Before you begin
This document requires that you are running the ArcGIS 9.x platform. ArcGIS allows users to add data from
a local computer and data found on the Internet, otherwise known as a map
services. For example, users can look at GPS data layed on top of a map streamed from a UD map service.
The example below uses the UD Campus Maps maintained by RDMS, IT - User Services. However, these
instructions can be used to connect to any Internet map service. To learn of other
available applications visit the Geography Network at http://www.geographynetwork.com/
For more information on connecting to map services, visit ArcGIS Desktop Help Online and type "Connecting to GIS servers" in the search box.
In the start menu, select ArcGIS => ArcMap
Click on "File" on the menu bar and select "Add Data..."
In the Add Data window you will see the words "Look In:"
and a pull-down menu
Select "GIS Servers" in the pull-down menu.
In the box below the pull-down menu, you should see "Add ArcIMS Server"
Double-click "Add ArcIMS Server".
A new window ("Add ArcIMS Server" window) will open. At the top of this window enter in the URL for the RDMS map server (http://maps.rdms.udel.edu).
Click "OK".
You have now added an internet service to your available
data layers.
Double-click on maps.rdms.udel.edu in your add data window to see what map services are available.
Select "udcampus" and click the "Add" button.
You should now see the UD campus map service added to your ArcMap session.
(You may have to click the check-box next to udcampus under the
table of contents to make that layer visible or "turned on.")
NOTE...some layers are scale-dependent. This means
that they are not visible until you are zoomed-in to a manageable
scale. You can determine a layer's scale-dependencies by right-clicking on the layer
name, selecting Properties from the menu, and clicking on the General tab. You should see
the Layer Name, a check-box for visible, and a scale range. The
scale-range shows the minimum and maximum scales at which the layer will
draw. These are set on the map server and cannot be changed.
One last note on
scales--if you have turned on a layer in the layer list by clicking the check-box, but it
is not visible in the map, look to see if the check mark is grayed out.
If it is grayed out, that means that the layer is scale-dependent and you must
either zoom-in/zoom-out to see the layer drawn.
At this point, you can add any other data from you local
machine on top of this by clicking on the Add Data icon and navigating
to either your local data directory.