How the Map Uploader Works

The Map Uploader behaves in an interactive, wizard-like fashion. This allows the tool to :
  • Clearly show data sources that are not supported in Spectrum Spatial and therefore will not exist in the uploaded map.
  • Clearly show layers that have settings that are not fully supported. You can decide whether to allow the layer or labels to be uploaded without the unsupported settings or to remove the layer from the uploaded map.
  • Choose the exact location of the map on the server repository, to create a new folder in the repository if desired, and to select an existing map for overwriting.

Based on whether a new map is being created or an existing map is being created, existing named tables will be reused with different rules. An existing map has a list of tables it uses and these will all be reused wherever they are in the repository. A new map will only search for tables in the same folder of the repository.

Tables for which existing named resources do not exist will have to be located. If the table in MapInfo Pro uses a database table, database connection on the server will be searched for the table with its schema as a qualifier. File-based tables will be searched by name under any file-based connections on the server.

To accommodate the differences between the capabilities of MapInfo Pro and Spectrum Spatial, the tool works in a number of discrete steps. At any point before the resources are created, the upload can be canceled.

Step 1 is to verify that the data used in MapInfo Pro can be supported in Spectrum Spatial. If there are no issues, you will not notice that this step occurred. If there are issues with a subset of the data, the map can be created without these data sources.

Step 2 is to examine the properties of the layers and to warn if any of the style, thematic, or label settings are not an exact match for the server. If there are no issues, you will not notice that this step occurred. If there are issues, you can decide whether to skip that layer or still include it, allowing the tool to create the settings in the most compatible way.

Step 3 prompts you to give a location and name for the map on the server. You can navigate the Spatial Repository to locate the map and create new folders if desired. If you choose an existing map, you will be prompted whether it should be overwritten. If you choose to overwrite, the map and all the other resources used by that map may be overwritten. Again, if there were no issue in steps 1-2, this will be the first thing you will see.

Step 4 is to ensure that all the data sources can be located using one or more server connections. File data is located using file paths and database data is located using database connection strings, the database schema and table name. If the data cannot be located, those layers will be skipped. You have the option to override the data that the Map Uploader does locate.

Step 5 is the upload itself. The named map, layers, label sources, and tables are created in the Spectrum Spatial repository. A progress list will indicate what is being created. When it is done, a link will be provided to Spatial Manager where you can examine and view the map and all the other resources. If there are any server-side or communication errors with the server, they will be displayed. The map may be partially created in that case.