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Introduction
Autodesk MapGuide ® Viewer allows you to interact with maps that were created using Autodesk
MapGuide ® Author. Using Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, you can zoom in and out on a map; find specific
features, select features that meet certain criteria, display information about selected features, print
the current view of the map, and more.
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Web Browsers and ActiveX Control
In order for Autodesk MapGuide ® Viewer to work properly, Internet Explorer needs to be used.
MapGuide will not work in any other web browser including Firefox and Opera.
The first time you log on to your GIS web site, you will be prompted to install Autodesk MapGuide Viewer ActiveX Control.
You also have the option of pre-installing the ActiveX control by clicking on the link below:
INSTALL AUTODESK MAPGUIDE ACTIVEX CONTROL
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What Is a GIS
Autodesk MapGuide ® is a geographic information system (GIS).
Unlike a typical map, which shows only spatial data such as roads, cities, and country borders, a GIS links attribute
data such as population statistics to the spatial data in a map. This link provides the ability to analyze spatial data,
letting you use map data in a whole new way. After you have worked with the map and the data to specify what you want to display,
you can copy the current map view into a report or print it, giving your reports and presentations greater impact and clarity.
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Contents of the Maps
The maps you work with in Autodesk MapGuide Viewer were assembled and edited in Autodesk MapGuide Author,
a program in which the person creating the map (who is referred to as the map author ) specifies the data that
will be on the map. The map author can create display themes that vary the display of map features according to
certain values. For example, one theme might display counties in a range of colors to indicate population, allowing
you to quickly spot the counties with the lowest or highest populations. The map author also specifies the commands
that appear in the popup menu, the data you can access, how far you can zoom in and get detail, the reports associated
with the map, and more.
Autodesk MapGuide Viewer displays only the popup menus, data, and reports that the map author included
when creating the map. If you need data that is not included in the map you are viewing, we recommend that
you contact the author of the map.
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Organization of Data into Layers
The map author organizes the data in a map into map layers . Layers are like transparencies that can
be stacked and viewed at one time, or viewed separately. For example, there might be one layer that contains
roads, another that contains cities, and another that contains state boundaries. When you turn on all of the
layers, you see a single map with all of the data: roads, cities, and states. To see only the states and cities,
you can turn off the roads layer to hide the roads.
The map author can also separate different types of data into separate layers, and even separate different levels
of detail into separate layers. Additionally, because the map data is on separate layers, you can easily select the
features you want from a specific layer without selecting overlapping features from other layers.
A map can also contain groups of layers, which are called layer groups . With layer groups, you can turn on or off
all of the layers in the group at one time.
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Toolbar Button Summary
The following table shows each of the buttons on the toolbar, their accompanying
popup menu commands ,
and a description of each. Note that some of these buttons may not appear if the map author removed
the corresponding commands from the popup menu.
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Copy > Copy |
Copies the current map view to the Clipboard |
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Select |
Selects a feature in the map. |
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Pan |
Moves the map around to display areas that are outside of the current view. |
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Zoom > Zoom |
Zooms in by a magnification factor of two on the point that you click, or zoom in to the rectangular area you draw with the mouse. |
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Zoom > ZoomOut |
Zooms out by a magnification factor of two from the point you click to display a larger area of the map. |
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Zoom > Zoom Previous |
Returns to the previous zoom magnification and location. |
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Zoom > Zoom Goto |
Zooms to a specified location or US street address. |
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Zoom > Unzoom |
Zooms out to display the entire map. |
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View > View Reports |
Generates a report for the selected map features. |
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Stop |
Stops or interrupts the map display from updating and dynamic map layers from downloading. |
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Help > Help Contents |
Opens the online Help to get information about viewing maps. If you do not have the Help installed on your computer, it will be opened from the Autodesk MapGuide Web site. |
The map window popup menu appears when you
click the right button on your mouse (referred
to as "right-clicking") anywhere in the map.
After you right-click to display the map window popup menu, you can click one of the items in the menu to
choose that command. When you click a command that has a right arrow next to it (such as Print), a secondary popup menu appears.
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Customizing the Display
You can use the Preferences dialog box to customize the selection mode and the status bar. You can also use the Preferences dialog box to specify the selection mode (for more information, see Specifying the selection mode ).
The preferences you specify are stored with your copy of Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, so all maps you view will use these settings, and you do not need to set preferences for every map. Note, however, that some of these settings can be controlled by API methods, so an application developer may have changed one or more of these settings. If a map author created a map without a status bar, the status bar preferences you specified are ignored when you display that map.
If the current map was published without a Help > Preferences command on the popup menu, you will not be able to set preferences while viewing this map. Instead, view a map that does contain the Help > Preferences command, and then set the preferences.
To customize the display
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Help > Preferences from the popup menu to display the Preferences dialog box.
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In the Map Units box, choose USA Units to display distances and map widths in feet/miles, or choose Metric to display distances and map widths in meters/kilometers.
To display the coordinates of the mouse pointer's position on the status bar as you move the mouse around on the map, select the Display Mouse Position check box, and then select the type of coordinates you want from the Units drop-down list. If you select "Mapping Coordinate System," the coordinates will be displayed in the units from the map's coordinate system.
Tip If there is not enough room on the status bar to display the mouse coordinates, clear the Display Map Scale check box and/or the Display Map Width check box to make more room.
- To display the map scale on the status bar, select the Display Map Scale check box.
- To display the map width on the status bar, select the Display Map Width check box.
- Click OK.
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Zooming
To zoom to a map width
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Zoom > Width from the popup menu to display the Zoom Width dialog box.
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Enter a value in the Zoom Width dialog box, and then click OK.
The map zooms in or out to the width you specified, retaining the current center of the map.
Zooming to a Map Scale
You can specify the map scale to zoom to. Remember that the larger the second number in the scale ratio is, the more you will zoom out, so you will display a larger area with less detail. The smaller the second number is, the more you will zoom in, so you will display a smaller area with more detail.
To zoom to a map scale
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Zoom > Scale from the popup menu to display the Zoom Scale dialog box.
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In the text box, type the scale ratio you want to use. For example, to zoom to a scale of 1:200000, type 200000 in the text box.
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Click OK.
The map zooms in or out to the scale you specified, retaining the current center of the map.
To zoom in by a magnification factor of two
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Click the Zoom button on the toolbar, or right-click in the map and choose Zoom > Zoom from the popup menu.
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Click a point to be the center of the redrawn map.
The map zooms in on the point you clicked to display the map at twice the previous magnification.
You can continue to zoom in by clicking another point in the map.
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When you finish zooming, press ESC, click the Select button on the toolbar, or choose Select > Select from the Map Window popup menu. Note that pressing ESC does not work if you are using the Java Edition of the Viewer on an Apple Macintosh computer.
To zoom to a rectangular area
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Click the Zoom button on the toolbar, or right-click in the map and choose Zoom > Zoom from the popup menu.
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Press the mouse button and drag to draw a rectangle over the area you want to display.
When you release the mouse button, the rectangle disappears, and the map zooms in to display the area within the rectangle at the highest possible magnification.
You can continue by zooming in on other rectangular areas.
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When you finish zooming, press ESC, click the Select button on the toolbar, or choose Select > Select from the popup menu. Note that pressing ESC does not work if you are using the Java Edition of the Viewer on an Apple Macintosh computer.
Zooming to Selected Map Features
After you select features in a map, you can zoom in to display just enough of the map to show those features.
To zoom to selected map features
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Select one or more features.
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Zoom > Selected from the popup menu.
The map centers on the selected features and zooms in far enough to display only the selected features.
To zoom to the previous view
- Right-click in the map, and then choose Zoom > Previous from the popup menu, or click the Zoom Previous button on the toolbar.
To zoom out by a magnification factor of two
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Click the Zoom Out button on the toolbar, or right-click in the map and choose Zoom > Out from the popup menu.
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Click a point on which to center and redraw the map.
The map zooms out on the point you clicked and displays the map at half the previous magnification.
You can continue to zoom out by clicking another point in the map.
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When you finish zooming out, press ESC, click the Select button on the toolbar, or choose Select > Select from the Map Window popup menu. Note that pressing ESC does not work if you are using the Java Edition of the Viewer on an Apple Macintosh computer.
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Moving Up, Down, Left, or Right (Panning)
You can move the map around to display areas that are outside of the current view.
To move up, down, left, or right (pan)
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Click the Pan button on the toolbar, or right-click in the map and choose Pan from the popup menu. Notice that the cursor changes to a "hand."
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Press the mouse button and drag to move the map around.
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Release the mouse button to redraw the map and show the new view.
You can continue panning by dragging the map again.
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When you finish panning, press ESC, click the Select button on the toolbar, or choose Select > Select from the Map Window popup menu. Note that pressing ESC does not work if you are using the Java Edition of the Viewer on an Apple Macintosh computer.
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Saving the Current View in a Bookmark
After you zoom and pan to position the map exactly as you want it, you can save the current view of the map as a bookmark. A bookmark saves all of the information about the current view of the map under a name you specify. By using the bookmark in the future, you can go directly to this same view of the map without having to zoom and pan again. To save the current view as a bookmark, do the following:
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Bookmarks > Add Bookmark from the popup menu to display the Add Bookmark dialog box.
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Enter a name for this bookmark, and then click OK.
Note: Be sure to use a unique name for the bookmark. If you use an existing name, both bookmarks will appear in the menu under the same name with no way to tell them apart. The name you type or select for your bookmark cannot contain any commas (,), question marks (?), ampersands (&), or pound symbols (#).
Viewing a Bookmark
You can go directly to a map or portion of a map that you saved previously as a bookmark.
To view a bookmark
Choose Bookmarks from the popup menu. Click the name of the bookmark you want to view. If you have added more bookmarks than can be displayed in the popup menu, choose Bookmarks > More Bookmarks from the popup menu, and then select the bookmark you want from the Goto Bookmark dialog box.
Deleting a Bookmark
You can delete one or more bookmarks if you no longer need them.
Choose Bookmarks > Delete Bookmarks from the popup menu, select the bookmark(s) you want to delete, and then click OK.
Identifying Map Features
When you pause the mouse pointer over a map feature, you see the name of that map feature displayed in a small yellow popup window called a MapTip. For example, when you position the mouse pointer over Washington, the MapTip displays the name of the city, as shown in the following illustration.
The MapTip disappears when you move the mouse again. If a name has not been provided for this feature on this map, the MapTip does not appear.
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Measuring Distances
You can measure the distance between two points on the map. You can also measure the distance between several points to get a cumulative total distance. For example, if you want to know approximately how far you would travel if you flew from Paris to London to New York, you could measure each leg of the trip and get a cumulative total. Note that, depending on which map projection the author of the map chose, the distances measured may vary in accuracy. For example, if the map author chose a projection that provides the most accurate results when you measure the distance between two points in France, the accuracy will decrease if you measure the distance between points across the world. For more information, contact the author of the map.
To measure the distance between points on a map
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Right-click in the map, and then choose View > Distance from the popup menu. (Easier way is to use the measure button on right column)
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To measure the distance between two points, click the first point, and then pause the mouse pointer over the second point.
As you move the pointer, the measurement of the distance appears dynamically in a MapTip (the yellow box)
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To measure the distance from the second point to a third point, click the second point, and then pause the pointer over the third point.
The distance between the second and third point appears on the status bar and in the MapTip display, along with the total of all distances measured.
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To clear the cumulative distance and exit the View > Distance function, click the right mouse button, double-click the left mouse button, or press ESC. Note that pressing ESC does not work if you are using the Java Edition of the Viewer on an Apple Macintosh computer.
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Search Tools
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On the right hand column, we have created search buttons. A user may search by roll #, owner, civic address, linc # or title #.
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Choose one of the searches and a dialog box appears, prompting the user to enter roll # civic address, etc.
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If no number is entered, and a user clicks enter, a list of all of the associated numbers, or addresses will appear.
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When a user clicks on the appropriate number, MapGuide will automatically zoom to the selected parcel
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Redlining
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A user may also insert text, lines, symbols or polygons, via redlining
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Click style to modify the appearance of text, lines, symbols or polygons.
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Click create, and choose which feature you would like to insert.
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If it is text, type in the text box above, then click on the map
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To delete a redlining feature, select the feature, then click delete. (Clicking the clear button will delete all redlined features)
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Specifying the Selection Mode
By default, when selecting features inside a rectangle, circle, polygon, or buffer, Autodesk MapGuide selects only those features whose centroids (center points) are within that selection area. However, you can specify that you also want to select features that intersect the selection area.
To specify the selection mode
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Help > Preferences from the popup menu to display the Preferences dialog box.
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Click the Selection Mode drop-down list, and then choose the method you want to use for selecting features inside of other features.
If you choose Centroid (the default), only those features whose centroids are within the selection area will be selected. If you choose Intersection, features that touch, intersect, or are within the selection area will be selected.
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Selecting Features Within Other Map Features
Autodesk MapGuide Viewer can select all map features that are within selected polygon map features. The polygons should be on their own layer in order for this command to work effectively.
To select features within other map features
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Select the polygon map feature(s) containing the map features you want to select.
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Select > Within from the popup menu to display the Select Within dialog box.
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Choose the map layer containing the map features you want to select should they fall within the polygon(s) you selected in Step 1, and then click OK.
For example, if you selected a buffer feature in step 1 that represents a specific distance from a customer's location, and you want to find all Acme Widget resellers within that specified distance from the customer's location, you would select the layer that contains the reseller locations.
All map features from the specified layer that fall within the previously selected polygon(s) are now selected.
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Selecting Features Within a Specified Distance from Other Map Features (View Buffers Command)
By creating a buffer around selected map features, you can view all features that fall within that buffer. This is particularly useful in site selection. For example, you could create a buffer to find all vacant lots within two miles of your stores, or using a report that will calculate area, you could determine the total area within the buffers around your stores.
To select features within a specified distance from other map features
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Select the map features around which you want to create buffers.
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Right-click in the map, and then choose View > Buffer from the popup menu.
The View Buffer dialog box appears.
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In the Buffer Offset Distance text box, type the distance you want the buffers to extend from the selected features, and then select the unit (such as miles or kilometers) you want to use from the drop-down list.
For example, to find all features within two miles of your stores, type 2 in the text box and choose "mi" from the unit list. Note that you can also use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the distance.
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To treat all of the buffer areas as a single feature, instead of treating each buffer area as a separate feature, select the Construct One Buffer For All Selected Map Features check box.
This is particularly useful if any of your buffers overlap and you do not want the overlapping area counted twice. For example, if you want to determine the total area around your stores, and two stores are close enough that their buffers overlap, you would not want to count the overlapping area twice. Overlapping buffers will also appear differently on the screen. For example, if you did not select this check box, overlapping buffers might display like this:
If you did select this check box, however, the same buffers would display like this:
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In the Create Buffer On list, select the map layer on which you want to create the buffers, or type a new name to create a new map layer that contains only the buffers.
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In the Fill area, specify the style, color, and pattern to use for filling the buffer areas.
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If you chose a hatch pattern for the fill, the color you specified is for the pattern, so you need to specify settings for the background behind the pattern. In this case, in the Background area, specify whether the background should be opaque (buffers cover the map features) or transparent (map features show through the buffers), and the color to use for the background.
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In the Edge area, specify the style, color, and thickness to use for drawing the outer line around the buffer areas.
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Click OK.
Autodesk MapGuide creates the buffers around the selected features. To select the features within the buffers, you select the buffers, and then use the Select Within command to select map features from other layers that fall within the buffers.
To select all map features in a rectangular area
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Turn on Selection mode by clicking the Select tool on the toolbar or by choosing Select > Select from the popup menu.
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Click the left mouse button, drag the mouse pointer diagonally until the rectangle covers the area you want, and then release the mouse button.
All map features that are within the rectangular area are now selected.
To select all map features in a circular area
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Select > Radius from the popup menu.
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Press and hold the left mouse button on a center point, drag to define the radius, and then release the mouse button.
The radius appears dynamically on the status bar at the bottom of the map as you drag the pointer. When the pointer stops, the radius also appears as a MapTip.
All map features that are within the circular area are now selected.
To select all map features in a polygonal area
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Right-click in the map and choose Select > Polygon from the popup menu.
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With the left mouse button, click each point that you want to use as a vertex of the polygon.
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On the last vertex you want to use, double-click using the left mouse button.
All map features that are within the polygonal area are now selected.
To deselect one feature while leaving the other features selected
- Shift-click the feature you want to deselect.
To deselect all features
Do one of the following:
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Right-click in the map, and then choose Select > Clear from the popup menu.
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Press ESC. Note that this does not work if you are using the Java Edition of the Viewer on an Apple Macintosh computer.
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Displaying or Hiding Layers or Layer Groups
You can display or hide the features on a map layer by turning the layer on or off. This is useful for viewing exactly the features you want to see.
To turn on a layer or layer group
To turn off a layer or layer group
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Clear that check box next to the layer or layer group's name in the legend.
Note: If you select more than one layer or layer group, and then select or clear the check box, the display status of all the selected items will be the same.
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Displaying or Hiding the List of Layers in a Layer Group
You can show or hide the list of layers in a layer group. Note that showing or hiding the list of layers does not turn the layers on or off; it simply displays the layer names in the legend.
To show the list of layers in a layer group
To hide the list of layers in a layer group
To change the status of multiple layer groups
- Select multiple layer groups and then choose Expand or Collapse from the popup menu.
To turn on all the layers in a layer group
To turn off all the layers in a layer group
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Rebuilding Layers
If a layer is not displaying properly, such as during a server error, you can rebuild it. If the map contains layer groups, you can rebuild all of the layers in the layer group. You can rebuild any layer except a buffer or redline layer.
The following illustration shows a layer that did not download correctly, indicated by the icon to the left of the layer name.
To rebuild layers
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Select one or more layers or layer groups in the legend.
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Right-click and choose Rebuild from the popup menu.
Showing or Hiding a List of Styles for a Layer
If a map layer has styles assigned to it, you can show or hide the list of styles for the layer.
To show the list of styles for a layer
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Select one or more layers in the legend.
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Right-click and choose Expand from the popup menu.
To hide the list of styles for a layer
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Select one or more layers in the legend.
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Right-click and choose Collapse from the popup menu.
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Showing or Hiding a List of Theme Categories for a Layer
If the map author created a theme for a layer, the categories for that theme appear below the layer name in the legend. You can choose whether or not to display the names of these theme categories in the legend by expanding or collapsing the list.
To show or hide a layer's theme categories
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To expand a list, right-click the layer name in the legend and then choose Expand, or simply double-click the layer name.
The theme categories for the layer appear below their names in the legend.
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To compress a list, right-click the layer name in the legend and then choose Collapse, or simply double-click the layer name.
The theme categories for the layer disappear so that only the layer name is displayed in the legend. Note that although the list is collapsed, the theme categories are still active on the map.
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Viewing Reports
Viewing a report provides information about selected map features or about a specified point. When you view a report, only information for the features you select appears in the report, so you get only the information you need. The reports available for the current map depend entirely on what reports the author of the map has set up and made available. For example, the author could set up a report that provides population and average household income, so that when you select cities and view the report, you will get the population and income information for those selected cities only.
To view a report for selected map features
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Select the map features about which you want a report.
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Right-click in the map and then choose View > Report from the popup menu, or click the Report button on the toolbar to display the View Report dialog box.
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Choose the report you want to view, and then click OK.
By default, the report appears in a separate browser window.
To view a report about a specific point
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Right-click in the map and then choose View > Report from the popup menu, or click the Report button on the toolbar to display the View Report dialog box.
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Choose the report you want to view.
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Click a point in the map.
By default, the report displays in a separate browser window.
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Viewing Registered Plans and Assessment Information
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Zoom in far enough to see the parcel level.
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Using the Select tool (Mouse Pointer Symbol) double click a desired parcels.
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A window will appear prompting the user to view either the registered plan, or the assessment report.
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Single click either the assessment or registered plan to view the corresponding reports.
 
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ORRSC has provided municipalities an additional viewer for these files (Brava Reader)
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Cemetery Layer
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To zoom to the cemetery, click on the Zoom To button under the header CEMETERY.
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The user will now see the extents of the cemetery, with a thematic built on the plots. (Green-Vacant, Blue-Occupied, Beige-Reserved)
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There are searching capabilities built into the cemetery layer, which work similar to the Owner 1, Linc Number, and Roll Number, etc. The user can search for reserved plots or interred plots, and will automatically zoom you in to the selected plot.
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A report can also be generated in the same fashion as town parcels.
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Click on a plot (or multiple) and click on the report button on the top toolbar.
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Click on Cemetery report, and the report can be viewed.
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Copying and Pasting Maps
You can copy the current map view in Autodesk MapGuide Viewer and then paste it into another application. When you copy the map view, it is copied to the Windows Clipboard, so that you can then paste the map view into another Windows application.
You can also copy the current view of the map as a URL. This is useful if you want to create a link from a Web page to this view of the map and you need to know the URL to link to.
To copy and paste the map view
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Use the Zoom and Pan commands from the popup menu or from the toolbar to display only the portion of the map you want to see. Right-click in the map, and then choose Copy > Copy from the popup menu, or click the Copy button on the toolbar. The map view is now copied to the Clipboard.
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Switch to the application in which you want to paste the map view.
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Choose Edit > Paste.
The view of the map you copied now appears in the application.
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Preparing to Print a Map
When you print a map, you can include a title, a legend, the map's scale, a North arrow, the map's URL, and the current date and time. Also, you can specify the scale of the map you want to print, or you can have MapGuide automatically scale the map to fit the printed page. The following steps explain how to print the map when you use the Print > Print command from the popup menu in Autodesk MapGuide Viewer. If your map is embedded (if it appears within a Web page, rather than appearing in its own window), and you use your Web browser's print commands, the settings you specify in the following steps will not affect the way the map prints.
Note: If you are using the Java Edition of Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, this dialog box will have some additional options you need to set. For more information, see About the Java Edition . If you are using the Java Edition of Autodesk MapGuide Viewer with Internet Explorer, and you click outside the Page Setup dialog box, the dialog box will go behind the Internet Explorer window.
To prepare to print a map
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Click page setup button from right column.
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To print a title at the top of the map, select the Title check box and type the title in the Title text box. You can enter multiple lines for the title by inserting "\n" where you want line breaks.
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To print the legend with the map, select the Legend check box.
If you chose to print the legend, note that the printed legend includes only visible layers. If the layer names are too long, they may be truncated.
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To print a bar showing the scale of the map, select the Scale Bar check box.
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To print a North arrow on the map, select the North Arrow check box. If the map uses arbitrary XY coordinates, this option is cleared by default but is still available.
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To include the map's URL in the footer of the printed map, select the URL check box.
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To include the current date and time in the footer of the printed map, select the Date And Time check box.
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To print the map at a specific map scale, click Specify Scale, and then select the scale you want from the Scale list. To scale the map to fit the printed page, click Fit To Page.
No matter what scale you select, only the currently displayed map area prints. If the map is displayed at 1:40,000, and you specify that it should print at 1:70,000, the printed map will not show the larger area that would display at 1:70,000. Instead, only the area that is displayed at 1:40,000 are printed, at the scale of 1:70,000.
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Click OK.
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Click print button on right column
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