Using ArcIMS 3.1 in Designing Websites
for
I. Introduction:
Developed by ESRI (Environmental Scientific Research
Institute), ArcIMS- Internet Map Server- is software that, when installed and
configured correctly, allows users to access GIS data on Internet sites. This
paper will discuss the A-Z procedure for designing GIS internet map servers
using ArcIMS. The first part, which deals with the system configuration and
installation, will be written in an instructive
manner. The objective of the work is to develop a website series for Cache
County Area,
The software was obtained form ESRI
site license in
ArcIMS 3.0 is not fully supported on Windows 2000: the ArcIMS manager cannot be run. Ed Bills and I went again to the ESRI office to ask for help. The officer mentioned that we have to write down our problem; the paper has to be signed and then sent to authorized personnel who will contact ESRI and we give us the feedback afterwards. I was thinking of what headache will this bring. Suddenly I remembered that when I did surf ESRI site I saw a sentence: ArcIMS 3.1 now shipping. I asked the officer whether she has ArcIMS 3.1 and she answered positively. She had just received the package and was going to prepare it; theoretically, our problem was solved: the latest version of ArcIMS 3.1 is expected to have minimal problems and is fully supported on Windows 2000.
II. Installation:
Before installing ArcIMS, one should make sure to have the following requirements:
i. Apache Web server with Jakarta-Tomcat acting as its Servlet Engine
ii. IBM HTTP server with Servlet engine Web sphere
iii. iPlanetTM Web server with its own Native Servlet Engine
An important point to note here that before installing the Servlet Engine, the computer should have a Java Run time Environment JRE 1.3.0_02. It is also advised to have a Java Development Kit (JDK).
JRE 1.3.0_02 is found on ArcIMS CD. A common error is to install JRE and then install ArcIMS 3.1 before installing Servlet Exec. This will lead to difficulties in running ArcIMS, and it might require reinstalling the whole thing.
The best thing to do before installing ArcIMS:
Make sure that you logged on your machine as an Administrator.
http://<full host name you entered previously>/Servlet/Admin
e.g. http://lynx.cee.usu.edu/Servlets/Admin
If the page could not be displayed, restart your machine and type the same thing again (type the full host name).
You will see a screen that has places to enter the license code. Do not be afraid. Click the link on the left index frame named classes. In the empty space for the class path, type the following:
<Drive>:\Program Files\New Atlanta\ServletExec ISAPI\Servlets\jaxp.jar
Click submit. A new empty space will appear; type in:
<drive>:\Program Files\New Atlanta\ServletExec ISAPI\ Servlets\parser.jar
Click Submit again. This will add the entries you have typed to the class path settings.
;<drive>:\Program Files\javasoft\jre\1.3.0_02\bin.
Click Ok and close the window.
Those above 33 steps will end your journey with installing ArcIMS.
Now we are ready to use ArcIMS 3.1 and design our websites.
III. Website Design:
This section will discuss the needed steps to author a map service, design a website and administer the site. The ArcIMS Manager is able to perform those three tasks.
Open ArcIMS by going to start- Programs-ESRI-ArcIMS 3.1-Manager. Create a Shortcut for the Manager on your desktop since you will be using it often.
You will be asked for a login and a password. This is the first login, and you will use it from now on.
The next screen will show three options: Author a map service, Design the website, and Administer the site. The first thing to do is to author a map service.
Click on Author Map service. You will be asked to enter a new file name or to browse to an existing map file.
I will use an example name for describing the design process. For the file name, type Logan-river.
Click next. A new screen will appear. You can add shape files and image files to the map by the add layer button. Click on the button and browse to the directory in which your data is present.
Add the shape files you want and click the close button on the top of the map. You can select the layer you want, open its properties and change the labels, choose the display type according to available attributes. You can also display the layer as a unique value, graduated value or a one value. You can choose to label your maps by one of the attributes as in ArcGIS.
Decide what to name the layers, choose how to display them, choose the scale, save your file and click next. You will be prompted whether you want to use the image server or the feature server. Choosing the feature server will oblige you in later step, when you want to design the website, to choose the Java viewer. In the next section, I will discuss the difference between both viewers and the experience I had with them. For the time being, choose the image server. Save your file.
Now you have finished the first task of authoring a map. After authoring, you will go to the next step: designing the website or you can author another map and postpone designing the website.
It is advisable to check whether your map service is running before starting the website design.
Click on administer the site button and you should see a gear spinning with the name of your map file next to it. Cool!
Since it is your first experience with ArcIMS, I advise to go for the next step and the third later, see your result, evaluate the view of the website, and then make some corrections if necessary.
Designing the
website:
Click the button named ‘Design Website’. For the name of the website working directory, type a name similar or identical to the map file you created in the previous step. Choose a suitable title for your webpage and click next.
On the next screen, choose the map service you have and click on the right arrow button to add this map service to the website list. In fact, this is the first map service in your list.
Click next. You will be prompted to choose an HTML viewer template vs. a java viewer. If you click the java viewer you will be asked to choose between Java custom and Java standard. For the moment, choose the HTML viewer and click next. You can later try other options and see what works.
For the map extent on the next screen, choose all layers else choose the layers you want to display. The next screens will allow you to choose the map scale and the tool bar buttons you want to appear on the website. As a start, choose all buttons available. Click next and you will see the name of your website working directory. You can change it if you want. Accept it for now and click finish on the next screen. Done!
Now are ready to view your website. To re-check your map service, click on the administer site button again and view and save your configuration.
Close ArcIMS if you are tired of it now and open your web browser. In the address bar type:
http://<full host name>/website/<map file name>
Hit enter and wait for the map to be retrieved. Go to another machine, which is not on the same network of your machine, and check the site availability and the map view. You should be able to browse your map, zoom in and out, measure distances, select attributes and so on. Try the buttons you have and enjoy the result of your patience.
IV. Data available:
Paul Wirth was the person who is supposed to collect the
data for this project. I received from him unprocessed data for
Analyzing the given data, I got the following (All data shown below with no explanation had no further information as received):
1. Coverages: three directories cultural, environ, eco-reg.
a. Cultural
To see associated text files: Climbing, boundary, ownership, railroads, roads,
b. Environ
This directory contains data on: contour lines (elevation), springs, minerals, soil, water-bodies, rivers, farmland, geology, faults, land use, and ecology.
To see the text files associated with some of these data:
Contour, Ecology, Elevation, Springs, Water Bodies, Geology, Land Use, Faults, Minerals, Soil
c. Ecoreg: no associated text files available.
2. Images: containing two image files that could not be imported to ArcIMS 3.1.
3. Grids: containing grid files about
Rasters converted to MrSID images (multilayer resolution seamless image database) could not be displayed in the map. They only appeared in the map legend.
Cub river data:
1.
2. Information on: elk, deer and calf places in summer and winter, soil, vegetation, wetlands, soils, and streams.
Little bear-river
data:
1. Water-bodies, watersheds, sub-watersheds, stream courses, roads and sub basins.
Using ArcTool box in ArcGIS, I converted all coverages into shape files that can be added to ArcIMS.
While trying to convert the available coverages to shape files, the following error log was obtained:
(thread0001,
cache)
1: Precision Single Highest
(thread0001,
tty)
0: QUIT
(thread0001,
cache)
1: LAYER DEFINE xxlayer1 coverage
I:\giswr\project\bearriver\final\bearws2 Line
(thread0001,
tty)
0: QUIT
(thread0001,
cache)
1: LAYEREXPORT
xxlayer1 shapefile I:\giswr\project\bearriver\final\bearws2.shp
No data of these coverages could be projected into ArcIMS for the above reason. I have no idea of what the case might be. There is a possibility that some error in the original data processing is present.
Data on
The Lynx web page has been designed as the Hydrology map server webpage as part of this project. Users can access this page through the following link:
V. Results:
Map 1:
To see the map service showing the
area of
Map 2:
A second map for
All these maps were created by the option of HTML viewer that requires no downloaded Java plug-ins.
To access data on
Little Bear River:
To access data on Little Bear River, click here. You will see layers on roads, streams and sub watersheds.
To see data on
VI. Discussions and
Conclusions:
The ArcIMS 3.1 software served pretty well in enabling website designs for GIS maps. An unidentified problem exists at the user side, which prevents the viewing of Java-developed sites. The problem is summarized by what follows:
As the user tries to access the map, he will be re-directed to another page, which will ask him to install the JRE plug-in. Then he will be asked to download the Arc Explorer viewer. Another software will be downloaded, called install anywhere. The page will inform the user that he has to restart his web browser before he can view the page correctly. If he does that, however, the page will go through the same steps again.
I suggest no solution for this problem for the time being.
The ArcSDE software might be required for correctly importing the image files. I did not check the ArcSDE capabilities for that for lack of time.
It is important for the installer to install ServletExec Engine, or any other engine listed above, before trying to install the ArcIMS.
ArcIMS is useful in designing websites for GIS services. Careful attention should be taken while preparing to install and installing the software.
VII. References:
1. National Hydrography Dataset ( http://nhd.usgs.gov )
2. ArcIMS 3.1 Software and documentation ( http://www.esri.com )
3.
Paul
Wirth (http://ceefs.cee.usu.edu/waldman)