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ThinkGeo Cloud
ThinkGeo UI Controls
ThinkGeo Open Source
Help and Support
External Resources
Here are answers to some of the most common questions that we are asked about the Map Suite Web Edition .NET GIS control. If you still have questions after reading these, feel free to post them in our Web Edition discussion forum. Our forums are monitored by our development staff in order to provide detailed and technical answers when you need them.
Map Suite MVC Edition is based on the Model-View-Controller architecture, whereas Map Suite Web Edition uses traditional a WebForms model. Using Map Suite MVC Edition offers you the following advantages:
Gives you full control over your page presentation via HTML and CSS Easier and quicker to target mobile and touch-based devices like the Apple iPad, iPhone or Android devices Allows you to easily integrate third-party JavaScript libraries such as jQuery Offers faster performance and simpler coding in numerous scenarios Enables much greater automated unit tests Better suited to multi-developer environments where several programmers can work on different parts of the same page We typically recommend Map Suite MVC Edition over Map Suite Web Edition for most modern web applications. However, there are situations where Map Suite Web Edition's traditional WebForms model will be more advantageous to you — for instance, if you are porting a desktop-based Winforms application to a web environment, or if you don't need or want to worry about HTML and CSS and instead prefer to let the control handle presentation for you.
If you still have questions about which edition of Map Suite would best suit you, feel free to post in our Map Suite Web Edition discussion forum or give us a call.
Yes, absolutely. Map Suite Web Edition is an ASP.NET control, so you can easily integrate it into your application just like any other control from the Toolbox. We expose a large amount of APIs that allow you to customize every aspect of the map and the user interface so that they fit in with the look and feel of your application.
To create web-based map applications with Map Suite Web Edition, you will need a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio, or alternatively, Visual Studio Express for Web to build the code for your custom application.
No. Map Suite Web Edition utilizes JavaScript to handle all browser-side operations, so users will not need to download Flash, Silverlight, or any ActiveX controls.
Yes, if your application and its map data will be hosted on the Internet and accessed via web browser. Map Suite Web Edition supports touch events, tap-and-drag, touch panning and pinch zooming on touchscreen devices like the Apple iPhone and iPad. Please note that mobile devices will need ongoing Internet access, either via Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity, to use an application built with Map Suite Web Edition.
Map Suite Web Edition lets you use virtually any map dataset of your choosing. If you have your own map data, you can utilize it. Alternatively, you can utilize our Map Suite World Map Kit, Google Maps*, or Bing Maps — just to name a few options.
*Use of Google Maps within a Map Suite developer SDK requires a Google Maps API For Business license and is subject to Google's licensing terms. For more information, please visit: https://developers.google.com/maps/licensing
Map Suite Web Edition comes with native support for the most popular vector and raster file formats, and includes a free extension that enables support for more than a dozen more vector formats and more than 80 raster formats. If you have spatial data or imagery, chances are you can use it with Map Suite. Check our wiki for the master list of data formats that Map Suite currently supports.
Map Suite Web Edition was designed to be easy to understand and easy to use. While mapping and GIS controls typically have a larger learning curve than other simpler controls like grids or charts, we feel Map Suite has taken the complexity out of mapping and allows you to develop your application in days or weeks instead of months or years.
We have a very active Developer Community discussion forum, a large number of “How Do I?” sample applications with complete source code, and we also offer professional services if you need to talk with a developer one-on-one.
Map Suite Web Edition comes with built-in functionality to construct a robust user interface in a web environment, while the Services Edition is designed for back-end applications like web services, Windows services and console applications where no user interface elements are needed.
Yes. We offer a number of Map Suite add-ons that extend the functionality and map coverage of your application, including the World Map Kit SDK and the Routing extension that generates routes, turn-by-turn directions and more. Additionally, check out the code samples on the ThinkGeo Wiki for an ever-expanding number of add-on projects that bring new features and ideas to your Map Suite projects.
You are seeing this message because the Production Web Server license is not installed on your server. There are two kinds of licenses for Map Suite Web Edition:
The Developer License is for a development environment. It allows you to develop your application within Visual Studio. The Production Server License is for a production environment. It removes the “Unlicensed” watermark in runtime. To install the Production Server License, you need to run the Server Preparation Tool that can be downloaded through the ThinkGeo Product Center.
If you do not see the Server Preparation Tool in ThinkGeo Product Center, you likely have not purchased any Production Server Licenses. You can purchase a Production Server License from ThinkGeo's online store. If you have purchased a Production Server License but cannot find the Server Preparation Tool, or need other assistance regarding licensing, feel free to contact us and we'll be happy to help.