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Track: Application Development Techniques
Tim Rourke
Geographic Information Services, Inc.
216 Aquarius Drive Suite 319
Birmingham, AL 35209
Telephone: 205-941-0442
Fax: 205-941-0443
E-mail: gisinc@scott.net
GIS Tools: A Graphical Interface to ArcInfo NT in Visual Basic
The user interface for ArcInfo on UNIX is limited to the command line and to ARC Macro Language (AML) applications such as ArcTools. The widgets available to the AML menu programmer are limited when compared to development environments available for other operating systems. On the Windows NT platform, AML menus limit the user further due to the relatively large percentage of screen area needed on a personal computer monitor. These limitations, and the heavy demands placed on the user by a high-end GIS, make for a difficult interface environment with respect to both use and development. Methodology: With ArcInfo now available on Windows NT, the ArcInfo application developer has access to development environments like Visual Basic. Visual programming tools provide the developer with a larger tool set of controls and objects and the ability to integrate other personal computer applications with GIS applications. Using ArcInfo software's interapplication communication (IAC) tools, AML, Visual Basic, and
OLE, a developer can produce a more comprehensive interface solution for the ArcInfo for Windows NT user. Existing GIS tools developed with AML and UNIX scripts can be integrated with the interface with some modification and using readily available tools. Software: The application was written in Visual Basic and AML and integrates a number of tools developed with AML, shell scripts, awk scripts, batch files, and other application macros. The application makes use of GNU programs that provide Windows NT versions of commonly used UNIX utilities. This paper describes the goals and design of the application and reviews the difficulties encountered as well as solutions employed in implementing the interface.
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