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Map Service Operation

Contents of this Page

  1. Browser Capability
  2. Service Layout
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Tools
  5. Querying
  6. Advanced Querying
  7. Data Download
  8. Tutorial Download

Browser Compatibility

This Map Service is optimized for use with Microsoft® Internet Explorer® version 5.0 and higher. Users of Netscape and other browsers should experience no problems with any of the hypertext pages, but may encounter some minor difficulties using the Map Service. To get the latest version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser, you can visit their website.

Service Layout

There are three frames you will need to be aware of to use this IMS. The first frame is the Map Frame, which of course contains the map. It is the largest single frame and is located near the right of the Map Service window.

Second, on the left is the Table of Contents frame. This frame by default contains the Layer List. In the Layer List, you can specify which layers are visible and which ones are invisible. You can also activate one layer at a time for selection and querying here. You may use the toolbar (more information below) to change the contents of this frame to the Legend. The Legend is for display only and you cannot change any map settings while it occupies the Table of Contents frame. It is a key to the meanings of the different symbols in the Map Frame.

Third is the Toolbar, which is above the Map Frame and will allow you to explore the SISP data. Each tool on the toolbar is explained in detail below.

Table of Contents

As mentioned above, the Table of Contents (TOC) can contain either the Layer List or the Legend. By default, it contains the Layer List, which can be used to modify which layers are visible and active.

To perform actions on a certain layer, such as queries hyperlinks and selections, you must make it active by clicking its radio button. Visibility of each layer is controlled by the check box next to the entry for that layer. This means that you can tell the Map Service whether or not to display a particular layer. To change the visibility of a layer, simply check (or uncheck to make it invisible) the layer's checkbox and click below the layer list.

In the Map Service, you'll notice that the Layer List changes as you zoom in and out of the map. Some layers are automatically removed while others are added. This happens because they are set to be available only at the scales at which they would be legible and useful for orientation or analysis. This measure is in place to simplify the Layer List.

Tools

The toolbar near the top of your screen contains a number of tools to allow users to explore the SISP geographic data. When you click on one of these tools, it will either automatically perform its specific function, or it will appear with a blue box around it, indicating that it is the active tool and will perform its function when you click on the map. Below is a list of the available tools and a description of their functions.

 Tool

Description 

 
Legend Toggle

Legend Toggle : By default, the "Layer List" is placed in the layer frame (to the left of the map). Click this button once to toggle the "Legend" in the layer frame. Click this button again to replace the "Legend" with the "Layer List".

Overview Map Toggle

Overview Map Toggle : In the upper left portion of the map frame, you will see a map of Idaho with a purple rectangle in it. This map is an overview map, and the rectangle represents the region to which you are currently zoomed. Click this button once to remove the entire overview map from your map frame, and click it again to replace it.

Zoom In

Zoom In : This is the default tool. Click once on the map to zoom into a smaller region of the map and recenter on the place where you clicked. Alternatively, you can drag a rectangle around a region of interest to zoom to that region. ie. You will redraw the map at a smaller scale.

Zoom Out

Zoom Out : Activate this tool and click once on the map to zoom to a larger region of the map and recenter on the place where you clicked. ie. You will redraw the map at a larger scale.

Zoom to Full Extent

Zoom to Full Extent : Click once on this button to zoom to the extent of the entire study area - this is also the zoom extent at which you start.

Zoom to Active Layer

Zoom to Active Layer : Click once on this button to zoom to the extent of the active layer - the layer selected in the "Active" column in the "Layer List".

Zoom to Previous Extent

Zoom to Previous Extent : Click once on this button to return to the extent at which the map frame was before the last zoom or pan operation.

Pan

Pan : With this tool activated, you can move your view of the map area while keeping a constant scale factor, or zoom.

Hyperlink

Hyperlink : Use this tool to get detailed information on individual points in the Surface Water, Plants, and Soil datasets. Activate the hyperlink tool, then click on the sampling points you're interested in for access to the database with detailed information on that particular point.

Identify

Identify : Activate this tool by clicking on it in the toolbar, then you can click on features of the active shapefile (a shapefile is a dataset used to create the layers of a Map Service) to view that feature's database entry. See the Querying section of this guide for details.

Query

Query : This will allow you to query the active shapefile's information using Structured Query Language (SQL). It is very similar to the Query Builder in ArcView and ArcMap. See the Querying section of this guide for details.

Find

Find : This will allow you to find a string anywhere in the active shapefile's database. This is a less-powerful version of the query tool. See the Querying section of this guide for details.

Measure

Measure : With this tool active, each click in the map frame will produce a vertex of a line; and the line's total length, as well as the length of the segment just completed, will be reported in the text box.

Buffer

Buffer : This tool allows users to generate polygons around features of interest. Select your features of interest using the select or query tools, then click on the buffer tool, specify a buffer distance in the dialog box, and the polygons will be generated by ArcIMS®.

Custom SISP Tool

Custom SISP Tool : Activate this tool by clicking it on the toolbar. This tool displays six tabs, which are 1) Matrix Type, 2) Mines, 3) Label, 4) Analyte, 5) Analyte Matrix, 6) Zoom to Mine. The Matrix Type tab allows you to symbolize the points by matrix type (e.g. surface water). The Mines tab lets you symbolize the Mines Layer by names (e.g. Smoky Canyon Mine) or by feature (e.g. Roads). The Label tab allows you to label the layers. The Analyte tab allows you to symbolize the analyte type (e.g. Boron). The Analyte Matrix tab will allocate the points by analyte matrix type (e.g. Analyte: Selenium, Matrix: Egg) and the Zoom to Mine tab will zoom into the particular mine that you've selected.

Select Hyperlink Tool

Select Hyperlink Tool : Use this tool to get detailed information on a group of points in the surface water, plant and soil datasets. To use the tool, activate the "Select Hyperlink" tool and then drag the cursor around a group of sample points. IMS will access the database and display detailed information on those particular points.

Select by Rectangle

Select by Rectangle : This allows you to draw a rectangle to select all of the features of the active layer that fall inside the rectangle.

Clear Selection

Clear Selection : If you have features of the active theme selected, you can click this tool to remove them from your selection pool and start selecting new features. This tool will also clear all line segments and measurements generated with the measure tool.

Print

Print : Clicking on this button will open a dialog box which will guide users through the process of creating a simple map of their own.

Querying the Data

The identify, find, and query tools allow users to explore the databases included with each data layer. To employ these tools, users must first activate the layer which they want to explore (by clicking its radio button in the table of contents).

The identify tool Identify Tool is the simplest of these tools. Using it, you can get information on a specific feature by clicking on it. After activating your layer of interest, click the identify tool's button on the toolbar and then click on the point, line, or polygon for which you want information. Its database entry will then pop up on your screen. Once you have read it and are finished with it, you may close the popup window like any other browser window.

The find tool Find Tool is a relatively simple tool, but it can be quite powerful. This tool allows users to search for a text string anywhere in the active layer's database. Simply click the find tool and type the string for which you're looking in the dialog box that appears, then click "Find String."

The query tool Query Tool is more powerful, and can be more difficult to use, than the find or identify tools. When users click on the query tool, a dialog box will appear, and they will be required to make some selections in order to create an SQL statement which will allow the map service to do a detailed search. First, in the upper left selection box, select the field in the database you wish to search. Next, in the next box to the right, users should select the operator to use ( '=' '>' '<' '<=' '>=' and 'LIKE' [see the Advanced Querying section for using the LIKE operator]), and in the top right box, type in the string or number they wish to search for. Finally, click the "Add to Query String" button and then the "Execute" button. For example, if one is looking for a stream named "Cripple Creek," one should:

  1. activate the "Streams" layer
  2. click on the query tool
  3. choose the "Stream Name" field in the upper left
  4. choose "=" in the operator box
  5. type "Cripple Creek" in the upper right box
  6. click the "Add to Query String" button
  7. the Map Service will add the SQL statement you built to the remaining empty input box - Stream Name = "Cripple Creek"

Once you have carried out your search with either the find or query tool, a popup window will appear with the database entities matching the results of your search. Also, the features associated with these entities will become selected (yellow) on the map. In the popup window, there will be a link allowing users to zoom to the extents of the selected features. Once you are finished with the popup window, you can close it as you would any other browser window.

Advanced Querying

Using Wildcards

When using the "LIKE" operator, users are telling the Map Service to expect a wildcard in the search string. This means that the user is unsure of the entire string for which he/she wishes to search. Using the "%" in the search string will then denote where any text can be present. For instance, if one is querying the "Streams" layer for a stream with the name of "High" but is unsure of whether or not it is a creek or a river. This user could follow this protocol:

  1. activate the "Streams" layer
  2. click on the query tool
  3. choose the "Stream Name" field in the upper left
  4. choose "LIKE" in the operator box
  5. type "high%" in the upper right box
  6. click the "Add to Query String" button
  7. click the "Execute" button

This query would return any streams named either "High River," or "High Creek," as well as any other features in the "Streams" layer with a name beginning with "high," such as "Highcroft Creek," or "Highland Wash." Substituting "%high river" for "high%" above would yield results such as "Lehigh River" and the simple "High River," but not "Lehigh Creek" or "Highland River." Note that the 'LIKE' operator is reserved for string searches and will return an error if used for a search in a numeric field.

Combining Query Statments

Imagine a situation where a user may wish to search for two features in a layer - for example, two counties in the "Counties" layer, one named "Homestake" and one named "Placer." This Map Service user could easily create two separate queries to do this, but to save time, combining two query statements using the 'OR' operator to combine the two query expressions into one. The final expression with the 'OR' operator in this case should look like this:

County Name = "Homestake" OR County Name = "Placer"

Notice that each query expression can stand alone if it weren't combined with the other using 'OR'. Note also that we use 'OR' and not 'AND' here since no county is named both Homestake AND Placer.

Combining query expressions is also very useful for numeric fields. For instance, we can ask the Map Service to find all 2001 Stream Samples that have selenium concentrations between 5ppm and 50ppm with the query:

Selenium Concentration > 5 AND Selenium Concentration < 50

Users can also combine different fields as in the following example with the "Counties" layer, where we look for counties with areas of less than 1000 square miles and with a population greater than 50000:

1997 Population > 50000 AND Area < 1000

When combining three or more simple query expressions, it may be necessary to specify the order in which the Map Service will carry out the searches by using the parentheses (). Putting parentheses around a particular expression (or group of expressions) will give them priority and the Map Service will search for items matching these criteria first, then filter the results of that expression using the rest of the query expression. For example:

NAME LIKE "B%" OR (1997 Population > 50000 AND Area < 1000)

Data Download

Users may download any and all datasets used in this IMS simply by clicking on their entry in the Layer List. This will begin the download of a compressed ESRI® shapefile which will require WinZip® for decompression. If you do not have ESRI® software, you will also need to download ArcExplorer® for free from the ESRI® website.

Tutorial Download

Users may use the SISP webpage tutorial by clicking the SISP IMS Tutorial link.


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Web page last updated by Kindra Serr