Mapping functions for Explore by Location

Draw Rectangle:

Draw a rectangle by clicking the mouse to set a corner and dragging out the extent.

The rectangle is added as an AOI geometry.

Draw Circle:

Click and drag the mouse to place the center of the circle and define its radius.

Draw Line (linear path):

Click the mouse to create vertices.

Double-click to complete the shape and add it as an AOI geometry.

To draw using stream digitizing, hold Shift, click and drag the mouse.

To zoom in and out while drawing use the mouse wheel.

To pan while drawing hold Ctrl, click and drag the mouse.

Draw Polygon:

Click the mouse to create vertices.

Double-click to complete the shape and add it as an AOI geometry.

To draw using stream digitizing, hold Shift, click and drag the mouse.

To zoom in and out while drawing use the mouse wheel.

To pan while drawing hold Ctrl, click and drag the mouse.

Edit AOI:

Edit AOI geometries by adding, moving or deleting vertices.  

• Select the AOI geometry you would like to edit. Vertex handles appear when the mouse is hovered over segments
• To move a vertex, hover over the vertex and drag the vertex handle with the mouse
• To add a vertex, hover over an edge and drag the tentative vertex handle
• To delete a vertex, hover over it and press 'Delete'
• To stop editing and keep the modified geometry, click anywhere other than an edge of the geometry

 Clear AOI: click to clear all AOI geometries.

 Undo Change: click to undo a change to the AOI geometry. 

 Redo Change: click to redo a change to the AOI geometry. 

COGO (Coordinate Geometry Editor):

The COGO panel lets you specify a geometric shape using a coordinate geometry description. This description includes a start point, and a list of distances and bearings defining the line segments that make up up a line or polygon. Set the map to UTM format in the bottom left corner of the map using the dropdown arrow next to ‘DD’. The ‘starting location’ field must be entered in UTM format (easting, northing, zone). 

If you are using metes and bounds, enter your bearing first, followed by a comma and then the distance. Start a new line and repeat for each new pairing. 

Recall Memory:

Click to recall geometry from memory as a new geometry. 

Clear Memory:

Click to clear the geometry memory. 

Merge:

Click to compute the geometry union of all geometries. The geometric union merges all geometries into a single geometry. The resulting geometry can be edited or have other calculations performed on it. 

Intersection:

Click to compute the geometry intersection of all geometries. The intersection is a geometry representing the shared areas or lines of all the input geometries. The resulting can be edited or have other calculations performed on it. 

Difference:

Click to subtract the secondary geometries from the primary geometry. The result is geometry which contains all the areas/lines/points which occur in the primary geometry but not in the second geometries. The resulting geometry can be edited or have other calculations performed on it.

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:

Reduces the number of vertices in a geometry while maintaining the approximate shape of the original geometry. Uses the Douglas-Peucker simplification algorithm, which requires a distance tolerance to control how many vertices are eliminated. 

Computes a buffer polygon around the primary geometry to a specified distance. If the buffer distance is positive, the buffer expands (dilates) the geometry. If the buffer is negative, it contracts (erodes) it. 

• Enter a simplification distance tolerance (in meters)
• Click to replace the geometry with the simplified version 

Snap:

While drawing your shape, this automatically aligns points, lines or shapes to nearby features. This helps to ensure precise and accurate placement.

Explode:

Use to separate multi-part shapes into individual single-part features for easier editing and analysis.

Validate:

Click to check if the primary geometry is topologically correct. This 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:

Click to close a line-string and form a polygon.

Clean Polygon:

Click to clean a polygon geometry. This ensures that the geometry is a topologically correct polygon. 

• Dangling linework on closed and trimmed 
• Self-intersections are removed 
• Partially contained holes are excised 

Import AOI:

Click to display a dialog to import geometries from a variety of spatial formats. The data format is auto detected from the file type or data content. 

Import geometry data in the following ways: 

• From File tab - click 'Choose File', then 'Select Spatial File' to choose a file to upload
• From Data tab - enter data into the text area or paste data. The data projection (coordinate system) is auto detected. If the coordinate system is UTM, the UTM Zone must be provided on the 'Choose Projection' dialog. Choose the zone from a list, or by uploading a PRJ file
• Click 'Details' to show the format, coordinate system and number and size of features read
• Click 'Import' to import the data
• Otherwise click 'Cancel' to close the dialog

Export AOI:

Click to display a dialog to export geometries in a variety of spatial formats. Geometry is exported in the geographic coordinate system (WGS84). 

• Edit the description if needed (it is used in some but not all formats) 
• Choose the format to use for export. Available formats are: 
  • KML - Keyhole Markup Language, as used in Google Earth 
  • GPX - GPS Exchange format 
  • GeoJSON - Javascript notation 
  • WKT - Well-Known Text, a widely used text geometry format 
  • Simple Text - a text listing of the geometry coordinates
  • GeoMark - the URL of a BC Government GeoMark created for the geometry 
• Click 'Export' to display the exported geometry in the selected format in the 'Data Text' textbox. From here you can: 
  • Copy the data
  • Download the data 

Identify Features:

This tool helps you find more information for features on your map. 

Click a point on the map to identify features at that point. 

• Use the drop-down to identify all visible layers or a specific layer
• Click on the map to perform the Identify query
• Identify queries may take some time to process
• Drag the map to pan and use the mouse wheel to zoom

Identified features are shown in the side panel. 

• Click to expand features to show attribute names and values
• Hover over a feature title to highlight it on the map
• Click a feature title to zoom to it

Filter Layers:

Click to filter the layer list to either ‘Parks’ or ‘Only visible layers’.

• Click the red X button to clear the layer filter 
• Click the black plus button to a list of saved filters

Overlays:

An Overlay has several related layers within it. 

• Click Overlays to hide and show the overlay layers
• [Control]-Click or [Shift]-Click the checkbox to control the visibility of all layers within the overlay
• Click the Overlay name to display the Overlay panel and drag the slider to change the opacity of the overlay

Layers:

A Layer is a styled feature class displayed on an overlay. 

• Click the checkbox to control layer visibility
• 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 on the map
• Zoom in or out to see the layer

Add Layer:

Click to display a panel to add a map layer from a local data file. The layer title and styling can be specified. The new layer is displayed on the map positioned above the existing map layers. 

Add a layer in either of the following ways: 

• Click the 'From File' button to choose a file to upload 
• Click 'From Geomark' to paste a Geomark URL or ID into the text area using Ctrl V 

The data projection (coordinate system) is auto detected. If the coordinate system is UTM, the UTM Zone must be provided on the choose Projection dialog. Choose the zone from a list, or by uploading a PRJ file. 

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

Coordinate Display (Select Projection): 

This function is in the lower left corner of the map and displays the mouse location in the current coordinate format. 

• Click down arrow to show all coordinate formats
• Click a format to make it the current display
• Click up arrow to show only the current format

Coordinate Lock:

This function is in the lower left corner of the map. Click to lock or unlock the Coordinate Display. When locked, you can click on a location in the map and the coordinate value will remain static until you click again in the map display. 

Graticule display:

This function is in the lower left corner of the map. Click to display or hide the graticule.

AOI Metric Toolbar:

The AOI Metrics pop-up window is only active after you have more than one AOI feature drawn in the map. It is in the bottom right side of the map window (when the AOI Toolbar is active).

• This will list all your AOIs, and you can select your primary AOI by using the up arrow
• The primary AOI is shown as a brown outline