See the Installations topic for instructions on installing and activating Manifold.
This user manual describes Manifold Release 9 based on the latest published build, either a pre-release build, Cutting Edge build or official release. Release 9 evolves rapidly so this documentation may take a few days to catch up with all the latest features.
This user manual also describes the free Manifold Viewer product, which tracks the latest Release 9 build.
Manifold means the latest Manifold
Release 9 build based on the Radian engine. Because Manifold and
Radian Studio are based on the same Radian engine and use many of the
same interfaces, we may use Radian and Manifold as synonyms in this documentation. Release 8
means the prior generation of Manifold GIS products. 
Get the latest and best product version from the Product Downloads page for Manifold Release 9 and the Viewer Downloads page for Manifold Viewer.
Manifold does not automatically check for updates. After installation, at any time check for any newer versions available by launching Manifold and choosing Help - About. When the About dialog is launched, Manifold will reach out through Internet to check for a new version.
Manifold Release 9 and Manifold Viewer evolve rapidly. New Release 9 builds fix bugs and add numerous new features. They are free to download and use by licensees. If you have already activated Release 9 on the computer, un-installing an older build and then installing a newer build will not require an additional activation key. Running the latest build guarantees you will be able to open .map and .mxb created by new builds, which older versions might not be able to open.
new, improved versions of Release 9 usually will use the same .map project format as earlier versions, but sometimes improvements will require changes to .map project format that older versions cannot read. Newer versions of Release 9 will always be able to open .map project files created by older versions, but older versions might not be able to open .map project files created by the latest version.
Always run the latest version of Release 9 or Viewer. If you cannot open a Release 9 .map or .mxb project file, install the latest version of 9 or Viewer and try again. Older versions of 9 or Viewer might not be able to open projects created by the very latest build.
Manifold Release 9 and Manifold Viewer have different installation options to suit various tastes. For step-by-step installation and activation please see these two topics:
Machines running Manifold must have the following Microsoft packages installed:
Microsoft .NET 4.0 or greater.
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable Update 2 or more recent.
Most modern Windows systems already have .NET 4.0 or greater installed. For downloads, see the Microsoft site at
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53345
For downloads of the Visual C++ redistributable package see the Microsoft site at
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads
On a 64-bit Windows system install both the 64-bit C++ redistributable, vc_redist.x64.exe (64-bit) and also the 32-bit C++ redistributable, vc_redist.x86.exe (32-bit).
On a 32-bit Windows system install vc_redist.x86.exe (32-bit).
You must login with genuine and full Administrator privileges to install Manifold. Being a member of the Administrators group often is not enough as some Windows versions by default do not give full Administrator privileges to users who are members of the Administrators group. It is best to login as THE Administrator login to install Manifold.
See the Installations topic for additional important information on hardware and software requirements.
The Manifold GUI uses English by default. To use other languages for the GUI, provide a localization file as discussed in the Localization topic. Anyone can create a localization file for a desired language. See the Manifold website for examples of localization files contributed by users.
For maximum compatibility with Microsoft products Manifold utilizes Microsoft facilities to connect to formats used by those products. Due to the limitations of required Microsoft facilities in 64-bit Windows systems, in most such systems Manifold in 64-bit mode will not export, import or link to DB, HTML, MDB, XLS or WKx format files.
The easy way to import or export such formats is to utilize the 32-bit version of Manifold that is automatically installed in every 64-bit Manifold installation in addition to the 64-bit version of Manifold. To import, we launch Manifold in 32-bit mode and import into a Manifold .map project file. We can then launch Manifold in 64-bit mode and open that .map project file or link to that .map project file. To export, we launch Manifold in 32-bit mode, open the .map project desired and export to the desired format.
For important information and discussion please see the Essay on .mdb files and 32-bit or 64-bit Manifold.
Most file names in Windows end in what
usually is called a three letter extension,
which is usually three or four letters at the end of the file name following
a dot . character. The
three letter extension is one way Windows at times (but not always) keeps
track of what a file is supposed to be. Unfortunately,
by default Windows hides
the three letter extensions of files and instead tries to associate files
with whatever program it thinks should be used to open that file. That
may be helpful for inexpert consumers, but for skilled users it is inconvenient
and can be misleading when working with the many file formats that
Manifold and similar products utilize. 
Tech tip: Please turn off the hiding of extensions by Windows. A typical way to do so in most versions of Windows would be from Windows Explorer, choose Tools - Folder options, press the View tab and then in the Advanced Settings pane ensure that the Hide extensions for known file types is unchecked. Press Apply to Folders and then press OK. You will then be able to see extensions such as .map and others. See also the Essay on three letter extensions and why the default hiding of them by Windows is such a bad thing.
Manifold Viewer is a free product from Manifold that is a subset of Manifold Release 9. Viewer has significant limitations compared to Release 9:
View only / Read only.
No saves of projects.
No exports to any format.
No ODBC connection to Viewer.
No scripting and no add-ins.
No GPU parallelism.
Slower performance.
Read-only for all data sources.
Some limitations in commands.
No technical support.
Despite the above limitations Viewer retains so many Release 9 user interface commands and functions that the same user manual - this user manual - is used for both Release 9 and Viewer. Viewer users who read this documentation should keep in mind the above limits. If a command or menu option does not appear, that is usually because of one of the above limits in Viewer. In most situations the situation will be clear.
Manifold does not provide technical support for Manifold Viewer. Hey, it's free!
Current Manifold releases utilize Radian technology .map format. A new Manifold edition can open Manifold Release 8 .map files but Release 8 cannot open newer Manifold .map files. If we open a Release 8 .map file in Manifold and then Save that .map file it will be saved in newer Manifold .map format. Manifold will increment the name to avoid overwriting the original Release 8 .map but if we insist we can use the same file name to overwrite the original Release 8 .map file. To retain the ability to read that .map file in Release 8, make sure save the .map file created by Release 9 using a different name or into a different folder.
Important: When opening a .map file created by earlier Manifold products, Manifold always converts a pre-Radian .map file into Radian .map file format. Using File - Save or File - Save As thereafter will save the project as a Radian .map file which Manifold products which do not use the Radian engine (such as Manifold Release 8 or prior) will not be able to read. Use File - Save As to save to a new name in Manifold .map format without altering the original, pre-Radian .map file name.
Important: Linking a pre-Radian .map file or creating a new data source based on a pre-Radian .map file will also cause that .map file to be converted into Radian .map file format. Make a backup copy of any pre-Radian .map files you wish to retain in the old format before you open them or use them in a Manifold project.
Manifold Release 8 can connect to newer Manifold projects using the Radian ODBC driver. That facilitates interchange between newer Manifold projects and Release 8. See the discussion in the Projects and .map Files topic.
Check the Changes and Additions topic to see recent updates not yet integrated into this documentation.
