[Therion] XTherion - Mapaih - Therion Studio

[ladislav at lblazek.cz]

Thanks Bruce for this summary and your kind words. Therion Studio, being less than two months old, still needs some refinement.

Just few comments:

**Speed**

Speed optimization, particularly on the Windows platform, was a primary focus of versions 2026.6.9 and 2026.7.1. I believe the performance has significantly improved since then. Additionally, automatic project validation was a minor bottleneck that affected overall performance. While it has been improved, it is now disabled by default (but can be enabled in preferences). I’m still working on it. Meanwhile manual validation can be triggered from the Validation sidebar. 

**Can use multiple instances to work on same or multiple projects and multiple applications (eg text editors) simultaneously.**

Therion Studio supports multiple windows. Each window has one active project, so opening another window (File -> New Window) allows working with another project in parallel. New windows start empty and do not clone the current project/session.

**Can be used as a compendium single instance editor (th, th2, compiler).**

That’s the objective. Nowadays, there’s also a built-in .lox and .sql viewer.

**Most objects can be created efficiently with minimum clicks and maximum typing.**

Switching between Raw and Visual modes is just one click, and object selection seamlessly follows. You can also detach the Map editor into a separate window and use Raw and Visual in split screen or a multi-monitor setup. Edits sync in real-time in both directions, providing maximum flexibility.

Ladislav

> On 3. 7. 2026, at 10:39, bruce at tomo.co.nz wrote:
> 
> Mōrena (Good Morning)
>  
> Yes, two new children on the street!
> Mapiah and Therion Studio are looking like viable alternatives to XTherion.
> My journey…
> Nineteen years learning to love XTherion
> Six months occasionally playing with Mapiah
> Three weeks dabbling with Therion Studio
> I haven’t seriously tried to learn the latter two, just kept banging my head against them to see what it feels like.  Both could do with searchable help files.
>  
> Where I’ve ended up.
> Using my favourite text editor to have all the Therion files I might need ready to edit or launch in an app (a 17 year habit)
> Mapiah is my compiler every time – faster and cleaner than XTherion
> XTherion is my drawing editor – familiar, object parameters are efficiently typed in
> Mapiah is my drawing editor if I want to move, stretch rotate a bunch of objects or background image, then I save and head back to XTherion
> Studio is what I look at in awe – but apart from the obvious, have not figured it out yet
>  
> Below is a gut feel comparison, based on dabbling only, and without bothering to read all the instructions and learn the capabilities.  Using Windows 11…
>  
> Characteristic
> XTherion
> Mapiah
> Therion Studio
> Development repo
> therion/therion: therion – cave surveying software <https://github.com/therion/therion>	
> https://github.com/rsevero/mapiah
> https://github.com/ladislavb/therion-studio
> Speed
> Slow to load and redraw th2 files
> Long delay before compile on some devices
> Very fast th2 rendering and fast compilation.
> Mapiah’s strength
> Slow to load the App, fast th2 rendering and compilation
> Version control friendly (does not rewrite th or th2 file structure if was edited by another App)
> Mostly compliant if edited with other apps
> Yes, minor exceptions
> Yes, as far as I’ve tested
> Drawing interface
> Not consistent with modern capabilities and norms (cannot move or transform whole objects, must be moved point by point).
> Modern capabilities (move and transform whole objects and collections of objects).
> Mapiah’s strength
> but 
> Bewildering array of line object editing capabilities 
> An improvement on traditional XTherion capabilities.
> Yet to explore the capabilities in this respect
> It might well be Studio’s strength
> Freehand line drawing
> No
> No
> Yes
> Facilitates everything Therion can do, and supports legacy workflows such as interactive manual survey data entry.
> Yes
> No, or at least not yet
> Unsure, although it expands on XTherion’s functionality in many areas
> Can use multiple instances to work on same or multiple projects and multiple applications (eg text editors) simultaneously.
> Yes
> Yes
> Initial experiments suggest multiple instances OK, but only one project at a time
> Can be used as a compendium single instance editor (th, th2, compiler).
>  
> Yes
> Yes, except for general text (th) files
> Yes, and seems not to like NOT being used this way.
> Includes error detection & correction, live access to object parameter help. 
> Studio’s strength
> Most objects can be created efficiently with minimum clicks and maximum typing.
> Yes, XTherion’s strength
> No, very very clicky
> Haven’t used enough to know.
> Not yet figured out how to draw within the bounds of a scrap object, for example
> Object visualisation
> only as points, lines and (if you hold your tongue right) areas
> Better symbolisation
> Astounding th2 visualisation.
> All Therion conceptual objects can be viewed (and edited) as symbolic blocks.
> Studio’s strength
> Live update if another App changes open file on disk
> No
> No
> Yes
> Development pace
> Steady consistent improvement over 30 years
> Recent rapid development until 2 months ago
> Recent rapid development 
>  
> So there it is.  Tell me what I’ve missed and where I’m wrong.
> I’m pretty excited about both Mapiah and Studio.
> Thanks Rodrigo and Ladislav, your efforts are much appreciated.
>  
> Bruce Mutton
>  
> From: Therion <therion-bounces at speleo.sk <mailto:therion-bounces at speleo.sk>> On Behalf Of ladislav at lblazek.cz <mailto:ladislav at lblazek.cz>
> Sent: Wednesday, 1 July 2026 21:34
> To: Therion List <therion at speleo.sk <mailto:therion at speleo.sk>>
> Subject: [Therion] Therion Studio 2026.6.9
>  
> Hi all,
>  
> New version of Therion Studio (https://github.com/ladislavb/therion-studio) is out, with lot of quality-of-life improvements, bugfixes and performance improvements. See https://github.com/ladislavb/therion-studio/releases/tag/v2026.6.9
>  
> I would like to thank all the testers who tested the app, reported issues and suggested improvements. Especially Martin Sluka, Bruce Mutton, Axel Hack and Alex (apgeo) and Therion devs (Stacho, Martin).
>  
> I recently noticed that the Mapiah project (https://github.com/rsevero/mapiah) is attempting to address the same issue: creating a modern replacement for Xtherion. Unfortunately, I encountered difficulties in running the project on my Mac or even building it from an Xcode project. Despite these challenges, But I’ve heard good things about Mapiah and it seems to be quite mature. Therefore, my objective is to maintain maximum interoperability between Xtherion, Mapiah, and Therion Studio, enabling seamless transitions between these tools. I’m genuinely curious to know the differences between Mapiah and Therion Studio. Has anyone use both?
>  
> L.
>  
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