How do I use the Project IMS?
On the left hand side of your browser is a toolbar that contains several rows of icons, each of which is associated with a specific function within the IMS. When a tool is selected, a red ring will appear around the corresponding icon and a small text message will appear near the lower left of your screen describing the active tool.
Viewing Layers or Legend:
The top left icon in the toolbar allows users to toggle between the list of layers in the table of contents (the branching menu on the right of the screen) and the legend (also appears on the right side of the browser). Clicking this icon will switch back and forth between the layer list and the legend.
Navigating:
There are ten icons in the toolbar that allow users to navigate (zoom, pan, etc.) around the map, numbered 1-10 in the figure to the right. Numbers 1 and 2 allow zooming in and out, respectively. Number 3 will zoom to the full extent of all data layers, while number 4 will zoom to the extent of the active data layer (see how do I manipulate data layers). Number 5 will return to the previous extend (essentially a “Go Back”). Number 6 is the pan tool, which allows users to interactively pan, while 7 through 9 represent a fixed pan in each of the cardinal directions.
Querying:
An additional eight icons permit the user to query the data. Number 1 in the figure to the left allows users to query the attributes of a layer by clicking on a feature in that layer. Number 2 helps users create custom queries of the active data layer. Number 3 is a more general query that will search for a user's specified string in any field of that layer. Number 4 is a distance tool that returns the distance between user-identified points.
Selecting:
The last three primary tools allow users to select data interactively. Number 2 in the graphic to the right is a buffer feature that can be used to select all of the features in one layer that fall within a user-specified distance of the selected features in another layer. Number 3 will select all of the features from the active layer that intersect with a user-defined rectangle, while number 4 does the same, except using a user-defined polygon.
How do I manipulate the data layers?
Within the IMS, there are many data layers that a user can interact with individually. The layers are presented in a collapsible, hierarchical menu as presented in the graphic to the left (much like Windows Explorer on your local machine). The layers are organized thematically for convenience to allow users to more quickly identify where a layer of interest might be found.
By default, some layers are already set to display, while others may default to be turned off. To change which layers are displayed, simply locate the layer of interest and toggle the checkbox on or off to turn the layer on or off, respectively.
The radio button next to the check box allows the user to set the “active” layer which, in some cases, determines the layer on which the current tool will execute (i.e. queries, selections, etc. are run on the active layer).
What if layers don't show up?
Some layers are defined to show up only at certain scales (levels of zoom) and even though you have selected them to display, they will not show up until you zoom in or out. This is because some layers are only appropriate at certain scales or to help make the IMS run more efficiently by not having to display too many features at once.
How do I access the Project IMS?
Click here.
