SuperGIS Mobile Engine – Mobile GIS Developer Objects

March 19, 2009 - PRLog -- SuperGIS Mobile Engine is a Software Developer Kit (SDK) based on .NET Compact Framework (.NET CF). It allows programmers and developers to rapidly create diversified mobile GIS applications which can be operated in any hand-held devices that support .NET CF. During the operating procedure, developers can employ Visual Studio .NET, Delphi 2005 or other development environments which support .NET CF to design and create the mobile GIS applications that fit users’ personal needs. In addition, SuperGIS Mobile Engine offers many objects and controls in order to fulfill various demands of the developers. Developers can utilize not only all the libraries built in .NET CF but also the objects and controls within SuperGIS Mobile Engine to develop the applications.
In the designing stage, SuperGIS Mobile Engine provides a simple and user-friendly developing process for the developers. The basic map browsing functions can be produced quickly by means of this setting, in which all developers need to do is to drag the controls to the forms and set related functions during the designing stage. This process will reduce inconvenience and hassles when developers have to directly write the codes. With this setting, developers can deploy the applications to hand-held devices and operate them in a simple way. Take Visual Studio .NET for example. Firstly, the developers have to establish a smart device application project in Visual Studio .NET. Then, the controls as well as objects built in SuperGIS Mobile Engine need to be added to the form. After the related references and settings are created in the project, the various functions can be established in the application easily.

The core assemblies of SuperGIS Mobile Engine
SuperGIS Mobile Engine provides 13 core assemblies. The developers can flexibly increase suitable functions to develop mobile GIS applications according to their specific demands.
1.   GeneralMap: this assembly allows feature layers, raster layers, and map elements to be added on the map. The users can hence record map data by means of map layers and also make additional changes on the map display.
2.   Symbol: the assembly controls feature display and includes 6 types. They are SimplePointSymbol, SimpleLineSymbol, SimpleFillSymbol, SimpleTextSymbol, PictirePointSymbol, and PictureFillSymbol.
3.   Annotator: the annotations can be written on the map through this assembly. These explanatory notes can be designed to various shapes, be rotated to different angles, and also be overlapped and duplicated.
4.   Element: the assembly supports the user to add map elements, such as Compass, ScaleLine, and AlternatingScaleBar, on the map.
5.   FeatureClass: attributes of layers can be stored and retrieved by this assembly, so that the user can read any data on the data row easily and draw the data on the map according to their attributes.
6.   RasterClass: by this function, the user can retrieve data of interest from the raster matrix in terms of the characteristics of raster layers.
7.   FeatureRenderer: this assembly supports the user to draw features in 3 ways, which are SimpleRenderer, SimpleClassRenderer, and SimpleUniqueRenderer.
8.   RasterRenderer: this assembly allows the user to draw raster class data in 3 ways, which are RibbonRenderer, ColorTableRenderer, and RGB (RGBRenderer).
9.   FeatureFilter: with this function, the needed information can be searched and filtered easily from a great deal of data. There are 5 ways in this assembly, inclusive of Expression Filter, Binary Logic Filter, Binary Spatial Filter, Binary Comparison Filter, and Feature ID Filter.
10.   CoordinateSystem: this assembly helps the user to set the coordinate information, defines the parameters, or to build another coordinate system. In addition, this assembly offers some interfaces for the user to change different coordinate systems.
11.   Geometry: on map display, the drawing, editing, and modifying of geometry need to be operated by this assembly. There are several categories in the assembly in terms of their appearances, including SGPoint, SGMultiPoint, SGLineString, SGMultiLineString, SGPolygon, SGMultiPolygon, SGGeometryCollection, and Envelope.
12.   MapControl: this assembly contains controls and layer lists. Map display and computer mouse are also operated and controlled by this assembly.
13.   GPS Control: this assembly consists of three interfaces, IGpsconnection, IGpsparser, and IGpsdisplay. IGpsconnection connects with GPS data source to read the data. IGpsparser analyzes GPS data stream in compliance with the designate data format, in order to obtain attributes like longitude and latitude. IGpsdisplay is an interface to reveal the receiving condition of satellite signals in graphs.

Case study of SuperGIS Mobile Engine
SuperGIS Mobile Engine can be developed widely and applied to various mobile GIS applications, such as tourism guide, field survey, emergency aid, etc. For instance, ‘SuperGIS Mobile Tour’ is one of the applications developed from SuperGIS Mobile Engine, which provides many objects and controls in order to rapidly serve the following functions.
1.   Map display
  MapCtrl is utilized in SuperGIS Mobile Engine to display maps. It supports not only the feature and raster layers in many formats, but also the feature legends that can be self-defined by users. When importing layers, developers can either add layers directly by writing program codes, or they can also employ SuperGIS to edit layers, produce a slr file, and then utilize SuperGIS Mobile Engine to read and import maps on the smart device. Developers, however, have to check distinct paths of files coming from different devices, and may need to alter the paths by themselves. For example, on desktop computers, the first character on the absolute path of the file must be an English letter, like ‘C’ or ‘D’; nonetheless, on smart devices, the first character is usually ‘’.
2.   GPS connection
When GPS Receiver gets GPS signals, developers can read GPS data stream by turning on the respective port. They can further analyze in compliance with the designate format, in order to acquire the data. There are 3 GPS related functions in SuperGIS Mobile Engine, which are connecting the receiver to get data stream, analyzing data stream, and disclosing satellite status.
3.   Spatial relations
The attributes, such as scenic spot information, travelling routes, and warning area data, which are offered by the tourism system, are all recorded in their respective feature layers. For example, warning area information is recorded in warning area line layer. ISpatialOperator, one of the interfaces of SuperGIS Mobile Engine, supports spatial calculations of geometry. ISpatailRelation, on the other hand, provides various ways of computing spatial relations of geometry. Hence, when the distance between the present coordinate and any of the line features of the warning area is shorter than a specific number, which means that the user approaches the warning area too closely, and the system will automatically display signals or play alerting sounds to warn the user. This function is operated by the spatial calculations and relations of various kinds of geometry.

The infinite possibilities of SuperGIS Mobile Engine
The main difference between Mobile GIS and Desktop GIS comes from mobility and wireless communication characteristics of Mobile GIS. Mobility applies Mobile GIS to diversified functions like field survey and navigation systems. Regarding the integration of Mobile GIS with wireless communication, the technique of Internet connection is one of the major influential factors. As the spread of wireless and high-speed Internet, more and more diversified information can be combined with Mobile GIS instantly. The functions and applications of Mobile GIS are meanwhile increased quickly. Mobile GIS thus have infinite possibilities to be more widely developed in the future.

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SuperGeo is a company based on GIS (Geographic Information System), RS (Remote Sensing), and GPS (Global Positioning System) technologies, dedicated in developing and marketing GIS software, and providing professional service to clients around the world.