After hearing many requests for Map Rotation functionality from the Map Suite user community, we decided to add that feature to Map Suite starting with version 2.53. We approached the goal of having the entire map rotate from the center of its current extent at will through a Projection class called Rotated. In other words, from the developer's perspective, Map Rotation is simply applying a Proje... (read more)
Posted 11-13-2008 11:48 AM by ThinkGeo
This article will introduce the Map Suite developer community to the GRID format and help demonstrate how useful GRID can be. GRID can come handy in numerous situations where you need to create custom map displays, perform interpolation or do spatial analysis. We hope that by reading this article you will see more clearly how to apply GRID to your own industry and reap the benefits it provides. ... (read more)
Posted 11-13-2008 11:38 AM by ThinkGeo
When working with customers, many times I am asked, "How do I implement a custom zoom bar into my application?" At first glance this may seem like a difficult task, but with a little explanation on a few concepts and some sample code, you can easily implement a full-featured zoom bar that meets the needs of your application. In this article I will show you how to build a custom zoom bar using the ... (read more)
Posted 11-12-2008 02:43 PM by ThinkGeo
Map Suite Explorer is a free tool that is included with each Map Suite Desktop, Web, and Engine .NET GIS component. 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. This article will show you how you can use Map Suite Explorer to help you write your GIS applications. ... (read more)
Posted 11-12-2008 02:32 PM by ThinkGeo
With the emergence of popular online mapping applications over the past few years, more businesses are seeing a need to build mapping and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) functionality into their own custom applications. While online services like Google Maps & Virtual Earth work well in some cases, many times programmers need more control over the map data, map rendering, GIS capabilities... (read more)
Posted 11-05-2008 04:52 PM by ThinkGeo
This article will show you how to implement Geocode USA within a managed stored procedure in SQL Server 2005. The simple procedure involves preparing your files, configuring your database environment, creating an assembly and then building your stored procedure from that assembly. ... (read more)
Posted 11-05-2008 04:40 PM by ThinkGeo
In Map Suite, the SymbolClassBreakRenderer class allows for multiple symbols to be defined that correlate to ranges or class breaks. For example, you can use class breaks to produce a map that visually shows different population sizes. You can use this powerful feature to render your maps based on many types of differing values -- this article will show you the way. ... (read more)
Posted 11-05-2008 04:29 PM by ThinkGeo
Map Suite has powerful spatial querying abilities. This allows you to find features of a Layer based on spatial criteria such as containment, intersection etc. This capability is built into the API of Map Suite and is easy even for the non-GIS developer to use. This article will introduce these concepts and show you how they can be accomplished with Map Suite. ... (read more)
Posted 11-05-2008 04:16 PM by ThinkGeo
This article will show you how to combine data-driven reports and location-driven spatial information, by using Map Suite in concert with SQL Reporting Services. In the included example, we'll build a report and then display its data thematically on a map of the United States with Map Suite Web Edition. The article is based on Map Suite Web version 1.1 and Microsoft SQL Reporting Services with SP... (read more)
Posted 11-05-2008 02:53 PM by ThinkGeo
If you are new to geographic information systems (GIS) and neocartography, this article is a good primer. Providing a background on GIS and geographical information science, the article takes a view to software development with GIS and the disciplines and technologies used therein. The application of Microsoft's .NET Framework, spatial data formats, geomatics and other tech is covered in detail.
... (read more)
Posted 11-05-2008 02:41 PM by ThinkGeo
When you're developing your GIS software application, you're going to need spatial data to bring it all together. But where can you obtain that data? This article looks at sources of data and provides examples of sources used in ThinkGeo's own Map Suite and Cygnus Track products. It discusses vector data and its structure, and names sources of free data and premium data alike, both online and offl... (read more)
Posted 11-05-2008 02:17 PM by ThinkGeo
Map Suite has the ability to edit existing ShapeFiles, but what if you want to create your own? The code below should get you started, but if you want to explore more shapefile editing check out our EditShapeFile sample application included with the evaluation download.
Below is a very simple example of creating a point based shapefile from scratch. It adds three records and fills the value for... (read more)
Posted 02-25-2008 05:34 PM by ThinkGeo