFOW.PRJ file:

Parameter Type Entry Description

Name

"Equidistant Conic Plus"

Name of the new coordinate system

Projection Type

6,

Equidistant Conic

Datum

74,

(NAD 83)

Units

7,

meters

Origin Longitude

-90.5,

90×30¢W

Origin Latitude

30,

30×N,

Standard Parallel 1

10.33333,

10×20¢N

Standard Parallel 2

50,

50×N

False Easting

10000000,

10,000,000 m

False Northing

500000

500,000 m

  1. Stop the Spectrum Technology Platform server.
  2. Locate the jar file that contains the MAPINFOW.PRJ file: SpectrumDirectory/app/types/li-sdk-coordsys-core-version.jar and unzip it.
  3. Open the MAPINFOW.PRJ in a text editor or word processor.
  4. Go to the Equidistant Conic section and add a new line.
  5. Type the name of your new coordinate system in quotes, followed by a comma.
  6. Enter the following information to represent your coordinate system:

    6, 74, 7, -90.5, 30, 10.33333, 50, 10000000, 500000

  7. Save your edited MAPINFOW.PRJ file and replace it in the jar file.
  8. Restart the Spectrum Technology Platform server.

There are other ways you can edit this file. To shorten the list, remove coordinate systems from the file. You can also change the names, change group headings and reorder the file to suit your needs.

Things to keep in mind when editing the MAPINFOW.PRJ file:

  • You must record the X and Y coordinates of the origin point in decimal degrees.
  • Remember to include a negative sign for west longitudes and south latitudes.
  • You must list the origin longitude first in the MAPINFOW.PRJ file entry.
  • Carry out decimals to at least five places for greater accuracy.
  • Do not use commas to represent thousands or millions in large numbers. Only use commas to separate parameters from one another.
  • When specifying projection, datum and units, use the number that represents the parameter. These numbers are listed in the table for each parameter earlier in this section. In our example, 6 represents Equidistant Conic projection; 74 represents NAD 83 datum, and 7 represents meters.
Note: Group headings are distinguished by the hyphen at the beginning of the name. Names of coordinate systems cannot begin with a hyphen or a space.