Datamine Discover KB - Discover 3D

Are drillhole HoleIDs case sensistive?

kbadmin — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 03:46:28 GMT

Yes Discover Drillhole tools was compare HoleID primary keys with case sensitive.

There is a validation option to check for Collar name mismatch, this will return any HoleID values which are not found in the Collar table, including case differences only.

It is recommonded to convert all HoleID field values to upper case to avoid issues.

Is there a free Discover3D viewer available

kbadmin — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:46:17 GMT

Yes there is a free Discover3D Viewer available for download and can be installed on any computer to open and view a Discover3D session.

Note MRR files are not supported, as this requires a full licensed copy of MapInfo Advanced on the same computer. Instead, simply use RASTER>Convert into any other support format which are supported.

It can be downloaded from here or contact support for a download link.

Functionality replaced or retired from the MapInfo Discover 64-bit Bundle

Josh Knight — Fri, 09 May 2025 04:48:12 GMT

The following capabilities will not be available in the 64-bit version of Discover. They have been either superseded by new & enhanced functionality (as indicated), or retired.

If required, these capabilities are all still available in Discover 2015 (32-bit) (download here).

Note: Discover 64-bit can be installed and licensed on the same computer as Discover 32-bit version (Standalone or Bundle)

NOW AVAILABLE IN DISCOVER 2017

Surfaces module (note it is still deprecated by Raster - see more details below. It will only have limited bug fixes and support)
Polybuilder (Was retired by MapInfo, after being taken from Discover by Mapinfo and In Mapinfo 12.5 & 15.0 32-bit)

REPLACED

Enhanced Layer Control replaced by MapInfo Pro's Layer Control + Table List + NEW Explorer windows.

Temporal Trends replaced by capabilities in GraphMap Geolocated Graphs.

Colour Map, DigData and the Structural Data tool have all been replaced by the enhanced capabilities within the Data Entry module.

The Dynamic Scalebar has been superseded by MapInfo Pro's Scalebar (Map>Scalebar)

RETIRED

MapShop

ALG support removed from both Discover & Discover 3D (ALG data files such as ERS and ECW can be opened directly instead, open the ALG file in notepad to check)

ECW output support removed from the Convert map to registered raster tool

Geosoft GDB support removed from Discover 3D

Surfaces module capabilities in MapInfo Pro ...

What are the system requirements for the Datamine Discover 64-bit?

kbadmin — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 23:54:23 GMT

The Datamine Discover 2023 Bundle (23.x) supports and installs MapInfo Pro Advanced 2021.1 and Discover3D.

Datamine Discover supports the following operating systems:

Windows® 11 (64-bit)
Windows® 10 (64-bit)

- ARM CPU Processors such as or Qualcomm Snapdragon or Apple Macbook M1/M2 chips are NOT supported.
- Apple Macintosh OSX and Linux operating systems are NOT supported.
- Virtualisation systems such as Citrix, Apple Mac Parallels or VMWare are NOT supported.
- Windows XP & Vista & 7 & 8 are NOT supported.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

x64 Intel Core i3/i5/i7 6000+ series or equivalent CPU processor with AVX extensions (note MapInfo/Discover does not utilise multiple CPU cores in most tools.)
4 Gigabytes of RAM ...

How do I turn off multiple objects in the Session Window?

kbadmin — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 01:24:01 GMT

Occurrence

How do I turn off multiple objects in the Session Window?

Solution

Objects in the Session Window can be individually toggled for visibility by enabling or disabling the visibility check box, if you have many objects loaded toggling visibility can take a long time.

To toggle multiple objects together perform the following.

Holding the SHIFT key select the first and last objects you want to toggle visibility for, then check one of the object’s visibility check boxes, all the selected objects will be displayed or hidden.

To toggle a non-consecutive series of objects hold the CTRL key and select the objects, then check one of the object's visibility check boxes, all the selected objects will be displayed or hidden.

How do I set the Cursor Plane position at a defined location?

kbadmin — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 00:37:49 GMT

Occurrence
How do I set the Cursor Plane position at a defined location?

Solution
Located on the Cursor Plane toolbar are three options for a user to define a Cursor Plane location.

This tool works optimally if you make a 3D object selectable so you can use a node or surface to bond to for ...

What are the keyboard shortcuts for Discover 3D?

kbadmin — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 02:15:21 GMT

Numerous keyboard shortcuts are available for the operations in Discover 3D.

Keyboard shortcuts are available for the following functions:

Navigating
Cursor Plane Display
Cursor Plane Position and Orientation
Cursor Plane Image Bonding
Creating Features
Selecting Features
Editing Features
Feature Operations

Please refer the attached file for full list of shortcuts

Error: "This installation of Discover 3D (only) is not licensed"

Josh Knight — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:06:04 GMT
Occurrence

When I select to open or view data from the Discover3D menu, or select a tool in Discover 3D I receive an error such as Discover3D is not licensed, or not licensed to run this plugin.

Solution

In every Discover (2D) installation and license, Discover3D is included in a free viewer mode. Select a menu item or function/tool that is not available in the viewer mode, and it will return a license error message such as this. Click no license Discover3D (ONLY), and then click Run Discover 3D Viewer.

The only functions that work in this mode are -
View Map window in 3D
View Drillholes or Trenches in 3D
Some 3D functions such as adding a skymap background.

To enable all options in the Discover 3D menus a 3D license is required. Such and loading 3D data in 3D, such as DXF, Surpac, Datamine 3D vector files, TINS, wireframes. Viewing sections, and extruding building footprints into 3D models. And loading and thresholding Block Model/Voxel data.

Unable to open MRR files in Discover 2021 v21.2.3 and Mapinfo 2021.1

kbadmin — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 01:26:58 GMT
Occurrence

When I try to open a MRR file in Discover3D or Surfaces I get an error message.

Solution

This was caused by MapInfo Pro using a new version of the ECW SDK.

To resolve this issue simply copy the file -
C:\Program Files\MapInfo\Professional\NCSEcw.dll

To this folder and overwrite the existing old one -
C:\Program Files\MapInfo\Discover

It will be fixed in the next Discover release.

MapInfo & Discover Windows 11 support

Josh Knight — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 02:55:27 GMT

Occurrence

Are MapInfo Pro, Datamine Discover and Discover 3D supported on Windows 11 operating systems?

Solution
We will provide technical support and raise issues found if you are using Windows 11.
We have done testing on Windows 11 and have not found any issues, and based on the information from Microsoft we do not anticipate any major issues.
MapInfo Pro 2021 supports Windows 11.

Opening the Discover 3D window causes a crash (64-bit only)

kbadmin — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 02:34:56 GMT
Occurrence

When running MapInfo Discover 3D (64-bit), attempting to open the Discover 3D window crashes on opening.
Or you may be receiving an error message "Unable to open cosmetic.fdb".

Solution

This is due to Microsoft not supporting side-by-side installation of Office 32bit and 64bit versions.
There is a workaround that has been tested with Office 2013 or Office 2016 (365) installed. If you are using Office 2010, it is recommended you upgrade to a newer supported version of Office first.

In the start menu, open the Datamine folder and find the "Access Database Fix". Run this shortcut and click OK on the prompt to apply.

Note that this fix is not permanent, and may break when Windows Update automatically updates your Office installation. If this occurs, the fix will need to be run again from time to time.

If the issues persists, please do the following -

1. Manually uninstall all versions of the Microsoft Office Access Database Engine 2010 and Microsoft Office Access Database Engine 2016 from the control panel.
2. Then run the Access Database Fix from the start menu>Datamine folder.

Note if you wish to use 32bit software you should only in ...

How can I import Datamine Studio (.dm) files into MapInfo Discover

kbadmin — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 00:56:50 GMT
Datamine Studio stores all its various datatypes in a dm file. In Discover there are dedicated exporters to Datamine format. But to import Datamine files, there is no dedicated import too. To import to into MapInfo Discover there are a number of tools you can use, but requires you knowing beforehand what type of data is in the dm.

The data types are -

1. Datamine point, string (polylines), wireframes (TINS): Can all be imported and converted to 2D TAB views using DISCOVER>Import>Vector Import. Alternatively, to preserver 3D data and if you have a Discover3D license, simply drag and drop the .dm file into the 3D window.
They can also convert a TIN wireframe to a RASTER using SURFACES>Vector to Grid. And display on cross section intersects via converting to a DXF using DISCOVER>Vector Transform, and then the Drilllholes Section Manager.

If you receive an error "input format is not yet supported" or "failed to 3D vector file" it is either -
a. If the file name ends in "_pt.dm" or _tr.dm" it's a wireframe file and requires the companion file to be present in the same folder. Make sure you have both the "filename_pt.dm" and "filename_tr.dm" file in the folder, and then import or drag and drop the "tr.dm" file into Discover.
a. Not a vector datamine file, so try importing as a block model below.
c. Drillhole database or a non-spatial file we do not currently support.

2. Datamine Block Models: These can be loaded as Voxel models in 3D, using ...

How do I add a custom projection to MapInfo and Discover

kbadmin — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 00:10:24 GMT

Occurrence

I've added a custom projection line to my MAPINFOW.PRJ but it does not appear in the select projection dialog box's list.

Solution
If the projection is not appearing in MapInfo Pro, it will need to added to the default MAPINFOW.PRJ file located in -
C:\Program Files\MapInfo\Professional (64-bit)
C:\Program Files (x86)\MapInfo\Professional (32-bit)
Note that these are read only locations, so you will need to copy the file to your desktop, edit it, and then copy back to overwrite with the changes.

If it is still not listed check the format is exactly correct by copying the exact formatting -
"--- Custom name ---"
"Projection name", x, x, x
You should also use DISCOVER>Projection Editor to create the custom coordinate system string.
If using Discover 2017 Update version or later, you only need to update the 1 PRJ file. Other PRJ files are kept in sync. Also there is a new Projection Editor tool to add custom projections, and update both files.
If you wish to share the same PRJ file on a network drive for all users, this can be set using the MapInfo Workgroup directory setting in PRO>Options>Directories.

On older versions, Discover's reprojection tools and Discover3D use a separate projection file (to MapInfo Pro) which you will need to copy and paste the custom projection lines into It has the identical format as the Mapinfow.prj file..
It is located at-

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Encom\Common\Projections\Encom.prj

Using Discover & MapInfo Pro in non-english

kbadmin — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 02:16:37 GMT
Occurrence

I am trying to use Discover and MapInfo Pro and having issues with numbers not displaying in correct formatting or errors.

Solution

MapInfo and Discover use a mix of unicode and non-unicode. To ensure you do not encounter issues when you Windows language is set to something other than English, you need to also change the System Locale to match the windows display format.
These are found in the Control panel, under Change Date Time Number format. Check and ensure the 2 settings match.

In Discover3D I cannot zoom any closer to my data

kbadmin — Fri, 17 May 2019 00:56:13 GMT
Occurrence

When I zoom in with the mouse scroll wheel in 3D, it gets stuck and I cannot zoom any closer

Solution

You can only zoom to within 10m of the rotation centre point, which is not visible when using scroll wheel to zoom.

Hold the Left click + Right click mouse buttons, and pan in the XY plane instead. This will move closer the the point. You can also pan using the intuitive on screen button pad controls.

How do I snap to my drillholes, points, 3D vectors or DEM when digiziting in 3D?

kbadmin — Fri, 17 May 2019 00:53:11 GMT
Occurrence

I have turned on snapping in Discover3D, but still cannot snap to the object

Solution

1. Make sure the selectability is enabled in the layer control. Note that 3D vectors, such as DXF files, cannot be selectable. These can be converted to a Feature using Features>Import, which then can be selected

2. Make sure the Cursor plane is bonded to the layer you wish to snap to. I this mode the 2D plane disappears, and cross hairs will appear as you hover on the points or DEM

My data looks flat in 3D

kbadmin — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 01:03:50 GMT
If you data covers a large area, when viewed in Discover3D it will appear flat as there is no vertical exaggeration/scaling automatically applied.

To adjust this, double click on the "3D Map" layer to open the properties. Under this Scale TAB enter a large value for the Z scale (such as 50) -

Discover3D.exe error - the application was unable to start correctly (32-bit only)

kbadmin — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 04:07:14 GMT
Occurrence

In Discover 2015 32bit or earlier, when I open the Discover3D Window, nothing happens or I receive an error message "Discover3D.exe error - the application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000805). Click OK to close the application."

It may also mention ermapper_u.dll in the error details.

Solution

This affects the ERMapper ALG components of the software. This is due to the PATH environment variable being longer than 1024characters, which typical happens on software delveopers computers installing multiple SDKs and IDEs such as JAVA SDK, Visual studio, Intel compilers etc.

You can simply disable this by -
1. Go to Start and search for "regedit.exe" and run this.
2. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Earth Resource Mapping\Discover3d(libversion6.0)
(or PA(libversion6.0) for Discover PA)

And rename the value BASE_PATH to BASE_PATHX

Alternatively you can manually reduce the length of the Path environment variable.
To view or change environment variables:

1. Right-click Computer on the desktop icon or in Windows Explorer, and then click Properties.
2. Click on Advanced System Settings.
3. Click the Environment variables button.
4. In the System Variables list (second list) - scroll down and find "Path"
5. Select this and click Edit...
6. Copy and paste the contents into a text editor or Word. If longer the 1024you may need to remove some of the folders, starting from the last/end entry.

How do I cut or erase solids/polyhedrons in 3D? There is no 'Target' button.

Josh Knight — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 03:47:01 GMT

Solution

To cut one solid with another:

1. Make the feature database containing the objects editable (the objects must all be in the same
feature database).

2. Using the Select/Navigate tool, select the target object to be cut.

3. While pressing the keyboard CTRL key, select the second object (i.e. the cutting surface).

4. Select Features Edit>Objects>Cut.

5. In the Operation Options dialog, select the output feature database to create the Cut object in.
Ensure that the Delete original features option is disabled if you want to preserve the input objects.
Press OK.

Note that the output feature database will likely have two or more objects (the target object cut into
sub-portions). Select and Delete the unwanted objects.

What units are the calculated area and volume in Discover3D?

kbadmin — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 04:21:18 GMT

Occurrence

In locations such as the Feature database, solid generator or Voxel Properties; a area or volume calculation is presented in Discover3D.

What units is this displayed in?

Solution

The units is simply the units of the Projections the 3D window is in.
You can check this under 3D Map>Properties>Scale.
Note the XY Units and the Assumed Z units.

By default the Z units is scaled to the XY units, such that the 3D Length/Area/volume will be correctly displayed in simple "m/m^2/m^3", for metres based projections.

How do I reset the view or viewing bounds in 3d?

kbadmin — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:44:22 GMT

Occurrence

My 3D view is misplaced, or zoomed very far out to incorrect data bounds. Clicking Zoom to All in the Workspace tree does not resolve it.
How do I reset the 3D view?

Solution

Firstly try the Rest View button in the navigation toolbar -

If the issue persists - try the reset data limits option in the Workspace tree, by right clicking on the 3D Map's branch -

The Discover3D window is frequently crashing, black, blank, or performance is slow

kbadmin — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 00:42:29 GMT
Occurrence

When I attempt to load data or pan and zoom in the 3D window, it crashes or the performance is very slow.

Solution

Ensure your graphics drivers are the latest available from the manufacturers website (e.g. Intel, Nvidia or ATI).

You can check your graphics card model by searching in the start menu for Device Manager. The graphics card is listed under Display Adapters.

Also if it is a laptop, ensure it is plugged in, as the graphics may be disabled when in battery power saving mode.

To configure laptop power switching modes, this Dell KB article explains both Nvidia and AMD settings and is applicable to any brand of laptop -
http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN146534

My 3D viewpoint cross hairs are stuck on and/or the display is flickering or blank

kbadmin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:56:53 GMT
Occurrence

When I rotate/navigate the 3D window, the cross hair remains on after flickering, even when I stop moving.

There is other strange rendering/graphical glitches in 3D.

Solution

Check in your graphics drivers control panel, that under Advanced options for OpenGL, Triple Buffering is disabled.

My 3D Connexion Space Navigator mouse is not working in Discover 3D

kbadmin — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:56:01 GMT

Solution

1) Install the 3D Connexion driver software, and upgrade to the latest version.

2) Connect the device via USB port

3) Open the Discover3D window (e.g. Discover 3D>Open 3D Window). Select the Tools>Options menu, and go to the View tab. Select Enable 3D Connexion devices option.

4) Close and restart the 3D window.

How do I select or clip points in a TAB file that lie above or below a grid surface?

Josh Knight — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:39:32 GMT
Occurrence

For example, a topographic grid has been created of an open cut pit (e.g. by overlaying a DEM grid with a series of donutted polygons representing pit bench levels using the Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Overlay tool).

You would like to examine those portions of the original exploration drillholes (drilled from surface) that lie either within or below this pit surface (the drillhole downhole data tables have been converted into a series
of individual points by desurveying them (Drillholes>3D coordinates), and Creating Points from these new XYZ co-ords).

Solution

1/. In MapInfo, create a new float -type field in the point TAB file (e.g. 'grid_value') using Table>Maintenance>Table.Modify Structure.

2/. With both datasets open in the same map window, select all the points and run the Surfaces>Utilities>Assign Values tool. Populate the new field (e.g. 'grid_value') with the output. Save the point table.

3/. Run a query (Query>Select) to compare the original Z value field with this new field.

4/. Save this query as a table

When displaying multiple datasets/data types in 3D, nothing is displayed.

Josh Knight — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:19:04 GMT

Occurrence

After bringing multiple datasets and or data types (e.g. vectors, images, grids, drillholes) into the 3D
environment, any existing data vanishes, and the extents of the axes are huge.

Solution

Discover 3D does not support on-the-fly reprojection of data (unlike MapInfo): it displays the data in
absolute co-ordinates only. Therefore if one dataset has a native projection of Lat/Long, and the other
is in UTM, Discover 3D will plot these in totally different locations (the Lat/Long data will have
co-ordinates of 0-180, whilst the UTM data will have co-ordinates in the millions).

To resolve this, ensure that any datasets to be displayed in 3D utilise the same native projection back in
MapInfo: generally a UTM projection is recommended (as the there is no relationship in scaling between
the X/Y and Z axes for Lat/Long data).

Tools for data reprojection in Discover:

Vector data (points, lines, polygons): Discover>Table Utilities>Multi-Table Reproject
Raster Images: Discover>Images menu -> Images>Reproject Image
Gridded Surfaces: Discover>Surfaces menu -> Surfaces>Grid Utilities>Reproject