Map Functions Overview

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In Short

• Choose Map Files from the Select Elements Map Places and Map Areas or click on the button to load your own Map File of format: .csv, .geojson, .topojson, .kml, and .gpx
• Click on the button to convert your files to available formats
• From the Loaded Files & Filters Panel, you can always click on , at the right of every loaded file, to zoom the map to the boundaries of the file's map layers.
• Check the checkbox Stack to load multiple map files and overlay them upon each other.
• Check the checkbox Click to Search to enable search by clicking on the map.
• Check the Hide Popups to disable popups when clicking on loaded map layers. Clicking then zooms instead.
• Click on the button to toggle the visibility of Panels, and on the button , if available, to toggle the visibility of Filtering Inputs.
• Click on the button to instantly remove all loaded files, reset zooming and start form the beginning.

Interactive map features:

1. Search Tools

   • Click on the button to open a form for searching on the map.
   • Search by Coordinates: Enter latitude and longitude to find the corresponding place name.
   • Search by Place Name: Enter a location name to retrieve its coordinates.
   • Click to Search: Click anywhere on the map to get both coordinates and place name.
     • You enable and disable this function by the checkbox Click to Search.
     • When Click to Search is enabled, the cursor consists of a hand with an index finger, for the exact location of a place.
   • Tip 1: Single-click a location for search. Double-click to zoom in.
   • Tip 2: Single-clicking adds a marker and fills the search fields with respective information.
     • Use the Clear button to remove both information and marker.
     • Uncheck (and recheck) the Click to Search to remove only the marker.
   • Tip 3: Uncheck Click to Search to disable marker placement, and use clicks for zooming only.
   • Tip 4:: Hold the Shift Key and draw a rectangle to zoom into a specific area — even when layers have been loaded on the map.

2. Map Areas

   • Load map area files with Polygon Geomentry from the Map Areas select options - or upload your own files.
   • Supported formats: .geojson, .topojson, .kml and well-structured .json.
   • For administrators:
     • Upload your Map Areas files to the default folder map_areas/ on the server.
     • Include a JSON file, index.json, listing the file names:

       [
           "world_100.geojson",
           "world_200.geojson",
           "..."
       ]

     • The select element Map Areas on the top of this page is then automatically updated to include those files as options.
   • Tip: Choose the first option from the dropdown menu to remove all loaded map areas.

3. Map Places

   • Load files with Point Geomentry (Latitude and Longitude) from the Map Places select options - or upload your one files. Files can also contain Line Geomentry
   • Supports the following file formats: .geojson, .topojson, .kml, .gpx, .csv, and simple .json:

     Simple JSON File:
     [
       {
         "BookID" : "1.1.1",
         "Place" : "Ἀθηναίοις",
         "Links" : "...",
         "Lat" : "37.971687",
         "Lon" : "23.726464",
         "Description" : "..."
       },
       {...}
     ]
     

     CSV File:
     BookID,Place,Links,Lat,Lon,Type,Description
     1.1.1,Ἀθηναίοις,"...",37.971687,23.726464,"..."
     ...
     

     .
   • Detection of Coordinate Field Names is flexible and case insensitive. CSV and JSON files can contain any of the following alternatives:
     • lat/lon, Lat/Lon or LAT/LON
     • lat/lng. Lat/Lng or LAT/LNG
     • latitude/longitude, Latitude/Longitude, or LATITUDE/LONGITUDE
   • For administrators:
     • Upload files with Map Places to the default folder map_places/ on the server.
     • Include an index.json file listing chosen file names.
     • The select element Map Places on the top of this page is then automatically updated to include those files as options.
   • Tip: Choose the first option from the dropdown menu to remove all loaded files with map places.

4. User's Local File Loader

   • Use the folder icon to load local files directly from your device.
   • Loacal Loader supports all file formats and structures mentioned above.

5. Search and export loaded files and filters

   • Every time you load a file, a Free Text search input will appear on the top of the page for searching and filtering it, together with buttons for downloading files or filters in GeoJson and CSV formats.
   • If your file contains oner or more of the three predefined, case insensitive Field/Property names, Passages, Type and Region, or their predefined Aliases, search and filtering inputs will appear on the top of the page.
     • All unique values of existing Field/Property names will be displayed as options within select elements, together with a Free Text input.
   • Currently, these are the case insensitive Aliases of the three predefined Field/Property names:

     const key_Aliases = {
         type: ['type', 'timePeriodsKeys', 'city', 'name', '2001deme'],
         region: ['region', 'name_en', '2025demosen'],
         passages: ['passages', 'bookid', 'identifier']
     };
     

   • Every serach on the loaded Base File generates a new, filtered map layer that is added under the Base File. Yoy can then zoom to its boundaries, toggle its vidibility, download it or delete it.
   • If yoy check the Stack checkbox, you can load additional files over previous ones. In that case, searching is always pursued on the last laded file. You cannot go back searching previous files.
   • Clicking on GeoJson and CSV downloads always the first checked file or filter, starting from the top of tha legend Loaded Files & Filters.

Some other Features and functions

• Zooming
  • The map is automatically zoomed to the boundaries (places or areas) of the first loaded file.
  • Subsequent loading of files does not change zooming - to enable comparisons.
  • To zoom the map to the bounderies of a file, click any time on the button at the right of its name, within the Loaded Files & Filters panel.
• Stacking Areas and Places
  • Check the Stack checkbox to allow multiple map areas and places from different files, loaded from the server or from your local device, to overlay each other.
  • You can see all loaded files in the Loaded Files & Filters panel.
  • Clicking on their respective checkbox separately toggles their visibility and clicking on their zooms the map to their respective layer boundaries.
  • You can search only the last loaded file.
  • Click on the button to instantly remove all loaded files from the map and reset zooming.
• Information Popups
  • Clicking on map layers (place markers and areas) displays, if available, a popup with sanitized information, usually in terms of Key: Value.
  • URLs in popups are automatically converted to links, which open in a new tab.
  • Tip: Check and uncheck any time Hide Popups to enable and disable popup information when clicking on map layers - clicking will then zoom instead.
• Supported Geometry Types:
  • Full support for geometry types: Point, MultiPoint, LineString, MultiLineString, Polygon and MultiPolygon
  • Partial Support for GeometryCollection:
    • If all geometries are Polygon, they are merged into a single MultiPolygon.
    • Mixed geometry types are split into individual features with shared properties.
  • CSV files can have the following structures:
    • Simple CSV with Point Geometry that include the above mentioned aliases of field names for Latitude and Longitude.
    • Well Known Text (WKT) with all geometry types.
    • Embedded GeoJson with all geometry types.

You can use each function independently, or use them together:

• Click to Search can be kept active in all occasions, both with Map Places and Map Areas.
• You can load multiple Map Areas and Map Places, that is, files with different Geometry Types, both from select lists and from local files.
• Where Map Places or Areas intersect, the last loaded layer gets priority regarding popups and hovering.
• When Hide Popups is unchecked (Popups are enabled), Click to Search is automatically disabled within Map Areas. To re-enable Click Searching inside those areas, check Hide Popups.