Mapping functions for Explore by Location

Learn what mapping tools are available in Explore by Location.

On this page

• Create and manage your area of interest
• Markup, measure and select areas on the map
• Identify features on the map
• Manage map layers
• Adjust map settings

Create and manage your area of interest

An area of interest (AOI) is a specific shape or boundary on the map that you want to check for overlaps or generate a report.

To find the location where you want to create an AOI, you can zoom with the scroll wheel on the map, search by location in the Get Started pane, or search by parcel identifier (PID).

The AOI tools  help you create and edit your shape.

If you have two or more AOI, the report will only run on the primary AOI. Choose which one is the primary in AOI Metrics.

Draw your shape

You can draw a rectangle , polygon , line , or circle .

To move the map without changing the zoom level while drawing, hold 'Ctrl' while clicking and dragging the mouse.

With a line or polygon, you can draw a freeform shape by holding 'Shift' while clicking and dragging the mouse. To run a report on a point or line, use the Geometry Calculator’s 'Buffer' option in Modify Primary AOI to create a small area around the point or line. These reports may not be accurate because they will include the buffer area.

You can edit your AOI  geometries by adding, moving or deleting vertices. Vertices are coordinate points where two line segments meet.  

Coordinate Geometry Editor (COGO)

Geometry calculator 

Use the geometry calculator  tool to perform calculations on shapes from the map.

The display shows the primary and secondary AOI geometries from the map. Hover over a shape name to highlight it on the map, then click to select it for calculations.

• Merge – combines all selected geometries into one unified shape
• Intersection – produces a shape representing only the areas or lines shared by all selected geometries
• Difference – creates a geometry containing the areas, lines, or points in the primary shape that do not overlap with the secondary shapes

Modify Primary AOI

Edit your shape using the Modify Primary AOI dropdown section. You can:

• Buffer – Enter the buffer distance (in meters). The distance can be either positive or negative. Click to replace the geometry with the computed buffer
• Simplify – Reduce the number of points in the geometry while maintaining its approximate shape, then create a buffer around it. Positive buffer values expand (dilate) the shape and negative values shrink (erode) it
  Enter a simplification tolerance in meters to control how many vertices are removed, then click to replace the geometry with the simplified version
• Snap – Automatically aligns points, lines or shapes to nearby features while drawing
• Explode – Separate multi-part shapes into single-part features for easier editing and analysis

Clean Primary AOI

To ensure your lines, shapes or points are connected and relate to each other (for example, roads are connected at intersections, polygons do not overlap, and road and river lines do not have gaps between them), use the Clean Primary AOI dropdown section to:

• Validate – Detects if polygons contain self-intersections or overlaps. If a topology error is found, an indicator is displayed showing the location of the error
• Close Polygon – Close a line-string and form a polygon
• Clean Polygon – Tidy shapes by trimming dangling linework and removing self-intersections and partially contained holes

Copy Markup to AOI

Copy all markups from the map using the Copy Markup to AOI dropdown section.

Import AOI

You can import  an AOI from a local spatial dataset, a geomark or from text. The coordinate system is auto detected.

If you want to run a report from a file with multiple shapes, separate them using the Geometry Calculator’s 'Explode' option in Modify Primary AOI.

Note: If the coordinate system is Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM), the UTM zone must be provided on the Choose Projection dialog. Choose the zone from a list or by uploading a projection description (PRJ) file.

Export AOI

Geometries can be exported  in a variety of spatial formats.

You can edit the description, if needed, and select your desired format. Click Export and the exported geometry will populate. Then you can copy or download the displayed data. 

AOI metrics

The AOI metrics appear in the bottom right of the map window when AOI tools  is open. The AOI metrics only displays data when there is at least one AOI shape. 

View a list of AOIs by using the up arrow beside the Count field. You can delete a secondary AOI  or exchange a secondary and primary AOI . The primary AOI has a brown outline and secondary AOIs are outlined in blue.

Identify features on the map

Find more information for different objects or elements on a map, such as rivers, roads or buildings.

The Identify Features  tool lets you view detailed information about a specific location on the map. To use it, ensure at least one layer is visible. Select the desired layer from the dropdown menu, then click on the map location you want to identify.

It may take some time to process. Once completed, the Identify panel will appear with a list of features. Hover over a feature in the list to highlight it on the map, or click on it to zoom in.

Markup, measure and select areas on the map

Use the markup tools  to add notes or drawings on the map. These will show when a map is printed, but do not display on the report.

The selection tools  let you select areas on the map by box or polygon. You can also choose to only select on a specific layer.

Use measurement tools  to find an area or distance on the map.

Manage map layers

The Layers  panel lets you show or hide layers and overlays on the map.

Layers in black text will display at the current zoom level and layers in grey text will not. If the layer name is in italics, the map scale is not in the defined scale range for the layer, and the layer is not displayed.

Filter layers

You can search for a specific layer by typing in the filter layer field. The down arrow to the left of the field lets you filter the layer list to either ‘Parks’ or ‘Only visible layers’.

Click the red 'x' button to clear the layer filter. Click the black '+' button to add to a list of saved filters.

You can search for a specific layer by typing in the filter layer field. Click the red 'x' button to clear the layer filter text. Click the black '+' button to add that search term to a list of saved filters.

View the saved filters by clicking the down arrow to the left of the filter layers field. The black ‘-‘ lets you remove the custom term from the list. By default, the list also lets you filter by ‘parks’ and ‘only visible layers.’

Hide or show overlays and layers

An overlay has several related layers within it. 

Select pre-determined layers using Choose a category in the Get Started pane, or use the checkboxes in the Layers  panel to show or hide layers and overlays. To control all layers within an overlay, hold shift and select the checkbox beside that overlay.

You can change overlay transparency by clicking the overlay name.

Add layer

Insert other layers with the Add layer  tool. The new layers are displayed in a User Layers overlay. 

The coordinate system is auto detected. If the coordinate system is UTM, the UTM Zone must be provided on the choose Projection dialog.

Adjust map settings

Base map chooser

The control in the lower right corner of the map determines the display of the base map. The default is 'BC Roads'.

• Click down arrow to show all available base maps
• Click a base map to make it the one displayed
• Click up arrow to show only the current base map

Change map scale and coordinate format

You can manage your map scale and coordinate format in the lower left corner of the map.

Map scale

The current base map scale ratio can be seen. This will automatically update if you zoom using the mouse wheel or zoom in/out buttons. Click the down arrow by the scale to manually set your scale.

Coordinate format

The coordinates at the location of your mouse cursor on the map screen are shown below the map scale.

You can change the format to your preferred style by clicking the down arrow and choosing a new format. Lock the coordinate to display a single coordinate location by clicking the open lock icon . When locked, click a location on the map, and the coordinates of that location will stay displayed. Click the closed lock icon to unlock.

Graticule display

The graticule display   function is in the lower left corner of the map. Click to display or hide latitude and longitude lines. 

Fullscreen map

Use fullscreen map to expand the map to fill your browser screen.