A key feature of the site is its interactive mapping, which allows users to click on maps to display information such as details of ports and regular ferry routes using them. This has been created by Lost Wax in GeoConcept, the geographic information system from MapMechanics, with the aid of the recently-introduced Flash development module.
MapMechanics not only provided Lost Wax with its Flash developer module, but also supplied source code and development support so that Lost Wax could add extra features.
An example of these can be seen in the pop-up information box that appears when users click on a port. New menu items appear in this box, including the option to open a separate window from the pop-up box, displaying a map with all ferry routes running from that location. Users can also jump from the box directly to the port’s own web site.
“Scaling the maps automatically to make sure each display included every relevant port was a challenge,” says Lost Wax lead developer Brian Etheridge, “but with the Flash module and source code, we had all the tools we needed.”
Lost Wax has also added a feature that pops up a separate map window when a user makes a selection that lies outside the main Great Britain map – which can happen, for instance, when users select Northern Ireland or the Channel Islands from a drop-down list.
The idea of the Flash implementation came up after Lost Wax gave Sea and Water an early indication of what it could offer. “They liked what they saw,” says Brian Etheridge, “but were particularly taken with the smooth transitions and speed of downloading Flash images, so we decided that was the way to go for the mapping.”
Flash, a programmable vector format developed by Macromedia, was designed to render graphics such as maps smoothly in web browser windows. It offers attractive graduated “dissolves” when the view is changed, as well as compressed files which are quick to download. Users need to install a small software “plug-in” as a one-off exercise to make Flash work on any given computer, but most PCs already have it, or it can be seamlessly downloaded from Macromedia, the publisher, as part of the map loading process.
MapMechanics developed its Flash module for GeoConcept as an alternative to the existing Java module – capitalising on the benefits of a smoother user experience and quicker downloads. As standard, the Flash module can be used without minute knowledge of how it works; it allows GeoConcept users to serve selected maps over an intranet or the Internet in much the same way as the existing Java module, and provide an on-screen viewer with pan, zoom and similar facilities. But it also offers advanced developers the freedom to program in new features.
Among appealing features of the Flash option, he cites the fact that it downloads data from the web server in small “packets”, which means that maps appear on screen quickly and progressively, rather than dropping into place in large, separate chunks.
He says GeoConcept Internet Server, the underlying geographic information system, proved rock solid throughout the development process. “It did what it was supposed to do, and never crashed once, which often happens with large, complex applications used intensively in a development environment.”
Reaction to the beta version of the enhanced Sea and Water web site from port operators and other users is said to have been extremely encouraging. “We’ve been very pleased with the positive feedback,” Brian Etheridge says.
He adds that Lost Wax will now be looking for further applications in which the Flash map rendering and delivery process can be used.
Lost Wax is an established software solutions specialist, and has worked for a range of high-profile customers such as Rolls-Royce, Egg and the Meteorological Office. Among its specialities is integrating new capabilities and technologies into existing business processes.
Sea and Water, its customer in the Flash mapping project, is an independent body operating with support from the Department for Transport and the UK water-freight industry. Its membership includes ship and barge builders, operators and repairers; port authorities and wharf operators; shippers and receivers; and related organisations such as law firms and insurers. Its primary aim is to encourage freight off the road and on to the sustainable and environmentally friendly modes of shortsea, coastal and inland shipping.
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