Geographic Calculator 7.0 from Blue Marble Geographics (http://www.bluemarblegeo.com, 397 Water Street, Ste. 100 Gardiner, Maine 04345 USA, Tel: 800-616-2725, Fax: 207-582-7001), is a coordinate conversion software program that can be accessed via desktop or server licensing. It converts data from one coordinate system to another and performs other geodetic calculations. Calculator includes eight coordinate systems, 65 map projections, and thirteen datum transformation methods. Geographic Calculator 7.0 can be executed as a standalone software program. The underlying library, GeoCalc, has been redesigned as an object-oriented class library that can also be incorporated into applications written for multiple development platforms including Microsoft .NET, COM, Windows C++, LINUX, and Macintosh. The data source that both products use to access and store object definitions is provided in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format. The XML data source supports fifteen primitive object types. The standalone version of the Geographic Calculator 7.0 was tested on a Toshiba Satellite M115 personal computer purchased December 2006. The laptop computer has an Intel Core Duo T2050 (1.6 GHz, 2MB L2 cache, no 64-bit or VT), 512MB DDR2, 80GB 5400rpm hard disk, DVD drive; high bandwidth Internet access was via an Ethernet Linksys PLE200 PowerLine connection. A Samsung 226CW LCD monitor is used as the primary video display, set at 1680x1050. The Geographic Calculator 7.0 can be purchased directly from Blue Marble Geographics. An authorization license, which is easily initialized via the Internet, is required. A trial version of Calculator can be downloaded from Blue Marble's Internet site. A Single User License is $599.00. One year of support and updates is $199.00; for pricing on Floating, Dongle, and Server licenses, or for pricing for the GeoCalc SDK, please contact the company.

Overview

The Geographic Calculator 7.0 software is targeted to enterprise users that need to access or distribute geospatial data in many different coordinate systems and map projections (supported coordinate systems are listed in Table 1; supported map projections are listed in Table 2). Blue Marble considers version 7.0 to be the most comprehensive upgrade to the product since its inception. The interface is customizable, and includes dockable windows, workspace settings that can be saved and transmitted to others, and administrative tools that can lock editing of the coordinate datasource. Also new is an extension allowing the use of the Calculator in ArcGIS, and the ability to transform between any datum (not just WGS84). Version 7.0 also offers a new dongle license option: the hardware key dongle is registered with Blue Marble and can be inserted into the computer's USB port and ported from computer to computer as needed.