ArcIMS tutorial (4)

Chapter 4 Webpage Design

 

Chapter overview

In the last two chapters, we learned how to use author to determine the published data and its display method. This chapter will discuss how to create a web site.

 

 

Procedure for creating an ArcIMS website

To put it simply, creating an ArcIMS website requires three steps:

 

Copy steps 1, 2, and 3 from pages 2-3 here

 

 

 

 

Factors to consider

Before starting the design, consider the appearance of the website. In this step, consider generating more Axl files than in author. In addition, you need to consider the functions that end users can use and the beauty of the website.

First, we need to find out the general needs of website users. Do they only want to get a map quickly, or do they need more advanced GIS functions? Different users need different map functions when accessing the website. You can decide whether to allow users to perform queries, edits, map prompts, and data integration. You can also add one or all of these functions to the view function.

Next, you must consider which software the client user uses. For example, if a user needs the element data stream service, he must have a Java 2 plug-in and a browser that supports Java applets. Do you have these conditions? Or even if users have these conditions, do they have the patience to wait for the download of Java applets?

Finally, consider how your map service looks like on your website? What kind of user interface is easier for users? You also need to decide whether to use the ArcIMS view template or extend the custom view options.

 

ArcIMS metaphor: Map Service

Before using designer to create a website, you must have created and started the map service.

The so-called map service is the view of the data to be published that you define in the Axl file. The map service is not a physical file on the hard disk, but a combination of how the data is displayed (Axl files), the data itself, and how the data is transmitted to the client.

The map service can be compared to the entries in the restaurant menu through which customers get their desired food and drinks from the waiter. The same is true in ArcIMS-the customer obtains the desired images and data through the map service. We know that menus can be divided into different categories (food, drinks, desserts, and appetizers), and map services can also be divided into image map services and element map services. Finally, just as each dish on a menu is made based on a specific recipe, the map service displays a map based on a specific Axl file.

 

Create a map service

We have discussed how to create the map service. Generally, you can create a map service after using author, and the map service must be created before the website is designed. If you use manager, the map service is automatically created.

Creating a map service is similar to adding a dish to the menu of a restaurant. Once the map service is created, the customer can request the service from the server.

It is worth noting that the name of the map service is case sensitive. For the HTML browser, the selected map service name appears in arcimsparam. js. For the Java browser, in default. Axl, each map service points to one and only one Axl file. For the image map service, four additional information is required:

1. Http address (URL)-the path used by the client to download images from the server, case sensitive;

2. Only one of the values can be used. Licenses are required when the. GIF file format is used for commercial purposes;

3. file path-the storage path of image data on the server;

4. Server clearing time: the interval at which the server automatically clears images in a specific path. The default time interval is 10 minutes. The Tasker service in Windows NT is responsible for deleting images.

 

 

 

Create a website

The first interface in designer is the create a web site panel. The UI of the designer wizard is basically the same as that of the website design in the Manager.

To design a new website, first enter the name and title of the new website. The website name is also the last part of the URL address used by the client to browse your website. It does not have to be the same as the name of the Axl file or map service.

During the website design process, you can click the back button in the design panel to return to the previous step to modify the settings. However, if you run a designer in the Manager, the runtime is similar to that of a web browser. If you exit before the design is complete, all the preceding information will be lost, therefore, you must complete the entire process and then exit.

In addition, when designing a website, you may not see all the panels. This is because the process in which ArcIMS designer guides you to design your website depends on the settings in author. For example, if no predefined query is created, the stored query panel is not displayed in the designer.

 

Mapservice panel

The mapservice window is the second panel in designer. This panel is used to select the map service you want to display on the website.

The map service can reside anywhere on the network, or even on a remote machine. The mapservice panel displays the map service on the local machine by default. To connect to the map service on a remote machine, enter the name of the machine on the network and click Connect. Remember that the map service of a website must be started before the designer processes it. If your map service is not listed, run administrator to check its status.

To select one or more map services, click Select it, and then click Add to add it to the list box on the right. You can use the opposite method to delete the map service.

A website can publish a combination of multiple images and element map services, depending on the needs of the application.

 

Web site template panel

Next, let you select which website template to use. The web site template panel appears no matter what the map service you select is. This Panel determines the location where the webpage elements appear on the webpage and the layout of your website. Here, depending on the map service, there are three types of ArcIMS browser templates to choose from.

Java custum templates can be customized using HTML and Javascript. You can use the image map service and element map service. View templates support image data streams and element data streams and require the client to have a Java 2 plug-in. Therefore, the client must be installed with Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and its browser must be able to support Java.

The java standard template is not the same as the Java custum template. It does not have custom functions. However, it also supports image and element map services like Java custum. Java 2 plug-ins are also required on the client. After this Panel is selected, the designer immediately enters the last panel.

The HTML panel is a template that does not support Java applets. The HTML template supports only one image map service. Therefore, only the image data can be transmitted to the HTML browser.ProgramDevelopers can complete customization through HTML and JavaScript programming.

 

 

Page elements panel

Next we need to decide which page elements to display. By default, all page elements are displayed. A map element is always contained. You can change the background color of a map, but cannot delete it. The same is true for toolbar elements.

The legend, scale, and outline graph elements are optional. The color of the text can be influenced by the legend and the foreground color of the scale. If you do not want to display any of them, you only need to cancel the selection of the check boxes before them. If the legend element is not selected, some other panels will appear to select some tools for the active layer.

To change the background color, foreground color, or outline color, you only need to click the corresponding color box to open the color selection dialog box. Click the preset color, RGB value, or HSB value to set the color.

 

 

Map extent panel

The map extent panel is used to define the initial range and maximum range of the map you see after entering the website.

First, select an initial range for your map. This will be the range that the customer sees when opening the map for the first time. The default initial range is the full range of all map services. The extent of selected mapservice option is used to restrict the range of map services that the user sees to be the range of map services. Any information beyond this range is not downloaded to the client.

Next, you can set a display range limit so that data beyond this range is invisible to users.

NOTE: For the element map service, you can specify not only a map service, but also a layer in the map service. This does not work when using the image map service.

 

 

Visible layer panel

This Panel allows programmers to select user-visible layers.

The map service may contain more than one layer. Sometimes you may want some layers to be invisible to users (for example, when two map services have repeated layers ). This panel is only valid for the feature map service. You cannot select a single layer in the image map service.

You can select a map service from the drop-down list. Only visible layers of each map service can be set. By default, all layers of the map service are visible. To make some layers invisible, click the name of the layer in the layer list, and then deselect the check box in the visible column. To make all layers visible, select the Select All layers box.

When selecting a visible layer, consider many of your data factors. If a layer has many elements and a large scope, the system processing process and download time will obviously grow. In this case, it is helpful to set the visible scale range so that it does not appear in a small scale.

 

 

Overview map panel

If you want to place a rough graph window on your website, this panel helps you determine what map service is used for the rough window. Select a map service from the drop-down list (do not forget to call the image map service from a remote machine !) That is, a rough chart is set for it. Generally, the map service that covers the maximum MAP range is selected to display rough maps. However, you can change it in designer.

 

 

Scalebar panel

If you want to use a scale in the site, this step will help you set the scale parameter. In data source units, You must select a map unit with the same source map projection. Therefore, you must first know the coordinate system and projection type used by the source map. In addition, it should be noted that if the client users want to integrate their data with the data on your website, their data projection must be consistent with your data, otherwise, the data cannot be correctly matched.

Select an appropriate source data unit (decimal latitude and longitude, meters, feet) from the drop-down list, and then select the map scale unit you want to use. A scale is expressed by a ratio, that is, the length of a screen unit (inches or centimeters) is equivalent to the number of units (miles, feet, meters, or kilometers) in the real world ).

 

 

Toolbar functions panel

The toolbar functions panel allows you to select Tools available on your website. Sometimes, you may only want to quickly display a map for non-professional users, and then use a few tools. On the contrary, sometimes it is necessary to provide all the tools for those GIS professional users to implement some complex analysis operations.

You can provide users with all tools or a subset of any tools. For example, if you think that the user is unlikely to use the local data to integrate with the data on the website, you can add the layer button last year. By default, the system selects all the roaming and scaling tools and query tools for the selected template.

If a tool turns gray, the data in your map service does not support this operation. For example, the image map service does not support tools such as maptips, editnotes, and layer properties.

 

 

Maptips panel

This panel is used to set the layer and fields of the map prompt. Map prompts help you quickly access certain elements. When you place the mouse over a certain element after setting the map prompt, a set prompt is displayed.

The map prompt is only valid for the layer of the feature map service, and each layer can only set one field as a map prompt. Do not confuse the maptipa panel with the previous maptips tool. The maptips tool on the toolbar is used to change the map prompt.

To set a map prompt, first select a map service from the drop-down list, then check the layer check box for the map prompt, and finally select a field for the prompt in the maptip field. Selecting select all layers sets a map prompt for all layers of the map service.

 

 

Stored query panel

The stored query panel allows you to add pre-defined queries to your website. In this way, the client user can use the query statement with variables defined in author to query the elements. This panel appears only when pre-defined queries are defined in the Axl file.

Select a map service from the drop-down list, select a layer for the map service, and check the check boxes for named queries. The select all queries check box can be used to add all predefined queries for this layer. Repeat the operation to add predefined queries for other map services.

 

 

Identify results panel

The identify results panel is used to set which attribute fields are available when you use the identify tool.

First, select a map service and layer, and then select the check boxes in the is displayed column after each field. All fields are selected by default. If you have multiple map services, repeat the preceding operations. It should be noted that the website only needs to provide users with the information they need, which helps improve the website's operational efficiency.

You can also enter the field alias in alias field name, which is helpful when the field name is very long or not easy to understand.

 

 

ArcIMS metaphor: mapnotes and editnotes

Mapnotes and editnotes reflect a collaborative GIS idea. Among them, mapnotes provides a way of collaborative communication between customers, while editnotes provides a way of communication and collaboration between client users and server administrators.

Mapnotes allows multiple customers to use the virtual geographic bulletin board for communication. A user connected to each other can see comments of other users, or even comments with spatial data. Mapnotes can be used as a conversation between customers in a restaurant. Mapnotes is stored in a special directory on the server side.

Editnotes allows users to send their suggestions to the server administrator. Data management personnel can receive or ignore modification suggestions based on their selection.

 

 

Mapnotes tool panel

As mentioned above, mapnotes reflects the idea of collaborative GIS, which not only allows users to share data, but also views and opinions on data. The mapnotes tool allows you to add text or graphic elements to a map. Therefore, mapnotes can be viewed as a geographical bulletin board that everyone can see. It allows people to use the same data to express their views on the map data.

If you have added the mapnotes tool to the toolbar function panel, the mapnotes tool Panel requires that you determine a map service and directory for mapnotes. Mapnotes saves the middleware management folder in the C/S structure in the form of text and graphics. Therefore, this folder can be placed anywhere on the network, including remote machines. These folders are created and maintained by the Administrator program. The next chapter will detail the related content of mapnotes.

 

 

Editnotes tool panel

Like mapnotes, editnotes also reflects the idea of collaborative GIS. It can edit the data space and attribute elements, and the editing results can be sent to others for reference. However, only the data administrator can decide whether to adopt the suggestions for editing and modification.

The editnotes tool Panel also needs to be selected in the toolbar function panel. here you must specify a map service and create a folder for editnotes. Like mapnotes, editnotes is stored in a folder maintained by the middleware component in the C/S structure. Therefore, this folder can be stored anywhere on the network, including remote machines. These folders are created and maintained by the Administrator program. The next chapter details the content of editnotes.

 

 

Web site location panel

Now that you have completed the website design, ArcIMS will use the default folder location specified during the installation process as the location of the current website. However, you can click the change button here to change the location of the storage folder.

After everything is ready, click the Create web site button. If you do not click this button, all of them will be abandoned.

 

 

Web site summary panel

The web site summary panel indicates that the designed website has been created and the website name, website location, and map service used are displayed. This information can be recorded as metadata to be used when editing the website or creating other websites.

If you want to change some of the preceding settings, click back to return and modify the settings. However, you must click Create web site to save the modification results. If you want to design another website, click design another.

If you want to test whether the website can run normally, you can enter the URL of your website in the Web browser:

Http: // <your host name>/<your web site virtual directory>/<your web site directory NAME>

For example, if you create a website named Canada and use the default installation directory, the URL of your website should be:

Http: // <your machine Name>/website/Canada

 

 

Designer output result

After the designer design process is complete, a series of files will be generated under your website directory. These files depend on the selected browser templates. However, it should be noted that all template files of ArcIMS have a common default start page-default.htm.

HTML files suffixed with HTML form different page elements. For HTML and Java custum templates, some. js files are also created. These files define the parameters or options of the website, and you can customize your website by editing the files. This chapter also describes how to use JavaScript files to customize websites.

The website directory created by all templates has at least two folders. The images folder stores all the images to be used on the website, including tool icons and pointer styles, while the meta-INF folder stores the metadata information you may want to add to the website.