Geographic Coverage for Maps - NEW
Submitted: Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 20:41
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Michelle from ExplorOz
Yesterday, David and I finished working on a modification to the iMapPlot technology that allows us to show you the precise geographic boundaries of map products stocked in our online
shop.
Whereas, we used to show a shaded area on a static map of Australia, we now use the iMapPlot technology with scaleable/zoomable mapping - its much nicer and more precise.
Basically, we've done this to help overcome the fact that when you buy online you can't open up the map you are browsing like you can in a physical
shop, to confirm if it covers the areas you want to use it for.
Our Map Coverage diagram confirms the precise coverage of the map you are currently browsing by drawing a shaded area on a real map of Australia (that is scaleable and zoomable).
We have achieved this by entering the lat/long coordinates for the actual map boundaries into our own database. This data is converted into an ESRI ShapeFile and overlayed on mapping layers owned/licenced by I.T. Beyond Pty Ltd. The map coverage you see displayed is output by software developed by I.T. Beyond Pty Ltd called iMapPlot.
90% of all maps in the
ExplorOz shop now have this improved Map Coverage feature.
You might notice we've placed a link to the I.T. Beyond website direct to the page containing more information about iMapPlot technology. In fact, I've just spent the last 2 days updating the entire I.T. Beyond website (link in footer of ExplorOz site pages) so you might want to take a browse through there too. The site update isn't complete in terms of adding some graphics but its come a long way... finally find some time to put back into our own business!!
Happy Easter everyone too! We'll be taking a break - that's all of us, Michelle, David and Juliana. The site will still work, but we just won't be on the other end of it.
Reply By: Member - Peter (York) - Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 20:52
Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 20:52
Have a great easter ,leave the laptop and phone at
home
AnswerID:
53732
Reply By: Member - StevenL - Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 21:12
Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 21:12
Michelle,
I left a
feedback note a couple of weeks back regarding editable posts. Did you see this? I have not had any reply.
Happy Easter to you and David and the team.
Steven
AnswerID:
53736
Follow Up By: Michelle from ExplorOz - Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 21:28
Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 21:28
We get literally thousands of
feedback emails. We reply to most where relevant but some ideas are a bit far-fetched! Not sure about yours.
In terms of allowing people to retract what they're posted (which was one
feedback suggestion we received recently) that would not be a good idea at all unless it was only allowed after a short time period, and before any responses had been made. We can think about that, however its just as simple for people to ask us to remove something on their behalf.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 09:46
Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 09:46
If you get literally thousands of
feedback emails, and reply to "most", how would you ensure an email asking for something to be removed on your behalf, would be read?
A spellcheck, or edit function would certainly be good though.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Michelle from ExplorOz - Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 11:10
Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 11:10
We may not "reply" to all, but we "read" them all and respond appropriately where we see fit.
We've already been down the path of discussing the spellecheck option - you can read more about it in the archives if you are interested.
Now I'm going to get back to my holiday!
Enjoy:-)
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Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 12:30
Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 12:30
Thanks, thats a better explanation.
If the archive doesnt give you a
forum spell check/edit option, not much use searching it I guess.
FollowupID:
315434
Reply By: Michelle from ExplorOz - Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 22:57
Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 22:57
For those that link the links direct to the
places Michelle is talking about try these:
A link to the
shop item preview page for the new
Cape York CD. When you get to the page you will see the new map coverage diagrams - click on the map image and you will be able to run the dynamic interface allowing you to zoom around the edges and find all the town names and full road and river coverage.
Also see the updates to the I.T. Beyond site. Ensure you check out the new look and content available showing all the
tools and products that we have developed and show-cased on ExplorOz.com
Happy Easter All!
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Michelle from ExplorOz - Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 23:03
Thursday, Apr 08, 2004 at 23:03
It is David not Michelle on this post.
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Reply By: Moneypit - Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 00:09
Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 00:09
David,
I go to use it and I get a message that says "To display this page properly you need to download Java Virtual Machine. I then click 'Download' and I get the message from MS that they no longer support or supply JVM.
I can't seem to find whatever this program is and as such I can't make this part of the site operate.\
Is there an easy fix.
I use Windows 2000.
Dave
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Stonebreaker - Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 04:03
Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 04:03
It's Micro$oft's way to push java out of the market and force everyone to use their product .net
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Follow Up By: ExplorOz Team - David - Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 13:10
Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 13:10
Good old MS - I was under the impression that the JVm engine was still avaiable from MS. I am working to get around this issue at the moment however the
tools to draw the zoom box on the screen and allow interaction between the browser and the mapping engine will only run in java. You can download the Sun version at java.com and select the free download button top right hand corner. The system will install what is required.
I am not very happy about the MS support issue and I will work around this in time. It may take a while however so in the mean time install the Java plug in and you will be away.
Stonebreaker - it is not even a .net thing I do not think as the interactioon between the client and server is not handled in .net any better then VS6 and Interdev. In any case I will work a way around this issue but for now you need a Java engine.
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Follow Up By: Moneypit - Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 18:01
Friday, Apr 09, 2004 at 18:01
Worked fine.
Thanks for the speedy answer.
Some really good changes continuing to happen to the site.
Dave
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: ExplorOz Team - David - Tuesday, Apr 13, 2004 at 23:43
Tuesday, Apr 13, 2004 at 23:43
Just as an additional bit of info on this issue I am going to implement a Javascript client side DHTML version of the mapping output engine this will ensure a far wider browser support level.
It will be completed soon and mentioned in a newsletter shortly.
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Follow Up By: ExplorOz Team - David - Thursday, Apr 15, 2004 at 12:30
Thursday, Apr 15, 2004 at 12:30
Well after a very late night (early morning) and a couple of days of work I have built a new interface for the iMapPlot system (it looks exactly the same) however it is now built using DHTML instead of Java. This will provide much better browser support and removes the requirement for Java. It should al be working at the moment on the Dynamic Mapping interface. I have also added the ability to measure distance on the maps using the mouse. Have a look it just keeps getting better.
FollowupID:
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