I've noted confusion from some customers as far as the difference between .awh (AWhere Database) files, and .amap (AWhere Map Exchange) files (note that AWhere Map Exchange files are also referred to as just AWhere Exchange files). I hope this forum post will clear up the confusion between .awh and .amap files.
In simple terms, an .amap (AWhere Exchange) file is a 'temporary' file specifically used for transferring a portion of, or all of, a given, prepared AWhere database to other AWhere users. While an .awh (AWhere Database) file is the main file, for a given AWhere database, that is saved on your computer at a specific location. Another way to differentiate them....an .awh file is editable, and .amap file is not (you just create/export an .amap file from AWhere and/or import its contents into AWhere...nothing else).
.AWH - An .awh file (an AWhere Database file) is a file saved to your computer...one .awh file for each AWhere database (or you can think of them as an individual 'project') that you work with in AWhere. After you have loaded some data into AWhere*, and have performed some value-added work with that data (such as establishing data connections to spreadsheets, editing map display properties, creating MyMaps, etc), you would typically want to save that work to a new 'AWhere Database'. To do that, you would select 'Save As' from the File menu, and the type of file that you will be prompted to save is an .awh file, and as with any file, you must designate a particular save location and file name for the .awh file. Once an .awh file is saved for a particular AWhere database (project), you can come back to that .awh file (i.e. re-open it in AWhere) at any time and thus load the data pertaining to that project into AWhere. The .awh file is the 'reference' file that AWhere uses to tell it where the actual data files are located on your computer, and how to display them.
You can have any number of AWhere databases saved on your computer. For more about the structure and organization of an AWhere database (.awh) file, I highly recommend that you open the AWhere help-file (available from AWhere's Help menu), do a 'Search' for and read the help-topic-page named 'AWhere Database Structure and Organization', it provides a good explanation of what an .awh file is, and the part it plays in the overall AWhere infrastructure. You are going to see that an 'AWhere database' is not only composed of the .awh file alone, but also the actual spatial data files (i.e. shapefiles) that AWhere accesses, as well as the Outputs of your work in that AWhere database in AWhere. *Note: data can be brought into AWhere by several means, but that is not covered in this post. For more on the various ways you can populate an instance of AWhere with map layers, click here to read another forum post about that, and/or open the AWhere helpfile (available from the Help menu in AWhere), and search for and read the topic-page named 'How Do I Get Some Data into AWhere?'
.AMAP - An .amap file is simply all of (or a portion of) an AWhere database 'wrapped up' in a single, transferable file format. You might ask..."well, can't I just send someone a copy of the .awh file of an AWhere databse if I want to share it with them"....No. The .awh file is not the only necessary component of an AWhere database...an .awh file is only the reference file component of an AWhere database. If you sent someone only the .awh file for a given AWhere database, you would be leaving out all of the data...the 'guts' of the AWhere database. An .awh file alone is useless. Thus, the need for an .amap file...AWhere can create/export an AWhere Exchange (.amap) which basically takes whatever selected map layers you wish to export...packages it all up (along with the value added work you have performed) into on small, easily transferable file ( an .amap), and now you can send that one file to other AWhere users who can import its contents into AWhere. We (AWhere Inc.) use this file format to provide all of our prepared data sets to our users...for instance, all of the various Template data sets included with AWhere, and the Downloadable AWhere data sets that we have available from our website are all provided in the form of AWhere Exchange (.amap) files...you simply import them into AWhere, and then if you want to keep those imported contents in a specified 'project' (i.e. create a new, saved AWhere database out of what you have imported)...you simply select to 'Save As' from the File menu in AWhere (this is how you would create/save a new AWhere Database (.awh) file...see above). Once you've done this, you can delete the .amap file...it is no longer necessary...all subsequent work you will do with that data (that you brought into AWhere via importing the .amap file) will be carried out in and saved to the .awh file (i.e. having the .awh file loaded in AWhere).
How to Export an .amap file - You export (create) an AWhere Exchange file by selecting the "Export" option from the Exchange menu at the top of the AWhere window. Follow the instructions in the wizard window that appears.
How to Import an .amap file - You can simply double-click on an .amap file to start a new instance of AWhere, and thus load that contents of that .amap file into that instance of AWhere. Or, if you already have an instance of AWhere open, with some other data already loaded, you do have the ability to load the contents of an .amap file into that already-open instance of AWhere...you do that by selecting the 'Import' option from the Exchange menu at the top of the AWhere window, and following the instructions that appear. Any time an .amap file is imported into AWhere, it is always a good idea to first 'save' the imported contents to a new AWhere database (.awh). If you import the contents of an .amap file into an existing (loaded) AWhere database...which you surely can do...the next time you do a 'Save', the newly imported contents from the .amap file will be saved as part of that previously loaded AWhere database...thus you have 'added to' the contents of that loaded AWhere database by importing the contents of an AWhere Exchange (.amap) file.
As with the .awh file, you can find more information about AWhere Exchange (.amap) files in the AWhere help file.