Selecting layers to display

To select the layers to display in your application, you connect to one or more GIS servers and choose the map services you want to add as layers to your map. You can include map services from ArcGIS Server; ArcIMS; Bing Maps; and Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) (Web Map Service [WMS]) servers in the same Web application. The map services appear as layers in the Web Mapping Application and allow users of the application to work with the individual sublayers within the map services.

Each layer in the Web application has a set of properties that you can configure. For example, when overlaying layers, you can set the transparency so that you can see underlying layers. By default, the background of all but the bottom layer is made transparent. You can also set properties on the sublayers inside a layer. For example, you can adjust the field aliases and visibility, set a drawing symbol, and control how attributes display when running tasks that use the sublayer as input.

Adding layers to the map

You can add layers to the map using the Layers tab in Manager.

1. On the Layers tab, click Add Layer.
2. Examine the list of available GIS servers. If the server containing your layer does not appear on the list, click Add GIS Server and choose the type of server you want to add:

   • ArcGIS Server Internet

     Connects to an ArcGIS server through HTTP. This is the recommended way to connect to ArcGIS Server, although an ArcGIS Server Internet connection cannot be used for Web editing layers or any layers that will be worked with through fine-grained ArcObjects.

     To make an ArcGIS Server Internet connection, you will be prompted to enter the URL of the server. This will take the form of http://<server>:8399/<instance>/services. In most cases, the instance will have the default name, which is ArcGIS.

     If you're connecting to an ArcGIS Server Internet service that requires a login, click Connect to Secure Service. You can enter the user name and password at this point.

     An ArcGIS Server Internet connection cannot be used for layers that will be edited over the Web or any layers that will be worked with through fine-grained ArcObjects. Also, avoid using ArcGIS Server Internet connections to access nonpooled services.

   • ArcGIS Server Local

     An ArcGIS Server Local connection is used for connecting to ArcGIS Server on a local area network. ArcGIS Server Local connections are typically used when creating Web editing applications, such as those containing the Editor task.

     To make an ArcGIS Server Local connection, you must enter the name of the server you wish to connect to (specifically, the name of the server object manager [SOM]). You must also enter a user name and password that correspond to an account in the agsusers or agsadmin group on that ArcGIS server.

   • ArcIMS

     Use the ArcIMS option for adding ArcIMS Image and ArcMap Image Services. Feature and Metadata Services are not supported in a Web mapping application.

     To add an ArcIMS service, you must select either ArcIMS Server Local or ArcIMS Server Internet from the drop-down menu. For an ArcIMS Server local connection, you must specify a host and port. The host is the server where the ArcIMS Application Server resides. The port is the port used for the Application Server, and the default is 5300. For an ArcIMS Server Internet connection, you must specify the URL of the server you wish to access. For example, if the server is mymachine, the URL is http://mymachine. If you need to connect to secure services, check the box for secure services and type in a user name and password.

   • OGC WMS

     You can add services to your map that support the OGC WMS specification. The Web ADF supports WMS versions 1.3.0, 1.1.1, 1.1.0, and 1.0.0. You must provide the URL of the service you want to add. If you are using WMS services hosted by ArcIMS or ArcGIS Server, sample URLs are shown below:

     ArcIMS: http://<server>/wmsconnector/com.esri.wms.Esrimap/<service>

     ArcGIS Server: http://<server>/arcgis/services/<service>/MapServer/WMSServer

   • Bing Maps

     You can add detailed road and aerial maps from Bing Maps to your Web application. For complete instructions, see Using Bing Maps layers in your Web application.

     Once you have entered the connection information for the server as described above, click Add.

3. Once your server appears in the list, double-click it to reveal a list of available services. Select the service you want to add and click Add.
4. You can repeat this process to add other layers to the map.

Note:

If you are accessing an MSD-based map service with antialiasing enabled and you set the image format for the Web application to PNG, the application will automatically retrieve images in PNG 32 format. If the application contains other services that don't support PNG 32, then those images will be retrieved in whatever PNG format the service supports.

How to preview layers and set transparency

You can use the Preview tab to change the name, transparency, or position of a layer.

Changing the name, transparency, or position of a layer

1. Click the Preview tab, if it is not already active.
2. Click the layer you want to change. You can do the following:
   • Type a new name for the layer.
   • Use the slider bar to set a transparency percentage for the layer. (If there is only one layer, you cannot change its transparency using the slider bar.)
   • Use the arrow buttons to change the layer order in the table of contents.
   • Select the data frame to display.
3. After making the changes, click Apply. A preview image shows how the map will look within your application.

Using Bing Maps layers in your Web application

You can optionally add Bing Maps layers to your Web application. These are tiled road and aerial maps developed and administered by Microsoft that you'll most likely use to provide a background or context for your own data.

A connection to Bing Maps automatically appears when you add layers to a Web application in Manager. This connection is added at login. The Bing Maps key needed to make the connection is derived from your ArcGIS Server authorization file.

You can also view your Bing Maps key on the Settings page in Manager. If you're building your Web application in the Eclipse or NetBeans IDE, you need to note the Bing Maps key and enter it manually when you add the connection to Bing Maps.

Your ESRI customer service representative or distributor can provide more information about your Bing account and what level of access you have purchased.

To work with Bing layers in Manager, do the following:

1. In Manager's layer selection panel, click Add Layers.
2. In the Add Layers dialog box, if you see a connection to Bing Maps, double-click that and go on to the next step. Otherwise, click Add GIS Server. From the Type drop-down list, choose Bing Maps. Enter your Bing Maps key, then click Add.
3. Select Imagery and click Add.
4. Double-click Imagery to add Bing Maps to your Web mapping application, then click Close to close the Add Layers dialog box.
5. In the Current Map Layers section, click Imagery.This displays the layer properties for the Bing Maps services.
6. Click the Map Style drop-down list. Bing Maps can be viewed in three different map styles. You can choose a Road map; an Aerial imagery map; or an Aerial map with a labeled overlay containing place-names, boundaries, and roads. Select the map style desired.
7. Click the Label Culture drop-down list. Choose the appropriate label culture for the users of this Web mapping application. Available languages for maps include English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.

Behavior of Bing Maps layers in a Web mapping application

When you add Bing Maps layers to your application, it's important to understand that you are accessing map image tiles from Microsoft. These images are not associated with any back-end data such as feature attributes or geometry; therefore, the Identify tool does not apply to Bing Maps layers. If a Bing Maps layer is the only layer in your map, the Identify tool will not appear.

In most cases, you should set the Bing Maps layer as the primary map resource, meaning that you use it to define the map's coordinate system. If you use another layer as the primary map resource, it should be a cached layer that uses the same tiling scheme as Bing Maps. This tiling scheme is a built-in option in the ArcGIS Server map caching tools.

You can add services to your application that do not match the coordinate system used by Bing Maps (WGS 1984 Web Mercator [Auxiliary Sphere]); however, you will achieve the best performance if all source maps and data are projected to the Bing Maps coordinate system before they are accessed by the Web application.

Bing Maps geocoding is also available in the Web mapping application through the Find Address Task.

Note:

Keep in mind that there are specific restrictions when using Bing Maps geocoding:

• Geocodes may not be stored for any purpose except caching for performance.
• Geocodes may not be displayed on any map other than a Bing Map.

For more information on the Bing Maps terms of use when using Esri products, see the Microsoft Bing Maps Services Terms of Use.

When you've finished adding layers

When you're done selecting layers and are ready to configure tasks for your application, click Next to move on to the next portion of the wizard.

For help with the next panel of the wizard, see Configuring tasks.