Highlights of Virtual Map View

Highlights of Virtual Map View

VirtualMapView.pngAn ever increasing number of companies are choosing SharePoint as a collaboration system. One of the main attractions with SharePoint is the ability to quickly build a shared information database through the use of Lists. SharePoint Lists can render data in multiple views to present the information in various formats tailored for use by different sets of users. These views can be a list, calendar or other custom views such as our Gantt chart view. One of the views that out-of-the-box SharePoint is missing is a Map View for SharePoint Lists that may contain geographic data. For example, address fields in a contact list or a customer list that is being used to manage sales and marketing information.

Virtual Map View product allows users to display data points as markers in a Google or Virtual Earth map using a SharePoint List or SQL table or view as the data source.

Geocoding

Geocoding

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Geocoding is the process of finding associated geographic coordinates (i.e., latitude, longitude) from other geographic data, such as street addresses. In order to display data on a map, some geographic information is required. If your data contains address information only, the mapping service you select will perform the geocoding to convert the addresses to geographic coordinates. Sometimes geocoding results vary, depending on the service used.

Icon-Tip If you have latitude and longitude information for your data points, your map may display more quickly since no geocoding is required. Geocoding is performed to generate the latitude and longitude for the addresses provided.

hw31032_2013.jpgRegardless of your data source, select the columns for Address, City, State/Province, and Country/Region. If your data already contains geographic coordinates, select the columns that contain Latitude, Longitude, and optionally, Altitude.

Icon-WarningIMPORTANT: If you configure list columns for Longitude, Latitude, and optionally Altitude, these coordinates will be used for mapping and Address, City, State, and Country information will NOT be used. It is not necessary to configure Address/City/State/Country if you have configured Longitude/Latitude/Altitude. If a location has address information but no values for Lat/Long and the Longitude/Latitude/Altitude was configured in the web part tool pane, the location will not be plotted. In other words, it is not currently possible to map some locations using Lat/Long and others using address information.

Icon-Tip If you map using geographic coordinates (i.e., latitude, longitude) you may consider displaying address information on the map using marker tabs.

Longitude is Eastward: Indicates whether the coordinates for longitude are east (selected check box) or westward facing (unselected check box). The default is westward facing.

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Data Source for Virtual Map View

Data Source for Virtual Map View

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Select whether you would like to display data from:

See the configuration details of each option below.

SharePoint List

hw31028_2013.jpgSelect this option to access the available SharePoint lists/libraries on the current site.

NOTE: You can pick only lists from the site where the web part resides.

Fill in the following fields in the Select List to Display in Map option:

  • List: Select a SharePoint list or library where the data to be displayed resides.
  • Default View: Select the default list view that includes the data users see when the web part is first accessed.

    Icon-Tip Specifying a list view with a filter is a way to display a subset of all the items in the list/library.

The displayed data can be filtered by end users on-the-fly using one or more views in the Runtime Filtering Views drop-down list by checking in the Allow Runtime Filtering box. When this box is checked, additional configuration parameters appear:

  • Available Views: Shows all the views for the selected list or library. Select the view(s) from this column and click the right arrow button to move it to the Runtime Filtering Views column.
  • Runtime Filtering Views: The Select View drop-down in the web part user interface shows the list views selected in this box. End users can click the views displayed to control the data that is displayed on the map.

Icon-Tip Typically, the views made available for runtime filtering are those that filter the display. Using runtime filtering is a way to reduce the number of items displayed in each view to potentially increase performance if there are lots of points to be mapped.

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SQL Server Table or View

hw31030_2013.jpgSelect this option to indicate whether or not to use a SQL Server Table or View

  • Use Trusted Connection: Select this check box if you are connecting to a database that resides on the same SharePoint Server. If you select this option, you only need to provide the name of the Server, click Show Databases, and then select the database from the Database drop-down list.
    • Server: Type the name of the server you want to connect to.
    • Show Databases: Click this button to populate the Database drop-down list.
    • Database: Select the database you want from the drop-down list.

not a trusted connection1.pngIf you want to use a database located on another server, and thus, will not use a trusted connection, additional configuration parameters will appear:

  • User Name: Type the user name of the access account who has read permission to the database specified in the Server field.
  • Password: Type the password for the access account who has access to the database specified in the Server field.

Select table or view.pngIn the Select Table or View to Display in Map section of the tool pane, choose the Table or View that contains the data to be displayed on the map.

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MashPoint/BDC

hw31_MashPoint_new_2013.jpgSelect this option to access databases, web services or Custom Providers through Bamboo MashPoint or with a source configured via Microsoft Business Data Catalog (BDC).

Once MashPoint/BDC is selected, the Select Entity to display in map box appears in the tool pane.

hw31_ExtType_new_2013.jpgTo select the entity from the available content types, click on the Select External Content Type icon (Select External Content Type icon.png) to open the External Content Type Picker window where you can find the external data source with the data to display on the map. Select the appropriate one and click OK to close the window.

Alternatively, enter the name of the source in the Select Entity to display in map box and click the Check External Content Type icon (check external content type icon.png) to make sure you entered it correctly.

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CSS for Virtual Map View

CSS for Virtual Map View

When configuring the web part, the bottom of the configuration tool pane contains a button to customize the style sheet. With a few minor updates to the style sheet, you can change the user interface to match elements of your corporate brand. The style sheet for the Virtual Map View allows you to control how the map is displayed to users. This section shows each of the main Map View sections and lists the corresponding style sheet parameters that control the section’s presentation in the web part.

CSS.jpgTo access the style sheet editing option in the tool pane, select Custom CSS from the Select a Style Sheet drop-down button, and then click Edit. The style sheet editor opens.

Class Name Sample
VirtualMapViewBackground hw31052_2013.jpg
This is the background for the web part; use hexadecimal color codes to update the color.
VirtualMapViewToolTipBody ToolTipCode.jpg
Tool tips appear when a user hovers over a selection on the left navigation. In our example we changed the background color to green and the font to red; use colors that are relevant to your corporate brand.
ToolTipColors.jpg
VirtualMapViewWPHeader hw31056_2013.jpg
VirtualMapViewEditItemName hw31058_2013.jpg
VirtualMapViewTD hw31060_2013.jpg
VirtualMapViewInfoWindowTabs (for Google Map) hw31062_2013.jpg
VirtualMapViewNoWrap (for Google Map) hw31063_2013.jpg
VirtualMapViewInfoBox (for Bing, which was previously called Virtual Earth) hw31065_2013.jpg
VirtualMapViewTitle (for Bing, which was previously called Virtual Earth) hw31067_2013.jpg
Virtual Earth Limitation hw31077_2013.jpg
You cannot change the font size of text in these tabs.
Google Map Limitation hw31071_2013.jpg
You cannot change the font size of text in these Tabs.

Create your own marker

Create your own marker

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If the markers provided out-of-the-box with the Virtual Map View Web Part aren’t sufficient for your situation, you can create your own markers. See an example of a map with customer markers here.

Follow these steps to add a custom marker:

Step Action
1.

Create icon files for your custom markers using your preferred graphic design tool. The supported file formats are GIF, JPG, and PNG.

Icon-Tip The recommended size for the markers is 18 to 48 pixels square.

2.

Copy your marker icon files to the resource directory on your SharePoint server(s). The resource directory is typically found at this path:

c:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedWeb Server Extensions
   wpresourcesBamboo.VirtualMapViewxxx

Where xxx is a code for the version of the product you have installed.

Icon-WarningIMPORTANT: The files will need to be copied to all Web Front End (WFE) servers that run the Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Web Application.

Icon-Tip You will know you are in the right place when you see the files for the out-of-the-box markers (i.e., house.png, plus.png, default.png)

Icon-WarningIMPORTANT: Don’t overwrite the existing, out-of-the-box markers. They will be updated when you upgrade your Virtual Map View web part. Always give your custom markers unique names.

3.

edit for custom marker.pngIn the web part tool pane, click Edit next to the Marker Type selection. A window will appear where you can edit information about the available marker types.

icon editor page.png

For each marker available, there is an XML tag like this:

<House IconName = "house.png" IconWidth = "32" IconHeight = "32" MarkerType = "1" />

You need to edit the code in the window to add a tag for your custom marker and insert it in the file before the ending </Icons> tag. As an example, consider a custom marker called Amarker.png that is 45 pixels wide and 45 pixels high. The tag for it would be:

<AL IconName = "Amarker.png" IconWidth = "45" IconHeight = "45" MarkerType = "1" />

Where:

  • MyCustomMarker is a name of the marker type. It will appear in the Marker Type selection list.
  • IconName is the filename of the icon file
  • IconWidth is the width of the image
  • IconHeight is the height of the image
  • MarkerType is used if you are displaying multiple markers on your map

    Icon-WarningIMPORTANT: Unless you are using multiple markers, it won’t matter much what you set Marker Type to. However, it is best to set it to a value that hasn’t been used in any of the other marker type tags in the file.

Once the new tag is added, click Save to close the window and save your change. Otherwise, click Cancel to close the window without saving any changes.

4.

custom marker is selectable.pngOnce the tag for your custom marker is saved, it will be available in the Marker Type selection list. Select it in order to see it displayed on your map.

Icon-WarningIMPORTANT: Although the custom marker file has been copied to the SharePoint server(s), only the current instance of the Virtual Map View knows about it. To use this custom marker in other instances, repeat Steps 3-4 for those instances.

Return to Select the Map Provider

Complementary Products for Virtual Map View

Complementary Products for Virtual Map View

sharepointsolutions.pngYou will find many of our products complement each other quite nicely saving you the time and trouble to write custom code. With Bamboo at the heart of your SharePoint investment, you gain access to a huge catalog of enhancements, components, and accessories that add the critical functionality your business requires.

The same components can be easily used in future applications and they all come from a single, trusted vendor, ensuring an easy purchase process and support you can count on. That’s the Bamboo Way!