At left is an illustration of the iMAP interface.

Hover your mouse cursor over a part of the image to see the name for that part of the interface. If your cursor indicates a hyperlink with the pointing hand symbol, , click to jump to a text description and, if applicable, instructions for how to use that part of the interface.

Title Frame
The title frame identifies the map set that is currently being displayed in the iMAP viewer.

See also: About the Map Sets

Toolbar
The toolbar contains buttons for selecting map tools and other iMAP functions.

See: Using the iMAP Toolbar.

Overview Map
The overview map is a thumbnail image of King County. A red rectangle on the image delineates the portion of the county that is currently visible in the main map display.

The overview map updates automatically whenever you pan or zoom on the main map.

You can toggle the overview map on and off using the toggle overview map button on the toolbar.

Main Map Display
This is the dynamic map display space. Whenever you use one of the map navigation tools, or perform an operation that requires the map to change, a new map image is generated and displayed here (while the new map image is being generated you will see a temporary message that says "Building new map image").

Map Layers List / Map Legend

This space is used to display both the list of map data layers that are available for viewing and the map legend. Users can toggle between these two options by clicking the map layers/legends tabs at the top of the layer list. The layers tab is visible by default when iMAP launches.

Layers List
In the iMAP application, and on the left graphic below, hover over an object to see a short description and its status.

These two graphics can be used with the example below.

Layer groups

• 
  • The Property group is currently collapsed. The user can expand it by clicking the little plus sign to the left of the group name
  • The Property group has no layers turned on, because its "Draw" checkbox is unchecked.
• 
  • The Planning group is expanded so the user can see the layers in that group.
  • Some of the layers in the Planning group, are turned on, and some are turned off, because its Draw checkbox has a grey check.
• 
  • The Points of Interest group is currently collapsed. All of its layers are turned on, because its Draw checkbox has a black check.

Layers

• The "Countywide Growth Pattern" layer is the active layer, because it has a yellow background. This is the layer that the user can select features from on the map, and query against. Click once on the layer name to make the layer active. Only one layer at a time can be active.
• All of the Planning layers are turned on, except the "Comprehensive Plan Land Use" layer (look at the Draw checkbox ).
• The four layers that are in black regular (non-italic) text are currently visible.
• The three layers that in gray italic text are not visible, even though they are turned on. They will automatically become visible when the user zooms in (or out) far enough
• The Zoning layer has more information available to the user. Click on the blue icon next to the layer name.

Legend

• The legend indicates what the colors, lines, and other symbols on the map represent.

• The legend is hidden by default when iMAP launches. Click the layers/legend tab to display it.

Refresh Map Button
Click this button at any time to refresh the map display.

If you have the Auto Refresh checkbox unchecked, you must click the Refresh Map button to display any changes you have made to the map layers list (e.g., turning a layer on or off)

Auto Refresh Checkbox
Check the AutoRefresh box if you want the map to automatically redraw whenever you make changes to the map layers list (e.g., turning a layer on or off).

Query Frame
Data input forms and data responses appear in this space when they are relevant to the function you are performing with iMAP.

Mode Indicator
The mode indicator displays the name of the currently active iMAP tool.

Map Scale Display and Control
The map scale display updates automatically whenever the map is redrawn. It shows a "representative fraction," which is the ratio of units of measurement on the screen to those same units in the real world as represented by the map. For example, 1:63,360 means one inch on the screen represents 63,360 inches (i.e., 5,280 feet, or one mile) on the ground.

You can adjust the scale of the map by first clicking in the scale display, typing in your own scale factor, and then clicking the "Go" button. The map will redraw at the new scale, and will remain centered on the same point as the previous view.

Map Sets Menu ("Select a different Map Set")
Map sets are pre-selected collections of map layers that focus on particular subject areas, for example, hydrographic information or parks. The map sets menu drop-down list allows you to select and change the map set that is displayed in iMAP.

All of the iMAP map sets contain a common set of basemap layers (e.g., streets, shorelines, etc.), along with a unique set of thematic data layers (e.g., zoning, urban growth line, groundwater, etc.).

To change a map set while you are in iMAP, click on the drop-down list and then click on the name of the map set you want to display.

To access information about the map set that is currently displayed in your iMAP view, click on the question mark symbol immediately to the right of the map sets menu.

See also: About the Map Sets

Contact Link
This text hyperlink ("Contact Us") will launch a new e-mail message addressed to the King County GIS Center's monitored mailbox. If you have questions about iMAP that aren't answered on these help pages, or comments or suggestions to offer, this is the quickest and most efficient way to get in touch with us.

Status Bar
The status bar at the bottom of the iMAP window displays three different types of information depending on where your cursor is hovering:

1. Over a tool button in the toolbar—
   information about the tool is displayed in the status bar.

2. Within the main map display—
   a continuously updated display of the geographic coordinates for the point on the map that the cursor is pointing to. Two sets of coordinates are shown: Latitude/Longitude (in decimal degrees) and State Plane X/Y (in feet), which is the standard coordinate system for King County GIS data.
   See also: Capture Coordinates tool.

3. Over a hyperlink—
   the destination URL of the hyperlink