Distributor
Geo-Graphs Systems Corporation
1897 Arborlynn Drive
North Vancouver, British Columbia V7J 2V7
Canada
Phone: (604) 988-7377
Fax: (604) 988-7383
http://www.GeoGraphs.com

Pricing
Geo-Colors Lite for individual use, educational, lite version Internet Download - US  $49
Geo-Colors Pro for institutions and corporations use, Internet Download - US  $198
Geo-Colors for institutions and corporations use, full version Internet Download – US $1,495

System Requirements
Windows based operating system and an Internet browser with a free Adobe SVG plug-in installed. No hardware system requirements were specified in the product documentation

Introduction
Geo-Colors is a software system written in C++, SVG, Java Script, and XML that performs mapping functionality entirely within an Internet Map Browser. Geo-Colors has two distinct parts, a Map Generator and an Internet interface. Major GIS functions that are included with the product are Thematic Analyses, Query, Searching, Zooming, etc. The software imports digital map files of popular formats such as the shapefile format from ESRI, and mid/mif format of MapInfo. Produced maps are ready for publishing, without any further processing, or knowledge of client/server technology.

SVG, or Scalable Vector Graphics, is a new emerging technology for Internet graphics file format. This new Internet development language is based on XML (Extensible Markup Language) and is targeted to present vector data on the web. SVG is a two-dimensional graphics standard in XML. SVG allows for three types of graphic objects: vector graphic shapes, images, and text. Graphical objects can be grouped, styled, transformed and composited into previously rendered objects.

Geo-Colors Map Generator
The Map Generator is used to set styles and options for layers that will appear in the map within an Internet browser. The Map Generator user interface is shown in Figure 1 below.

 
Figure 1: Map Generator User Interface

The user can select the type of file they wish to open by pressing the Push for Input button and having the appropriate file type selected using the radio buttons. Geo-Colors can read ArcView 3.x project files (*.apr), ESRI shapefiles (*.shp) and MapInfo Interchange format (*.mif/*.mid). There is a limitation of one million Kb on all the layer files that can be input which doesn’t leave a lot of room for large spatial databases. The Total Input Size of all your layers is shown for you below the Layer list.

Once you select a layer from the list, you can modify the style of the layer. There are four options for SVG Filter effect: Shadow, Relief, Lumiere and Hills. There are also four options for the SVG Gradient: Two Color Linear Gradient, Three Color Linear Gradient, Two Color Radial Gradient and Three Color Radial Gradient. Users can also change the Stroke Color and Fill Color by pushing on the buttons on the user interface. Users can also specify the fields that denote values for Tool tips and Info Lines and add a Map title.

There are a few issues on layers and symbology that I found to be potentially confusing for users. First, I wasn’t sure how to remove a layer from the list. You can press the Reset button which clears all the layers from the list and starts you all over again.  I also found the styles for line and point layers to be confusing. I don’t think the software allows you to change a point symbol from the default circle to a star or another point symbol. In addition, when I changed the stroke color and fill color for a line layer and I got some very unexpected results when I previewed the map in my internet browser.

Once you have all your styles and options set for all the layers, select the Push for Output button that will prompt you for the location to save the file. Once you have the file location set, press the OK button on the Map Generator interface to convert the file into an SVG file. You can also press the Preview in Browser button to view the SVG file in your internet browser. The SVG file can be copied to a web server and can be accessed with any web browser.

Geo-Colors Internet Interface
The Internet Interface on the map has five separate sections: the Main Map, Overview Map, Navigation section, attribute selection area and a Histogram section. The following figure below shows the five separate sections.

Figure 2: Internet Browser User Interface within Microsoft Internet Explorer

The navigation section has tools to move around the map. To zoom in on an area you would press the Zoom in button and the software will zoom-in automatically for you. The Zoom out button will also zoom out to a scale pre-specified by the software. There is a third zoom option to Zoom-All, which will move to the full extent of all the layers on your map. Panning is done on the Overview map. Users simply drag the rectangle on the overview map to change the view on the main map. Users should be careful not to confuse where it says “Drag Rectangle to Change map in the Main map”. This statement is referring to pan the map on the overview map, not that you can draw a rectangle for zooming in as I first thought. Layers can be turned on and off under the GIS Functions section by checking or unchecking the box next to the layer name.

Geo-Colors has a GIS functions section located under the Map Navigator. You can perform searches by checking the “Search for an Item” checkbox in the GIS Functions. You will see two dropdown boxes; the top box will prompt you to Select a Layer for the search and the second dropdown will be populated with the fields in the layer selected. Once you select a layer, Geo-Colors will search the table for all the unique values and will display a third dropdown box with all the values in the selected field of the selected layer. The main map will zoom to the location of the feature you were searching for. Users can also get information about particular features by moving the cursor over a feature and pressing once to bring up an attribute window about the selected feature. If f the object has a hot link to a raster image, the image will be displayed in a new window by clicking on that attribute in the attribute window.

Geo-Colors has an option for thematic mapping in the GIS functions section. To start a thematic map, check the Thematic Analysis checkbox in the GIS Functions. You will be asked to select a layer and an attribute for the thematic map in the dropdown boxes below the Map Layers section. Once you have selected those, you will be asked to select a number of ranges, Thematic Method (quantiles or equal distribution only) and then choose a color style for the ranges. The map will shade when the user presses the purple “Thematic” button in the GIS Functions. The main map and the overview map will shade the colors selected and a Histogram will appear under the main map as in Figure 2. Users can move the cursor over the histogram and the feature associated with that bar on the histogram will show a label on the main map as you move over the histogram.

Conclusions
Geo-Colors provide the ability to publish maps on the Internet without a Map server using the SVG file format. The size of the SVG file is relatively small and can be copied to the location where the user stores their html files. The software includes eye catching layer displays for users to preset filter and gradient effects in the Map Generator. The user can perform basic GIS functions within the Internet interface. The product lacks the ability to change symbols for point and line layers and to remove map layers in the Map Generator. Users must consider the size of the map files they want to display with Geo-Colors as there is a file size limit, which limits the amount of layers that can be brought into the Map Generator.