Creating Map Plugin

7.4.1.2 Creating Map Plugin

You can load maps (shapefiles) into the Map Display of the IDV and then write out a plugin that contains the maps so other can easily use your maps.

Prepare your map files

You first need to prepare your map files. ESRI Shapefiles often have 3 or 4 separate files, e.g.:

map1.shp
map1.dbf
map1.prj
...
map2.shp
map2.dbf
map2.prj

You will need to zip up each set:

zip map1.zip map1.shp map1.dbf map1.prj
zip map2.zip map2.shp map2.dbf map2.prj

Now, in the Map Display go to the Edit menu and select Add your own maps. In the dialog select your map file from disk, give it a name, category and initial properties and load it in. Repeat these steps for your other map files.
Note: Some maps just have points. Currently when displaying such maps nothing is shown.

Save maps as a plugin

The Map Display control can add these maps to the Plugin Creator.

Turn on the visbility of the maps you would like to save.
Turn off the visibility of the maps you do not want to include.
From the File menu in the Map Display Control window select Save→Export to Plugin
In the Dialog box just press OK
This adds your selection and the map description file to the Plugin Creator. Consult the Plugin Creator documentation for writing out the file.

Now, you can add the new map plugin through the Plugin Manager and/or give this plugin to your colleagues for their use.