Interactive GIS Mapping Website for MA

Tutorial

   Interactive Mapping

1. For the best map display, the browser's window should be set to the correct resolution. Also, the pop-up window function needs to be enabled on the browser's settings.
"How to optimize computer settings for ArcIMS®" page explains necessary steps in details.

2. Launch the interactive map.

3. Use the ArcIMS® HTML Viewer:

• When the ArcIMS® web page opens, a new window should look similar to the example below:



Hint: Do not use the "Back" button or the "Refresh" button on the internet browser's toolbar.  A new ArcIMS® toolbar has been added for navigating the interactive map.

• The image below shows the basic layout of the viewer and its main components.
  The ArcIMS® interface consists of a map title, map display frame, toolbar, overview map, layer list, tool box, text box, scale bar, and North arrow.



Note: Clicking and dragging the lines that separate each frame can change the size of these frames.

1) Map display frame:

This is where the data is shown as well as the active area for the map user to select and query spatial information.

2) Toolbar:

There are many map functions contained on the toolbar:



Hover over the graphic and get tool's name. Click to get to its description in the toolbar page.


3) Overview map:



This is a small map of the state of Massachusetts.
The red box indicates the current map display within the map viewer. Clicking within the inset map will move the area of current map extent to the area clicked.

4) Layer list:



Map information is arranged in a list by individual layers. Each layer controls a different type of geographical data. The explanation, which is located just below the layer listing, shows the different layer icons and what they indicate.

There are three icons on the left side of the layer's name. The left icon displays whether or not it is a single layer. A group of layers has icon, and a single layer is indicated by icon.

Other two icons are: "Visibility" (check box) and "Activity" (radio button). They are controlled by the user: all layers can be turned ON (visible) or OFF (invisible) by clicking the gray square of the check box. Only one layer at the time can be selected as the active layer by clicking the gray circle of the radio button. By making a layer active, a user will be able to select, query, search and identify features of this layer. The filled black circle and the green highlighting of the line show that this is the active layer. By default the Stream Gage layer has been selected as the active layer. Raster data layers can not have an "Active" status.
Users cannot change the order in which the layers are presented but any combination of layers can be viewed at any time.

The scale at which each layer becomes visible varies according to its suitability for viewing at a particular scale. If a layer is visible, but not at the current scale, a small gray square with a black magnifying glass will be shown to the left of the layer name.

The "Toggle between the Legend and Layer List" tool from the toolbar can be used to display the symbology of a layer, or the map legend in the layer list frame.
The viewer does NOT allow a user to change the symbology. Every attempt by the ArcIMS® designer has been made to ensure that the symbols work well with all other base and thematic map elements.


5) Tool Box:



Tool box contains 2 methods to control the map view: refreshes the view, and sets the scale.

The first method provides the map user with an "Auto Refresh" check box. By default the "Auto Refresh" box is checked and any change to the visibility or activity of layers will be reflected on the map automatically. When the box is unchecked, a map user will need to hit the "Refresh Map" button every time makes a new change.

The second method provides a pick list with pre-set scales (1:1,000; 1:2,500; 1:5,000; 1:10,000; 1:25,000; 1:50,000; 1:75,000; 1:100,000; 1:250,000; 1:500,000). The scale of the present view extent is displayed on the bottom part of the tool box.
By clicking the "Zoom to Full Extend" button the IMS page will zoom out to the default extent which was seen when initializing ArcIMS®.

6) Text box:

The area below the map display is a place used as tool interface.
Also, in this box ArcIMS® page displays messages and a user can change a map display settings.

   Interactive Mapping