Getting Started with MapObjects Version 2.2 in Delphi 5.

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In this introductory document you'll use MapObjects version 2.2 and Borland Delphi 5.0 to build an application that uses maps. Along the way you will learn how to . .

Display a map with multiple layers Control panning and zooming Create a toolbar control Display map layers based on scale Perform spatial and logical queries Draw simple graphics on the map Display features with thematic renderers Dynamically display real-time data with an event tracking layer Programmatically add data to a map

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

Loading MapObjects
Start Delphi and choose Import ActiveX Control from the Component menu. Find the ESRI MapObjects 2.2 reference in the list of available controls. If MapObjects 2.2 is not listed, click Add to include the MapObjects 2.2 reference in the list. Finally, click Install to rebuild the omponent library.

Notice that a new tool appears in the list of ActiveX icons on the toolbar of the component palette. This new tool is the MapObjects 2.2 map control.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

Getting MapObjects Help

The map control is one of the 48 objects that make up MapObjects 2.2. To find out about the various objects, open the MapObjects online help and select Objects in the table of contents.

The help system provides help for every object, property, method, event, and constant in MapObjects 2.2.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

Adding a Map
Add the Map Control to the Form
1. 2. Double-click the map control in the ActiveX palette to add a new map to the form. Resize the map to fill the form.

Add Data to the Map

You can specify the data that is displayed in the map by setting properties in the map control's property sheet. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Right-click the mouse on the map to display the context menu. Choose Properties to display the property sheet. Click Add and locate the folder where the sample data is stored for the USA. Choose the States.shp file and then click Open. Add the file USHigh.shp in the same manner.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

Set Properties for the Layers

1. With the MapObjects Map Control Properties window still open, choose the States layer in the Layers list and then click Properties.

2. 3. 4. 5.

Click the Color button to select a color for the States layer. Click OK to close the dialog. Select a color for the USHigh layer in the same manner. Click OK to close the property window.

Save the Project

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Click the File menu and then select Save All. In the File Name box for the unit, type StarterMap.pas. Click Save. In the second Save As dialog for the project, type Starter_Map.dpr in the File Name box. Click Save.

Test your application

1. 2. Click the Run button in the Delphi toolbar. To stop running your application and return to design mode, close the form.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

Adding Pan and Zoom Controls

At this point, your application can display the map at its full extent. In this section you will add some simple pan and zoom controls that will be activated in response to mouse clicks inside the map. You will write some code that will be executed in response to the MouseDown event on the map.

Respond to the MouseDown Event

1. 2. Select the map control then select the Events page in the Delphi Object Inspector. Doubleclick the OnMouseDown event to add an event handler. Add code to the MouseDown procedure for Map1:
procedure TForm1.Map1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer); begin Map1.Extent := Map1.TrackRectangle; end;

TrackRectangle is a method that applies to a map. It tracks the movement of the mouse while the user presses the mouse button, rubber-banding a rectangle at the same time. When the user releases the mouse button, the TrackRectangle method returns a Rectangle object which the application assigns into the Extent property of the map, causing the map to be redrawn with a new map extent.

Test your change

1. 2. 3. Click the Run button in the Delphi toolbar. Click and drag the left mouse button on the map to rubber-band a rectangle Release the mouse button and notice that the map is redrawn at the location you specified.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0 4. Close the form to return to design mode.

Add Panning
1. 2. Double-click the OnMouseDown event in the Object Inspector to display the code window again. Change the code for the MouseDown procedure for Map1.
procedure TForm1.Map1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer); begin if (Button = mbLeft) then Map1.Extent := Map1.TrackRectangle else Map1.Pan; end;

Use the left mouse button to zoom in to the map; use the right mouse button to invoke the Pan method.

Add a Full Extent Button

Your application now supports panning and zooming, but once the user has zoomed into the map, there is no way to get back to the full extent again. In this section you will add a button to the form which resets the maps extent to its full extent. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Click the Button tool on the Standard controls page in the control palette, then click the form to add a button. Move the button to the upper right of the form. With the button selected, click the Properties page in the Object Inspector window. Click in the Caption box and type Full Extent.. Resize the map control so that it is not obscured by the button.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

6. 7.

Double-click Full Extent to display the code window. Add code for the Click event of the button.
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject); begin Map1.Extent := Map1.FullExtent; end;

The FullExtent property of the map returns a Rectangle which defines the bounding box of all the layers of the map.

Test Your Change

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Click the Run button in the Delphi toolbar. Click and drag the left mouse button on the map to rubber-band a rectangle. Release the mouse button to reset the map extent. Click the map with the right mouse button and drag to pan the map. Release the mouse button to redraw the map. Click Full Extent to redraw the map at the full extent.

Save the Project

1. 2. Close the form to return to design mode. Click the Save All button in the Delphi toolbar to save your changes.

Adding a Toolbar
Your application's pan and zoom capabilities are somewhat hidden from the user. In this section you will create a toolbar with pan and zoom buttons.

Adding a Panel
Panels are a convenient way to group controls on a form and will be used to implement the toolbar. 1. 2. 3. 4. Delete the Full Extent button from the form. Select the Panel control from the Standard controls page and place a panel at the top of the form. Set the Caption property of the panel to blank and set the Align property to alTop. Set the BevelOuter property to bvNone. Set the Name of the panel to MapToolbar. Resize the map so that it is not obscured by the panel.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

Adding Buttons to the Panel Control

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 8. Select the MapToolbar panel. Click the SpeedButton control on the Additional palette page. Click the MapToolbar panel to place a button on the panel. Set the Name property for the new button to ZoomBtn. Double-click the Glyph property in the Object Inspector to open the property editor for glyphs. Use the Load button to select Zoom.bmp as the picture for the zoom button. Add a PanBtn (Pan.bmp), QueryBtn (Bex.bmp), AddEventBtn (Pennant.bmp) and FullExtentBtn(Globe.bmp) buttons in the same manner. Since the first four buttons will work together, with one selected at a time, select the first four buttons and set their GroupIndex property to 1. Set the Down property for the ZoomBtn to True to make it the selected tool by default.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

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Change the MouseDown Event

1. 2. Select the map control on the form and double-click the OnMouseDown event in the Property Inspector to display the code window. Modify the code attached to Map1's OnMouseDown procedure.
procedure TForm1.Map1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer); begin if (ZoomBtn.Down) then Map1.Extent := Map1.TrackRectangle; if (PanBtn.Down) then Map1.Pan; end;

Selecting the first button in the toolbar sets the mouse to be a zoom tool; otherwise, if you click the map, you can use the mouse to pan.

Implement the FullExtent Button

In this section you will re-implement the Full Extent button that you deleted. 1. 2. Select the FullExtentBtn on the form and double-click the OnClick event in the Property Inspector Events page to create an event handler and open it in the code window. Add code to the FullExtentBtnClick event.
procedure TForm1.FullExtentBtnClick(Sender: TObject); begin Map1.Extent := Map1.FullExtent; end;

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0 The FullExtentBtnClick event is generated whenever the FullExtentBtn is clicked.

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Test Your Changes

1. 2. 3. 4. Click the Run button in the Delphi toolbar. Click somewhere on the map to zoom into a rectangle. Click the pan button in your application's toolbar. Click somewhere on the map and drag to pan.

5.

Click on the full extent button (the globe) in your application's toolbar to draw the map at its full extent.

Save your changes

1. 2. Close the form to return to design mode. Click the Save All button in the Delphi toolbar to save your changes.

Creating a Find Tool

In this section you will add additional controls to your application to implement a simple function for locating a state by name.

Add Controls to the Form

Like the toolbar panel at the top of the form, adding another panel at the bottom of the form will make it easier to handle form resizing and automatic positioning of the controls. 1. 2. Click the Panel control on the Standard palette then click the bottom of the form to add a panel. Set the Caption property of the panel to blank, the Align property to alBottom and the BevelOuter property to bvNone.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

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With the panel selected, click the Label control on the Standard page of the component palette and click the panel to add a text label control. Set the Caption property of the text label control to State:. With the panel selected, click the Edit control on the Standard page of the component palette and click the panel to add an edit control. Set the Text property of the edit control to blank. Select the label and edit controls. Select the Alignment Palette item from the View menu to display the Alignment Palette. Click the align vertical centers button, then center vertically in window button to position the new controls.

Edit the uses section of the code

Add a ComObj entry to the Uses clause for the form (at the top of the .pas file).
uses Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms, Dialogs, OleCtrls, MapObjects_TLB, StdCtrls, ExtCtrls, Buttons, ComObj;

Attach Code to the TextBox

1. 2. 4. Select the edit control, Edit1. In the Object Inspector, select the Events page and double-click the OnKeyPress event to create an event handler and open the code window. Add code to the KeyPress procedure.

Procedure TForm1.Edit1KeyPress(sender: TObject: var Key: Char);

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

var lys : IMoLayers; layer : IMoMapLayer; recs : IMoRecordset; shp : IMoPolygon; rect : IMoRectangle; fields : IMoFields; exp : string; begin // check for the enter key if (Key = #13) then begin // build a search expression exp :='STATE_NAME =''' + Edit1.Text + ''''; lys := Map1.Layers; layer := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); layer := IMoMapLayer(lys.Item('STATES')); // perform the search on the STATES layer recs := layer.SearchExpression(exp); // show the results, if any if (not recs.EOF) then begin fields := recs.Fields; shp := IMoPolygon(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.Polygon')); // get the shape geometry shp := IMoPolygon(IDispatch(fields.Item('Shape').Value)); // create a rectangle based on the extent of the state rect:= IMoRectangle(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.Rectangle')); rect:= shp.Extent; rect.ScaleRectangle((2.0)); // zoom to the state Map1.Extent := rect; Map1.Refresh; // flash the state Map1.FlashShape(shp, 3); end; // suppress a beep Key := #0; end; end;

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The code first builds a simple SQL query expression using the value of the Edit boxs Text property. Then the States layer is searched using the SearchExpression method with the result being a RecordSet object. If the value of the RecordSet's EOF property is False, the RecordSet is positioned on the first record that satisfies the search expression. In that case, the value of the Shape field is obtained for the first record. The shape is flashed three times, then the Extent of the shape is scaled and set to be the Extent of the map.

Test Your Changes

1. 2. 3. 4. Run your application. Type the name of a state, for example, Vermont, into the Edit box. Note that the first character must be in upper case. Press the Enter key on your keyboard. When you are finished running your application, close the form.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

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Handling Resize
When you run your application and resize the form, you'll notice that the map is not automatically resized.

Put the map control on a panel

One way of resizing the map is to put the map control on a panel. Then, when the panel automatically resizes itself the map can be resized to fit in the panel. 1. 2. 3. 4. Save your project. Select the map control. Choose Cut from the Edit menu. Add a Panel to the form by clicking the Panel control on the control palette and then clicking the form. 5. Set the Caption property of the panel to blank and set the Align property to alClient. 6. Set the BevelOuter property of the panel to bvNone. 7. With the panel selected, choose Paste from the Edit menu to place the map control on the panel. 8. Right-click the map and choose Properties from the menu. 9. Ensure that the layers are still there. If they are not, delete the MapControl, add a new MapControl, and add the layers. Ensure you reassign the MouseDown event on the Map control. 10. Set the Top and Left properties of the map control to 0 (zero).

Respond to the Resize Event

1. 2. 3. Select the panel added above by clicking it or by choosing it from the drop-down list in the Object Inspector. Double click the OnResize event in the Object Inspector to add an event handler and open the code window. Add code to the panels Resize procedure.
procedure TForm1.Panel2Resize(Sender: TObject); begin Map1.Width := Panel2.Width;

Map1.Height := Panel2.Height;

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

end;

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When the form is resized, the controls are resized.

Displaying Map Layers Based on Scale

In this section you will add a new layer to your map and add code which controls whether or not that layer is visible at a given time.

Add another layer

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Right-click the map to display the context menu. Click Properties to show the property sheet. Click Add and locate the folder where the sample data is stored. Navigate to the Counties.shp file and then click Open. Click the Counties layer in the list to select it. Click the down arrow to move the Counties layer below the Ushigh layer. Click Properties to change the color of the Counties layer. Click OK to dismiss the Layer Properties dialog. Click OK to dismiss the property sheet.

If you run your application now you'll notice that every county in the US is displayed. At the full extent, there is no need to display that much detail, so in response to the BeforeLayerDraw event, you will selectively make the Counties and States layers visible or invisible depending on the current extent of the map.

Respond to the BeforeLayerDraw event

1. 2. Click the map control and double-click the OnBeforeLayerDraw event in the Object Inspector to create an event handler and display it in the code window. Add code to the Map1 BeforeLayerDraw procedure:
procedure TForm1.Map1BeforeLayerDraw(Sender: TObject; index: Smallint; hDC: Cardinal); var lys : IMoLayers; ly1, ly2 : IMoMapLayer; ext, fullExt : IMoRectangle; begin lys ly1 ly2 ly1 ly2

:= := := := :=

Map1.Layers; IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); IMoMapLayer(lys.Item(1)); IMoMapLayer(lys.Item(2));

ext := Map1.Extent; fullExt := Map1.FullExtent; ly1.Visible := ext.Width < (fullExt.Width / 4); ly2.Visible := ext.Width >= (fullExt.Width / 4); end; // counties // states

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

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The value of the visible property of each layer is based on the current extent of the map. If the width of the current extent is less than or equal to one fourth of the full extent of the map, then the counties will be visible and the states will be invisible. Because this code is executed in response to the BeforeLayerDraw event for each layer, the value of the visible field is calculated before drawing occurs.

Test your changes

1. 2. Run your application. Notice that the Counties layer is not drawn. Zoom into New England and the Counties layer becomes visible.

3. 4. 5.

Click the FullExtent button and the Counties are no longer visible. Close the form. Click the Save All button to save your changes.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

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Adding a Spatial Query Tool

In this section you'll add a new tool to the toolbar that will perform spatial queries on the map. You'll add code to your application that will draw the results of the spatial query on the map.

Make the Query button visible

1. 2. Select the QueryBtn. Ensure the Visible property of the QueryBtn is set to True and its GroupIndex property is set to 1.

Add variables to the form

1. 2. Open the Code window for the form. In the private section of the forms declaration, add a variable that will be the results of the spatial query. The type of the variable is IMoRecordset.
type TForm1 = class(TForm) ... private { Private declarations } gSelection : IMoRecordset;

Implement the query tool

Modify the MouseDown procedure for Map1 with the following code in bold.
procedure TForm1.Map1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer); var pt : IMoPoint; recs : IMoRecordset; lys : IMoLayers; ly1, ly2 : IMoMapLayer; fields : IMoFields; field : IMoField; const moEdgeTouchOrAreaIntersect = 6; begin if (ZoomBtn.Down) then // zoom in Map1.Extent := Map1.TrackRectangle; if (PanBtn.Down) then // pan Map1.Pan; if (QueryBtn.Down) then // query begin pt := Map1.ToMapPoint(x,y); lys := Map1.Layers; ly1 := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); ly2 := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); ly1 := IMoMapLayer(lys.Item('Ushigh')); ly2 := IMoMapLayer(lys.Item('Counties'));

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

// search for a highway within a tolerance recs := ly1.SearchByDistance(pt, Map1.ToMapDistance(10),''); fields := recs.Fields; field := fields.Item('Shape'); if (recs.EOF) then // nothing is found gSelection := nil // varNull else // search for counties that intersect the highways gSelection := ly2.SearchShape(IDispatch(field.Value), moEdgeTouchOrAreaIntersect, ''); // trigger a redraw of the MapControl Map1.Refresh; end; end;

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When the current tool is the spatial query tool, two searches are performed. The first search is a point proximity search on the Ushigh layer. The point is obtained by converting the x and y coordinates of the event, which are in control units, into map units. If the first search is successful, the highway that is found is used as the input to the second search which is performed on the Counties layer. The result of the second search is stored in the variable, gSelection.

Draw the results

1. 2. Modify Map1's AfterLayerDraw procedure. Add code to display the results of the query on top of the Counties layer.
procedure TForm1.Map1AfterLayerDraw(Sender: TObject; index: Smallint; canceled: WordBool; hDC: Cardinal); var sym : IMoSymbol; flds : IMoFields; fld : IMoField; shp : IMoPolygon; begin if (Index = 1) then // counties layer begin if (not VarIsEmpty(gSelection)) then begin if (not VarIsNull(gSelection)) then begin sym := IMoSymbol(CreateComObject(Class_Symbol)); sym.Color := clYellow; if gSelection.EOF then // Edit if no records are found Exit; flds := gSelection.Fields; fld := flds.Item('Shape'); gSelection.MoveFirst; while (not gSelection.EOF) do begin shp := IMoPolygon(IDispatch(fld.Value)); Map1.DrawShape(shp, sym); // Release shp (needed in loops) shp := nil; gSelection.MoveNext; end; end; end; end; end;

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

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Test your changes

1. 2. Run your application and zoom into an area so that the Counties layer becomes visible. Click the spatial query tool then click on a highway.

3. 4.

Close the form. Click the Save Project button to save your changes.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

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Statistical mapping
In this section you will modify your application so that the Counties layer is drawn using the underlying attribute information.

Attach a renderer to the Counties layer

1. 1. Select the form (Form1) in the drop-down list in the Object Inspector and double-click the OnActivate event to display the code window. Add code to the OnActivate procedure for the Form.

procedure TForm1.FormActivate(Sender: TObject); var breakVal : Double; i : Integer; lys : IMoLayers; ly1, ly2 : IMoMapLayer; cbr : IMoClassBreaksRenderer; ddr : IMoDotDensityRenderer; recset1, recset2 : IMoRecordset; stats1, stats2 : IMoStatistics; begin // Render lys := ly1 := ly1 := counties layer Map1.Layers; IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); IMoMapLayer(lys.Item('counties'));

ly1.Renderer := IMoClassBreaksRenderer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.ClassBreaksRenderer')); cbr := IMoClassBreaksRenderer(ly1.Renderer); cbr.Field := 'MOBILEHOME'; recset1 := IMoRecordset(ly1.Records); stats1 := IMoStatistics(recset1.CalculateStatistics('MOBILEHOME')); // calculate breaks away from the mean in both directions // but only add those bfreaks that are within the range of values breakVal := stats1.Mean - (stats1.StdDev * 3); for i := 0 to 6 do begin if (breakVal >= stats1.Min) and (breakVal <= stats1.Max) then begin cbr.BreakCount := cbr.BreakCount + 1; cbr.Break[cbr.BreakCount - 1] := breakVal; end; breakVal := breakVal + stats1.StdDev; end; cbr.RampColors(clLime, clRed); // you will later insert code here to render the states layer end;

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

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Each MapLayer object has a Renderer property A Renderer object controls how the MapLayer is drawn. The ClassBreaksRenderer can be used to display continuous data, in this case the number of mobile homes per capita by county.

Attach a renderer to the States layer

1. 2. Modify the form's OnActivate procedure. Insert the following code after the RampColors method for the counties layer and before the reserved word end;.
// Render states layer ly2 := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); ly2 := IMoMapLayer(lys.Item('states')); ly2.Renderer := IMoDotDensityRenderer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.DotDensityRenderer')); ddr := IMoDotDensityRenderer(ly2.Renderer); ddr.Field := 'HOUSEHOLDS'; recset2 := IMoRecordset(ly2.Records); stats2 := IMoStatistics(recset2.CalculateStatistics('HOUSEHOLDS')); ddr.DotValue := stats2.Max / 40; Map1.Refresh;

Test your changes

1. Run your application and look at the States layer. Notice that the polygons are now drawn with dots that indicate the elevation.

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0 2. Zoom into an area so that the Counties layer becomes visible. Notice that the counties are now drawn in different colors, depending on the underlying attribute values.

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3. 4.

Close the form. Click the Save Project button to save your changes.

Event Tracking
It is often desirable to display geographic entities on top of the map, especially if those entities have a tendency to move. For example, a vehicle tracking system would want to display vehicles on the map at the appropriate locations and update those locations over time without redrawing all the layers of the map each time a vehicle changes location. In this section you will add an event tracking layer to your application.

Add an event tool to your application's toolbar

1. 2. Click the AddEventBtn on the toolbar to show its properties in the Object Inspector. Ensure the Visible property is set to True and the GroupIndex property is set to 1.

Implement the event tool

1. 2. With the map control selected, double-click the OnMouseDown event in the Object Inspector to display the code window. Change the MouseDown procedure for Map1 with the following code in bold:
procedure TForm1.Map1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer); var pt recs lys : IMoPoint ; : IMoRecordSet; : IMoLayers ;

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

ly1, ly2 fields field tLayer

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: IMoMapLayer; : IMoFields ; : IMoField ; : IMoTrackingLayer ;

const moEdgeTouchOrAreaIntersect = 6; begin if (ZoomBtn.Down) then // zoom Map1.Extent := Map1.TrackRectangle; if (PanBtn.Down) then // pan Map1.Pan; if (QueryBtn.Down) then // query begin pt := Map1.ToMapPoint(x,y); lys := Map1.Layers; ly1 := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); ly2 := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); ly1 := IMoMapLayer(lys.Item('Ushigh')); ly2 := IMoMapLayer(lys.Item('Counties')); // search for a highway within a tolerance recs := ly1.SearchByDistance(pt, Map1.ToMapDistance(10),''); fields := recs.Fields; field := fields.Item('Shape'); if (recs.EOF) then // nothing is found gSelection := nil // varNull else // search for counties that intersect the highways gSelection := ly2.SearchShape(IDispatch(field.Value), moEdgeTouchOrAreaIntersect, ''); // trigger a redraw of the MapControl Map1.Refresh; end; if (AddEventBtn.Down) then // add an event begin pt := Map1.ToMapPoint(x,y); tLayer := Map1.TrackingLayer; // remember to insert tLayer in var declarations tLayer.AddEvent(pt, 0); end; end;

Test the event tool

1. Run your application and zoom into an area

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

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2. 3.

Click the event tool, then click in the map to add events. Close the form.

Add a timer to your form

To trigger the movement of the events, a timer control will be used. 1. 2. 3. 4. Click the Timer control on the System page of the control palette. Click the form to add a Timer control, Timer1. Double-click the OnTimer event in the Object Inspector to open the code window. Add code to the Timer procedure.

procedure TForm1.Timer1Timer(Sender: TObject); var maxDist : Double; nEventCount, iIndex : Integer; geoEvnt : IMoGeoEvent; rect : IMoRectangle; tLayer : IMoTrackingLayer; begin rect := IMoRectangle(Map1.Extent); maxDist := rect.Width / 20; tLayer := Map1.TrackingLayer; nEventCount := tLayer.EventCount; for iIndex := 0 to nEventCount - 1 do begin geoEvnt := IMoGeoEvent(tLayer.Event[iIndex]); // move each event randomly geoEvnt.Move(maxDist * (Random - 0.5), maxDist * (Random - 0.5));

Getting Started with MapObjects 2.2 in Delphi 5.0

geoEvnt := nil; end; end;

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Add a CheckBox to your form

To control the timer, a CheckBox control will be used. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Select Timer1 control and set its Enabled property to False. Add a CheckBox control from the Standard controls page to the bottom of the form. Set the Caption property of the check box to Data Collection. In the Object Inspector, double-click the OnClick event for the check box to open the code window. Add code to CheckBox1's Click procedure.
procedure TForm1.CheckBox1Click(Sender: TObject); begin Timer1.Enabled := CheckBox1.Checked ; end;

Test your changes

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Run your application. Zoom into an area. Click the event tool, then click in the map to add events. Click the Data collection check box. The events start moving randomly on top of the map. Click the check box again to stop the events.

Working with DataConnection objects

In each of the previous sections you have worked with MapLayer objects that were specified interactively using the Map control's property sheet. In this section you will add code to your application which creates MapLayer objects programmatically using a DataConnection object.

Remove the existing layers

1. 2. 3. 4. Right-click the mouse on the map to display the context menu. Choose Properties to display the property sheet. Click on the Ushigh layer, then click Remove to delete the layer. Remove Counties and States in the same manner, then click OK.

Add a procedure which will initialize the map

1. 2. Open the Code window. In the forms private declaration section, declare a procedure.
{ Private declarations } gSelection: _Recordset ; procedure InitializeMap ;

3.

Add the procedure to the end of the code.

procedure TForm1.InitializeMap; var dc : IMoDataConnection;

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layer : IMoMapLayer; sym : IMoSymbol; lys : IMoLayers; begin dc := MoDataConnection(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.DataConnection')); dc.Database := 'c:\Program Files\ESRI\MapObjects2\Samples\Data\Usa' ; if (dc.Connect) then begin layer := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); layer.GeoDataset := IMoGeoDataset(dc.FindGeoDataset('States')); sym := layer.Symbol; sym.Color := clYellow; lys := Map1.Layers; lys.Add(layer); layer := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); layer.GeoDataset := dc.FindGeoDataset('Counties'); lys := Map1.Layers; lys.Add(layer); layer := IMoMapLayer(CreateOleObject('MapObjects2.MapLayer')); layer.GeoDataset := dc.FindGeoDataset('ushigh'); // sym.Color := clRed; lys.Add(layer); end else raise Exception.Create('The data could not be located.'); end;

3.

Add a call (see bold below) to your procedure in the Form's OnActivate procedure.
procedure TForm1.FormActivate(Sender: TObject); var breakVal : Double; i : Integer; lys : IMoLayers; ly1, ly2 : IMoMapLayer; cbr : IMoClassBreaksRenderer; ddr : IMoDotDensityRenderer; recset1, recset2 : IMoRecordset; stats1, stats2 : IMoStatistics; begin // Initialize the map InitializeMap ; // counties layer

.. 4. 5. Run your application to test the changes. Save your changes.