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Map Suite GIS Newsletter

Get monthly tech tips, sample code and ThinkGeo product news.

January 2008

The Year In Review

The staff at ThinkGeo would like to extend to you our best wishes in 2008. It's customary in some cultures, to send out a sort of "year in review" letter to friends and family. We thought we would take a moment to share with you some of the major events that took place around our company during 2007.

We introduced a new and improved Map Suite Pocket PC version 2.0. The new Pocket PC packs in more of the GIS features of Map Suite Desktop and Web along with greater stability and performance.

USA Data 2006 First and Second Editions were released, featuring accurate, improved and comprehensive United States map data.

By popular request, we released Render Canada, an all-in-one plugin for Map Suite that includes an optimized dataset of Canada, plus rendering logic to make it look professional right out of the box. Render Canada joins Render USA and Render World as part of the Map Suite software line.

We also launched Map Suite 2.39.0, a major update to Map Suite GIS components that includes features like GeoStyles and GeoTextStyles to help users create attractive maps much more easily, a 64-bit edition, performance and stability improvements, and more.

Additionally, we released new versions of Render USA and Geocode USA that use the latest version of our standalone USA data.

Finally, as our client base and product line grew, so did our team.

As we enter the new year, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your business and taking time to explore our products further. We have several cutting-edge developments slated for 2008, which we look forward to releasing.

New Website Launched

You probably already know our company slogan: "Mapping made easy." Making things simpler for our customers is an integral part of our business philosophy, and our website is no exception. With this theory in mind, our development team is pleased to announce the launch of a new, easy to navigate website with a fresh user-friendly format. Be sure to log on to thinkgeo.com and be among the first to utilize our new site.

Returning customers should notice upon first glance, that the "My Downloads" section of our website has been relocated. You can find your software purchases at helpdesk.thinkgeo.com—simply login and click the new "My Downloads" link.

We also think you will be very impressed with our new and more streamlined online store, making your purchase experience safe and easy. If you have been evaluating our software and have yet to move forward with a purchase, now would be a fine time to get started—our new store takes only a few minutes to navigate and you can be on your way with your project needs.

Take a moment to explore our changes and be sure to tell us what you think! Your feedback is always important to us. If you have a comment or suggestion about our new site, be sure to let us know by emailing sales@thinkgeo.com.

Map Suite Tech Tip

Dynamically Resizing the Map Using Map Suite Web Edition

Ever since the release of the Map Suite Web Edition customers have wanted to dynamically resize the map based on the size of the browser. This may sound like an easy task but it takes both client and server side code working together in order to give a good user experience.

The Problem:
In order for the Map Suite Web Edition to generate an attractive map image, it must first know the exact height and width of the image to generate. Since the web server has no way of knowing the exact size of the map within the browser window, we must provide a way for client side code to communicate with the server so it can generate the correct sized map.

The Solution:
By using some client side JavaScript, we can tell the server the exact size of the area we want the map to fill. This client side code will need to perform several functions in order for dynamic resizing to succeed. First, it must obtain the size of the browser window or the area of the web page the map should fill. Second, the client side JavaScript code must be tied to the onload and onresize events of the browser window so it can dynamically update when a user changes the window size. Finally, the client side code must communicate this size information to the server through a post back, so the map control can update the height and width properties to render a correctly sized map.

Client Side Code

Below is the client side JavaScript code needed to allow dynamic resizing of the map.

HTML / JavaScript

<%@ Page Language="vb" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeBehind="Default.aspx.vb" Inherits="DynamicMapResizing._Default" EnableEventValidation="false" %>
<%@ Register Assembly="WebEdition" Namespace="MapSuite.WebEdition" TagPrefix="cc1" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">

<title>Map Suite Dynamic Resize Example</title>

</head>
<body>


<script type="text/javascript">
var TimerId;
//Wire up Events for Window Onload & Resize
window.onload=(MapResize);
window.onresize=(Resize);

function Resize()
{

//Clear Existing Timer if it's still waiting
clearTimeout(TimerId);
// Wait one second before resizing map to make sure user is done resizing browser
TimerId = setTimeout('MapResize()',1000)

}

function MapResize()
{

// Get current Width & Height of map
var CurrentMapElement=document.getElementById('Map1_MapFrame');
var CurrentWidth = CurrentMapElement.style.width;
var CurrentHeight = CurrentMapElement.style.height;

// Get the Current Width 7 height of the Window
var WindowWidth = 0, WindowHeight = 0;
if( typeof( window.innerWidth ) == 'number' ) {
//Non-IE
WindowWidth = window.innerWidth;
WindowHeight = window.innerHeight;
} else if( document.documentElement && ( document.documentElement.clientWidth || document.documentElement.clientHeight ) ) {
//IE 6+ in 'standards compliant mode'
WindowWidth = document.documentElement.clientWidth;
WindowHeight = document.documentElement.clientHeight;
} else if( document.body && ( document.body.clientWidth || document.body.clientHeight ) ) {
//IE 4 compatible
WindowWidth = document.body.clientWidth;
WindowHeight = document.body.clientHeight;
}

//Find out the variance between the Map & Window
var WidthVariance = Math.abs(parseInt(CurrentWidth) - WindowWidth);
var HeightVariance = Math.abs(parseInt(CurrentHeight) - WindowHeight);

// Set a toleance in pixels before we need to resize
var Tolerance = 50;

if (WidthVariance > Tolerance || HeightVariance > Tolerance)

{
//Set a Window offset in pixels so we don't get scroll bars and the map fits within the window completely
var WindowOffset = 25;
//Post back to the server so the map can generate the right size of image
__doPostBack('lnkRefreshEntirePage',(WindowWidth - WindowOffset) + '|' + (WindowHeight - WindowOffset));
}

}
</script>

<cc1:Map ID="Map1" runat="server" Height="352px" Width="608px">
</cc1:Map>
<asp:LinkButton ID="lnkRefreshEntirePage" runat="server" OnClick="lnkRefreshEntirePage_OnClick"></asp:LinkButton> 

</form>

</body>
</html>

Server Side Code

Below is the server side code needed to capture the information passed in by the client side script and allow the map control to fit within the desired area.

VB.NET

Imports MapSuite
Imports System.Web.UI

Partial Public Class _Default

Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

If Map1.Layers.Count = 0 Then

Map1.MapUnit = Geometry.MapLengthUnits.DecimalDegrees
Map1.AjaxEnabled = True

End If

End Sub

Protected Sub lnkRefreshEntirePage_OnClick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles lnkRefreshEntirePage.Click

Dim Parts() As String = Request.Params.Get("__EVENTARGUMENT").Split(Char.Parse("|"))

Map1.Width = Integer.Parse(Parts(0))
Map1.Height = Integer.Parse(Parts(1))

If Map1.Layers.Count = 0 Then

Map1.BorderWidth = 1
Dim USA As New Layer(Me.Server.MapPath("") + "\MapData\states.shp", True)
Map1.Layers.Add(USA)

End If

End Sub

End Class

Summary

To try the dynamic map resizing out, please check out our online demo or download the sample code. As with any sample application, it may require customizations to fit the specific needs of your own application.

If you have any questions about this sample or code we encourage you to post your questions on the Map Suite Web discussion forum.

ThinkGeo MSDN Mapping: Pop Quiz

Are you a subscriber to MSDN Magazine? Be sure to check out our latest advertising campaign and see if you can solve our "mystery location question."

Free Map Suite Product Downloads!

Try Map Suite Before You Buy

Now you can download free evaluation demos of our most popular products. They are fully-functional and contain no locked or inaccessible features. Map Suite version 2.39.0, with a host of new features, is now available!

In This Issue

The Year In Review
New Website Launched
Tech Tip: Dynamically Resizing the Map Using Map Suite Web Edition
ThinkGeo MSDN Mapping: Pop Quiz
Free Map Suite Product Downloads

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