Description
This article is from the Geographic
Information Systems FAQ, by Lisa Nyman lnyman@census.gov with
numerous contributions by others.
6.8.1: How do Arc/Info and Intergraph MGE compare? (Geographic Information Systems)
Summary from: Chris Wade <cwade@gears.efn.org>
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From: E7G4KIN@TOE.TOWSON.EDU
At my company, data Chromatics, Inc. we use both arc/info and intergrpah mge.
We perform a variety of GIS consulting services to public and private sector
clients, with particular emphasis on data integration.
For larger scale implementations, we prefer intergraph for two main reasons:
1. It is based on on industry standard cad package (Microstation) which is
known by most people with cad or mapping experience and
2. The MGE database structure permits full use of standard SQL databases such
Oracle, Informix or Ingres. In Arc, while you can use an oracle database,
you can't use an oracle table...you must use the info table.
Arc is not a CAD package. Since most large scale projects require traditional
input work, your costs can be reduced by selecting a package with a direct
(not translated) cad input function such as autocad or microstation. From
the database standpoint, I can hire a database programmer in Oracle and,
with little or no additional training, have him or her peforming query
development for end users that may not need graphic interfaces. This is not
easily accomplished with arc.
On the smaller scale, Arc can be implemented with less training costs.
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From: david@sparc.ecology.uga.edu
There are some good programs from Intergraph that a GIS operation could
probably be happy using. Raster to vector conversion software comes to mind.
The basic product on which all Intergraph is based (Microstation - a CAD
program) is quite good. However I found the following things about Intergraph
to be quite irritating:
1. Since it was built on top of a CAD system, it is essentially a "kludge"
system in my opinion. "Kludge" systems are inherently buggy I think. I
would say that ArcCad probably suffers from the same kinds of problems
(although I must admit I have never actually worked with it before).
2. If you are talking about Unix workstation platforms, then Intergraphs
program only run on Intergraph equipment as far as I know. The I equipment
seems to have a lot of hardware problems. Also the operating system is
based on System 5 unix, and seems pretty primitive after working with BSD
unix on Suns (this is probably another bias, and of course, Sun is moving
to Solaris, which is also System 5 based - bummer!).
3. The software is menu based for the most part, which is probably good for
most users. I however have a problem with "black boxes". I personally like
command line software, because I feel I have a better understanding of exactly
what I am doing. It is harder to learn of course. Even though Intergraph is
menu based, there seems to be a excessive amount of system files that have
to be dealt with by hand. I don't understand why the software does not take
care of many of these files for the user. The idea of a menu interface is
supposed to protect the user from this kind of problem
4. Packaging is a REAL problem I think. With Intergraph you have to buy a
whole bunch of individual packages to put together a usable system. Most of
the programs have descriptive names such as IPSNUC27, which is very informative
to they purchaser (don't let the sarcasm drip on you). I don't think the
sales people understand all the different pieces much less the prospective
buyer. A/I (for the moment at least) comes more or less bundled. The basic
package lets you do most of the GIS things you need to do. Add on's like
COGO, are also bundles of programs.
5. Documentation is terrible, although it looks impressive on the bookshelf.
6. Creating your own menuing interface is a major problem with Intergraph.
They use a programming language (MDL) which is very similar to C, but is not
truly compiled. A/I's AML is much easier to develope with in my opinion. Of
course, if you want to be sure you will be invaluable to your boss (assuming
they commit to Intergraph), then do a lot of programming in MDL. This should
guarantee job security because there are so few people who understand/want to
program in this language.
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