ArcIMS Manager

The easy-to-use ArcIMS Manager is a suite of Web pages that provides access to all ArcIMS serverside functions and tools. Through the ArcIMS Manager, users can quickly set up and administer Internet services. Simple instructions guide users through the steps of authoring, designing, and publishing map services.

The ArcIMS Manager consists of three stand-alone components to

• Author MapService files.
• Design Web pages.
• Publish MapServices and administer ArcIMS Spatial Servers.

The ArcIMS Manager combines these applications—ArcIMS Author, ArcIMS Designer, and ArcIMS Administrator—into one wizard-driven framework. Although each of these processes is available as an independent application that runs outside a Web browser, the ArcIMS Manager provides the transitional steps for additional communication among the components.

The ArcIMS Manager resides on the Web server computer and can be accessed remotely to administer a site.

At left: The ArcIMS Manager offers a complete suite of tools for authoring, designing, and administering Web mapping applications.

Authoring MapService Files

The ArcIMS author allows users to define the mapping application content. Generating an online map involves adding data content and setting other map properties that create a MapService. A MapService allows the content of a map configuration file to be published on the Internet and sets the framework for the Web site functionality. The output from the ArcIMS Author is a map configuration. This file can also be edited in a text editor independent of the ArcIMS Author environment.

Use the ArcIMS Author to set scale dependencies so that a map renders the appropriate amount of detail at a given scale.

The ArcIMS Author is a menu-driven applet that steps users through the map content definition process. Internet maps can be created using shapefiles, ArcSDE data sets, and images. The ArcIMS Author allows users to define connections to databases, symbology, and other mapping parameters. Use the ArcIMS Author to

• Compile data sources as layers.
• Render polygons.
• Set scale-dependent rendering.
• Set up query and geocoding functions.
• Add text labels to describe map features.

The ArcIMS Author allows users to create a map configuration file, which is written in ArcXML. The map configuration file is the input to a MapService. The ArcXML file specifies how data will look, what labels will be available, and how different types of data are displayed.

Designing Web Pages

Based on the data defined in the ArcIMS Author, the role of the ArcIMS Designer is to generate the Web service that the end user will view. The ArcIMS Designer leads users through a series of panels including selection of MapServices, templates, and the operations and functions that will be available to the client Web browser.

Use the ArcIMS Designer to select the tools and operations that will be available to the end user.

A Web site is more than a MapService. It can include a legend, a toolbar for navigating the map, a scale bar, and a thumbnail overview map. The Web site also puts a certain graphical look and feel around the MapServices.

After the user decides whether the client site will be an HTML viewer, a customizable Java viewer, or a noncustomizable Java viewer, the ArcIMS Designer guides the user through a series of Web pages.

Through the ArcIMS Designer, the end user experience is defined. The ArcIMS Designer lets the user define whether to allow query, editing, Map Notes, Edit Notes, or data integration functions. The ArcIMS Designer takes the user through the steps of creating a Web site and MapService; defining the page elements, map extent, visible layers, and overview map; and setting features such as the scale bar. With the ArcIMS Designer, users can also select toolbar functionality from a predefined menu of options.

The output from ArcIMS Designer is a series of HTML pages that guides the user through the design process of building an ArcIMS viewer—a combination of MapServices with toolbar functions. The Web pages can be used out of the box, or they can be customized to meet specific needs.

Administer Map Services

The ArcIMS Administrator console controls the operation of the Web mapping site. The administration tools allow users to manage MapServices, servers, and folders. With the ArcIMS Administrator, users can

• Add and reconfigure ArcIMS sites.
• Perform load balancing.
• Manage ArcIMS Spatial Servers.
• Assign tasks to servers.
• Monitor client and server communication.
• Automatically update Web site configuration.
• Compile statistical information.

ArcIMS is specifically designed to function while servers and services are added and removed.

ArcIMS is specifically designed so that the site will continue to function while servers and services are added and removed. A site configuration can be saved so that it will automatically restart with the same configuration.

The goal of site administration in ArcIMS is to manage these components to create a system that supports the distribution of maps and GIS functionality on the Internet.

Next >> ArcIMS Viewers

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