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Map Suite
Engine .NET GIS Framework

Map Suite Engine QuickStart User's Guide

Download This Guide in PDF Format

Welcome to Map Suite™ from ThinkGeo, a full featured mapping control that makes it easy for any Microsoft .NET Developer to add mapping functionality to a Microsoft .NET application quickly and efficiently. Using the intuitive object model, even developers inexperienced in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can have fully functional maps working in minutes.

The purpose of this guide is to help you get started quickly to building your own spatially aware applications. Like any new software, there is some learning to be done.

How do we start to learn how to take advantage of the power of Map Suite? The best way is to make a sample application with it.

Setting Up the Environment

Let's start with a new Windows Forms project in the Visual Studio.NET IDE and call it MexicoMap (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Creating a new project in the Visual Studio.NET IDE.

The project MexicoMap is created in a new solution called MexicoMap. The wizard creates a single Windows Form.

Next we need to add the EngineEdition.dll to the reference. Right click the project in solution explorer and select "Add Reference", navigate to the "C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0" folder and select the EngineEdition.dll.

To make it simple, we will show the map using Map Suite Engine in a PictureBox. Draw a PictureBox on the form by clicking on the PictureBox object in the Toolbox and then dragging and dropping (using the left mouse button) to the size you desire. You can leave the name to pictureBox1. Our map will display in it.

Now that we have our EngineEdition.dll referenced and a PictureBox added, we are ready to add the code.

Map Suite Engine "Hello Mexico" Sample

After this section, you will be able to draw a map with the EngineEdition using your own data. At the very beginning, let’s have a look at the data and the important objects we will use.

Shapefiles

Simply put, shapefiles are used by Map Suite to provide data that we will use to draw our map. Shapefiles store binary vector coordinates to be used by the component and has a .shp extension. Shapefiles have two other supplementary files that help Map Suite to work with the data. One is called the .shx file. Its purpose is to provide a simple index of the main shape file. It tells the Map Suite component when to start reading binary data and when to stop. It is much like a directory for reading the binary data, sort of a lookup mechanism. The second supplementary file is the .dbf file. This file holds tabular data associated with the main shapefile. For example, the shapefile may have the coordinates for a line to be drawn that represents a road. The .dbf file may have information to tell you what the name of the road is, or what type of road it is (such as county, state, interstate etc.). All three files need to reside in the same directory as the main shape file, but the Map Suite component only expects you to designate the name and file path of the main shape file. Next, when we discuss layers, you will start understanding a little more about how Maps are constructed in Map Suite using the shape data.

Layers

A Layer in a Map correlates to a single shapefile such as networks of roads. You can think of layers much like actual terrain in the real world. The bare earth might be a layer and has either physically defined boundaries, such as a fence around a military installation, or legal boundaries, such as the border of a country. Another layer on top of that might be roads that are built upon the bare earth. It is important to understand this when working with Layers as they need to be added in the logical order you might expect so that they can be seen from above. In other words, you would not want to lay down roads and then cover them with earth so they could not be seen or used by vehicles.

How do we create and add Layers? First, you should know that there are three types of GeoStyles that layers represent and they are defined a little later in this document. As mentioned above, it follows logically that you would create and add layers based on how they should be viewed so naturally you might start with some polygons such as the outline of a country and all of the regions within it. You might then lay down lines such as rivers and roads and then finally you might lay down points such as cities or places of interest. Keep in mind again that logic will dictate what works best. For instance, laying down roads and then rivers would put rivers on top of roads when it should more than likely be the other way around (the exception here might be a tunnel!).

MapEngine

A MapEngine object is the highest level object that encompasses Layers and some other objects. For now, you can think of a MapEngine as a set of Layers, which can render each layer and give you the map based on the extent you want to display.

Map Suite Engine "Hello Mexico"

Our first step is to set a reference to the Map Suite workspace, at the very top of our code before any other code, so that we do not have to use the fully qualified name of the Map Suite classes in our code. This can be done in the "code-behind" of the Form by selecting the Form and hitting the F7 function key.

C#

using MapSuite;
using MapSuite.Geometry;

VB.NET

Imports MapSuite
Imports MapSuite.Geometry

Now let's look at a code sample to bring this concept to fruition. We'll look at Shapefile relating to the country of Mexico. In our example, we have one shapefile:

The outline of Mexico and its borders (mexico.shp)

(NOTE: The data used in this sample can be found in the installation folder under SampleApps\SampleData\Mexico. Figure 2 is an example)

Figure 2. The data used in this sample.

Our next step is to define and add our Layers but before we do that we have to set the MapUnits property of the Map control to DecimalDegrees. The reason for this is that is what the shapefile's unit of measure is inherently in.

The following code include Form1_Load event of the form as well as two module members.

C#

private RectangleR mCurrentExtent;
private MapEngine mMapEngine = new MapEngine();
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

// We can create a new Layer and pass the path to a shape file into its constructor
Layer mexicoLayer = new Layer(@"C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\mexico.shp");

// Next, we need to add our new layer to the mapEngine's Layer collection:
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer);

Bitmap bitMap = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap);

mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
// g: the graph object on which map will draw
// mCurrentExtent: the extent of the map we want to display
// bitMap.Width/bitMap.Height: the canvas size of the picture we will get
// MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees: the length unit of the map. The reason for setting it to DecimalDegrees is that is what the shapefile’s unit of measure is inherently in.
// 0: the degree of rotation.
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0);

pictureBox1.Image = bitMap;
g.Dispose();

}

VB.NET

Dim mCurrentExtent As RectangleR
Dim mMapEngine As MapEngine = New MapEngine

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

' We can create a new Layer and pass the path to a shape file into its constructor
Dim mexicoLayer As Layer = New Layer("C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\mexico.shp")

' Next, we need to add our new layer to the mapEngine's Layer collection:
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer)

Dim bitMap As Bitmap = New Bitmap(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap)

mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
' g: the graph object on which map will draw
' mCurrentExtent: the extent of the map we want to display
' bitMap.Width/bitMap.Height: the canvas size of the picture we will get
' MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees: the length unit of the map. The reason for setting it to DecimalDegrees is that is what the shapefile s unit of measure is inherently in.
' 0: the degree of rotation.
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0)

PictureBox1.Image = bitMap
g.Dispose()

End Sub

If you compile and run what you have, your map should now look similar to the one below. The color of your map may be different, as Map Suite uses a random color to fill in. (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. A simple map of Mexico.

So what has occurred here? We have created a Layer and added it to the Map Control and it has rendered it how it sees fit. How do we control that? This is where ZoomLevels become useful. Before we go to the next step, let's first add some navigation capabilities to our Map such as zooming in and out.

NOTE: As you see in the code, MapEngine has a very important method called GetMap, which can get the map you want. It is very important to set the length unit of the map correctly in that method, as shapefiles only store binary vector coordinates, and our mapEngine has no idea what the unit of measure is until we set it explicitly. The MapUnit can be in DecimalDegrees, feet, meters, etc. This information is normally found somewhere in the documentation or within the supplemental data file, as discussed in the section on shapefiles.

Zooming In and Zooming Out

Add two buttons to the form, one with the text "Zoom In" and another with "Zoom Out" (let's name the buttons btnZoomIn and btnZoomOut).

Now that we have our buttons let's put the appropriate code in the Click events of each of the buttons. Below is the code for the Zoom In button. Double click on the button to add the code.

C#

private void btnZoomIn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

// current extent scale 30% down
mCurrentExtent.ScaleDown(30);
Bitmap bitMap = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap);

// generate the map again with the new current extent
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0);
pictureBox1.Image = bitMap;
g.Dispose();

}

VB.NET

Private Sub btnZoomIn_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles btnZoomIn.Click

' current extent scale 30% down
mCurrentExtent.ScaleDown(30)

Dim bitMap As Bitmap = New Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height)
Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap)

' generate the map again with the new current extent
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0)
pictureBox1.Image = bitMap
g.Dispose

End Sub

The above code scales down the current extent and gets the new map again, to make the map seem like it is zooming in. Now add the code for the Zoom Out button.

C#

private void btnZoomOut_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

// current extent scale 30% up
mCurrentExtent.ScaleUp(30);
Bitmap bitMap = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap);

// generate the map again with the new current extent
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0);
pictureBox1.Image = bitMap;
g.Dispose();

}

VB.NET

Private Sub btnZoomOut_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles btnZoomOut.Click

' current extent scale 30% up
mCurrentExtent.ScaleUp(30)

Dim bitMap As Bitmap = New Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height)
Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap)

' generate the map again with the new current extent
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0)
pictureBox1.Image = bitMap
g.Dispose

End Sub

How to Use GeoStyle

As we have already displayed the data on the map control, it's time to specify its appearance, make the data display in the way we want. It's time to introduce the GeoStyle and ZoomLevel objects.

GeoStyle

GeoStyle is the way you color and draw your map data. You can specify the color of the country, the width of a road, the shape (triangle, circle, cross etc) of a point.

Map Suite has many preset GeoStyles built in, we have the styles of roads, rivers, cities, countries,etc. This makes it easier to create great looking maps without a lot of hassle.

PresetZoomLevels

GeoStyle defines the way we represents the data, ZoomLevels define the situation at which we want to display them. The reason why we need it is that we may want to display a small town when we are zoomed into a state, but we definitely don't want to display when we are zoomed out looking at the entire country. Every ZoomLevel is a scope, with 2 boundaries as LowerExtent and UpperExtent.

Map Suite includes 18 presetZoomLevels, from ZoomLevel01 to ZoomLevel18. We have already chosen the 18 most common scales at which you may want to change the way your data looks. What is scale? If the 1000-inch length road is 1 inch length on the map, then we say the scale of this map is 1: 1000. Let's say ZoomLevel02 is the scope between 1:1000 to 1:2000, which means every state with the scale between 1:1000 to 1:2000 belongs to ZoomLevel2. If you want the GeoStyle be available between 1:1000 to 1:2000, we can simply code the following:

mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel02.GeoStyle = GeoAreaStyles.Country1

PresetZoomLevels has a very useful property called "ZoomLevel.ApplyUntilZoomLevel"; you can very easily extend your ZoomLevels with it. Let's say you want the GeoStyle be available in ZoomLevel02 thru ZoomLevel10. We can simply code as follows:

mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel02.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel10

Now let's have a look at the sample code and see how to use them.

C#

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

Layer mexicoLayer = new Layer(@"C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\mexico.shp");

// Set the mexicoLayer with a preset GeoStyle, as GeoAreaStyles.Country1 has YellowGreen background and black border, our mexicoLayer will have the same render style.
mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoStyle = GeoAreaStyles.Country1;

// These settings will apply from ZoonLevel01 to ZoomLevel18. That means we can see the Mexico area all the time, no matter how many times we zoom out/in.
mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18;

mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer);

// Show Map
Bitmap bitMap = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap);
mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0);

pictureBox1.Image = bitMap;
g.Dispose();

}

VB.NET

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

Dim mexicoLayer As Layer = New Layer("C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\mexico.shp")

' Set the mexicoLayer with a preset GeoStyle, as GeoAreaStyles.Country1 has YellowGreen background and black border, our mexicoLayer will have the same render style.
mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoStyle = GeoAreaStyles.Country1

' These settings will apply from ZoonLevel01 to ZoomLevel18. That means we can see the Mexico area all the time, no matter how many times we zoom out/in.
mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18

mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer)

' Show Map
Dim bitMap As Bitmap = New Bitmap(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap)
mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0)

PictureBox1.Image = bitMap
g.Dispose()

End Sub

And the result is as following (Figure 4):

Figure 4. Mexico map with GeoStyle.

That was easy, wasn't it? Let's add another shapefile to the sample so we will have a total of two layers:

The outline of Mexico and its borders (mexico.shp),
The cities of Mexico (cities.shp)

C#

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

Layer mexicoCityLayer = new Layer(@"C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\cities.shp");
// Similarly, we use the presetPointStyle for cities.
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoStyle = GeoPointStyles.City1;
// These settings will apply from ZoomLevel01 to ZoomLevel18. That means we can see the city symbols all the time, no matter how many times we zoom out/in.
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18;

// We need to add both of the new layers to the Map's Layer collection.
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer);

mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoCityLayer);

// Show Map
Bitmap bitMap = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap);
mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0);

pictureBox1.Image = bitMap;
g.Dispose();

}

VB.NET

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

Dim mexicoCityLayer As Layer = New Layer("C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\cities.shp")
' Similarly, we use the presetPointStyle for cities.
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoStyle = GeoPointStyles.City1
' These settings will apply from ZoomLevel01 to ZoomLevel18. That means we can see the city symbols all the time, no matter how many times we zoom out/in.
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18

' We need to add both of the new layers to the Map's Layer collection.
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer)

mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoCityLayer);

' Show Map
Dim bitMap As Bitmap = New Bitmap(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap)
mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0)

PictureBox1.Image = bitMap
g.Dispose()

End Sub

The result is the following (Figure 5):

Figure 5. Mexico map with 2 layers.

How to Use GeoTextStyle

GeoTextStyle

GeoTextStyles are used to label items on a map. As every shape file has a relative DBF file, which includes descriptions for every record, the most common way is to use them for labeling. For example, the corresponding DBF file for the MexicoCity shape file has the field "Name", and we can use this field for labeling.

Similarly, Map Suite has many GeoTextStyles built in; we can just pick the one we like and use it.

C#

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

Layer mexicoLayer = new Layer(@"C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\mexico.shp");
mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoStyle = GeoAreaStyles.Country1;
mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18;

Layer mexicoCityLayer = new Layer(@"C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\cities.shp");
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoStyle = GeoPointStyles.City1;

// We use the preset GeoTextStyle. Here we passed in "name", which is the name of the field we want to display on map
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoTextStyle = GeoTextStyles.City1("name");

mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18;

// We need to add both of the new layers to the Map's Layer collection.
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer);
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoCityLayer);

// Show Map
Bitmap bitMap = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap);
mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0);

pictureBox1.Image = bitMap;
g.Dispose();

}

VB.NET

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

Dim mexicoLayer As Layer = New Layer("C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\mexico.shp")
mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoStyle = GeoAreaStyles.Country1
mexicoLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18

Dim mexicoCityLayer As Layer = New Layer("C:\Program Files\ThinkGeo\Map Suite Engine Edition 2.0\SampleData\Mexico\cities.shp")
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoStyle = GeoPointStyles.City1

' We use the preset GeoTextStyle. Here we passed in "name", which is the name of the field we want to display on map
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.GeoTextStyle = GeoTextStyles.City1("name")

mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18

' We need to add both of the new layers to the Map's Layer collection.
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer)
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoCityLayer);

' Show Map
Dim bitMap As Bitmap = New Bitmap(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap)
mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0)

PictureBox1.Image = bitMap
g.Dispose()

End Sub

The result is the following (Figure 6):

Figure 6. Mexico map with GetTextStyle.

Now we know how to render text, render symbols and how to set ZoomLevels. Now let's define two different ZoomLevels in one single layer. Let's try to create our own custom GeoStyle and GeoTextStyle.

C#

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

// the Geostyle/GeotextStyle we set here are available from ZoomLevel01 to ZoomLevel12. That means if we zoom out of this area, the appearance we set here will not be available anymore
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel12;

// We can also customize our own geostyle, here we passed a color and a size, then get it
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel13.GeoStyle = GeoPointStyles.GetSimpleCircleStyle(GeoColor.GeographicColors.City1, 3);
// Here we customize our own geoTextStyle
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel13.GeoTextStyle = GeoTextStyles.GetSimpleTextStyle("name", "Arial", 8, GeoFontStyle.Bold, GeoColor.SimpleColors.DarkRed);

mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel13.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18;

// We need to add both of the new layers to the Map's Layer collection.
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer);
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoCityLayer);

// Show Map
Bitmap bitMap = new Bitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap);
mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0);

pictureBox1.Image = bitMap;
g.Dispose();

}

VB.NET

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

' The Geostyle/GeotextStyle we set here are available from ZoomLevel01 to ZoomLevel12. That means if we zoom out of this area, the appearance we set here will not be available anymore
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel01.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel12

' We can also customize our own geostyle, here we passed a color and a size, then get it
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel13.GeoStyle = GeoPointStyles.GetSimpleCircleStyle(GeoColor.GeographicColors.City1, 3)
' Here we customize our own geoTextStyle
mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel13.GeoTextStyle = GeoTextStyles.GetSimpleTextStyle("name", "Arial", 8, GeoFontStyle.Bold, GeoColor.SimpleColors.DarkRed)

mexicoCityLayer.ZoomLevel13.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.ZoomLevel18

' We need to add both of the new layers to the Map's Layer collection.
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoLayer)
mMapEngine.Layers.Add(mexicoCityLayer);

' Show Map
Dim bitMap As Bitmap = New Bitmap(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitMap)
mCurrentExtent = mMapEngine.GetFullExtent(PictureBox1.Width, PictureBox1.Height)
mMapEngine.GetMap(g, mCurrentExtent, bitMap.Width, bitMap.Height, MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees, 0)

PictureBox1.Image = bitMap
g.Dispose()

End Sub

Can you imagine what the map will look like now? Below is the result. At first it appears like figure 7, but hit the ZoomIn button and watch the map change to figure 8 as you zoom in:

Figure 7. Mexico Map with two ZoomLevels, before Zoom In

Figure 8. Mexico Map with two ZoomLevels, after Zoom In

Summary

You now know the basics of using the Map Suite MapEngine and are able to get started adding functionality into your own applications. Let's recap what we have learned about the object relationships and how the pieces of Map Suite work together:

It is of the utmost importance that the units (feet, meters, decimal degrees, etc.) be set properly for the mapEngine based on the data.
Shapefiles provide the data used by a Map control to render a map.
A MapEngine is the basic class that contains all of the other objects that are used to tell how the map is to be rendered.
A MapEngine has one-to-many Layers. A Layer correlates one-to-one with a shape file (.shp).
A Layer can have one-to-many ZoomLevels. ZoomLevels help to define ranges (upper and lower) of when a Layer should be shown or hidden.

If you have questions about anything covered in this QuickStart Guide, the ThinkGeo Support Team is ready and available to help. If we can be of any assistance, please contact us using the below information:

Free Discussion Forums: ThinkGeo Discussion Forums
Pre-Sales & Customer Support: ThinkGeo Customer Portal
Support Phone: (866) 847-7510
Web Site: http://thinkgeo.com

Map Suite Engine QuickStart User's Guide

Download This Guide in PDF Format

The purpose of this guide is to help you get started quickly to building your own spatially aware applications. Like any new software, there is some learning to be done.

How do we start to learn how to take advantage of the power of Map Suite? The best way is to make a sample application with it.