The following responses to frequently asked questions may help provide quick
answers to common issues regarding the IMF software.
- Can IMF use OGC WMS services?
Yes. There is an OGC version of IMF that works with
WMS compliant servers. Multiple services can be used together to display
and query maps containing data from servers at various locations around
the world. This enables an organization to take advantage of up-to-date
map data directly from the custodians server. But more than that, an
environment can be created to quickly create 'on demand' atlases or
mapping services for government initiatives, regional groups, emergency
responses, etc.
- Can IMF use ArcIMS 4 ArcMap services?
Yes. ArcMap image services are supported, and work just
like standard ArcIMS image services with one exception. Because the
symbolization and rendering of ArcMap layers is specified by ArcMap, IMF
cannot change the symbolization of a layer. This means that feature
highlighting for selected features is not possible for layers in an ArcMap
map service.
- What are the maintenance costs?
The IMF will continue to be developed and improved. Updates
to the IMF will be available to licencees that subscribe to the IMF maintenance
program. The maintenance fee is 20% of the product price, payable on the
anniversary date of the IMF purchase. No maintenance fee is payable during the
first year.
- Is ArcIMS included with IMF?
The Internet Mapping Framework uses ArcIMS to create the maps
and support the queries, but it is not included with the IMF. ArcIMS is available
from your regional distributor of ESRI products.
- Can I use the IMF on a Linux server?
Yes. The IMF is platform independent, and has been tested on
Windows, UNIX, and Linux servers, using SunOne (formerly iPlanet), Oracle
Application Server (OAS), WebSphere, Apache and IIS servers, with Tomcat,
Servlet Exec, OC4J, and Resin servlet engines.
- I don't know much about Java or JSP. Do I need Java training before I can use the IMF?
No. An IMF-based web site can be configured and customized without
knowing any programming language at all. You will need to understand some Java only if you
intend to modify the framework code itself.
- Can I link identify requests to existing web pages?
Yes. An identify handler can point at any existing web page on
any server, and can be defined to be pass parameters to the existing script
containing field values from the feature table. Although The framework is written
in Java, the report page can be written using any scripting language you are
comfortable with such as Active Server Pages, Cold Fusion, or perl.
|
