In JMap, map data is organized in layers. These layers are displayed transparently on the map and are piled one on top of the other. They are independent from one another and can be turned on or off. Layer order is important as some more opaque layers can hide elements found in lower layers. A layer must be visible in order to be displayed on a map and it must be selectable in order for users to select its elements.

The JMap administrator creates project layers as they appear when the project is opened. You can change the order of the layers as well as other settings; these changes will be lost when closing the application unless saved in a context. Refer to Layer Settings and Map Contexts for more information.

The JMap administrator also determines the frequency of automatic updating for each layer, i.e. how often your application will automatically reload the layer data from the JMap server.

The elements explorer displays the attributes that are bound to the layers' elements. Each table is associated with a specific layer and each line in the table represents a layer element. This interface offers several possibilities for working with attributes.

The elements explorer can be enabled from the layer management window. It can also be opened by right-clicking on a map element and selecting Show in explorer. The elements explorer will open and select the row of attributes associated with the element. Conversely, double-clicking on a row in the table will zoom in on the associated element in the map; the element will briefly flicker.

Thematic maps allow you to illustrate information pertaining to a particular theme. For example, a thematic map on criminality could illustrate the various sectors of a city in different colors based on the crime rate in each of these. A thematic map could also illustrate the results of an election by representing a breakdown of the votes for each party in a pie chart. JMap allows you to create customized thematic maps using the various layers that are available and their attributes. Some thematics may be predefined by the JMap administrator but users can create new ones. Several thematics may exist for the same layer and each of these may be enabled or disabled. Each thematic has its own legend that can be displayed from the layer manager.

There are 2 categories of thematics in JMap: classifications and proportional quantities.

Classification thematics

Classification thematics separate map elements into a number of classes (also called categories); each class has its own display style, which causes certain visual variables to change (fill color, stroke style, etc.). Therefore, all elements belonging to the same class share the same display properties.

The various types of classification thematics are presented below.

Graduated styles

Graduated styles thematics use a graduation of one or more visual variables to represent the elements of various categories.

Examples of graduating visual variables include: graduation of the fill color of polygons from white to red; graduation of the size of an individual symbol from 1 to 5; graduation of the width of lines from 1 to 4, and so forth. In all cases, there is a finite number of categories and every element of the layer falls into one of these categories. Only numeric attributes can be used for this type of thematic.

Several methods can be employed to calculate the value ranges for the categories of this type of thematic. Refer to Method for Calculating Value Ranges for Categories for more information.

Graduated symbols

Graduated symbols thematics draw circular symbols on the map elements they qualify. The symbol sizes graduate according to a finite number of categories based on a numeric attribute.

Several methods can be employed to calculate the value ranges for the categories of this type of thematic. Refer to Method for Calculating Value Ranges for Categories for more information.

Individual values

Individual values thematics display all elements of a given attribute possessing the same value with the same graphical properties. This type of thematic does not use ranges of values but rather specific values. There are as many classes as there are different values. The maximum number of different values allowed is 512. If a layer has more unique values, it will not be possible to create this type of thematic on that layer. Numeric and alphanumeric attributes can be used for this type of thematic.

Individual custom values

Individual custom values thematics are similar to individual values thematics but they allow you to add values to the ones existing in the data. This is useful when you create a thematic using a data set that does not contain all the known possible values for an attribute at the time when the thematic is created.

Proportional quantities thematics

Proportional quantities thematics display map elements by using a continuous variation of a visual variable based on a set of numeric attributes. No class is used, but an infinite number of displays are possible.

Proportional symbols

Proportional symbols thematics draw circular symbols on the center of the elements they qualify. The symbol sizes are determined by interpolation between the minimum and maximum values of a given numeric attribute.

Pie charts

Pie chart thematics draw pie chart diagrams on the center of the elements they qualify. This type of thematic is based on one or many numeric attributes. Each part of the diagram (piece of the pie) is associated with a given numeric attribute. The size of the diagram is proportional to the sum of the values of the element attributes; it is determined by interpolation between the minimum and maximum values of the sums of the attribute values.

Bar charts

Bar chart thematics display bar chart diagrams (also called histograms), which are superposed on the center of the elements they qualify. This type of thematic is based on one or more numeric attributes. Each part of the diagram (bar) is associated with a given numeric attribute. The size of the diagram is proportional to the sum of the elements' attribute values. It is determined by interpolation between the minimum and maximum values of the sums of the attribute values.

Method for calculating value ranges for categories

Several different methods can be employed to calculate the value ranges for the categories of graduated styles or graduated symbols thematics:

• Equal ranges: The ranges will be equal in size (e.g. 0-10,10-20, 20-30).

• Equal count: The range limits will be calculated so that an equal count of elements falls in each class.

• Standard deviation:The range limits will be calculated so that the average value falls in the middle of the range, and the range size for each category is equal to the value of the calculated standard deviation.

• Defined intervals: The range size is user-defined and constant for all categories.

• Percent ranges: The size of each range is expressed as a percentage of the full range of values (e.g. 4 categories with 20%, 20%, 35% and 25%). The total must be equal to 100%.

• Custom ranges: All range limits are user-defined.

Layer settings allow you to define many options associated with map layers in JMap. The layer settings management window is accessed from the layer management window. It can also be accessed by double-clicking on the name of a layer.

All default settings have been set by the JMap administrator but you can modify these according to your preferences. However, layer setting changes are made locally and will be lost at the end of your session unless saved within a map context (see Map Contexts for more information).

This section allows you to create or modify a layer's thematics. Each layer can have 0, 1 or more thematics and each of these can be enabled or disabled. The JMap administrator can define the default thematics that will be available for each layer of a project. As a user, you can also define your own thematics. Refer to for general information on thematics in JMap.

The thematics management interface is as follows:

Creating classification thematics

Creating a graduated styles thematic

To create a new thematic of this type, you need to select the numeric attribute to use, define the number of categories, select the range calculation method and define the category styles.

The next section allows you to define the styles of the categories. There are two possibilities: create custom range styles or use predefined color schemes.

Custom range styles

You must define the from and to values of the style by indicating the style variables that will vary (e.g. border thickness, symbol size, fill color, etc.). The category styles are then generated by interpolation between the from and to styles. Optionally, a third style can be used to create an inflexion point. If an inflexion is defined, the generated styles will pass through the inflexion point at the specified position in percentage. The interface is different based on the element type of the layer.

Color schemes

Instead of manually defining styles, you can select a color scheme to generate the styles of the thematic's categories.

Creating a graduated symbols thematic

Only numeric attributes can be used for this type of thematic.

Creating an individual values thematic

Numeric and alphanumeric attributes can be used with this type of thematic.

To create a new thematic of this type, basically all you need to do is to select the attribute to use.

JMap uses random colors for this type of thematic. You can modify styles manually or click on Color Schemes to use a predefined color scheme.

Creating an individual custom values thematic

Numeric and alphanumeric attributes can be used with this type of thematic.

Creating proportional quantities thematics

Creating a proportional symbols thematic

Only numeric attributes can be used for this type of thematic.

To create a new thematic of this type, you need to select the numeric attribute to use and define the from and to styles. The symbol size and color will be interpolated between the from and to values.

Creating a pie charts thematic

Only numeric attributes can be used for this type of thematic.

To create a new thematic of this type, you need to select one or more numeric attributes to use and define the chart style.

Creating a bar charts thematic

Only numeric attributes can be used for this type of thematic.

Creating a legend

The last step in creating any type of thematic consists of creating its legend.

This section allows you to define mouseover settings for the layer, such as the contents to be displayed, the color of the mouseover bubble, etc.

The mouseover configuration interface is as follows:

Creating Mouseover Content

You must provide the text that will be used as mouseover content. This text can include static parts (displayed as is), variable parts (functions replaced by other values when the map is displayed), simple javascript programs as well as HTML tags. For example, the element value(city) function, or ev(city) in its abbreviated form, will be replaced by the value of the city attribute of the pointed element, when displayed.

The mouseover text can span multiple lines. Simply write the text over more than one line and the mouseover bubble will use the same formatting.

Mouseover syntax

The mouseover syntax is comprised of various functions that will determine the content of the bubbles. Functions and their parameters are generally not case sensitive. For instance, ev(city) is equal to Ev(CITY).

The following table explains the various available functions:

HTML tags

The contents of the bubble can be formatted using simple HTML tags. Mouseover bubbles do not support CSS or advanced tags such as <DIV>.

The following HTML tags are supported and frequently used in mouseover bubbles:

<B>, <I>, <U>, <A>, <IMG>, <BR>, <TABLE>

You can insert hyperlinks in bubbles. These hyperlinks can be clicked, and they allow users to open HTML pages or to open or download files.

Examples

Locating map elements or coordinates using mouseover

Mouseover supports a function to locate map coordinates or elements using a special URL syntax. A hyperlink is displayed in the bubble, and when it is clicked, the map locates the specified element(s) or region.

Using a URL to display content

You can specify a URL that opens an HTML page to display in the mouseover bubble (only supported in JMap Pro). The HTML page will occupy 100% of the bubble. The syntax is as follows:

$URL{http://awebsite.com}

The specified URL can be static or it can come from an attribute. It can also use attribute values as parameters, as shown below:

$URL{http://awebsite.com?param1=ev(ATTRIB_A)&param2=ev(ATTRIB_B)}

This section allows you to access advanced layer management settings. These settings are normally used by system administrators.

This section presents the layer's general settings.

The style determines the graphical representation of elements on the map. This section allows you to modify the style of a layer's elements. There is a specific interface for each type of element (point, line, polygon, text, image, etc.) but several settings are common to all types. You can also define multiple styles for the same layer; each style is then used for a specific range of scales. Lastly, you can modify the style of selected elements on a layer.

The following interface displays existing styles for a layer.

General style properties

Some style properties are available for most types of elements.

Antialiasing is a method of representing perfect, continuous vectors on imperfect, discontinuous display devices so that they look as perfect as possible. In every style configuration section of JMap, you can enable antialiasing. This will result in better looking maps. However, display performances are reduced when antialiasing is enabled, so use it judiciously.

The following figure shows an example of a polygon border with antialiasing (left) and without antialiasing (right).

Partial object transparency can be used for every type of map element. A map element with a transparency value of 0% will be completely opaque, while one with a value of 100% will be invisible.

The following figure shows an example of a polygon with a transparency value of 50% (left) and one with a transparency value of 10% (right).

The blinking function makes layer elements blink on the screen. This property is not normally used for all of a layer's data but rather for a subgroup of elements with a thematic.

Style properties for a layer of points

Style properties for a layer of lines

Style properties for a layer of polygons

Style properties for annotation (text) layers

Style properties for a layer of images

Only partial transparency may be adjusted for image layers.

Selection style

Each layer possesses a selection style. Selection styles are used to represent elements when they are selected on the map. By default, the selection style is automatically generated using the layer's basic styles and the project's default selection color.

To modify the selection style, select Override selection style and press the Edit... button.

This section defines the filter parameters that can be applied to vector layers. You can filter the elements of a layer by configuring a filter. Items that do not match the filter criteria are not displayed.

Filter operators

equals: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (regardless of its type) is equal to one of the values selected by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

does not equal: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (regardless of its type) is different from the values selected by the the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

greater than: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (numeric or date) is greater than the value selected by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

greater or equal to: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (numeric or date) is greater than or equal to the value selected by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

less than: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (numeric or date) is less than the value selected by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

less or equal to: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (numeric or date) is less than or equal to the value selected by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

contains: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (text) contains the value selected by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

does not contain: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (text) does not contain the value selected by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

is empty: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute (text) does not have a value.

is not empty: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute (text) has a value.

is null: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (regardless of its type) is null.

is not null: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (regardless of its type) is not null.

is between: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (numeric or date) is within the range defined by the two values entered by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

is not between: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose attribute value (numeric or date) is not within the range defined by the two values entered by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

last: This operator filters a layer's elements to display the elements whose date attribute value is within the range (expressed in years, months, week(s), day(s), hour(s)) defined by the JMap administrator or JMap Pro user.

interval: This operator filters a layer's data based on time ranges defined using a start date, an end date and a reference date. The user therefore has a tool to display data that varies over time.

The layer must contain at least two date and/or timestamp attributes, one of these being the start Date/Time, and the other being the end Date/Time. The values of these dates can be NULL to indicate a start date that goes a long way back or an end date that is very far in the future.

A reference date is also needed. This date can be a specific date (in the past or in the future) or a current Date/Time, which indicates the present moment.

Only layer elements whose reference date is between the start and end date are displayed in the map.

The following figure illustrates this filter.

The Labeling section allows you to modify the settings of the layer's labeling tools, including the labels' contents (displayed text), look, and so forth. As a user, you can customize these settings.

The interface for managing a layer's labels is as follows:

Example of curved labels (left) and labels with a frame (right):

Example of labels with a background symbol:

Some layers allow for data editing, which includes adding, moving, modifying and deleting geometries as well as entering or modifying their attribute values and other data, using forms. This is the case if the JMap administrator has given you permission to modify the contents of one or more layers in a JMap project. Another case is when you use personal layers, which have been created by you or other users who have granted you editing privileges. In both cases, editing tools must be activated in the application.

Two tools allow you to create, modify or delete elements on an editable layer:

• JMap's Edition extension allows you to create new elements directly in a map-based interface and modify or delete them.

• The elements explorer allows you modify attributes of existing elements or delete existing elements in the personal layers.

Editing data with the Edition extension

The JMap administrator included this extension in the JMap Pro application. The user manual of Edition extension, which can be accessed via your application's help menu, provides more details about this extension's functions.

If the edition tools are not visible, you can display them by selecting Edition in the View menu. The graphical user interface of the Edition extension is as follows:

Creating cartographic elements

To create new elements you must select the editable layer in the extension Edition window and then the type of geometry of the layer, as indicated in the previous table.

You can create the geometry of each element using the editing tools directly by clicking on the map at the desired position. This section of the user manual of Edition provides details on the subject.

When the geometry is created, the attribute entry form is displayed. You can enter the values of the attributes here. Some attributes are required. The form can only be closed when all the required attributes have been completed.

Some attribute are affected by data validation rules. These rules are configured by the JMap administrator and are used to ensure the quality of the data collected with the form.

Two examples of validation rules:

a) If I select certain values in attribute A, attribute B becomes mandatory.

b) I select a value in attribute A and the attribute B value is calculated automatically.

You cannot save the form if the values you enter do not meet the validation rules.

The following section provides more details on the forms.

Editing elements

You can change the location, geometry, or attributes of cartographic elements.

To modify the attributes of an element you must click on the element in the map with the right button in order to display the pop-up menu. Select the Edit attributes function and select the element you want to edit. Notice that all the elements of the editable layers that are in the place where you clicked are displayed.

The element attributes form displays and you can edit the editable fields.

If the form contains a relevant field, you can add photos (standard and 360 degrees) from your computer's file system. You can also add a title and comments to photos that were entered using a JMap Survey application, or to photos that were uploaded as files in the forms of JMap Pro and JMap Web applications. To do this:

1. Open the form of the element you want to edit using the Edit attributes function in the pop-up menu. When the pointer moves over a photo, its name is displayed.

2. Double-click on a photo to open the metadata interface of the photo.

4. Add or edit the Title of the photo.

5. Add or edit a Comment. Your comment can contain up to 255 characters.

6. Metadata of the photo can be included and you can modify its presentation format.

7. Press OK to close the data interface of the photo.

8. Press OK to close the form.

9. Save the changes in the interface of the Edition extension. You can see the new title in the element form.
10. You can view the changes in the element's form and also in the mouseover bubble, if it has been configured to display the photo. To do so, double-click on the photo of your choice in the mouseover bubble to open the photo viewer. Note that the amount of photos to display in the mouseover bubble and their size can cause a delay in the display of the mouseover bubble. As 360 degree photos are large the delay in the display can be pronounced.

Forms can contain nested subforms. These may be used, for example, to enter information on the inspections performed for an element over time, as shown in the following image.

Duplicating and deleting elements

The pop-up menu offers editing tools for individual elements or for a selection of elements that you have made using the selection tools: you can delete the elements or you can duplicate them to another editable layer.

You must always save or cancel the transactions made in the extension Edition window for the changes to be saved.

Batch editing the attributes of a set of elements

You can also batch edit the attributes of a selection of elements from certain layers. Indeed, when a layer contains forms with subforms, you can edit the attributes of the form or of a subform in batches, for a set of elements you have selected. In the case of subforms, editing includes adding new records as well as modifying or deleting existing records.

The following figure illustrates this process.

1. In the extension Edition window, select the layer you want to edit.

2. Select elements from the layer using the interactive selection tools.

3. Open the attributes form of the selected elements using the pop-up menu.
4. Select the subform records you wish to modify and press Edit.... The subform interface displays.
5. Modify the attribute values for the set of selected elements.
6. Press OK to close the subform.

7. Press Add to add a new record to the subform. The procedure is similar to that of editing existing records.

8. To delete recordings, select them and press Delete.

9. Save the transactions made in the extension Edition window. The number of transactions is equal to the number of modifications made (edition, addition or deletion) times the number of elements of the layer selected.

Editing elements in WKT format

The Edition extension also allows you to edit WKT elements. You can add WKT elements from Tools -> Add WKT geometry in the menu bar. A window opens, allowing you to enter the coordinates of the elements you want to add.

The elements are added in the Annotations layer. They can be saved in a context, where they can be selected and duplicated in other editable layers using the pop-up menu. This menu also allows you to delete elements and modify their vertical position.

The pop-up menu also allows you to edit WKT elements. The Edit WKT geometry function displays the elements of the layers found at the map point where the context menu is open. Select one of the elements to open the window containing the element's coordinates and data. If you have the appropriate permissions, you can edit this data.

Editing Elements in the Elements Explorer

Layer elements can also be deleted if Edit mode is enabled.

Personal layers are editable map data layers created by users. When you create a personal layer, you assign it a name, a type (point, line, polygon), a style, and a list of attributes. You can then begin to add map elements to it by drawing them using JMap's editing tools. You can also enter values for the layer's element attributes.

Personal layers can be shared between users; various access levels can be defined for these purposes.

The personal layer management interface shows you a list of the personal layers you can access. These layers may have been created by you or by other users who shared them with you. This window can be accessed through the Project -> Personal layers... menu or by pressing CTRL+L.

The personal layer management interface is as follows:

Creating and modifying a personal layer

This is the interface for creating and modifying personal layers:

Sharing personal layers

Personal layers can be shared with other users according to various access levels. The following permissions are available:

Information on the various layers of a project can be available in JMap Pro. This information could include the source of data, the date the last update was performed, the quality of the data, etc. This information, called layer metadata, is configured by the JMap administrator.

If a layer has metadata, you can preview it by placing the mouse pointer on the name of the layer in the layer manager.

To access the complete version of the metadata, you must click on the metadata button in the layer settings menu.

The layer management window allows you to turn layers on and off, change the order of layers, modify their settings, and so forth. Two displays are available for layer management: hierarchical display and list display.

The hierarchical display shows the layers logically grouped together in a tree structure. The hierarchy is defined by the JMap administrator. Each group of layers can be turned on or off. Layer order is determined by the system administrator and does not necessarily reflect the order in which layers are displayed on the map. When a group is turned on, all the visible layers it contains are displayed. When a group is turned off, none of the layers it contains and none of the layers in its sub-groups are displayed. Turning a group on or off does not affect the visibility of the layers it contains.

The list display presents the map layers in an organized list; all layers are displayed at the same level. The order of the layers in the list reflects the order according to which they are displayed on the map. The layer at the bottom of the list is the first one drawn on the map, and the layer at the top is the last one drawn. This interface allows you to change layer order by dragging a layer up or down in the list.