As a second post in a series describing my favorite features in Geocortex Essentials 2.2, I’ve decided to talk about the text markup enhancements.
The Text Markup Enhancements encapsulate 3 features in one… actually, the requirements were originally defined as 3 seperate features but the more we looked at it, the more it made sense to roll all of the requirements into a single feature which enhances the text markup tool.
The three features are:
Callout Markup: This allows users to place text markup on the map within a callout box which has a pointer to the specific location that the user clicked. It can make text markup much more informative, and readable.
Feature Label Markup: This allows users to add text markup to the map, where the text is defined by the attribute values from a feature which intersects the point clicked. For example, a user could add a label markup element to a parcel indicating it’s land value.
XY Coordinate Markup: This allows users to add text markup to the map which indicates the XY coordinate at the point clicked. XY coordinates can be displayed in map units, decimal degrees, or degrees/minutes/seconds (DMS).
Having all 3 markup tools rolled into a single text markup tool provides the additional benefit of being able to combine these features. For example, the markup output below is a callout markup which contains a feature label, and an XY coordinate, all created from the same text markup tool from the same point on the map.
Like all markup tools, once the markup has been added it can be printed in the map using the Print Templates feature, or exported with the Export Map Image feature.
I think these are great tools that will enable better collaboration between colleagues using Geocortex Essentials and I’m happy to see them in this release!
While working on the new installer for Geocortex Essentials, I spent a fair amount of time looking at Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). One of the things that WPF does particularly well is data binding. Having said that, I discover that there seems to be an easy way and a hard way to do it. The easy way is to ensure that collections you wish to data bind to implement IObservableCollection and that objects within those collections implement INotifyPropertyChanged because the WPF data binding engine will exploit these constructs if they are available.
To see why this is a good thing, imagine a DataGrid bound to a simple array of simple objects. If you were to add an item to that array or modify an object within that array, the results would not be visible until you refreshed the data binding. If instead you were to use a DataGrid bound to an IObservableCollection containing objects implementing INotifyPropertyChanged, changes to that collection and objects within that collection will be reflected immediately within the DataGrid with no extra programming required. How simple is that? One further gem that I discovered was that it is possible for a WPF application to consume a Windows Communication Foundation service (WCF) and realize the service’s collections as IObservableCollection containing INotifyPropertyChanged objects This makes it extraordinarily easy to create rich, distributed WPF applications.
We are pleased to announce that we have released version 1.1 of the Geocortex Essentials Client APIs. This release complements the recent release of Geocortex Essentials version 2.2. We have also updated the Geocortex Resource Center with a lot of great new content for this release. Below is an example of the new Print Template with Markup feature that many of you have been asking for.
We are excited about this release and look forward to hearing about your implementations. For those that wish to use this release right away, we would encourage you to check out the expanded samples section in the Client APIs Resource Center.
When I announced the release of Geocortex Essentials 2.2, I mentioned that I would be posting on a few of my favorite features. Today I want to discuss the “Toggle Layer Labels” feature.
Now, this feature isn’t exactly flashy but I like it for a few reasons:
Customers have been asking for this functionality for a long time – it’s always nice when we can deliver features which are in high demand.
It cleans up your Layer List and your Map Service
You no longer have to create a secondary layer for your labels in order for them to be toggled (for example, “Roads” and “Roads Labels”)
It allows administrators to further optimize map services
You can configure your layers to have labels off by default, then allow your users to turn them on only if and when they need them. This can help shorten layer rendering times significantly.
You can toggle labels on a layer from the Layer List Action Menu.
Following a beta period which extended through the holidays, yesterday we released Geocortex Essentials 2.2!
I’m particularly excited about this release – it knocks off a number of features we’ve had on our list for a while. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll blog about some of my favorite features in this release.
As usual, the release notes for 2.2 are available on the downloads page on our Support Center.
Someone pointed out a few months ago we had pretty much all the qualifications to apply for our Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Status. Given the steadily increasing work we do with Microsoft technology and all the advantages that come with being part of their program, it seemed like a sensible thing to pursue.
Special thanks to the team at Latitude who studied for and wrote certification exams as part of this process.
Latitude assisted BP Azerbaijan with a project that’s profiled in the Winter 2009/2010 edition of ESRI’s ArcNews publication. The printed version of ArcNews is the most widely distributed publication in the GIS industry—something like 800,000 people receive it (not including online readers).
It’s nice to see BP Azerbaijan profiled because they’ve had a great vision and did an excellent job spearheading this project. Also, I’m their account manager.
Last month, Dave and I participated in a local fundraising event that had us jumping into ocean off Fisherman’s Wharf to raise money for the local food bank. We said we’d take the leap (and both donate $300) it if staff donations totaled $1000. About an hour into the challenge, it was clear we were going for a swim.
Here it is:
In addition to food donations, Latitude staff raised a total of ~$3100 cash for the Mustard Seed Food Bank this year.
