In the latest release, Autodesk MapGuide® Enterprise and Autodesk® Topobase® Web are being consolidated and rebranded as Autodesk® Infrastructure Map Server 2012.
Autodesk® Infrastructure Map Server is a powerful development platform that enables developers to create spatial applications for the web and intranets quickly and easily. With Autodesk® Infrastructure Map Server, you can integrate computer-aided design (CAD) and geographic information system (GIS) data, create applications and publish to a wide audience. Autodesk® Infrastructure Map Server uses the FDO (Feature Data Objects) technology for accessing various native data stores. This means that users can connect directly to, and access data from, a wide variety of data sources and formats. These include Oracle Spatial, SQL Server, ArcSDE®, ODBC, OpenGIS Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS), mySQL and an extensive range of raster image formats. Based on MapGuide Open Source (an active open source project), it benefits from the advantages of open source and adds functionality and support that many organizations require.
Learn more about Autodesk® Infrastructure Map Server by visiting the product center page.
Programming Tools and Set-up
Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise applications are server-side applications developed with the MapGuide Enterprise API. The API is available in three versions: PHP, JSP and APS.NET. All versions provide identical functionality. Whichever flavor of the API you use, you will be creating a MapGuide Server page (i.e. a PHP, ASP.NET, or JSP) that makes use of the MapGuide Web Server Extensions API and is invoked by the browser to generate maps and HTML pages loaded into the MapGuide Viewer and browser frames.
One of the benefits of developing in PHP is that you do not have to purchase a development environment license, since PHP is open source. It works on most web servers, including Apache, Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), Netscape® and O’Reilly.
Using the JSP version of the API means that your application will be compiled on the server side as a Java servlet. To run JSP pages, you need a web server that is capable of running Java. The most common is the Apache Tomcat Server. Tomcat is another open source application that can be downloaded for free from http://tomcat.apache.org and installed on either Linux or Windows.
The ASP.NET version of the API developers can be programmed in C#, VB.NET or Jscript but the choice is usually between C# and VB.NET. Using development tools such as Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET, you can readily develop complex applications using the WYSIWYG features of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
Users have to indicate the development language of choice during the installation of the MapGuide Web Server Extensions so that the appropriate viewer files can be copied to the hard disk. These files are required during application development.
Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise also ships with a MapGuide Studio API which allows developers to customize and automate the creation of packages and uploading of resources to MapGuide sites. This API, which is available in .NET only, is installed automatically with the Autodesk MapGuide Studio.
Source Code Samples
A comprehensive sample application with source code is included on the installation media. Samples are provided for all three versions of the API – PHP, JSP and ASP.NET. Because Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise is based on MapGuide Open Source, sample applications and source code posted by the Open Source community are also valuable resources for developers. Check out the Live Application Gallery for such sample applications.
Documentation
Online documentation includes Developers Guide, for general Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise application development, the MapGuide Enterprise Web Server Extensions API Help and the MapGuide Studio API Help.
The following resource will help you get started with programming Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise. It assumes familiarity with Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise and general programming concepts.
- DevTV: MapGuide Fusion Technology Introduction
A self-paced video tutorial on how to build a web-based mapping application using the Fusion Viewer Technology and MapGuide Enterprise.
View online | Download - DevTV: Introduction to Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise Programming
A self-paced video tutorial demonstrating how to get started developing with Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise.
View online | Download - Video : Autodesk® Infrastructure Map Server 2012 API Webcast
Recorded version of the Autodesk® Infrastructure Map Server 2012 API webcast
View online | Download
Support
Public discussion groups provide an open forum for sharing knowledge and receiving support. Join the Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise General Discussion Group or the Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise Developer Discussion Group.
If you would like personalized API support and consulting at your facility, send us an e-mail.
If you need more professional support please consider joining Autodesk Developer Network.
Training
To register for a scheduled instructor-led training class or to request that a new class be scheduled, send us e-mail.
If you would like personalized API training at your facility, send us e-mail.
