topic Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2? in ArcGIS API for Flex Questions

Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

JoshuaKalov — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:20:16 GMT

Are the navigation controls available somewhere in the new header with FlexViewer 2? I can't seem to find a way to add navigation to the header. Am I missing it, or are they excluded for some reason (despite being default/standard with the old header)?

Thanks

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

Joshuacalhoun — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:49:43 GMT

I would like to know that also. How do I set up the zoom next and zoom previous buttons.

thanks,

Josh Calhoun

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

RobertScheitlin__GISP — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:11:41 GMT

Guys,

The Development team left out the navigation tools from the header in the beta release (to many other things to work on). If by final release they do not add them in then I will be releasing my custom header control widget that has them included. I'm not going to release any code for the beta AGS Flex API Map Viewer as there are to many things (code) in flux right now and it would be pointless. So just be a little patient until the viewer has gone final. There are many things to be fixed and added to the viewer right now.

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

Joshuacalhoun — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:11:49 GMT

Thanks Robert.

I appreciate your help.

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

BjornSvensson — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:26:08 GMT

When you talk about "navigation controls" - what do you really mean? 🙂
Is it "just" the Next/Previous functionality, like Josh mentions? What about initial extent? Or full (some sort of max) extent?

Which of them are most important (and thus what do you think should be our priority)?

Are you asking for Robert's buttons a la http://gis.calhouncounty.org/flexviewer2.0 ? 🙂

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

RobertScheitlin__GISP — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:44:57 GMT

Bjorn,

Just my opinion but I would say you guys need to look at the old SFV and make sure that we are not taking a step backwards in any area.

1. We need to be able to have navigation controls in the header. Just like we were able to add them to menus in old SFV

2. Identify widget

3. Need links to appear in the Search widgets item renderer

4. Chart Widget

5. Not my favorite but query builder widget

6. Routing or directions widget

7. Service area widget

8. Map Service transparency control

New Stuff:

1. Make widgets drag-able and re-dockable just like I developed for old SFV.

2. Add WMS and IMS and open street map support to the map manager.

3. Add reverse geocode support to the locate widget.

4. TOC component (in MapswitcherWidget and LayerListWidget) should update their checkboxes when layervisiblity is changed programatically.

5. A configurable basemap fader widget for supporting multiple years of aerial imagery

Notice that I didn't shoot for the moon here just some basic and possibly easily reached targets for the final version.

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

JoshuaKalov — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:22:42 GMT

When you talk about "navigation controls" - what do you really mean? 🙂
Is it "just" the Next/Previous functionality, like Josh mentions? What about initial extent? Or full (some sort of max) extent?

Which of them are most important (and thus what do you think should be our priority)?

Are you asking for Robert's buttons a la http://gis.calhouncounty.org/flexviewer2.0 ? 🙂

For me, its more the "Zoom In", "Zoom Out", "Pan" buttons as the main priority. I personally have never been a big user of previous/next extent, but it seems like it would make sense to include them too. Its an interface that has been standard in ArcDesktop, ArcIMS, ArcGISServer WebADF, and FlexViewer1.3 and by now its something people have come to expect/use frequently.

Robert's list is excellent. With the WebADF being discontinued, it seems like the FlexViewer is the new long-term "out of the box" solution, so it really needs to be able to replace the ease and functionality of the WebADF map creation interface.

The one important addition I would add to Robert's list is a Buffer widget (or at least Buffer capabilities built into the Search widget like the ProximitySearch Widget that Robert(?) created for 1.3).

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

BjornSvensson — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:33:37 GMT

Thanks for the wish lists 🙂

About the pan and zoom in/out, I'm still curious to why an application would need buttons for those specific actions.

Users can navigate the map by dragging the map (pan) and using the zoom in and out buttons of the navigation slider, as well as double-clicking to zoom in, or using the mouse wheel to zoom in/out. Consumer mapping sites like Bing Maps, Google Maps, and MapQuest all seem to work fine without specific navigation "states". I'm wondering why some developers want them and others don't. Is it because of legacy issues? Are your clients asking for it because their old sites had it, and/or they are used to it from other applications like ArcMap?

just curious 🙂

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

RobertScheitlin__GISP — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:42:14 GMT

Bjorn,

I think that it is both legacy and some use to those controls in ArcMap. I know in my case, my site serves a mainly computer illiterate user base so the site has to be very visual and simple to understand that is why I have made the zoom in and out tools work with single click and dragging a box. It amazes me when I watch a person from the public use my site and they just single click away on the map untill they get to the zoom level they want to be at. So much for all the time I invested in the sites help system and documentation...

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

ReneRubalcava — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:55:54 GMT

I don't use the FlexViewer Bjorn, but I tried moving away from specific nav tools, like pan/zoom previous/zoom next/zoom out, but one of the first things users ask is, "hey, where is the zoom previous or pan button". I never should have put it in to begin with, but the users want what they want. Personally, I think a single zoom in would be fine, but apparently I'm too minimalist.

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

CattyannCampbell — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:49:48 GMT

I like Robert's list as well... I miss the zoom tools (zoom in/zoom out) and the identify tool.
Although I agree you can zoom in and out in many ways users are used to having those tools.
Buffer is a must...

Keep the widgets coming 😉

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

MatthewLawton — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:29:12 GMT

Robert, thank you for your lists and I agree they are dead on correct. When i showed my boss the Flex Viewer 2 template yesterday the first things he asked me were "Where are the navigation buttons?" and "Where is the Identify tool?".

Bjorn, you get an F- for your response. Instead of asking why customers want something (especially something as simple as navigation buttons) your response should be "We will get working on that ASAP!". It is nice to think that all of our apps are being consumed by 20-something web geeks, but the fact of the matter is that we have many people using our apps that are not Internet savvy. When they learn to zoom in on a map by clicking a Zoom In button, then by gosh they want that Zoom In button to be there every time.

Even if you think these tools are unnecessary, we need the option to add them. This is the concept of good legacy support.

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

MarcWeinshenker — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:23:40 GMT

I have another consideration for why nav controls should be available. I want to make web mapping a suitable alternative to the desktop client for my users who are not good candidates for using desktop clients. They still need to make maps to meet their needs, and to me that means having control over coordinate system and scale. And that means State Plane rather than Web Mercator as well as arbitrary scale rather than pre-defined tile levels. (Yes, I know this also means dynamic maps which take more time and resources). So, in order to offer control over zooming to an arbitrary scale, I think it's natural to want to select a zoom tool to drag an extent and then make fine adjustments as needed. That also implies the need for a pan tool since you need to have a way to switch functions. And I think, under these circumstances, that previous and next extent functions also help in this scenario.

Thanks,
Marc

Re: Navigation controls in FlexViewer 2?

LeeAllen — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:12:47 GMT

I agree with Robert's list as well. I love using cached basemaps, and the scroll/slider zoom in/out are designed for navigation with the cache. But there is no way all apps are going to have cached data. For simple navigation, "click this tool and drag a box around the area you would like to zoom in to," is pretty easy. The more options there are for navigation, the better chance of the user picking up on one of them. I think these tools will help promote the use of the new Flexviewer and ease the transition for users. The jump to web 2.0 is good for esri apps, and tools like these make esri apps stand out when compared to Bing or Google. FYI-It is not the developers that want these, it is the people using the apps that want them.