Map Suite GIS Newsletter

Have you ever wondered which Map Suite GIS software components are best suited to the type of .NET mapping application you need to develop?

Although ThinkGeo's robust family of Map Suite GIS software can solve nearly any kind of GIS problem, it's often difficult to visually represent how each product fits together to build solutions like Pocket PC apps, desktop programs, Web services and so on.

Now, ThinkGeo has created a Product Relationship Diagram that seeks to answer the question of "Which product is right for me?" once and for all.

You can visit our website where we have a full-sized, interactive diagram available to help you select the Map Suite software that's tailored to the kind of mapping application you want to build.

Still have questions about the Map Suite GIS software family? Give us a call toll-free at 866-847-7510 or email sales@thinkgeo.com to speak to one of our friendly sales associates today. They'll help you select the GIS solution that's right for you. (Outside North America, please call 785-727-4133.)

Map Suite has many powerful features, from reprojection and spatial queries to ShapeFile editing and customized labelers. While these features allow a developer the ultimate in control, they can also deter developers with limited Map Suite experience from learning the basics about the Map Suite API.

As a support representative, I see many questions about creating renderers, loading layers, and creating thresholds. To assist with these questions, I sometimes reference Map Suite Explorer as a resource for this information.

Map Suite Explorer is a free tool that is included with both the evaluation and full versions of each Map Suite Desktop, Web, and Engine .NET GIS component. It is not a .NET mapping control; rather, it transforms the Map Suite API into an easy-to-use, user-friendly format that allows for ShapeFile viewing and rendering experimentation without the hassle of writing code.

Check out this month's Introduction to Map Suite Explorer to discover how it can help you start building GIS applications with Map Suite components!

We've recently received several questions about how to retrieve the current zoom level that is applied on the map control. This information comes in handy when you want to implement a zoom bar or debug rendering code at a specific zoom level.

To accomplish this, we have provided a function below that checks the current scale of the map against each zoom level's UpperExtent value. With this code example, we assume that you are using the pre-built zoom levels off of the layer object that were introduced in version 2.39.0 or later of Map Suite, and you have at least one layer loaded. If you don't have any layers loaded, you could switch out the map1.Layers(0) with map1.DynamicLayers(0) and the function should still work properly.

To try this function out for yourself, just call it in the Map1_AfterMapDraw event.

Did this month's tech tip help your GIS development? Let us know what you thought by leaving your comments at the ThinkGeo Blog!

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. Try Map Suite free for 60 days and see how easy GIS development can be!