Showing and Hiding Layers

By default, folders (Cadastral, Topographic, Aerial Photos, etc.) are closed when you first open the Interactive Mapping Service.   You can open a closed folder by clicking on its closed folder icon (  ).   A list of all the layers and group layers contained within the folder will be shown. To close a folder, click on its open folder icon (  ).   Notice that opening and closing folders doesn't turn a layer's visibility in the map on or off; it simply helps keep the layer list uncluttered.

Similarly, a closed group layer can be opened by clicking on its closed group layer icon (  ). A list of all the individual layers contained within the group layer will be shown. To close a group layer, click on its open group layer icon (  ). As with folders, opening and closing group layers doesn't turn a layer's visibility in the map on or off; it only contributes to an uncluttered layer list.

Next to each folder, layer, or group layer is a checkbox that indicates whether layers are visible in the map.  A layer is 'on' (its features are visible in the map) when there is a check in its checkbox, its folder's checkbox, and its group layer's checkbox.  In the Interactive Mapping Service, some layers are checked by default, while some are not.  Also, keep in mind that some layers are set to be visible only at certain ranges of map scale.

While checkboxes are provided at both the folder and group layer levels to allow users to turn all sublayers on or off with one click, folders and group layers work differently.   When you select or deselect a folder's checkbox, the checkboxes of all layers inside the folder automatically are selected or deselected.   Selecting or deselecting a group layer's checkbox will not change the checkboxes of the individual layers in the group layer.  When you select a group layer's checkbox, every individual layer whose checkbox is already selected becomes visible in the map, as long as the layer is set for visibility at the current scale.

Managing Layers with the Layer Explorer

The Layer List may be customized to include only layers of interest by removing layers that are not needed or used.

To open the Layer Explorer, click "Manage Layers," located in the lower left corner of the Layer List. Layers with a green checkmark will appear in the Layer List; features from those layers will continue to be available for selection and display in the map. Uncheck the layers you wish to exclude from the Layer List. When every layer within a group is excluded, the group layer will be removed from the Layer List.

Layer Actions

Layer Actions, or functions and tasks related to the properties of individual layers, are provided where individual layer names are underlined in the Layer List.  To perform an action on a layer, left click the underlined name of a layer in the Layer List and select an action from the menu that appears a moment later.  Keep in mind that not all of the following layer actions will be available for every layer.

Making Layers Active

Some layers are available only at certain scales. Only features from layers that are visible at the current map scale and set as "active" can be queried and selected in the main map window.   By default, the "Tax Parcels" layer is set as active in the Interactive Mapping Service.

Layers that may be made active at your current scale will be shown with a white "available" icon (  ) to the right of the layer name, while layers that are unavailable at a given scale are shown with a greyed-out "unavailable" icon (  ) to the right of the layer name.  When a layer is unavailable, zoom in or out until its name in the Layer List is no longer greyed-out.  A layer can be made active by clicking on the white icon adjacent to its name.  A black "active" icon (  ) indicates that a layer is active, and its name will be highlighted in blue in the Layer List when it is within its visible scale range, or in grey when it is beyond its visible scale range.  Multiple layers may be active at the same time. To inactivate a layer, click its black "active" icon.

When no layers are set as active, and querying or selection tools are used in the map, the following message appears in the bottom half of the information panel:

Select the layer you wish to set as active from the drop-down list.

Viewing the Map Legend

In addition to the functions above, the Layer List can also display a Map Legend, or how a layer's features appear in the map (symbology).   To make the legend visible, click the "View Legend" button at the bottom of the Layer List.   Group layers must be opened to view the symbology of individual layers within group layers.   To hide the legend, click the "Hide Legend" button. Keep in mind that legend symbols are shown only for layers with features visible in the map.

The following sections will show you how you can draw on and add your own data to a map, create, save, and print your own custom maps, measure distances, search for and select features based on various criteria, export data, and more:

> More Advanced Functions