How to make IMS with Manifold GIS

1. Activate the Internet Information Servers IIS

IIS, for those born after 90, is what before came in the Windows NT Option Pack, Windows XP Professional already brings integrated, but usually you have to activate it.

To do this, it is done: “Start / Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs / add or remove windows components” and there is active, then the following applies and ends the operation.

This allows using the computer as a local or remote server, and although used for PHP or PERL, Manifold comes made to publish in ASP, which is integrated into Windows.

When I asked if it could be published in Apache, they stared at me as gentile.

2. Understanding the structure of Manifold.

Manifold handles a structure known as Project, which may have this type of components; I mention them above to downwards:

Data sources may be inside (as in the geodatabase) or can be externally linked; such is the tables or images case. So the .map file contains everything inside and it can be:

• Data Sources
• Tables
• Drawing (vector data)
• Images (raster data)
• Data Organization
• Folders
• 3D Analysis
• Elevations
• Profiles
• Surfaces
• Terrain Models
• Results
• Labels
• Graphics
• Layouts
• Maps
• Others
• Comments
• Forms
• Palettes
• Queries
• Scripts
• Themes

The above organization is my invention, it is not in the manual but it is a way to organize different types of components.

3. Preparing to publish the map

In my case, this is the project I have organized:

If you notice, I created folders based on categories, among which are the different components.

In the case of cadastral layer within it are included the labels and in case the images within it may be Google images are linked or imported.

The properties of min / max zoom, projection, datum and precision carried by each component.

At the bottom I left the maps, which are data displays which may contain different layers, including with different projection but re-projected to the flight on the attached projection to the map.

The publication life is to prepare the map, layers, transparencies, and labels… all that are going to recognize the IMS service.

In this case, I’ve created the cadastral map with these features:

I hope you tolerate I’ve placed a very large image, but it is a way to explain it, if you look, the cadastral “map” has enabled all these layers, and in the deployment can be seen. In the parcel’s case I have themed them by quadrant map and for background I have left the Google Earth image.

4. Creating the IMS map

The above was more complicated, now you just have to do “file / export / webpage”

Here is configured the export folder, the template, if you want it with frames or ASP.NET, window size…

It is also defined if you want to see legends, scale-bar, layers, or search bar.

Finally below you can define whether you want to include the interface to external images and interface to WMS / WFS services for others to connect this way.

There is also a space to define when you want to refresh the changes that arise in the original map to the served maps.

And that’s all gentlemen, this is the result.

Of course, if it gets to work with ASP and the GUI, you can make a better template and create more controls than those brought by default.

Cost?

A Manifold personal license is worth $ 245

To make IMS it occupies a professional license, sum $ 45 or $ 295

But if what you want is to put it on a server, you only need to put a professional runtime license that costs $ 100

The learning cost… as I recall, a egeomate friend explained it to me in 14 minutes… and it took me 23 to do only when I got to my house after suffering because Windows Home Edition does not bring IIS!

Ah… also can be done with ArcIMS, GeoWeb Publisher or MapGuide, although it will cost them a little more.

Die lernende Kosten … soweit ich mich erinnere, erklärte ein Freund egeomate es mir innerhalb von 14 Minuten … und es hat mich 23 zu tun, nur, wenn ich in mein Haus kam nach dem Leiden, weil Windows Home Edition nicht bringt IIS!

Ah … auch mit ArcIMS, GeoWeb Publisher oder MapGuide getan werden, obwohl es kostet sie ein wenig mehr.