10East's Bolt-on Maps is a Web Service and Internet Mapping API with sophistication that equals or surpasses any modern web-based mapping system in existence, with some important differences that make it the perfect "Bolt On" to increase the value of your corporate business systems.
Bolt-on Maps starts with a base map made from NavTeq data, with zoom levels from 8,192 meters per pixel down to 2 meters per pixel. This base-map alone can be used to create an infinite number of world-class mapping applications. Even more valuable, however, is the fact that 10East can render custom map tiles from customer spatial data, and place those tiles into customer-specific maps to be served by our Bolt-on Maps Web Service, resulting in mapping interfaces that are truly unique and representative of any customers' reality.
The Bolt-on Maps API utilizes AJAX technology to provide a fully interactive user experience, complete with click-and-drag map panning, zooming and centering with the mouse scroll wheel and left-mouse double clicks, etc. Users can also navigate using intuitive tools that hover modestly over the surface of Bolt-on Maps.
10East Corp. makes heavy use of Bolt-on Maps to provide user friendly mapping interfaces inside of RailDOCS, and we also offer Bolt-on Maps to customers and business partners for integration into their own web-based systems, as a pay-as-you go service.
This is an example of Bolt-on Maps utilized in an asset management interface inside of RailDOCS.
This example demonstrates several Bolt-on-Maps features. First, notice that the locations of each asset are illustrated with custom pins, that not only represent the type of each asset (via icons), but that also convey information about the status of each asset (via colors). In this example, the user has clicked on the green pin representing a railroad signal case at milepost 3-298.07, and is viewing more detailed data about that asset in its bubble popup. That popup gives more details about the asset and offers the user additional navigation options.
Another feature of this application is the navigation hierarchy shown in the top-left of the image. This user navigated down to this level in this map by starting at the top level, which shows all of the railroad's divisions, and clicking on a map pin labeled "Chicago Division," which zoomed and fitted the map to a position that showed the user all of the sub-divisions on the Chicago Division. The user then clicked the "N. Lacrosse Yard" sub-division, which zoomed and fitted the map to a display of all of the signal maintainers on that sub-division, followed by a click on the signal maintainer "Larry Olson," which presented this map view, which has the mapping interface zoomed and fitted to show all of the assets under the purvue of Mr. Olson. This application keeps track of those types of user navigation actions, and places the navigation-hierarchy buttons seen here onto the Bolt-on-Maps map display. Users can click one of those buttons, at any time, to seemlessly jump back to one of those map views.
It is important to understand the distinction between the application pictured in this example (a RailDOCS application) and the Bolt-on-Maps Web Service and API that it is using. Bolt-on-Maps is the facilitating technology here, and its API provides the features needed to allow this RailDOCS application to do its work. However, the custom pins, the user navigation options, the data and the links provided in the bubble popups for each asset, etc. are all created and controlled by this RailDOCS application, with Bolt-on-Maps just providing it with the technology and web-services that it needs to give its users an impressive mapping interface.
Bolt-on-Maps is a powerful, enabling technology, that allows 10East Corp., and its customers and partners, to implement best-of-breed, map-based user interfaces in Internet, Intranet, and Extranet applications, and to do so efficiently and cost-effectively.
