Spectrum Spatial (SSA/LIM)

I really like how we can now add Named layers and styles directly in Spatial Manager. I've only had a short play so there may be some things I have missed here.

Is there further documentation on editing styling outside of Spatial Manager, ie directly in the html? If this is possible (which I think it probably is), where are the style files kept in the directory? I couldn't see an obvious location.

Is there a way to apply a thematic style to a layer, based on atrtibutes or would the file need to be editing directly?

?Most of the layer creation, including thematics, has been supported via the creation in MapInfo Pro and uploading. Certainly the creation of non-trivial layers is best done inside a fully interactive environment such as MapInfo Pro. However, in 12.2 we have added functionality that allows for the creation  of layers with simple override styles and zoom or scale based visibility.  You can also combine layers into maps and there is a new web UI for creating simple query (named view) layers. 

We have certainly discussed the idea of adding the capability of thematic layers into Spatial Manager. For those of you who know MapInfo Pro, there is a significant amount of user interface work in creating and modifying, types of themes, expression checking, number of bins where appropriate, picking all the styles, spreading the styles and choosing the statistical approaches (equal count, ranges, std dev, etc.). All of which we already do in another product (MapInfo Pro).

I would be curious how far the community feels we should go down this path and what their feelings are about better integration with MapInfo Pro as well. 

Thanks Eric,

It's good to know so I won't keep hunting around to be able to make changes! I really like the idea of creating layers in MapInfo and then creating maps in SSA.

I would like a middle ground where it would be possible to edit the style directly using code if desired. This would mean that we can upload layers/maps through MapInfo but then if a small change is needed then it is just a change in the code if that makes sense.

?The code method does exist although we are trying to make it easier as well. Much of Spectrum Spatial was designed when SOAP was much more important. So there is a Named Resource Service that would allow you programmatically to essentially read and tweak any of the layer definitions, including style. Any setting really.

However, SOAP/XML is less in favor for some time. The REST services that the Pro Uploader uses are kind of marked private as they are not fully documented. But we intend to enable them so that what Pro uploader uses is the same as what Analyst would use (if it let you edit and save a layer) and what any application would use. We have partners doing this today via the SOAP method.  If you would to discuss further so we could know what is most important, let me know.

Analyst, you probably know, uses Spatial to render so whatever changes you make automatically appear in Analyst.