GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems, and although a GIS can have many functions and capabilities, our online GIS viewer allows for the display of information that is of interest to health care providers.  This tool provides an additional method of viewing information, and visualizing this data geographically can display patterns and trends not visible in a spreadsheet or list of data.  The maps provide the user with the ability to turn layers on and off, zoom into specific areas, and view information associated with the data that is displayed.  Users can also print and save the map images, and perform distance measuring between selected points.

The GIS Maps screen can be accessed from the left side menu in VIIS, by clicking on 'gis maps' under the G.I.S. menu item.

*Note* Only specific user roles have access to the GIS Maps screen. Contact the Help Desk for more information.

The GIS Maps screen is split into two sections, Software and Maps.

• Software

• • Java 2 Runtime Environment

  • Supporting Java JAR Files

• Maps

• • Map Applet Display Area

  • Toolbar

  • Overview Map

  •  Layer Legend

Before viewing any of the maps you must first install the required software.  This is a one-time install only, and attempting to view a map without this software may result in an error or a blank map applet window.  It is required that the following software be installed in the order outlined in this document.

Java 2 Runtime Environment

Before viewing any of the maps you must first install the required software. This is a one-time install only, and attempting to view a map without this software may result in an error or a blank map applet window. It is strongly recommended that the following software be installed in the order outlined in this document.

To install the Java 2 Runtime Environment click the j2re-1.3.1.02 for Windows link. A File Download dialog box will appear.

1. Select Save this program to disk and click OK.

2. The Save As dialog box appears.

3. Navigate to the directory where you want to save the file.

4. Click the Save button.

5. A download progress dialog box appears.

6. When the download is complete click the Open button.

7. Proceed through the installation providing the following inputs:

   1. Software License Agreement

      • Click Yes

1. 2. Choose Destination Location

      • Keep the default location and click Next

        Note: Should you choose a different location, the default location for the Supporting Java JAR Files (below) will need to correspond with this change.

1. 3. Select Browsers

      • Click the Microsoft Internet Explorer option (a check-mark should appear)

      • Should a Question prompt appear, asking ‘The browser already has a newer version of Java runtime. Would you like to replace it?’, click Yes

8. The J2RE 1.3.1.02 software will now install.

Supporting Java JAR Files

To install the necessary supporting Java JAR files (a series of .jar files stored in a self-extracting zip file) click the Supporting JAR Files Download link.  A File Download dialog box will appear.

1. Select Save this program to disk and click OK.

2. The Save As dialog box appears.

3. Navigate to the directory where you want to save the file.

4. Click the Save button.

5. A download progress dialog box appears.

6. When the download is complete click the Open button.

7. The WinZip Self-Extractor dialog box appears.

8. Keep all defaults, including the Unzip to folder path C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1_02\lib\ext\, and click Unzip.

   Note: If you chose to install the Java 2 Runtime Environment somewhere other than the default location, the installation path here will need to correspond with this change.

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All maps are listed as links on the left-hand side of the screen with a short description for each map to the right. Clicking a link will open a new window into which the selected map Java applet will load. Each map opens in its own window, and clicking the link of a map already open will refresh that map in its corresponding window.

The map applet screen has four main sections:

• Map Applet Display Area

•  Toolbar

• Overview Map

• Layer Legend

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This is an image of what the map screen will look like:

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This section displays what the toolbar looks like along with guides and descriptions for all of the buttons in the toolbar.

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This section explains some of the function and features of the toolbar. Select a menu item below for the feature you would like help on:

• Zooming in and out

• Panning the map display

• Identifying Features

• Measuring distances on the map

• Changing measurement and display units

• Printing the map

• Saving the map as an image

1. Click the Zoom In or Zoom Out button on the toolbar.

2. Move the mouse pointer to the desired location on the map, then click and drag a box around it.

3. Release the mouse button.

• The map display zooms in to or out from the selected area.

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1. Click the Pan button on the toolbar.

2. Click the map and drag the mouse in the direction you want to pan.

• To see more to the left, click and drag the mouse to the right.

• To see more to the right, click and drag the map to the left.

• To see more at the top, click and drag the map downward.

• To see more at the bottom, click and drag the map upward.

3. Release the mouse button.

• The map display refreshes.

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1. Click a layer in the legend to make it active.

2. Click the Identify button on the toolbar.

3. Click a feature on the map.

• The Identify Results dialog box appears, displaying attribute information about the feature that you clicked.

4. If more than one feature is listed, click a feature in the left panel to see its attribute information.

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1. Click the Measure button on the toolbar.

2. Click the starting point on your map.

3. Drag the mouse to the endpoint and release the mouse button.

• The distance measured by the line segment appears in the upper left corner of the map display area.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to create additional line segments.

• The Total distance of all the line segments also appears in the upper left corner of the map display area.

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1. Click the Set Units button on the toolbar.

• Two dropdown boxes and a Set button appear below the map display area.

2. Click the Screen Units dropdown arrow and click Inches or Centimeters.

3. Click the Distance Units dropdown arrow and click Feet, Miles, Meters, or Kilometers.

4. Click Set.

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1. Click the Print button on the viewer toolbar.

• The Print dialog box appears.

2. Change any print settings that need to be changed and click OK.

• The map prints to the printer you selected.

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1. Use the Pan and Zoom tools to pan or zoom to the extent you want to capture as an image.

2. Click the Copy Map Image to File button.

• Two text boxes and a Save button appear below the map display area.

3. Type a title for the map image in the Map Title text box.

4. Type a directory location and name for the image file in the Map Image text box.

5. Click Save.

• The current view is saved as a JPEG image.

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The overview map is a scaled down representation of the main map display. Layers displayed in the overview map can be added or removed, and panning the main map display can be performed within this window.

Adding or removing layers within the overview map

1. Right click on a layer (but not in the corresponding check box).

2. A context menu is displayed.

3. Click the Use in Overview Map option to add or remove a layer on the overview map.

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Panning within the overview map

1. Position the mouse pointer in the overview map window.

2. Click the red box and drag the mouse to the area you want to view in the main map display area.

3. Release the mouse button.

• The main map display area will display the area selected within the overview map window.

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The layer legend displays all available layers for the map with their corresponding symbol and color. Layers can be added to or removed from the map display area from here.

Adding or removing layers within the map display area

1. Click in the checkbox of the desired layer.

2. The layer will be added or removed within the map display area.

• While a layer is being added to the map display area, its checkbox will flash green while that layer is being generated and displayed. The checkbox will stop flashing when the layer is fully loaded.

• Layer load times will vary according to the data content of that layer and the state of any other layers in the process of being added or removed.

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