GIS.NET

A Completely Rewritten Architecture

The object model of GIS.NET 3.0 was rewritten from the ground up to give developers the greatest control over geographic objects while still leveraging every rendering and performance optimization we could think of. This new system is a vast improvement over GIS.NET 2.0, which was unable to perform some basic features such as hiding an adornment. However, customization and development of geographic objects is very easy in 3.0 compared to competitors, many of which doesn't even make use of multithreading.

In the 3.0 architecture, several base classes are provided such as Marker, Line, and Polygon and every class in this new framework can be inherited to create sophisticated, easy-to-maintain classes. For example, we've provided classes such as Lake and River which combine the functionality of geographic features with a specific look-and-feel. Classes such as Cache and TileSet deliver liquid-smooth panning and zooming performance, regardless of the level of detail!

Support for Asset Tracking

Asset tracking is a popular use for the GIS.NET component. Yet, developers have asked for better performance when it comes to asset tracking. This new release uses three isolated "rendering pipelines" which can process updates to a map without interfering with other tasks. For example, a GIS.NET 3.0 map can refresh itself ten times per second with updates to vehicle locations even if the map is also busy re-rendering complex basemap features. To simplify location-based services involving GPS, GPS.NET version 3.0 is being rewritten to plug into this framework, allowing GPS routes and tracks to be added to a map with real-time updates using one line of code.

Full Support for Tile Sets

Mobile devices today just simply cannot keep up with the demands of GIS developers. As a result, we've developed a special rendering system for "tile sets." Developers can now use their powerful servers and desktops to pre-render maps for any area, then slice the resulting images into thousands of tiny "tiles". Tiles can then be served to thin clients or the web via a Web Service. This tiled-mapping approach is the same technique in use by such providers as Google® Maps, except now you can be in full control of the data. No licensing fees or royalties are required for this feature, making it a strong competitor with larger providers which won't be free forever.

Sophisticated Selection and Searching Features

GIS.NET 3.0 provides the ability to draw "search polygons" of any shape and size. You can draw rectangles, squares, ellipses, circles, or free-handed polygons. Any number of selection shapes can be drawn, allowing for highly-sophisticated spatial searching. It's now easy to draw geofences and search for objects. You can call any of over fifteen different search methods in the new framework which perform spatial searches and can even perform a keyword-based search for an entire map!

Support for Map Projections and Coordinate Conversion

GIS.NET 3.0 includes a complete library of map projections, along with literally hundreds of coordinate conversions for both geographic and projected coordinates. You can now quickly configure a projection for a map and see all objects in the map automatically use the projection. A complete list of projections in this release is available via the documentation system here: http://www.geoframeworks.com/Documentation/Namespace15.aspx. Version 3.0 also has full support for EPSG coordinate conversions over several hundred conversions are included, covering every country on Earth!

Full Support for GeoTIFF Imagery

GIS.NET 3.0 introduces full support for GeoTIFF images, TIFF images which have been aligned to specific geographic coordinates. This library will automatically read projection and EPSG coordinate information from the file to ensure utmost precision when combining imagery with other map data.

Lightning-Fast ESRI® Shapefile Support, Plus Additional Formats

We've spent over a month focusing solely on map optimization; loading files, rendering the map, as well as searching. Version 3.0 can load an average of 600,000 points per second (Dual-core 3.19GHz system, 4GB RAM), and takes full advantage of multithreading to ensure map responsiveness as larger files are loaded. This release also provides full support for additional geographic file formats: MapInfo® MIF/MID, Google® KML, and Geographic Markup Language (GML)!