8 replies to this topic

[ELeFevre]

Can anyone from Avenza give us a time-frame on when Mapublisher will be released with CS3 support? Are we months away, or is it a matter of weeks? Maybe MP 7.4?

[Ted Florence]

Hello Erin and everyone.
Before I go on I would like to suggest that this forum is really not the place for questions like this. Not that we are trying or hoping to hide information but rather that questions like this, of a specific MAPublisher or Geographic Imager nature where a response from Avenza is desired, are best handled through direct communication with Avenza or via the various product related mailing lists (mapublisher-l, geographicimager-l, map-mac) that Avenza supports and runs. The reason for this is that a more immediate and pretty well guaranteed response is assured whereas here at Cartotalk, for example, had it not been for someone from Avenza having seen this posting you could have waited quite a while for a) someone here to see it and someone here to respond.

Anyway, the story of Adobe CS3 is that updates to both MAPublisher and Geographic Imager will be required in order to use CS3, and especially on Mac. While we do know for sure that updates will be required, and we have been working with CS3 betas for several months, we are unable to confirm a release date for our updates until such time as we have had a chance to thoroughly test both products with actual out-of-the box shipping versions of CS3. We have learned from past experience that QA testing against even the latest RC builds provides no assurances as often changes are made up to the final GM that can affect something in our products. We have not received shipping versions of CS3 yet so until we actually receive them our hands are tied. Our hope is that given the ongoing work with the betas very little last minute changes will be required. In any case our desire and plan is to get the updates released as soon as possible after we receive our copies of CS3. That will likely be measured in weeks, not months.
In the meantime all I can suggest is that you watch our website and look for our announcements.
These updates will be made available free of charge to current members of the respective maintenance programs or as a full product upgrade for those without maintenance.

Regards
Ted

[CHART]

Ted,
I will set forth a few arguments with regards to Erin's question. My responce is subjective, with I hope an objective outlook that can help in the future.

I sincerely believe that Erin question is legitimate. I believe it stands the test of all posting guidelines set by this forum.
This sub-forum is for Software applications. Erin has been quite active with regards to MapPublisher questions and answers (and I thank him for that). His implications with MapPublisher on this forum benefits indirectly Avenza. I also believe (I might be wrong) that Avenza is quite aware of the existence of this forum.

of a specific MAPublisher or Geographic Imager nature where a response from Avenza is desired, are best handled through direct communication with Avenza or via the various product related mailing lists (mapublisher-l, geographicimager-l, map-mac) that Avenza supports and runs

had it not been for someone from Avenza having seen this posting you could have waited quite a while for a) someone here to see it and cool.gif someone here to respond.

Like Avenza employees other software employees are known to be active on this forum. I sincerely believe that a GIS software company should know of and keep track of ALL possible forums were questions regarding their products are posted. (Surely not that easy but a must in my regards).

MapPublisher is a software of choice for my business and for many others that use Cartotalk on a regular basis. Avenza's implication in this forum is appreciate as is your response with regards to CS3.

Best Regards,

[rudy]

I concur with Jacques. Erin's post is legitimate. Granted, there is a risk that it will go unanswered in this forum by someone from Avenza but it wasn't the case. Members, I am sure, have many questions of future directions and features of map-related software that they may or may not post in this forum and software vendors may or may not respond, as they see fit. I certainly appreciate Ted's responses to Mapublisher related questions and would like to see more of it - not just from him but from other software vendors as well.

[DaveB]

I don't think anyone is saying the original post was not legitimate. It's just that in order to increase your odds of getting a timely and official response it is usually best to inquire through official channels. That is not to say that you definitely won't get responses here, witness Ted's open and thorough response below, but it's more likely to slip through the cracks if it's not posted through official channels.

Having said that, I do believe it's worthwhile for people from all aspects of cartography (including software developers dealing with cartographic functionality) to keep tabs on CartoTalk. I know I learn a lot here (and hopefully am able to help out on the rare occasion). (It's also a way for me to kind of keep in touch with cartography and to converse with fellow map geeks!)

[Ted Florence]

Thanks, Dave. You are bang on with your reply and I appreciate you having taken the time to come to my defense, so to speak.
Indeed Jacques, et al, I never said that Erin's posting and question were not legitimate and I even did not suggest that it does not belong on Cartotalk. Rather it is both legitimate and does belong on Cartotalk.
The point I was trying to make is that if one requests a response directly from a company or individual, whether Avenza, ESRI or anyone else, one ought to send that message to a place that is more likely to result in a) receipt by that company or individual and a quick response. Certainly many of us at Avenza, including myself, belong to Cartotalk, but depending upon schedules and workload, we do not read it every day and messages sent to Cartotalk are not instantly sent to our emails. Whereas, with all our Avenza monitored lists all messages are immediately sent to various departments here for immediate reply and comment. Thus, my message to Erin was definitely not one of admonishment or criticism but rather a suggestion.
Now on the other hand, had he said something like "Does anyone know the status of MAPublisher and Adobe Illustrator CS3?" I, or someone else here, would just have answered it and left it at that. But by adding the comment, "Can anyone from Avenza give us a time-frame on when Mapublisher will be released with CS3 support?" he implied that it was a direct question pointed to Avenza and not the general Cartotalk audience. So I merely suggested that next time he send it directly to us.
Regards
Ted

[rudy]

That makes sense to me. Thanks for your timely responses Ted.

[CHART]

Ted, Dave.

A little interaction goes a long way with regards to explaining things.
Thanks. I understand your reasoning now.

Regards,

[ELeFevre]

Now on the other hand, had he said something like "Does anyone know the status of MAPublisher and Adobe Illustrator CS3?" I, or someone else here, would just have answered it and left it at that. But by adding the comment, "Can anyone from Avenza give us a time-frame on when Mapublisher will be released with CS3 support?" he implied that it was a direct question pointed to Avenza and not the general Cartotalk audience. So I merely suggested that next time he send it directly to us.
Regards
Ted

Ted,
Thanks for the response. You're right, rather than using cartotalk as a direct communication channel to Avenza, I should have addressed the post to "anyone". My apologies. My reasoning was that I wasn't alone in wondering when MP would be compatible with CS3...so why not seek a public response and save members a few minutes of the day. Probably not the best approach in hindsight....but I meant well. Next time I'll email you guys first, and then decide if I should share. Thanks. Erin.