A-Z Maps case study (647Kb) www.a-zmaps.co.uk Majestic Interactive have acted as the hosting and website development partner to A-Z since 2003 and were recently tasked with implementing the first fully interactive online version of their widely used London Visitors Map.

The raw data used in the online map is supplied by A-Z and stored on the web server ready to be processed by the website presentation layer. Before it can be used however, the raw data is bundled into a mapping source layer using the separate MapServer application which processes the raw map data into a suitable format for consumption by the presentation layer. The presentation layer itself makes use of the separate OpenLayers application – extensively customised by Majestic in order to provide the range of interactive features seen in the finished online version of the map.

The end result is a fully interactive web version of the classic AZ mapping style, providing a range of features including “click and drag” map navigation, customisable zoom levels and an overview map panel displaying the current main map location – which can also be dragged to update the main map panel display./p>

Additional functions have also been added to leverage the huge range of tourist attraction information included in the London Visitors Map. For example, each tourist attraction displayed in the map panel can be clicked in order to display a range of detail including imagery, opening times, directions and contact details for the chosen attraction. A search feature has also been added to the map presentation layer allowing visitors to search for various attractions, view a list of results and click each to view that attractions location within the map display.

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A-Z Maps case study (647Kb)

URL:

www.a-zmaps.co.uk

Features:

• Custom open source CIS libraries used to develop a client-server based dynamic mapping system with A-Z mapping data
• Click and drag map navigation
• Custom map zoom levels
• Click and drag map overview panel
• Clickable visitor attractions
• Integrated visitor attractions search

Results:

• First interactive implementation of an A-Z mapping product
• Additional value added features planned for future release
• Plans to provide interactive versions of additional A-Z products