Pitney Bowes MapInfo Vertical Mapper - Manual (Page 81)

Chapter 5: Creating Grids Using Other Methods
User Guide
79
Grid Buffering
In a vector GIS applications such as MapInfo Professional, you can create regions around map
objects at a predefined distance. You cannot, however, determine distances within a buffer region.
For example, if a highway is buffered at a distance of one kilometre, you will not be able to determine
the precise distances that fall within the buffered area (for example, 750 m or 300 m). In
Vertical Mapper, the value of each cell in a buffer grid is calculated as the distance to the closest
input object. As a result, you can determine precise distances within the buffered region.
Input objects supported by this tool are line, polyline, point, and polygon objects. Polygon objects are
treated as polylines, where the buffers are created using the object’s boundary, and values are
calculated on either side of this boundary (inside and outside of the polygon).
The Grid Buffer tool is used here to build a buffer grid of continuous distance from a
road network.
You can choose one of two options in the Grid Buffer tool: Use Nodes Only and Use Maximum
Distance.
As shown in the next figure, when you choose the Use Nodes Only option, buffers are created only
at the junction of the line’s segments but at no other places.
This graph shows the result when the Use Nodes Only option is chosen.