GIS

Map Tool and Button Help

Click on a tool/button icon for details on how to use.  Buttons cause something to happen immediately upon clicking.  Tools require activation and then a second step.  Tools are activated by clicking once.  The active tool has a red outline around it.

Zoom In: Activate this tool and then draw a box around your area of interest to zoom most quickly.  For slower zooming simply select the tool and click on the map.

Zoom Out: Activate this tool and then draw a box  to control zoom out distance.  A tiny box will zoom out a great distance.  A large box will zoom out a small distance.  For slower zooming simply select the tool and click on the map.

Zoom Full: This button zooms to the full view of the map.  This may or may not be the original view.

Zoom Active Layer: This button zooms to the full view of the active layer.

Zoom Backward: This button zooms to the previous map extent.  Use this instead of the 'Back' button on your browser.  You may zoom back as far as 20 extents.

Zoom Forward: This button zooms forward to a previously visited map extent.  Use this instead of the 'Forward' button on your browser.  You may zoom forward as far as 20 extents.

Pan: Make the tool active and then click, hold down, and drag the map to get a new view.

Hyperlink: Activate the tool and then click on a feature in the active layer to get extended information about the feature.  For instance, click on a parcel to get Assessor's data, permit information, and photos.  Layers with hyperlinks are indicated by a "-H" at the end of the layer name.

Identify All: Activate and then click on the map to get information about objects located at that point.  The tool returns information about all visible layers.  Bug Note - sometimes this tool causes the map to turn yellow in the next view.  Use the Clear Selection tool to clear.

Query: This tool opens a dialogue box at the bottom of the map where you can type in a query or use the query builder interface. If a single feature is found a new map will be drawn that is zoomed into the feature. The tool works on the active layer. To find a street: make the roads layer active, enter the street name and street type in capital letters in the 'Value' field, click "Add to Query String", then click "Execute". Click the "Samples" button to check the format of fields. Complex expressions can be built with by using various operators such as "And" and "Or". If multiple features are found, a list will be returned where features can be selected and zoomed to.

Measure: Click the tool and then define the first point by clicking on the map.  As you move the cursor away from the first point the distance will be displayed at the top left.  Click again to define the second point.  Repeat for each segment.  The area will also be displayed if you draw a polygon.  You must wait for each command to be completed before clicking another point.  Use cues from your browser to monitor this.  Use any other tool to stop measuring and the Clear Selection tool to reset the values.

Set Units: Click the button and select a new distance unit. This will affect the scalebar, measuring, and buffering. The default value is feet.

Select by Rectangle: Select an object by clicking once or drawing a rectangle within it. All objects in the active layer that are touched by the rectangle will be selected.

Select by Line or Polygon: Select an object by choosing points and then creating a line or a polygon. All objects in the active layer touched by the line or polygon will be selected. Wait for a red dot to appear before choosing the next point.

Clear Selection: Clears selected features and returns a fresh map.

Print: Click this button, enter a title for your map, and click "Create Print Page".  A new browser window will appear with a map layout.  Then use the print button on your browser.

Printing options allow you to select different size and quality images for your print output.  Choose SIZE=SMALL and QUALITY=NORMAL for a map that matches what you see in the viewer.  Increasing the image quality makes the map preview look bad on the screen but gives a better printout.  A large, high quality image may take considerable time to download.

Elevation: Activate the tool and then click on locations in east Jefferson County to get the elevation.  The elevation figures were obtained from LIDAR and the vertical accuracy goal was 30 cm.  LIDAR stands for light detection and ranging.  There is a new value every six feet in the horizontal direction.

Share Map: This button will open up a new window that includes a web address.  This address can be copied and used in a web browser to duplicate the map you are currently viewing.  The map extent, visible layers, and active layer will all be retained.

Locate Address: This tool opens a dialogue box at the bottom of the map where you type in an address.  You must include a street address number.  If the search is successful a red dot and address label will be placed on the map.  If you have already zoomed to one address you may have to click on the address number hotlink to the left of your next address to view it.  Zip code and cross street are not required but may improve results.  This works by interpolating street address ranges and does not search any kind of real address database.  As a result, address flags may not line up precisely with the actual address.  If you don't have a street number but want to find a street, try typing in a reasonable fake number.

Buffer: Select a feature and then click the buffer button. Enter a distance for the buffer and a layer that you want to highlight features from and then click "Buffer". A new map will be returned that shows the buffer and features that fell within it. Buffering may take some time depending on the layer you choose to highlight and your buffer distance. Check the "Display Attributes" checkbox prior to buffering to get a list of features that fall within the buffer.

Toggle Legend/Layerlist: This button toggles between the layerlist/data folders and the legend.

Toggle Overview Map: This button turns the overview map on and off.

Extract: This tool is used to download selected source GIS data.  Parcels, roads, and zoning are available at this time.  First zoom to your area of interest and make sure the layers you want to download are visible on the map.  Then click the extract button, read the licensing agreement, and click the "I agree" link.  When you then click the "Get Data" button a .zip file will be created that you can download to your computer.  The GIS data format is the ESRI .shp file.