Fast mapping with Visual Studio
21 July 2008
Software developer GeoFrameworks has announced a new version of its GIS.NET mapping component for Microsoft Visual Studio. GIS.NET 3.0 is designed to speed the development of mapping and GIS software for desktop PCs and portable devices.
“Software applications which display maps of Earth are very challenging to create, because it requires fast computers and tremendous amounts of data,” said GeoFrameworks founder Jon Person. “Plus, all of this data must be presented in a way which anyone can understand. We feel GIS.NET 3.0 solves all of these problems.” The new software uses a brand new architecture known as the Geographic Object Framework, a set of geographic features such as points, lines and polygons. Software developers then expand upon these concepts to create real-world objects such as lakes, rivers, vehicles, or even people. With this approach, developers are finally able to map anything they need to with a bare minimum of source code required.
“In June, our beta testers were experimenting with 3.0 and giving us feedback,” said Person. “Within only ten hours, one tester in the UK had successfully created a ‘Helicopter’ object and was using it to map the entire fleet of his air taxi business. A few days later, another tester used GIS.NET 3.0 to map soil conditions for farmers using a ‘Soil Sample’ object. They had figured it all out on their own, and they also used the same product for a completely different purpose. This told me that our goal to make a versatile, easy-to-learn .NET mapping component had succeeded.”
GIS.NET version 3.0 also claims to solve a big problem which software developers have faced for years: how to display detailed maps on a mobile device. Lead developer Phil Smith explained: “Until now, the slow speed and limited memory of mobile devices had forced people to display only the simplest of maps. Portable devices just couldn't keep large data sets in memory, plus they were slow to display the data. GIS.NET 3.0 solves this problem, and our clients are excited because they can now finally move their own product lines to mobile devices and generate new business.” Using its ‘tilesets’ feature, GIS.NET 3.0 can split large, highly-detailed maps into a grid of thousands of small, square images. The individual images, known as are then either copied to or downloaded to a mobile device or Web page, where they are displayed. With this technology, mobile devices can produce detailed and responsive maps, regardless of the level of detail required.