Display WMS Background Maps and/or WFS Features Using OGC Services

Use the OGC* Service Manager command to do either or both of the following:

Connect to a Web Map Service (WMS) server, which supports the querying and retrieval of geo-registered background map images (for example, JPEG or PNG) to temporarily display in your project.
Connect to a Web Feature Service (WFS) server, which supports the querying and retrieval of geographical features to temporarily display in your project.

*Open Geospatial Consortium

These are both powerful options for adding meaningful visual context to your project's Plan View that display until you close your project or select to hide the data.

Prerequisites:

The URL address for the map and/or feature server service version to which you want to connect.

To display and hide WMS background maps:

Instructions...

Click the OGC Service Manager icon located in the TBC Status Bar to display the OGC Service Manager command pane.
Select the WMS tab and do either of the following:
- If you have already set up the web map you want to use, select it in the Web map drop-down list. The Name field, WMS server url field, and Version field are automatically populated based on your selection.
- If you need to set up a new web map to use in your project:
  1. In the Web map drop-down list, select <<New Web Map>>.
  2. In the Name field, enter a new web map name of your choice.
  3. In the WMS server url field, enter the URL address for the map service you want to use.
    Authentication credentials are often included as a token added on to the URL address you provide, in which case no additional login is required. However, If the selected WMS server requires login credentials (to be included in an authorization header sent with the URL request rather than as a token added to the URL), click the Advanced Authentication button to display the OGC Service Manager dialog. Then, select the Basic authentication option and enter your Name and Password.
    If the selected WMS server requires a different type of authentication, in the OGC Service Manager dialog select the Other authentication option and enter the necessary authentication information.
    Optionally, check the Save credentials to the project check box to save your name and password or other authentication information with the project so it is applied the next time you select the same WMS server.
    When you are done, click OK.
  4. In the Version field, enter the version of the WMS service you want to use.
  This web map will be available for selection in the Web map drop-down list the next time you use the command, along with any authentication credentials you selected to save ( applicable).
  Note: WMS servers located in certain countries can be accessed only when you are connecting to the Internet from that country and, possibly, certain other associated countries.
In the Coordinate system drop down list, select the coordinate system to be used for the imported map image to ensure proper placement and scaling in the Plan View.
Using the Corner one and Corner two fields, enter or select in the Plan View the coordinates for the two corners of a selection boundary within which the background map image will be displayed.
In the Bounding box type drop-down list, select the format to use when sending coordinates to the server.
Use the Transparency slider control to specify the level of transparency to apply to the map to determine how light or dark it displays in the Plan View, or enter a percentage value in the field.
In the WMS layers list, check the layer(s) provided by the selected web map service that you want to display.
Click the Display button to display the background map image in the Plan View.
Optionally, click the Cancel button to cancel downloading of the background map before the process is complete.
To remove the selected WMS background map image from display in the Plan View, click the Delete button.
Otherwise, the map images display until you close your project.

To display and hide WFS features:

Instructions...

Click the OGC Service Manager icon located in the TBC Status Bar to display the OGC Service Manager command pane.
Select the WFS tab and do either of the following:
- If you have already set up the web feature server you want to use, select it in the Feature server drop-down list. The Name field, WFS server url field, and Version field are automatically populated based on your selection.
- If you need to set up a new web feature server to use in your project:
  1. In the Feature server drop-down list, select <<New Web Feature Server>>.
  2. In the Name field, enter a new feature server name of your choice.
  3. In the WFS server url field, enter the URL address for the feature server you want to use.
    Authentication credentials are often included as a token added on to the URL address you provide, in which case no additional login is required. However, If the selected WFS server requires login credentials (to be included in an authorization header sent with the URL request rather than as a token added to the URL), click the Advanced Authentication button to display the OGC Service Manager dialog. Then, select the Basic authentication option and enter your Name and Password.
    If the selected WFS server requires a different type of authentication, in the OGC Service Manager dialog select the Other authentication option and enter the authorization header value.
    Optionally, check the Save credentials to the project check box to save your name and password or other authentication information with the project so it is applied the next time you select the same WFS server.
    When you are done, click OK.
  4. In the Version field, enter the version of the WFS service you want to use.
  This WFS server will be available for selection in the Feature server drop-down list the next time you use the command, along with any authentication credentials you selected to save ( applicable).
  Note: WFS servers located in certain countries can be accessed only when you are connecting to the Internet from that country and, possibly, certain other associated countries.
In the Coordinate system drop down list, select the coordinate system to be used for the imported features to ensure proper placement and scaling in the Plan View.
Using the Corner one and Corner two fields, enter or select in the Plan View the coordinates for the two corners of a selection boundary within which the features will be displayed.
In the Bounding box type drop-down list, select the appropriate format to use when sending coordinates to the server.
Your selection does not affect the display of the features in TBC.
Optionally, check the Send bounding box EPSG check box to specify that the bounding box coordinate EPSG is appended to the bounding box fetch request.
By default, this option is checked and typically will not need to be unchecked. If you are in doubt, leave it checked.
Optionally check the Invert axis order check box to reverse the coordinate order of received feature data.
In the Feature types list, check the feature types provides by the selected feature service that you want to display.
Click the Display button to display the features in the Plan View.
Optionally, click the Cancel button to cancel downloading of the features before the process is complete.
Notes:
- Some features may not display if they use geometry not supported in TBC. Supported feature types include points, linestrings, and polygons.
- You can snap to displayed feature points.
To remove the selected WFS features from display in the Plan View, click the Delete button.
Otherwise, features display until you close your project.