Pitney Bowes MapInfo Professional - Manual (Page 75)

Style commands from the Options menu. When the Cosmetic Layer is editable, you can access the style
options from the Drawing Toolbar.
The contents of the Cosmetic Layer are linked proportionally to the map. Map objects (except for symbols)
and text in the Cosmetic Layer are proportionally linked to the zoom level of the map. If you draw objects
in the Cosmetic Layer and then change the map's zoom from 30 to 100 miles, the size of the objects will
appear smaller.
The Help System contains these related topics:
• Using the Cosmetic Layer
• Saving Cosmetic Layer Objects
• Saving Objects on the Cosmetic Layer
• Removing Cosmetic Objects
• Disabling the Save Cosmetic Objects Warning Dialog Box
Making the Layers "Editable"
To make changes to the graphic objects in a layer, you must make the layer editable. You can draw
objects on that layer, add text, combine, or delete objects. You can only make one layer editable at a
time.
• For specific instructions, see Making Layers Editable in the Help System.
Making a Read-Only Table "Editable"
If you are working with tables that were opened from Excel, Lotus, or ASCII files, you may have noticed
that they come in as read-only tables. Because the files are not in native MapInfo Professional formats
or standard DBF format, MapInfo Professional is unable to edit the tabular information contained in these
tables.
If you wish to modify the table information, you must save a copy of the table. You can do this when you
open the table in MapInfo Professional by selecting the Create copy in MapInfo format for read/write
check box before selecting Open in the Open dialog box.
• For instructions on making read-only map layers editable, see Making Layers Editable in the Help
System.
Getting Layer Information
You can use the Info tool button to get information pertaining to the map layer.
To get information about an object in a particular layer:
1. Make sure the layer you want information about is the selectable layer.
2. Click Info in the Main toolbar and click the object you want information about.
If the information that displays is not what you were looking for, check to see that the layer
you are interested in getting data for is selected. Note:
Using either method, the Info Tool box displays.
75 MapInfo Professional User Guide
Chapter 3: The Basics of MapInfo Professional