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Red-E-Map User Guide

Introduction Welcome to Red-E-Map, supplied by Redland City Council. It gives access to map services which are collections of themed layers depicting RCC business information. This version of Red-E-Map also includes the concept of base maps, which other map services can be drawn over the top of.

Contents System requirements (page 2)

Main screen elements (page 2)

Navigating the map (page 3)

Choosing what you want to see (page 4)

Changing the table of contents (page 5)

Using the transparency fader (page 6)

Getting information about layers and services (page 7)

Getting Feature Information (page 8)

Measuring things in the map (page 9)

Getting coordinates from the map (page 10)

Selecting Features (page 11)

Selecting adjacent features (page 12)

Exporting images and feature details (page 13)

Finding things in the map (page 14) o Basic Find (page 14) o Property Search (page 15) o Road Search (page 15) o Coordinate Search (page 16) o Buffer Search (page 17) o Advanced Query (page 19)

Integrations (page 22)

Printing a map (page 23)

Set preferences (page 24)

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System Requirements Red-E-Map is designed to be used on laptop or PC with the following web browsers:

o Internet Explorer 8 or higher, o Google Chrome, o Mozilla Firefox.

Other web browsers may work, or partially work but are not explicitly supported.

Red-E-Map is not designed to be used on tablets or mobile devices with multiple points of screen touch. This use is not supported.

Main Screen Elements The main elements of the Red-E-Map screen when it opens are laid out as per figure and description below (the legend may not always be showing).

Toolbar - The toolbar contains tools to perform actions such as navigating the map, searching for objects, selecting and measuring things in the map.

Legend - The legend explains the symbols used in the map. Services and layers that are currently showing in the map, will be displayed in the legend.

Table of Contents - The table of contents contains a list of all the map services you can currently interact with in the map.

o Active Map Service – The map service that is currently active will be shown with a darker blue banner. Other map services, if available will have lighter blue banners.

o Map Layers – The layers inside the active map service will be listed individually, so that you can turn them on and off.

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o Active Map Layer – One layer at a time inside the active map service can be the active layer. This layer is shown with an orange banner. If you want to select map features or get information, this is the layer you will be interacting with.

o Base Map Service – The base map service, as its name suggests, always sits at the bottom and other features are drawn over the top of it. There can be only one base map in use at a time. Base maps are images only and do not contain layers that you can interact with.

The table of contents and the legend can be shown or hidden using the toolbar buttons below.

Navigating the Map The most important functions in a map are those that allow you to move around and explore. The

following tools in the toolbar are the basic navigation tools that you will use all the time. The tool on

the toolbar that is highlighted in a lighter colour is the tool that is active. Click on a tool image

button to make it active or perform its function. Full and previous extent will happen immediately.

Zoom in, zoom out and pan will require you to interact with the map.

To zoom in make the zoom in tool active then, using the left mouse button click and drag a

box around the area on the map that you want to zoom in on. When you release the mouse

button, the map will redraw.

To Zoom out make the zoom out tool active then, using the left mouse button, click and drag

a box that the current map extent will be fitted into (the smaller the box, the further you will

zoom). When you release the mouse button, the map will redraw.

To pan the map at the current scale make the pan tool active, click and drag the map image

with the left mouse button. When you release the mouse button, the map will redraw.

To Change the map scale, type the desired scale number directly into the scale display and

press the enter key on your keyboard. Larger numbers zoom further out. Smaller numbers

zoom further in. Practical limits are set to prevent zooming too far in or out.

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Zoom to full extent takes the map out to the limits of the active map service.

Zoom to previous extent takes the map to the last valid extent used. Only one previous

extent is remembered.

Choosing what you want to see The map content button on the toolbar lets you see which map services and base maps are available

for viewing. Turn on the checkbox for each service and base map that you want to interact with in

the table of contents. The order of services cannot be changed.

Hint: If you turn on a lot of services at once, your map can get cluttered. Red-E-Map also has to

make a lot more requests for map images and this will cause it to respond more slowly. It is good

practice to only show what you need to see and leave everything else turned off.

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Changing the Table of Contents Once you have chosen which services you want in your map, you can now decide what content you want showing from those services. Because Red-E-Map now allows multiple map services to be shown simultaneously, there are lots of options for turning layers and whole services on and off in the map. The figure below shows the same table of contents, but with different services made active and different visibility.

If a service is checked as visible in the table of contents, then an image will be generated for that service according to which layers are visible inside it, even if it is not the active service. Only the active map service will have its layers listed in the table of contents. If you want to change which layers are showing in a service, you must first make the service active by clicking its radio-button. Then, when its layers are displayed, you may turn them on or off individually. Hint: If you have map services loaded in the table of contents that you do not need to view, then un-check their visibility checkbox otherwise Red-E-Map will request an image for them every time you move the map. Always turning off services you don’t need will help to speed up your map browsing experience. Hint: every change generates a new map image for the service, so if you have a lot of changes to make, you should un-check the “Auto Refresh” checkbox at the top of the table of contents. Make all of your changes, then click the “Refresh Map” button at the end. You should then re-check the “Auto Refresh” checkbox or Red-E-Map will ask you this for every change.

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Using the transparency fader If the symbols or features in one map service obscure the detail in a service beneath, you can peek through the images to see the ones underneath using transparency. Temporarily adjust the transparency to avoid constantly turning things on and off. This saves you time and saves load on the services. Transparency only lasts for the current map images and is reset when you move the map or change layers because new images are requested.

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Getting information about layers and services

Layers and services that have information (metadata) available will show a small information icon before the layer name. Clicking this icon will open the “Metadata” window which lays out information that has been published in the map service.

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Getting Feature Information As you move around Red-E-Map, you will want to get information on the features you have turned on in the map. Get information by making the Info tool active and left-click on a feature in the map. You can only get information from features if they are showing in the map, so they must be within their visible scale range and the layer must be turned on. The info tool will return results from the active layer by default, but if there are other selectable layers in view, you can view other results by changing the drop-down box in the “Identify” window. Layers in the table of contents that have a grey banner are not selectable, so you cannot get information from them. These grey layers may be for display only, or may be groupings of other layers.

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Measuring things in the map Use the measure tool to measure length and area in the map. Click a sequence of points to measure a line and double click to close an area. Read off the calculated values from the report window. You should have everything that you want to measure in view before you start, as the graphic is reset when you move the map.

Note: Measurements made in this way will always be approximate and are affected by your accuracy with the mouse and the map scale.

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Getting coordinates from the map The map services in Red-E-Map all use the standard Map Grid of Australia Zone 56 coordinate system. These coordinates are expressed in meters. X-ordinates are sometimes called Eastings (measuring West to East) and Y-ordinates are sometimes called Northings (measuring South to North). Click the Coordinate Tool on the toolbar to make it active and the Coordinate Display window will appear. Coordinates will be continuously updated as you move the mouse pointer over the map. If you left-click the mouse on the map, the coordinates of the place you clicked will be frozen in the lower text boxes and the map will be marked with a circular graphic. Press the Clear command button to get rid of the graphic.

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Selecting Features Use the select tool to select map features from the current active layer. To make a different layer

active, click the selection icon in the layer name if it is displayed. You can only select from layers that are within scale range and currently being displayed in the map.

Press the Clear command button to get rid of the selection set.

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Selecting adjacent features A preconfigured tool is provided for selecting adjacent features. If you already have some features selected (as in the previous example) and want to select the features that adjoin them in the same layer, then click the Select Adjoining button on the toolbar as below.

Note: This command selects all features in the same layer that fall within 0.5m of the original selection and removes the original features from the selected set. It was originally designed to list the details of adjoining land parcels, but will work for any adjacent features within the same layer.

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Exporting images and feature details If you have some features selected, you can export their details as a comma-delimited (CSV) text file

for use in your own applications such as Excel spreadsheets. You can also export the JavaScript

object notation (JSON) description of the features. JSON code is a technical topic and will not be

explained in this guide.

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Finding things in the map

Basic Find Clicking the Find button on the toolbar opens the Search page. The Basic Find is the default search. This search simply looks through the nominated layer for occurrences of the text that you provide, and then presents you with results. Searches are not case-sensitive. The results include links to zoom the map to that feature. Some searches may produce very large numbers of results and take a long time, so returns have been capped at 1000 features. You should be thoughtful with your search text to limit the number of returns as much as possible.

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Property Search The property search screen provides entry controls for known detail. By default the search will try to match fragments. If you choose the exact match option, your details must be complete and literally correct to obtain a match.

Road Search The road search screen provides an entry control for text. By default the search will try to match fragments. If you choose the exact match option, your details must be complete and literally correct to obtain a match.

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Coordinate Search If you have some map coordinates (must be Map Grid of Australia Zone 56 meters) that you want to locate on the map, type them into the coordinate search window and click “Zoom To”. These coordinates are in the same system provided by the Red-E-Map Coordinate Tool.

The map will centre on the coordinates provided and mark the spot with a circular graphic. If your coordinates fall outside the mapped area and you get lost, simply press the Previous Extent or Full Extent command button on the toolbar and start again.

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Buffer Search Use buffer search to define an area within a given distance of selected features. Additionally, you can use this area to select features from another layer (even one in another service). In the example below, a land parcel has been selected. The buffer search will be used to find water supply hydrants within 100 meters of the property.

Now open the search page and select the buffer search. Follow the sequence below from top to bottom.

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Follow the link to see the features in the map and the map will zoom to the selected features and draw the buffer graphic. The map can be zoomed and panned and the graphic will last until the selection is cleared. If the buffer graphic is very large or overly complicated, it may not be able to be drawn. The figure below shows the result for water supply hydrants within 100m of the originally selected property.

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Advanced Query The advanced attribute query assumes some knowledge of structured query syntax. The advanced query works only for layers in the current active service. To search another service, first make it active. For some hints about what fields are available in the layer you should review the field list and the suggested syntax hints.

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Choose the layer you want to search in, and the fields you want to output. Enter a valid where-clause then run the search by clicking the Find button. Results will be displayed in a grid below the search controls.

Click the link provided to show the features in the map. Hint: If you develop queries that you want to re-use, store them in a text file and cut-paste them into the window.

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Note: Sometimes, when the features are far apart, the map will zoom out beyond the visible scale range of the layer and you will not be able to see the selected features. When this occurs, then set a suitable scale for viewing without clearing the selection set and open the selection report as below. Use the “Centre On” links to drive the map to features in the set. Each time you drive to a feature you will need to open the selected features report again to get another one.

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Integrations Red-E-Map may be configured for feature integrations. These are links between selected features and other systems or web-sites. If you have selected some features and press the Integrations command, the Integrations window will open. If any integration is available for this layer, it will be listed here. If you follow one of these links, you will be presented with a new page where you can get more information about the features you have selected. Specific integrations are not discussed further in this guide, because it is not possible to know what integrations may be developed.

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Printing a map To print a map using Red-E-Map you must generate a map layout. Press the Print command on the

toolbar to open the Print Window as depicted below. Give your map a name, choose a layout and

specify the scale, then press the green Generate Print button.

A new browser window will open containing the layout and fresh map images containing the same

content currently displayed in the map. Use the print options in your browser to send the layout to

a printer. All printers are different, so you may have to adjust print settings and properties to get

the results you need for paper-size and orientation. If you have a PDF print driver, you may also

print the layout to a PDF document.

Note: The resulting map will have the same centre as your screen map, but will probably have

different extents. This is because the map must fit into the print layout which is a fixed size and the

scale must be preserved without distorting the image. You may have to experiment to frame

exactly the map that you want before you print.

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Set preferences When you click the Preferences command on the toolbar, the Preferences window will open. You can choose how long Red-E-Map will remember your settings for service and layer visibility and map extent. This can be useful if you often browse the same area or look at the same layers. The default is for “This Session”, which means for as long as your current browser is open. If you Choose “Always”, then Red-E-Map will store the information in a cookie on your computer. If your security settings disallow cookies or if you regularly clear your browser cache, then these settings may be lost or not stored at all.

If you have stored settings and the map service is republished with new layers, you may get a warning that your list of layers does not match. This is for information only, and the new list of layers will be stored over the old one.

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