Customizing the web mapping application

You can start with the web application generated by Web Applications Manager in the Visual Studio IDE and continue to customize it to meet your specific needs. The web mapping application is also integrated with Visual Studio as a template. Whether created in Web Applications Manager or Visual Studio, a web mapping application contains standard web page design elements plus web controls. These web controls include both standard ASP.NET web controls, as well as those specific to ArcGIS Web Applications.

There are two general levels of customizing a web mapping application:

• Modifying properties of Web controls and making basic HTML modifications. If you have customized an ArcIMS HTML Viewer in the past, this is equivalent to modifying ArcIMSparam.js and making basic HTML modifications. This level of customization requires no programming.
• Programming against different application programming interfaces (APIs).

Legacy:

In versions of ArcIMS prior to 9.2, ArcIMS included an application named Manager, which allowed you to author ArcIMS services, design Web sites, and manage services and servers. This Manager was removed from ArcIMS 9.2. For authoring services, use ArcIMS Author. Use ArcIMS Designer to design Web sites using the HTML Viewer, Java Custom Viewer, or Java Standard Viewer. Use ArcIMS Administrator or the ArcIMS Service Administrator to manage services and servers. Use Web Applications Manager to create web applications.

Comparing Web Applications Manager with ArcIMS Designer

To better understand the functionality available in Web Applications Manager, the following table compares functions in ArcIMS Designer and the corresponding function in Web Applications Manager. In many cases, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the two, although the format and order are different.

Action	Designer	Web Applications Manager
Set Web application name	Type the name.	Same
Set title for application	Type the title.	Same
Add services	ArcIMS services only. The HTML Viewer allows only one service per viewer. The Java Custom and Java Standard viewers allow more than one ArcIMS service per viewer. Access to service is through HTTPS.	ArcIMS, ArcGIS Server, and WMS. Services can be accessed from one or more sites. Access to ArcIMS services is through HTTP or TCP.
Set map extent	Initial extent is based on the extent of the service or on a layer in the service. Extent limit is the maximum extent allowed by service or layer.	Custom extents are allowed. Default extent is derived from the primary map resource.
Select overview map	Any image or ArcMap image service on the same server as the map.	Can be any service.
Select scale bar	Set data source and scale bar units.	Set scale bar units and color.
Select toolbar (See below for more details on tools and tasks.)	Select which tools to include in toolbar.	Select whether to include toolbar or not.
Select tasks	N/A	Pick from Search, Query, Print, and Find Address tasks.
Select north arrow	Included by default.	Selection provides look and feel for navigation tool.
Select table of contents	Legend and layer list included by default.	Select whether to include table of contents (TOC), service in TOC, and swatches.
Select look and feel	N/A	Part of page elements.
Add web links in title bar	N/A	Part of page elements.
Choose web application location	Default is virtual directory established during postinstallation.	Default is wwwroot directory.
Modify output	No	Yes

Tools and tasks

Many of the operations in the HTML Viewer, Java Standard Viewer, and Java Custom Viewer that are handled through the toolbar are also in the web mapping application. However, in some cases, a new approach has been taken to handle some of the operations. One big difference is the use of tasks. The task framework offers a standard way to deliver GIS functionality in your web mapping application. Besides making the out-of-the-box functionality easier to use, you can also use the model to build your own custom tasks. Each task is a unit of work where there is often a dialog box requiring user interaction. For example, in the HTML Viewer, when you click the Find tool, a dialog box appears where you can type in a search string. In the web mapping application, there is no equivalent tool on the toolbar. Instead, a Search task can be configured that allows users to type in a search string. In addition to a Search task, other tasks available for ArcIMS users are Query, Print, Find Address, and Find Place.

The following table compares the tools available on the HTML Viewer, Java Standard Viewer, and Java Custom Viewer toolbars and the equivalent tools or tasks in the web mapping application.

HTML Viewer, Java Custom Viewer, Java Standard Viewer	web mapping application
Toggle between legend and layer list	TOC includes layers and swatches together in a collapsible, dockable panel.
Toggle overview map	Included in collapsible, dockable panel.
Zoom in, zoom out, pan	Included on toolbar. You can also use the scroll wheel or keyboard strokes.
Zoom to full extent	Included on toolbar.
Zoom to active layer	N/A. No concept of an active layer.
Back to last extent	Included on toolbar.
Pan north, south, east, west	Navigation tool allows users to pan the map.
Identify	Included on toolbar.
Query	Included as Query task.
Find	Included as Search task.
Stored query	Use a Query or Search task.
Measure	Included on toolbar.
Set units	Included as part of measure dialog box.
Buffer	See tip.
Select by rectangle, line, or polygon	See tip.
Find address	Included as Find Address task.
Clear features	Features are highlighted by turning on each selected feature individually. They are cleared by turning off each feature.
Print	Included as Print task.
N/A	Magnify tool on toolbar.

Tip:

Buffer and Select Features are not included on the toolbar. ArcGIS Server users can create a Geoprocessing task to support these operations. ArcIMS users can customize the web mapping application to add these operations.

The ArcIMS Java Custom and Java Standard viewers have the same tools as those listed for the HTML Viewer. They also have the following additional tools:

Java Custom or Standard Viewer	web mapping application
Open Project, Save Project, Close Project	No equivalent when using a web mapping application. However, you can save, close, and open maps using ArcGIS Explorer.
MapTips	Available through the Layers tab of Web Applications Manager (on the Records tab of the Layer Properties dialog box).
Layer Properties	Available through the Layers tab of Web Applications Manager.
EditNotes	An Editor task is available in Web Applications Manager.
MapNotes	Not available as part of Web Applications Manager, but a web mapping application could be customized to support similar functionality.