Application Development FAQ
Submitted by Admin on Sat, 2006-12-09 01:40.
- Does MapGuide Open Source require a browser plug-in?
- Is it possible to use MapGuide Open Source to generate an image of a map?
- Is it possible to use the DWF Viewer to create a Windows-based application? For example, Autodesk MapGuide 6.5 has an ActiveX Control with an API which can be loaded in a Visual Basic application.
- Can I setup my MapGuide Open Source application as a Visual Studio .Net project? Is there a sample Visual Studio .Net project using MapGuide Open Source?
- 1. Does MapGuide Open Source require a browser plug-in?
- No. The AJAX Viewer is written entirely in DHTML and does not require a plug-in.
- 2. Is it possible to use MapGuide Open Source to generate an image of a map?
- The GetMapImage HTTP operation lets you generate a PNG image of a map. You simply need to specify the name of the MapDefinition resource with the request. Additional parameters let you control the center and scale of the generated image. See the GetMapImage test form for the full set of options.
- 3. Is it possible to use the DWF Viewer to create a Windows-based application? For example, Autodesk MapGuide 6.5 has an ActiveX Control with an API which can be loaded in a Visual Basic application.
- The DWF Viewer uses ActiveX technology and can therefore run in a Visual Basic or .NET Win Forms context. The EPlot viewer documentation even has some Visual Basic samples. When using the DWF Viewer with MapGuide Open Source you also have access to the EMap API. Note that you're limited as to what you can do with the client-side API, since with MapGuide Open Source the focus is on server-side programming.
Note also that for the client-side portion of your GIS application, the recommended approach with MapGuide Open Source is to use the JavaScript wrappers around the DWF Viewer, since this allows your code to be independent of the viewer technology (DWF Viewer or AJAX Viewer).
Note that the DWF-based viewer is now deprecated. If you desire a development/user experience that approximates embedding the MapGuide 6.5 ActiveX control in a Visual Basic / Desktop application, take a look at the mg-desktop project - 4. Can I setup my MapGuide Open Source application as a Visual Studio .Net project? Is there a sample Visual Studio .Net project using MapGuide Open Source?
- Yes. It may be difficult to convert the existing sample to a Visual Studio .NET project, but new projects can be created that way.