GEOG 578 - INTERNET GIS AND MAPPING

LAB 1 - LABORATORY FAMILIARITY

Note: Each of you will be assigned to a particular computer; please use it for the entire semester.  Because of some odd system quirks you may need to restart your machine twice before class so you can be fairly certain your ArcIMS services will start.  Do that at the beginning of each class.

I assume the following:

  1. You can create and maintain a set of folders on a network drive

  2. You are familiar with the Windows XP operating system

  3. You have had at least one course in GIS or computer cartography or use GIS in your daily work - preferably with an ESRI product

  4. You are familiar with the Internet and how it works

Please do the following tasks:

  1. Make a folder with your initials as its name at N:\int_GIS-map\studata

  2. Inside that folder make the following sub-folders:   AXL,DATA,DOCS,SVG,Google_Earth,Google_Map

  3. On the C drive of the machine you are sitting at, create the following folder if it is not already there:  c:\arcims\website\svg

  4. From the N:\int_gis_map\labs\lab_fam1 folder copy the  mexico.axl and mexico.apr  files into your AXL folder.

  5. Let me know when that is done.

A SIMPLE OUT OF THE BOX ARCIMS WEBSITE

We are going to begin our lab work in this class by setting up a very simple ArcIMS website.  The complexity comes when you want to do things that the basic interfaces do not support and when you want to customize the client's interface.  But if you want to make an "out of the box" ArcIMS website, it is really very simple.

Go to Programs>ArcGIS>ArcIMS>Author and from the File menu open the mexico.axl file you just copied into your AXL folder.  In this lab we are not going to explore the Author interface fully but take a few minutes to look around and make some changes to the data layer. If you would like to add some additional data to the AXL file you will find it in c:\esri\esridata\mexico.  At this stage we are not interested in a pretty map but just going through the process. Make sure you are zoomed out so all of the layers show and save the AXL file (File/Save Project).

With ArcIMS 9.1 it is also possible to use ArcMap to create .mxd files that you can use to create ArcIMS services; this only works if your ArcIMS software is set up to serve ArcMap services and at this time the machines in this lab are not set up that way. Some people never use Author and some people actually create the AXL files with text editors.  Using ArcMap gives you access to some cartographic tools that Author does not. There is also a freeware tool at http://arcscripts.esri.com that transforms mxd files into axl files.  I have had some success with this tool.  Using that tool, you use ArcMap to create the map, export it as an AXL file and you can then edit that AXL file further.  The Image Service, the most common form of ArcIMS service, requires an AXL file as its map design file.  Most of the exercises in this class go directly into the AXL file but feel free to experiment with ArcMap.

Close down Author and go to Programs>ArcGIS>ArcIMS>Administrator. Because of some peculiarities of our lab you will have to set a user name and password each time you start the machine.  Always use ArcIMS (user) and User2006 for the password.

The first time you do this you will be asked for a bunch of information - we will go through this in class; it will only happen once because the information is stored in your Windows profile.  Wait at this point to get the information you need to enter to set up your site.

From the table of contents on the left, check Services.  You most likely will have no services running on your machine right now. Click on the "Create New Service" button

Name the service "Mexico" (without the quotation marks); in the Map File box click on the browse button to the right and browse to your personal AXL folder (not the N:\AXL folder you copied mexico.axl from).  In the Virtual Server box pull down to Image Server1.  At this point you dialog box should look like this:

The only difference will be the number after cfd312 and your name in the studata folder.  Each machine in the lab has a unique name and each has been set up to serve maps to the Internet but only within the CCSU network.  Your work in this class will not be viewable outside CCSU unless we move it to a different server.  Click OK and if everything is correct, a new service called Mexico will appear in the service list

Close down Adminstrator and say yes to question about saving changes to the site.

Go to Programs>ArcGIS>ArcIMS>Designer and open ArcIMS Designer.  The basic process is this:

Author - creates the project, an AXL file that defines what the map will look like in the browser map frame.

Administrator - create the service that will serve this AXL file to the Internet.

Designer - create the html and Javascript that define the website, the frames and buttons that will surround the map frame and allow the clients to interact with the map.

In Designer give the website the name Mexico.  This is the name of the folder in http:\\cfd312xxx\website\ directory that will contain the html and Javascript files Designer will write.  No spaces in the name.  It is good practice to keep the folder name the same as the AXL file and service name.  All these names can differ but an AXL file named mexico.axl, with a service name mexico and a website folder named mexico make it much easier to administer.

Where it says "Type a Title for the Web page:" put something different in.  This is the text that will appear at the top of your browser when you connect, i.e. the title of the map.  Your Designer box should look like this:

Click Next to open the Service box.  Highlight the Mexico service and click on the right arrow to move it to the right hand side of the box.

 Click Next.  In the next box click on the HTML Viewer.  Click the Next button.  There is no choice in the next box so click Next. In the Map Extent box, take the second option "Extent of Selected Service and Layer" so it looks like this:

Click Next.  In the next box you select a service to show in the overview map.  This can be a different service but we will choose "Mexico."  Click Next.  In the Scale Bar box you select how you want the scale bar to appear; take the defaults and click Next.

The Toolbar Functions box allows you to determine which tools appear on your interface.  Only the tools with check marks under them are accessible in the HTML viewer; more are available to the Java viewer.  To take a tool off the interface you simply uncheck it.  Personally, I find the blue arrows in the Zoom and Pan tools unnecessary given the pan tool (the hand).  Check those four arrows off and click Next.  Now within the Designer wizard you have made all your choices and you can either go back to change things or click the "Create Web Site" button.  Click that button and hit exit in the next box.  Close down any ArcIMS programs that might be running, e.g. Author or Administrator.

Start up Internet Explorer and enter this URL. In place of xxx use the number of your computer.  This can be found on a piece of tape on the top.

http://cfd312xxx/website/mexico

Congratulations, you have now created an out-of-the-box ArcIMS website accessible to anyone on the network who knew where it was.  Close that down and take a look at your neighbor's website.  There can be only three connects at a time with the freeware version of the connection software.

A SIMPLE OUT-OF-THE BOX SVGMAPPER WEBSITE

SVGMapper is a light-weight Internet mapping solution that works as an extension to ArcView3.x.  With ArcIMS you use Author as your map creation software, Administrator to make a service and Designer to create a website.  SVGMapper lets you use ArcView 3.x as your map creation software and the SVGMapper extension to create the website.  This Internet mapping solution requires viewer software on the client machine to work with the browser.  The ArcIMS website you just set up did not require any software beyond the browser.

The viewer software SVGMapper requires is available from Adobe and it a graphic equivalent to the Adobe PDF reader that comes on most computers.  It is called svgviewer and is available at http://www.adobe.com/svg/  It is already installed on these computers.

Open Windows Explorer, navigate to your n:\int_gis_map\studata\xxx\axl folder and click on the mexico.apr file you copied in there.  This will open the mexico project in Arcview 3.3.  Experienced ArcView users will notice a new button on the right hand side of the button bar (right below the menu bar).

Clicking on this button opens the SVG Mapper wizard.  Highlight the states.shp file and click on the properties button:

In the next box click the Export Attributes button and select Name as the map tips field.

Click OK and in the next box you set a template file and a location for the website.  Select the template_en.htm file in n:\axl and make the location at c:\arcims\website\svg - it should look like this:

The scripting in the extension will then write out the website and the needed files placing them in the svg folder.  By default it calls the principal html file map.htm which accesses a a data directory where a file containing the attribute information is stored.  Opening the website only requires you to type a URL into a browser.  Start Internet Explorer and enter this URL http://cfd312xxx/website/svg/map.htm  Replace the xxx with the number of your computer.

If you move the cursor over a state of Mexico and left click it will pop up a window with the attribute information for that state.  Holding down Ctrl and draggin a box zooms you in and the alt key will pan the map.  Right click for other viewing options.  Notice that as you move over the map coordinates show in the lower right hand corner and the name of the state appears - this is the map tip field you selected.

The main purpose of this lab is to demonstrate that is relatively simple to create basic, standard Internet mapping applications for not much money or for a lot of money.  A single license for SVGMapper is $40.00 - ArcIMS is quite a bit more; the price for governmental agencies under the Connecticut state contract is $7,500 with an annual maintenance cost of $1,500.