Triscape Map Explorer

Vendor Information

Triscape, Inc.

93 Stiles Road

Salem, New Hampshire 03079

Phone: 603-890-9200

Fax: 603-890-6659

http://www.triscape.com

Installation

Triscape Map Explorer is installed from a CD that contains the Archemedes Map Authoring software. The Archemedes Map Authoring software includes a consolidated USA map that requires 375 MB of free space on your hard drive. Triscape also develops a server map software product called the Ptolemy Map Server for users that want to serve maps on their own web servers. The software includes a hardcopy Getting Started guide which is also available as an Microsoft Word file on the installation CD that has the most recent version of the guide.

After the installation is complete, you should see a shortcut for Triscape Archemedes Map Authoring listed in your Programs menu when you press the Windows Start button. I did not see the shortcut listed on my Windows 2000 machine, so I manually created a shortcut on my desktop to access the Map Authoring software.

Archemedes Map Authoring

The interface for the Archemedes Map Authoring application can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Archemedes Map Authoring

The toolbar is shown on the right side of the map, but it can be docked to a different position by pressing the Options button. The light blue box with the arrows and plus (+) sign in green and minus (–) sign in purple are used to navigate around the map. The + and – signs will zoom in and out on the map, while the arrows will move the map in the direction that was pressed. Users can also move around the map by pressing on the arrows that are located directly on the map. By pressing the Map Only button, the arrows on the map will disappear. The tools that are shown on the Authoring interface are the same tools that will be shown on the web page once it is published to the Internet.

The Click Move button will move the map continuously when the button is pressed. For example, if you have the Click Move button pressed and you press the + sign, the map will continuously zoom in until it reaches a certain scale, or the User can press the Stop button between the two blue arrows. The Fast, Med and Slow radio buttons control how fast the map moves when you have the Click Move button pressed. The Left and Right Arrow buttons around the stop sign are like Back and Forward buttons on an Internet browser and move the map to back and forth to previous map scales.

The Wizard button on the right is used for creating and publishing maps or you can choose New Map Authoring Wizard from the File menu. See Figure 2 for the Map Authoring Wizard.

Figure 2: Archemedes Map Authoring Wizard

Once the Wizard starts you can choose Step 1 to Create a New Regional Road Map and then press the Next button. You will be asked where you want to create the map, either on the Triscape.com server or if you want to create the map on your own server. I originally tried to publish the map to my web server several times but ran into all sorts of errors. I called Triscape’s support line and they recommended that I use the Triscape.com server to publish the maps. Once I did that, I had my regional map published within minutes. If you do publish from your own server, you have to upload all the data (375 Mb) to your server so the maps can be served.

After choosing to use the Triscape.com server, I started to create a Regional Map using the authoring software. The software added the U.S. state boundaries and other layers to the map of the countries shown in Figure 1. Besides the state boundaries, other layers were added and set as scale dependent layers so you have to zoom in to see the roads, parks, waterways, etc. I zoomed into an area in Philadelphia to see more of the layers that come with the software. Triscape recommends that you zoom into a small area before you publish a map to avoid excessive uploading times.

Users that want to publish maps with their own server, can add other layers to the map by choosing Step 2: Add a New Item to the Road Map. There's a dropdown list of layers in the Edit Map dialog box with layers such as Airports, Landmarks, Rivers, etc. You transfer the data to your server using Step 3: Transfer the Regional Map to your Web Server. Steps 2 & 3 will be grayed out on the New Map Authoring Wizard if you choose to use the Triscape.com server. The Items that can be added appear to be a fixed set of layers specifically created to work with the Authoring software. You can add a Site Icon that allows you to add custom icons from Bitmap images or GIF’s URL large floating image to denote the location of a particular map feature. Triscape recommends that the limit you bitmaps to the standard 15x15 pixel format, but they do support GIF’s larger than 63x63 pixels.

The next step in the Map Authoring Wizard is to Create an Overlay Map on Your Hard Disk. Overlay maps are created to publish custom annotations such as adding a custom site with a custom icon. You are given the option of a Standard Overlay Map or a Large Overlay Map. The Standard Overlay Map is used if you are publishing with the Triscape.com server and the Large Overlay Map should be chosen if you are publishing with your own server. Based on which Overlay map you choose, Step 6: Transfer the Overlay Map to your Web Server or Step 7: Publish the Current Map via HTML will be grayed out. I chose the Standard Overlay Map since I was publishing the map with the Triscape.com server. When I was ready to publish the map in Step 7, I was presented with the dialog box shown in Figure 3:

Figure 3: Publish the Current Map via HTML dialog Box

The user will choose the type of HTML code with the radio buttons in the first section. The map authoring software automatically generates the HTML code that can be copied onto an exiting web page. The Plug-In Map creates the HTML code to copy into an existing web page. However, the plug-in for the software is Windows-based so people viewing the map have to be using a Windows-based browser to use the plug-in to view the map. By setting the HTML code as a Link or a Button, the map server will automatically determine the type of browser and will either let the user use the plug-in to move around the map or will show static images of the map for browsers that are not Windows-based. You can also add the text to appear on the Link or button and create a test-page file on your hard drive. When you choose Finish, you will be asked for a title of your map and a caption to appear below the map. The wizard will create a test page HTML file or will copy the HTML code to the clipboard so that you can paste the code directly into a web page. I created the button below that will take you to the map that I published using the Triscape.com server.

By pressing the button, your Internet browser will be opened and taken to the map I created of an area in Philadelphia where the University of Pennsylvania is located. In my Overlay Map, I added an icon to show the location of the University of Pennsylvania. The icon is linked to Penn's home page which the user will be taken to if a user clicks on the icon. The user interface on the map will look like Figure 1 without the menus on the top but the tools will be on the right hand side. The Wizard button provides functionality to Annotate the map, Save or Email the map, Print or Copy the map, Go to an Address Location and Miscellaneous commands that Zoom to the Original Camera Position, Measure Distances, Change the Screen Size. The Go to an Address Location will reposition the map and move to where the location of the address that you enter. For example, try 1601 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 to see how the functionality works. The Options button has additional functionality to Dock the Navigation tools, change the Background color, and the ability to change the Map Settings and some Advanced Features.

Conclusion

I struggled when I first started working with the product trying to get my web server to serve the maps. Once I learned that it is easier to use the Triscape.com map server, I was quickly able to learn the functionality of the product and get the maps served. Triscape Archemedes Map Authoring software's strength is its ability to automatically generating the HTML code to access the served maps and the ability to embed this code in existing web pages. I was also impressed with the speed at which the maps are drawn once they are served on the Internet, using the Triscape.com server. I was working on a T1 line at my office and the map zoomed in and out very quickly. I'm not sure what the performance would be using a 56k modem.

I would recommend that Triscape put together a small step-by-step tutorial in the Getting Started documentation because once users get acquainted with the functionality of the product it is quite easy to use. While the instructions in the Getting Started documentation were helpful, I felt that it would have been easier for me to do learn about the product with a simple step by step tutorial.

Once users are familiar with the workings of the product, I feel they have a better handle on ways to better manipulate the functionality of the product. I started experimenting with the Site icons and links and added the Penn location information to my map once I was up to speed on the product. Triscape Map Explorer is also limited in the amount of data that can be served if you use the Triscape.com map server. I didn't see anywhere in the documentation of the product the ability to add layers from different data sources from other GIS software vendors.