[ka-Map-users] layer controls - your opinion requested

[Jacob Delfos]

Paul,

Sounds like you got it all worked out already :)
Still some comments inline...
 
» -----Original Message-----
» From: ka-map-users-bounces at lists.maptools.org 
» [mailto:ka-map-users-bounces at lists.maptools.org] On Behalf Of 
» Paul Spencer
» Sent: 3 August 2005 05:39
» To: ka-map-users at lists.maptools.org
» Subject: [ka-Map-users] layer controls - your opinion requested
» 
» hello ka-mapers!
» 
» I'm soliciting feedback on how the layer control (kaLegend) 
» works.  It 
» currently serves my purposes in most cases but it could stand some 
» improvements.
» 
» I am not going to build a completely flexible template-based 
» legend ala 
» mapserver legend templates, but I am open to suggestions on 
» how to make 
» the existing layer control more flexible - others can build different 
» layers controls if they wish :>
» 
» Currently it works by assuming that everything with no group 
» (or in the 
» group named __base__) is part of a group labelled 'Base' in the 
» interface.  This special group cannot be turned off as it.

I think the nature and purpose of Ka-map makes groups a 'must', and if you're building a serious website to go live, it's not much effort to define a group for all items you want on there. I wouldn't expect the BASE layer to be used on a live site, only for development, so I wouldn't worry too much about any aspects of it. Though I think it might as well have a toggle-box.

» Any other groups in the map file are loaded as separately 
» controllable 
» elements in the legend control, one checkbox per group.
» 
» For each group, you can expand it to show the mapserver 
» legend for that 
» group (based on the LEGEND object in the map file, not a 
» legend template).
» 
» For each group, you can control the visibility and the opacity on the 
» client side.  The visibility is handled via the checkbox.  
» There is no 
» visible way to control opacity (any more) but it could be added by a 
» third party if they wished - instead, you can control the opacity via 
» the map file by adding metadata "opacity" "50" on the first 
» layer in any 
» group.
» 
» (Are there other things we could control on a layer-by-layer basis?)

Would it be crazy to have a combobox with pre-defined (in metadata?) attribute names of labels that can be controlled by the user (e.g. "roadname", "roadlength", "no labels")? The labels would sit in a separate layer that is not loaded by default. Probably too much work to implement, though.

» Its pretty obvious that the name 'Base' is not particularly suited to 
» most applications ... Also, it may be desirable to have one or more 
» 'groups' of layers that cannot be turned on/off ... but perhaps have 
» variable opacity etc.
» 
» I think one solution to this is to provide more metadata in 
» the map file 
» that can control the functionality of the legend.  What I am 
» currently 
» thinking of doing is removing the magic 'Base' group and instead 
» allowing groups to have visibility controls or not via metadata:

» visibility_control: true/false
» 
» This could optionally be expanded to include:
» 
» opacity_control: true/false
» 
» The default for both would be 'false' if not explicitly set to 'true' 
» (i.e. missing or any other value than true)

As above, wouldn't worry about "customizability" of BASE group. Why would you want to make it impossible to turn off a layer or change its opacity though? Might as well not show it in the layer-control/legend at all then (treat it as background), to reduce clutter and keep things simple (strength of Ka-map is its simplicity from the user's perspective, in my opinion). So you'd have a metadata item called "show_in_legend".

» Group/Layer order is currently not fully respected in that 
» the special 
» 'Base' layer is kept at the bottom on the client side.  In making the 
» above change, I would also remove this restriction so that the static 
» layers could be placed anywhere in the map drawing order and 
» have that 
» respected on the client side.

Think items should appear in legend in same order as they are stacked. As above, wouldn't worry about BASE layer.

» For performance reasons, we turn off all unnecessary layers during 
» dragging.  I would propose to change this to either:
» 
» 1) turn off only layers that have visibility_control set to true
» 
» - OR -
» 
» 2) provide another metadata to control which layers are left on when 
» dragging (I'm open to suggestions on naming for this, plus defaults)

Performance is everything (determines whether user stays on your site or forgets it forever). I would suggest a "preload" metadata item, that controls whether a layer is loaded when it's turned off or not. I noticed a strong performance decrease as number of layers increases.

» Finally, what should we do with layers that have no group 
» set?  Perhaps 
» they could still go into a special 'Base' group?  Or 
» 'Ungrouped Layers'?

As above, I think the essence of Ka-map is having layers combined in groups, to increase performance and simplicity. Only use BASE for development, not for live site.

» If there is any other functionality or any objection/changes to the 
» stuff I've mentioned here, please post on the list to get 
» your opinion 
» heard :)

Actually..... :) I like the way the legend, scalebar, etc have been combined into one div (the "reference" div). I've dumped a search-tool into it as well. I think that div is highly suitable for being made 'draggable', so it can be moved around as a toolwindow. That way, it's not in the way of the map at times.

My suggestions are only suggestions, not requests (no pressure!). I'm very happy with Ka-Map as it is.

regards,

Jacob
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.maptools.org/pipermail/ka-map-users/attachments/20050803/6a11a2b1/attachment-0001.html