GIS and Web Mapping
When you generate a link on Multimap.com it now generates short URLs (think TinyURL) which are much more manageable. This is great for sending a a URL to a map in twitter etc. where brevity is of the essence.
To use this navigate to where you want on Multimap.com and then use the ‘link’ button above the map to generate a short URL.
So the old long link:
now becomes:
http://www.multimap.com/s/CyCrouvl
That’s a bit less of a mouthful!
Now with pictures and more details from the wikipedia topic. See here
Coming form a background in GIS and working in Web Mapping I am always really interested in closer collaboration between GIS and and Web Mapping. In my mind one provides the great interface and the other the sophisticated spatial analysis. Basically they have different strengths. Recently I have got really tired of the paleo vs neo geography debate. It should be about using the right tool for the job and working to integrating them together. So this is why I am really excited about today’s announcement of the integration between Microsoft Virtual Earth (VE) and ESRI ArcGIS. VE provides great web mapping, data and performance, while ESRI has always provided a strong, advanced GIS platform (which I grew up with!).
There are 2 aspects to the integration:
1 - VE Data in the ESRI ArcGIS ’stack’
Global, detailed VE mapping and imagery can now be used within ESRI ArcGIS software (e.g. ArcMap, ArcGIS Explorer) as a Premium content layer (at a very reasonable price). This provides fantastic background data for ESRI users without the headache of having to maintain your own data store. I wish I had this when I was working with ESRI implementations in Local Government, maintaining our OS Mastermap data store was a nightmare!
You can even use VE maps and imager in ArcGIS Explorer:
Users can preview Virtual Earth street maps, imagery and hybrid map layers at http://resources.esri.com/arcgisonlineservices.
Chris Pendleton has blogged with more detail on this.
2- Using of ArcGIS Server in the Virtual Earth JavaScript API
It is now possible to build a performant VE JavaScript API mapping application which consumes ArcGIS Server services for advanced geoprocessing tasks. So you can use the benefits of a Web Mapping API (e.g. performance, global coverage, high availability) combined with the benefits of ‘true’ GIS (e.g. advanced analysis, local/custom data, mapping rendered on the fly). You can do this with the ESRI ArcGIS JavaScript Extension for Virtual Earth“.
What I love about this is that it gives the best of both worlds!
There are some great examples in the interactive SDK. My favourite is the ‘Message in a bottle app’ in the ‘Work with Geoprocessing tasks’ section. I now know that if you drop a bottle in the ocean off the costs of Namibia it will end up at Cuba 300 days later. Cool!
I messed around with the examples and did this enhanced application for calculating drive time zones.
Chris has a perspective on this.
The full press announcement is here
More blogging on this to follow…
Update 8th August:
Just found this diagram which helps show the architecture:
One of the very powerful (and unique) features of the Multimap API is the decluttering of markers. See this example.
Another useful feature in the Multimap API is the restyling of info boxes (that open when you click on the marker). See this example.
However if you want to restyle info boxes for markers that have been decluttered you need to follow a slightly different approach. This is because the marker for the cluster is a separate marker, which won’t have been touched by the your standard info box restyling, so will use the default info box style. What you need to do is add a handler for the ‘declutterCluster’ event. This will be called every time a set of markers is clustered. The 7th argument to the handling function will be an anonymous object (basically a hash/dictionary/associative array) that they can set info box options on. So you could use something like the following:
mv.addEventHandler('declutterCluster', handleCluster); ... function handleCluster(type, target, declutter_type, group_name, markers, cluster_marker, infobox_options ) { infobox_options['className'] = 'mpB'; infobox_optione['minWidth'] = 170; }
Thanks to John McKerrell for the approach and sample code.
See the full class documentation for more detail.
One of the more popular features in Multimap and Virtual Earth is the Birds Eye (oblique) imagery. The coverage of Birds Eye is now awesome and it can provide great context information. for example if you are booking a hotel you can check out the neighbourhood and see if it is next to a busy road to see beyond any ’spin’ in the brochure. Many implementations of the Multimap API and Virtual Earth in the travel sector allow users to navigate a map and switch to Birds Eye view.
However the snag is that many web site users are not really into maps and some figures suggest that only 20% of users ever interact with an AjAx map (e.g. by panning). But wouldn’t all these people who hate maps still not find a bird’s eye view of their hotel useful? It is only a photo after all….
I think Active Hotels have come up with a great solution for this. On the brochure pages for hotels, as well as a user being able to use a map, there is also a simple link for users to click on to see a Birds Eye photo:
This link simply opens up a birds eye view of the hotel (using the Multimap API behind the scenes). It’s that simple, and therefore a brilliant idea.
Using the Multimap API you can do the same (and even remove all the controls for a clean look). For example here is a simple picture of Big Ben.
Here is the JavaScript you need:
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://clients.multimap.com/API/maps/[api_key]"></script> <script type="text/javascript" type="JavaScript "> var mapviewer; function onLoad() { //Add the map mapviewer = MMFactory.createViewer(document.getElementById('mapviewer')); mapviewer.setMapType( MM_WORLD_BEHYBRID ); mapviewer.goToPosition( new MMLatLon( 51.50064,-0.12453 ) ); } MMAttachEvent( window, 'load', onLoad ); </script>
<body> <!-- The Multimap Map--> <div id="mapviewer" style="position : absolute;top : 0;left : 0;width : 700px; height : 700px;"></div> </body>
You can also use the API to check that there is BE coverage for a location.
So if you hate maps you can still use bird’s eye views!
Multimap have just released greatly improved imagery and mapping for the Multimap API and www.multimap.com. The good news is that if you have an existing API implementation, you will not need to make any changes to get access to this new data.
The improvements are:
Don’t worry Ordnance Survey mapping will still stay for GB, along with the other localised mapping for areas of Southeast Asia.
Overall these changes bring improved country and region level maps worldwide and new street level coverage of including:
Asia - Japan
Africa - Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, South Africa
Eastern Europe -Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia
Central and South America - Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile
This improved mapping and imagery is a result of Multimap’s closer integration with Microsoft and associated Virtual Earth technology platform.
trueSpace has just been released and is available for free download. This tool allows you to generate your own high resolution 3D models and then upload the model into Live Search Maps as a collection item. You can Once you’ve created your collection, you can then import your collection into Virtual Earth app.
This is a real step forward in growing a 3d environment, the ability to generate your own detailed content.
Chris Pendleton has blogged more details on this and how to integrate this into Virtual Earth.
If you are like me and grew up with Ordnance Survey maps you will have grid references ingrained in your spatial thinking and want to use them in you mapping API. However the snag with global mapping sites and APIs (which they nearly all are now) you need to use a global projection system. for example if you are working on an application for the emergency services in the UK they will want to have a location given as a Grid Reference (Lat/Lon might as well be Greek). So that leaves you a bit stumped?
The good news is that Multimap have recently released support for the conversion of British National Grid eastings and northings to latitudes and longitudes via the Multimap REST API. This feature is so new it is not fully documented yet but Richard Keen’s blog has some further information and examples and there is more information on the Multimap Blog.
This week was the 50th anniversary of Guide Dogs in Somerset. There was a fund raising event and my aunt persuaded me to try a blindfolded obstacle course with a Delphi (the dog). It was a very scary experience, and the most frightening bit was trying it without Delphi! If you ever get a chance, I really recommend trying this yourself.
Many thanks to Andy (the trainer) and Delphi (for whom this must have been a bit of a come down from his previous career as a stud dog).
How about supporting the excellent work of Guide Dogs by sponsoring a puppy or something else.
Vodafone users can now can now search for a locations on the Multimap website and send and map of the destination and/or travel directions to their mobile phone (free of charge). You can also send a map to Find and Go (Vodafone’s new sat nav service). See this for more details.
I think this provides a great integration, between rich browsing environments and mobile devices. You would not use a sat nav at home to search for places and maps and you don’t want to take a laptop in your car for turn-by-turn directions! This gives you the opportunity to use the best tool for each job together.
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