How to apply a projection to a .TAB file for Map Manager

Content

Cognos uses maps that are stored in a Cognos proprietary format (CMF). Maps can be converted to CMF format using the Cognos Map Manager utility - a Windows application. Map Manager accepts MapInfo .TAB files as input (referenced via an XML file).

To import new maps in Map Manager in Cognos 10.2.2, you must:
1. Manually author an XML file that specifies all the .TAB files used in the map, as well as their color and order. A sample XML file and a schema has been provided in the maps folder in the install directory. More detailed instructions can be found in the Map Manager Installation and User Guide.
2. Ensure that all the .TAB files are in the same projection. If the TAB files are in different projections, the import will not be successful.

The rest of this document describes how to apply a certain projection to a .TAB file using MapInfo or other open source alternatives.

Apply projection using MapInfo

To apply a projection to a particular .TAB file in MapInfo:
1. Click File > Save Copy As.
2. Select the desired layer from the list.
3. Click Save As.
4. Click Projection.
5. Select the desired projection from the Choose Projection dialog.
6. Click OK and Save.

Apply a projection using Ogr2Ogr command line utility

Ogr2Ogr is an open source command line utility that can be used to apply a projection to a .TAB file. Ogr2Ogr can also convert files in other map formats to .TAB files (for example, ESRI Shapefile). It is available on the internet, for example from: http://www.maptools.org/ms4w/.

To apply a projection to a TAB file using Ogr2Ogr:
1. After installing ms4w, navigate to the ms4w directory in a command prompt and execute setenv.bat. This is needed for ogr2ogr to work.
2. Navigate to ms4w/tools/gdal-ogr/. The ogr2ogr directory exists here.
3. Execute ogr2ogr with the following parameters: ogr2ogr.exe -t_srs srs_def -f "MapInfo File" dst_datasource_name src_datasource_name