Layers

Table of contents

1. Creating Layers
2. Importing layers
3. Publishing layers
4. Configuring Layers
5. Layer Permissions
6. Sharing Layers
7. General Settings
8. Dynamic Filters
9. Style
10. Analysis
11. Thematics
12. Labels
13. Mouseover
14. Information Reports
15. Bulk editing a layer set

---

A project is composed of an ordered list of layers. Layers are used to display data extracted from spatial data sources. Each layer is related to a specific spatial data source. Vector layers are related to vector data sources and display vector data while raster layers are related to raster data sources. The layer configuration determines the appearance of the data (style of the layer), the visibility thresholds, what information is associated with the spatial data (attributes), etc. Each layer has its own configuration parameters for labelling, reports, thematics, etc.

Layers are created in the project they belong to. Specific permissions can be configured for each layer. Thus, some layers can be accessed only by a subset of users authorized to open the project.

The layers of a project can be organized into a logical tree-like structure or hierarchy. This feature is useful to better organize information when working with projects that have a high number of layers. In client applications, users are able to control the visibility of the layers belonging to the same group in one click. Refer to the section titled Organizing Layers for more information on this subject.

Layers can be copied from one project to another or even shared between various projects located on the same JMap Server or on separate JMap Servers. Refer to the section titled Sharing Layers for more information on this topic.

The layers of a project are displayed in the Layers section, which may be accessed from the JMap Admin project configuration interface. In the List tab, the table shows basic information about each layer of the project. When you click on the name of a layer, a details section displays. The Hierarchy tab displays the groups and subgroups with the layers that compose them. The tasks you can perform from this tab are detailed in the Organizing Layers section.

In the List tab of the Layers section of a project, you can perform the tasks described in the table. For some tasks, you must select more than one layer.

This button allows you to access the Permissions section, where you can configure the permissions of the selected layers. See Layer Permissions for more details.

Creating Layers

Each layer of a project in JMap takes its data from a spatial data source. Thus, before layers can be created, the related data sources must already exist (see Creating Spatial Data Sources for more information).

Creating a new layer

To create a new layer, press Create in the Add menu of the Layers section of a project. Note that the new layer will have the same name as the data source by default. The name can be changed later.

The next steps are different for vector layers and raster layers. Note that creating a raster layer is also different for each type of raster data source. Jump to the corresponding section below.

Creating a vector layer

The request mode determines how the vector data is managed by JMap Server. It can greatly influence the system’s overall performance.

Advanced parameters

Most of the time, the following advanced parameters don’t need to be modified.

Creating a raster layer based on a WMS data source

To create a raster layer based on a WMS spatial data source, you need to tell JMap what data to request from the WMS server. The WMS server publishes a list of all the layers it can serve and their properties. In JMap, the WMS layer creation interface allows you to select the layers to include in the WMS layer you wish to create.

Creating a raster layer based on a GDAL, TIFF/GEOTIFF or ECW/ECWP data source

Creating a raster layer from a WMTS data source

Importing layers

You can add a layer to a project by importing it from a project that has been exported from another JMap server. The Exporting and Importing section provides details on exporting and importing a JMap server’s resources. To import a layer in a project, you must also create a data source in JMap Server containing the data of the imported layer.

When you select Add / Import… the Importation wizard will guide you through the process to import one or more layers from the project where they are found.

1. To start the process, select the Importation file. Click on Browse to access the File browser.

2. Select the .properties file that contains the project whose layers you wish to import.

3. Click on Next.

4. Select the Project that contains the layer you wish to import.

5. Select the Layers to import.

6. Click on Next.

7. If the project in which you are importing the layer contains a layer with the same name as the one you are importing, select an option to resolve the conflict between these layers: Create a new layer with a different name, Replace the existing layer or Use existing layer.

8. Click on Next.

9. If the JMap Server in which you are importing the layer contains a spatial data source with the same name as the data source of the layer you are importing, select an option to resolve the conflict between these data sources: Create a new data source with a different name, Replace the existing data source or Use existing data source.

10. Click on Next.

11. A summary lists the number of imported resources for the project: layers, databases, remote connections, spatial data sources, style templates, and metadata templates.

12. Press Import. The layer is added to the project and a new spatial data source is created in JMap Server.

Publishing layers

A layer must be published to be accessible to the users. A layer that is not published is not part of the project, and in no way can users see it or access it.

When a new layer is created, it is not published by default. This allows you to do further configuration tasks on the layer before making it available for the users. For example, it is important to configure visibility thresholds appropriately according to the scale before the layer can be seen by users.

After layer creation, you must press the Publish button in the layer’s detail section.

Unpublishing an existing layer can be useful to make it unavailable to the users without actually deleting it.

Configuring Layers

The layer configuration interface allows you to access layer information as well as parameter configuration functions such as style, labels, or reports.

The raster layer configuration interface contains the General information, Layer parameters, and Visibility thresholds sections.

Attributes

The Attribute configuration window contains three tabs: Metadata, Statistics, and Attribute sample.

The Statistics tab provides simple statistics about the attribute. The Attribute sample tab displays the value of the attribute for a sample of layer elements.

Layer Permissions

There are several different types of permissions for a project’s layers. The following tables describe each one of these.

Administrator permissions

User permissions

To modify layer permissions, press in order to select the users and groups to which you wish to grant permissions. Only the users and groups who are already authorized to open the project containing the layer can be granted permissions associated with this layer.

Sharing Layers

JMap allows you to share layers between projects that are on the same server or that originate from remote servers that are connected. Layer sharing allows you to manage data more effectively (avoids duplication, saves time) by reusing existing layers instead of creating new layers in each project. When the original layers are modified, the changes can automatically be viewed in all projects that have referenced layers pointing towards these shared layers. Referenced layers cannot be modified directly, save a few basic settings. Only the original shared layer can be modified.

The figure presents the layer sharing between projects on the same server and on different servers. The properties of the Rivers layer cannot be modified in projects 1 and 3. The original layer is in project 2.

Sharing layers between projects on the same JMap Server

To share layers between projects on the same JMap Server, no action is required. Layers can be accessed freely from any project on the same server. Refer to Accessing shared layers for more information.

Sharing layers between different JMap Servers

If you wish to share a project’s layers in order to access them from another JMap Server, you must assign a special remote access permission to a user for these layers. In order to do this, access the project layers section for which you wish to share these layers.

1. Select one or more layers.

2. Click on Permissions.

3. In the permission management interface, select the user account or group to which you wish to assign the remote access permission (you can add user accounts and groups by clicking on ).

4. Select the Remote access permission. The account used must match the user account through which the connection to this JMap Server was established. If you are using a group, the aforementioned user account must be included within it.

Once the layers have been shared, they can be selected from the remote JMap Server and inserted in this server’s projects. Refer to Accessing shared layers for more information.

To stop layers from being shared, simply remove the Remote access permission from these layers.

Accessing shared layers

To access existing layers from different projects located on the same JMap Server or shared layers on other JMap Servers, you must click on Add and select Clone / Reference in the layers section of the project to which you would like to add these layers.

In the Clone / Reference layers section:

1. Select a JMap Server from which you wish to clone or reference layers. If you choose Local server, you can select the projects and layers of the local server without these being shared. The other servers in the list are the JMap Servers for which a JMap Server to JMap Server connection exists. Refer to the JMap Server to JMap Server Connections section for more information on creating JMap Server to JMap Server connections.

2. Select the project from which you wish to clone or reference layers. Once the project has been selected, the list of available layers displays.

3. Select the layers you wish to clone or reference and move them to the list on the right.

4. Select the Clone or Reference option.

   If you choose the Clone option, the selected layers will be duplicated towards your project. They will be exact copies of the original layers, but there will be no connection between the copies and the original layers. You can modify the copies without affecting the originals. If you delete a cloned layer, this doesn’t affect the original layer. If you delete the original layer, this doesn’t affect its cloned layers. However, duplicated layers always use the same spatial data source as the original layer. If this data source is modified or deleted, this will affect the duplicated layers.

   If you select the Reference option, the original layers will be accessed by reference. This means that a direct connection will be maintained between the layers of your project and the original layers. You will not be able to modify these layers in your project. If the original layers are modified, the changes will appear wherever references to these layers exist, after a short delay. If you delete a referenced layer, the original layer will not be affected. If you delete the original layer, the referenced layers will no longer work and will have to be deleted manually.

General Settings

The layer general settings section is accessible by clicking on the settings drop-down menu, then selecting General in the layer details section. This section allows you to specify basic layer parameters. These parameters are described below, along with the visibility thresholds.

General

Scale thresholds

Scale thresholds are used to control the visibility of a layer according to the scale of the displayed map. This is useful when you want to hide elements of a specific layer beyond (or under) a certain scale. For example, you might not want to display the local street layer when looking at the whole territory of a country. Using the thresholds, you could specify that the local streets are to be visible only when looking at a map with a scale greater than 1:100000. In that case, you would specify a minimum scale of 1:100000, without indicating a maximum scale.

Dynamic refresh

The dynamic refresh of the layer is used to automatically reload the data of a layer after a configured delay, without the need for the user to manipulate the map. This can be useful for layers that contain data that is updated regularly, such as layers of vehicle tracking (AVL). This is an alternative to the use of layers by region to have dynamic data.

Dynamic Filters

Dynamic filters are used to display certain elements of the layer that match the user’s criteria. JMap Pro applications support dynamic filters for layers that load by region or tile. JMap Web applications support dynamic filters for layers that load by region.

Dynamic filters are defined using an attribute, an operator, and values for the attribute. A dynamic filter can be composed of several attributes. Operators vary depending on the attribute type.

Text-type attributes provide full or partial match operators as well as the presence of null values. Up to 2048 unique values are supported in drop-down menu mode. For attributes who have more unique values than this number, value selection is done by entering the values in the range.

Numeric type attributes offer quantitative operators.

Date type attributes provide time operators and calendars for choosing dates. Dynamic time operators can also create mobile windows from a selected date.

To create a dynamic filter:

1. Press Dynamic Filters in the layer settings menu.

2. Click on the plus icon to add an attribute.

3. Select an operator and values in the appropriate ranges. You can add as many attributes as you want. To remove an attribute from the filter, select it and click on the minus icon .

4. Check the Enabled box to make the dynamic filter active when a user opens a JMap Pro or JMap Web application.

5. Click on Save to save the dynamic filter.

###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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Style

The style of a layer determines the graphical representation of its spatial elements on the map. For example, the style of a line is determined by its thickness, color, dash pattern, etc. In JMap, each layer can have multiple styles. The style used depends on several factors.

Different styles can be configured for different scales. For example, a layer can have a single style for all scales while another layer can have one style for scales greater than 1:20000 and another style for scales smaller than or equal to 1:20000.

Layers also have selection styles. These styles are used to display selected elements at different scales. The selection styles are generated automatically from the layer styles but they can be customized for each layer.

The presence of thematics on a layer will override the layer styles. When a thematic is active on a layer, the style of each element is determined by the value of its attributes and the thematic’s parameters. See Creating Thematics for more information.

Managing layer styles

You can define one or more styles for a layer. If there are many styles, each one will be used within a certain range of scales. By default, one style exists for each layer and it covers the full possible scale range. To manage the styles of a layer, press Style from the layer settings menu.

To add a new style, press . In the style configuration interface, you must define the maximum scale from which the new style will be used. Its minimum scale will automatically be set to infinity or to the maximum scale of the next style.

To remove a style, select it from the list and press . Note that the greater scale style cannot be deleted. When deleting styles, the remaining styles will be adjusted to cover the full possible scale range.

Once you have configured one or more styles, you can click on Create template (located to the right of each style) to create a new style template from one of the layer’s styles. The style template will automatically be linked to the layer. See Style Templates for more information.

JMap Pro users can change the style of layers and save their changes by creating cartographic contexts. These contexts can be shared with other users and made public to all users who access the application. JMap Web users can save a map by creating a customized map. When the JMap administrator modifies the style of a layer, the JMap Pro and JMap Web users working with contexts may not be able to view the style changes made by the JMap administrator. To force the update of the layer style in the contexts, click on Force update… (located to the right of each style). By doing so, the style changes will be reflected in all the contexts of JMap Pro applications and in all the customized JMap Web maps that contain the layer.

Creating or Modifying a style

You have the option to use an existing style template or to configure your own style. If you want to use a style template, click on Use a style template. You will then choose to refer to it or to copy it.

If no style template is used, you need to configure the parameters that will define the style. Style configuration interfaces are different depending on the type of element (points, lines, polygons, text, etc.). Some style parameters are common to many element types but others are specific to certain types.

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 in JMap Admin, antialiasing is enabled by default, which improves the appearance of your 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 100% value 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).

Styles for points

Styles for lines

Styles for polygons

Styles for annotations

Styles for images

Selection style

There is a selection style for each style of the layer. The selection styles are used to represent the elements when they are selected on the map. By default, the selection styles are generated automatically using the layer’s basic styles and the project’s default selection color.

To modify the selection style, unselect the Generate from default style option and adjust the style parameters as needed.

Analysis

In addition to configuring the style of a layer, you can also create graphical representations to analyze the distribution of point data.

Clustering

Clustering, as its name implies, creates clusters of points on the screen. Special symbols are used to graphically represent these clusters on the map and display the number of elements they contain.

Heat maps

Heat maps are used to graphically represent the concentration distributions of a type of object or event on the territory. The more the color of a zone is intense, the more the concentration is high.

Thematics

Thematic mapping is the production of maps to express information about a specific phenomenon. Examples of thematic maps include: polygons representing sectors of a city colored differently based on the crime rate of each sector; points representing cities displayed using different symbol sizes based on the population in the city, etc. In JMap, you can create thematic maps using the bound attributes of a layer. Depending on the values of their attributes, map elements will then be displayed differently. Using JMap Admin, you can create as many thematic maps as you want and you can also create many thematics using the same layer.

In JMap, there are two main categories of thematics: classifications and proportional quantities.

To create a thematic, press Create in the Thematics section of the layer settings.

Classification

Thematics that use a classification will separate map elements into a finite number of categories (also called classes), each having a specific style. When a map element belonging to such a thematic is displayed, it uses the style of the category it is part of in order to render itself on the screen.

Creating a graduated styles thematic

Graduated styles thematics use a graduation of one or more visual variables to represent the elements of the different categories. Examples of such graduations include: the fill color of polygons that is graduated from white to red, the size of point symbols that is graduated from size 1 to size 5, the line width of elements that is graduated from 1 to 4, etc. In all cases, there is a finite number of categories and every element of the layer falls into one of those categories. Only a numeric attribute 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, define the number of categories, select the range calculation method, and define the category styles.

There are several methods for calculating the ranges of values for the categories of this type of thematic. See Methods for calculating ranges for more information.

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

Graduated symbols thematics draw symbols superposed on the elements they qualify. The symbol sizes are graduated according to a finite number of categories based on a numeric attribute. The symbols can be used with any type of map element. Only numeric attributes can be used for this type of thematic.

There are several methods for calculating the ranges of values for the categories of this type of thematic. See Methods for calculating ranges for more information.

The creation process is the same as for creating a graduated styles thematic, as described above.

Creating an individual values thematic

Individual values thematics represent all elements that have the same attribute value with the same style. This type of thematic is not using a range of values for each category but rather a specific value. The maximum number of unique different values is 512. If your layer has more different values, it will not be possible to create this type of thematic on that layer. 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 proposes 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

Individual custom values thematics are similar to individual values thematics except that you can define your own values, instead of being limited to values already present in the data. This is useful when you create thematics using a data set that does not contain all the known possible values for an attribute. When new data is later added to this data set, the new values will be handled properly by this type of thematic.

The creation process is similar to creating an individual values thematic, except that you have the option to modify the list of individual values by adding, removing or modifying categories.

Proportional quantities

Proportional quantities thematics represent map elements using a continuous variation of a visual variable (e.g. symbol size, fill color, etc.) based on a numeric attribute or set of attributes.

Creating a proportional symbols thematic

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

Pie charts thematics draw pie chart diagrams on the center of the elements they qualify. This type of thematic works with one or many numeric attributes. Each part of the diagram (piece of the pie) is associated with a different attribute. The size of the diagram is proportional to the sum of the attribute values. 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

Bar charts thematics draw bar chart diagrams on the center of the elements they qualify. This type of thematic works with one or many numeric attributes. Each bar of the diagram is associated with a different attribute. The size of the diagram is proportional to the sum of the attribute values. Only numeric attributes can be used for this type of thematic.

The creation process is similar to creating a pie charts thematic, as described above.

Methods for calculating ranges

Several different methods can be used to calculate the ranges of values for the categories of thematics using classifications. These methods are described below.

Once the thematic has been created, you are brought to the interface that displays its general information and that allows you to specify the legend, give titles to the classes, and edit or delete the thematic.

Click on to save the settings.

For classification thematics, you can unselect classes you do not want to display, and you can also give a title to each class. Click on to save the settings.

Enabling and disabling thematics

Enabled thematics are displayed automatically when the layer is displayed in JMap on the client. Disabled thematics are still available but are not displayed by default. They need to be enabled by the user to be displayed. You can enable and disable thematics from the thematics section in JMap Admin.

Reordering thematics

In JMap applications, thematics are displayed in the order they are defined in JMap Admin. It is important to set the order appropriately because some thematics can completely hide others if they are placed on top. Use the Modify menu from the list of thematics in order to modify their order.

Labels

In JMap, labels are text that is related to map elements. They are used to display information about the elements on the map. For example, you can use labels to display the city names for a layer of points representing cities.

Labels can either be placed manually using the labeling tool or generated automatically by JMap at display time. Depending on the type of elements of the layer, the labeling configuration section can slightly vary. The following figure shows an example of curved labels (left) and labels with a frame (right).

The following figure shows an example of of labels with a background symbol.

Labeling is configured by specifying text that defines the label’s content; this text can contain static parts, variable parts (functions) and JavaScript programs. At display time, functions are executed and replaced by the result. For example, the ElementValue(attrib)function (or ev(attrib), in its short form) will be replaced by the value of the corresponding attribute. JavaScript programs can be used to perform operations on attribute values. Label text can span multiple lines.

The functions supported by labels are the same as those supported by mouseover. For more information on these functions, refer to the Mouseover section.

Automatic labeling

Automatic labeling adds labels to map elements automatically, without user interaction. For each vector layer, you can enable or disable automatic labeling and define scales between which automatic labeling will be activated. It is often useful to set a minimum scale limit for automatic labeling to avoid overcrowding the map.

Also, in order to avoid overcrowding the map, three tools allow you to control the order or priority in the position or display of the labels: dynamic position, layer priority, and priority by attribute.

Mouseover

Mouseover bubbles are meant to display information about the elements they are pointing to. This information includes text, attribute values, hyperlinks, images, etc. The JMap administrator determines what information is displayed in the bubbles of each layer.

The content of mouseover bubbles can be formatted using HTML tags. Mouseover bubbles can also contain JavaScript programs.

To configure mouseover for a layer, click on Mouseover in the details section of the layer.

Providing mouseover content

You must provide the text that will be used as the content of the bubble. This text can be comprised of static parts (displayed as is), variable parts (replaced at display time by another value), simple JavaScript programs, and HTML tags. For instance, the elementValue(city) function will be replaced at display time by the value of the city attribute for the pointed element.

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 content

The content 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:

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

You can insert hyperlinks in mouseover 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. This function is only available in JMap Pro.

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)}

Information Reports

Information reports are used to display descriptive information regarding map elements. These reports can display attributes extracted from the underlying spatial data source or information from databases outside JMap. Each layer can have zero, one or more reports. The information reports are presented as web pages or PDF documents.

To configure reports for a layer, click on Reports in the layer’s details section.

The reports section shows the list of existing reports for a layer. In JMap applications, reports are presented in this order. You can change the order using the arrows. To create a new information report, press Create. To delete a report, press Delete.

Creating a report

There are three different types of reports: Basic, Advanced and Custom.

Basic

Basic reports are generated as web pages. They contain features to be printed and exported in Excel. Tables containing the values can be sorted by clicking on the column headers. You can also configure the names of the fields to be displayed in the reports.

Advanced

Advanced reports are based on the BIRT reporting tool (http://www.eclipse.org/birt/). A default report template is provided with JMap. You can also use the BIRT report Designer application to create custom reports or to edit the template provided in order to adapt it to your needs (add a logo, change the colors, etc.). For more information on report development, visit the BIRT website (http://www.eclipse.org/birt).

Reports can be generated in HTML or PDF format. Geographic map integration is also supported.

Report templates

With advanced reports, you can choose the report template you wish to use. By default, two templates are provided with JMap: a basic report template and a report template with an integrated geographic map. Each one of these templates is also available in two versions: one version is for a single element and the other is for a selection of multiple elements. You can create your own report templates based on the existing templates and add them to those provided by JMap. You can then select your templates to configure reports. The report template files (.rpttemplate) are placed in the JMAP_HOME/applications/templates/reports directory. Your templates must be placed in the single or multiple sub-directory, depending on whether they are in single element or multiple element version.

Custom

Custom reports are external to JMap and can be called using a URL. These reports can come from reporting tools (e.g. Crystal Reports, Jaspersoft, etc.) or from simple web pages.

A special syntax allows you to format the parameters to be passed in order to open the report.

Supported variables in the URLs of custom reports

Report data sources

Basic and advanced reports can take their data from layer attributes or from an external database connected to JMap.

Current layer

Select the Current layer option to create a simple report that will only query the layer attributes (read below for the External database option). Afterwards, select the attributes to include in the report using the check boxes. Only the selected attributes will be displayed to the user; the others will be excluded from the report. Lastly, you can specify titles for the attributes; these will be displayed to the user instead of the actual attribute names.

External database

Selecting the External database option will instruct JMap to display information taken from another database, instead of the layer. This option allows you to query any database that has a field corresponding to one of the layer’s attributes.

Captions

For reports that take their data from an external database, you can define the names of the fields to be displayed in the report, instead of using the field names in the database. Click on Captions to define these field names.

Bulk editing a layer set

You can edit different settings for a set of layers. You must select the layers to modify in the List tab of the Layers section of the project. Afterwards, press the Update button, and click on the Bulk edit… option. The Bulk edit interface will open.

---