After loading the charts, simply double-click on a chart file in a folder (raster format) or a catalog (vector format) and it displays on the screen. Note that you must register your software permit, like a license or software key, before international vector charts in S-57 or S-63 format can be displayed. No permits are needed for raster or vector charts from NOAA, or for charts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. With MacENC's "directory based" chart loading, you can easily direct the application to add charts or a chart folder from anywhere on your hard drive.

LOOK AND FEEL

MacENC uses a typical Mac graphical user interface with floating windows. Windows can be displayed transparently, so you can see your chart display through any data window, giving a "layered" effect. This is a particularly nice feature to use with the Waypoint window. Some windows also include a drawer option. For example, the GPS data window has a pop-out drawer that details satellite data. Like most Mac applications, MacENC also includes a number of keyboard and mouse shortcuts, described in a compendium in the Help menu.

MARK AND DIANA DOYLEA directory-based chart manager allows you to browse your hard disk and easily load raster chart folders or vector chart catalogs.

There are a few oddly un-Mac-like aspects to the window display. For instance, Chart Manager can never rise to be the top window and is always obstructed by the Navigation window and the Overview window, forcing you to resize it. Like all software programs, these little quirks become irritating if you use the program extensively and have to repeat the inefficiencies over and over.

Beware of overdoing the window displays: the screen can easily become cluttered with window layers. The fixed-size Overview window takes up quite a bit of screen real estate. We'd love this application on dual 23-inch Apple cinema displays: one for all the windows and one for the chart view.

Since this isn't a viable option on a boat, you must resize and organize windows to make it work on your laptop screen. Unfortunately, once you get your window positions, sizes, and column widths just how you like them, some of the settings are lost when you restart the application. This was a major annoyance. Every startup required repeating these "housekeeping chores" to reorganize your display. It would be nice if MacENC remembered user settings or included a "save my workspace" option.

We found that MacENC is a bit weak on customization and preference settings overall. There are a number of customizable properties in its Preferences window, such as setting compass displays to magnetic or true, and wind to apparent or true. However, MacENC doesn't have as many knobs and dials as a Mac user is accustomed to. For example, Intracoastal Waterway travelers cannot select statute miles instead of nautical miles. And multiple windows cannot be combined into a tabbed window to save precious screen real estate.

WORKING WITH CHARTS

One of MacENC's nicest features is that it smoothly and automatically transitions between charts in all settings and circumstances. It brings up the next chart automatically - even in planning mode. Many other applications only include this feature when the boat is underway and connected to a GPS.

Even more impressive, MacENC works simultaneously with both raster and vector format charts. It doesn't simply cascade these two displays, it links the charts, making the raster display "smarter" by reading the vector data behind it. For example, clicking on an object on a raster chart would normally have no result, because it is just a scanned paper chart image. But using MacENC, that same click brings up the data contained in the corresponding vector chart. You get the combined benefits of raster imagery and vector data. You can also type Apple + R to toggle back and forth between "stacked" vector and raster chart displays.

Users can navigate across charts using Outline mode or with a feature called Automatic. Outline mode is a standard feature in many charting and navigation applications, displaying thin lines showing the chart outlines. Right-click the mouse and a list of charts spanning your area appears in a pop-up window. Select one of those choices to refresh the chart display and move to that chart. Automatic mode simplifies the process by choosing the best chart as you zoom, scroll, or pan.