Interface Help

Toolbar Help

Property Search Help

FAQs

Using the iMAP Toolbar

NOTE: iMAP requires a high-speed Internet connection.

To the left is an actual-size illustration of the iMap toolbar. The toolbar contains icons that, when clicked, initiate certain responses or activate tools for interactive functions, such as navigating on the map, building queries, searching for keywords, etc.

To learn about the various choices on the toolbar, hover your mouse cursor over any one of the icons in the image at left to see its name and function as it appears in iMAP. Then click the icon to jump to an explanation of its function. Or just scroll down this page and read about all of the iMAP toolbar functions.

When you see this symbol, , in one of the items below, you can click on it to see an illustration that is specific to that item (then click your browser's "Back" button to return to this page).

TIP: When you are using iMAP, you can hover your cursor over a button on the toolbar to see a "tool tip" that describes the function represented by the button. The same information is also displayed in your browser's status bar, at the bottom of the browser window.

Navigate: Move Around On The Map

Zoom In

Click the button to activate the tool. You can then click anywhere on the map to increase its scale. The map display automatically redraws at the larger scale and is centered on the point over which you clicked.

Alternatively, click and drag a rectangle to zoom to a specific extent as defined by the rectangle.

Zoom Out

Click the button to activate the tool. You can then click on the map to decrease its scale. The map display automatically redraws at the smaller scale and is centered on the point over which you clicked.

Zoom to Full County Extent

Click the button to zoom out in one-step to show all of King County in the map display.

Back to Last Extent

Click the button to change your map area (and thereby the map scale) to match the previously viewed extent. This button does not affect visible or active layers, only the geographic extent of the map window.

You can go back up to 20 steps.

Pan

Click the button to activate the tool. You can then click and drag your mouse cursor within the map display to pan the map area, i.e., shift the map image up-down and left-right to view adjacent areas.

iMAP Bookmarks

Bookmarking allows you save spatial extents so you can return easily and quickly to a particular area on your map. Click this button to open the iMAP Bookmarks window. You can then create a new bookmark for the current map view, or select a bookmark you have already stored to zoom directly to that area. The iMAP Bookmarks window also allows you to manage your list of bookmarks.

Note: Information for these bookmarks is stored in a "cookie" on your computer; no other information is stored in that cookie.  As long as the cookie stays on your computer, you can access your bookmarks, over and over again, whenever you use iMAP on your computer.

Zoom to Places

Click the button to make a drop-down list of place names appear in the query frame. Then click on a name to zoom directly to that place in the map display.

Every map set offers a list of cities in King County. Some map sets also offer other options, such as a separate drop-down list of park names in the Parks map set.

Info: Get Information About Places On The Map

Identify

Click the button to activate the tool. You can then click on feature symbols in the map's active layer to identify those features. When you click on an available feature with the identify tool, that feature's attributes will be displayed in the query frame below the map window.

Select a Feature

Click the button to activate the tool. You can then select map features two ways:

1. Click once with your cursor directly on a feature in the active layer to select it. You will then see information about that feature in the query frame.

2. Click, hold, and drag your cursor to create a selection rectangle, which you will see outlined in red, on the map. As soon as you release the mouse button, the map display will redraw and the features that fall at least partially within the boundaries of the selection rectangle (on the active layer only) will be highlighted and a list of the selected features will appear in the query frame.

Select by Line or Polygon

Click the button to activate the tool. You can then select one or more features in the active layer by drawing a line segment, a connected series of line segments, or a complete polygon over those features on the map display.

Here's How:

1. Click on the map to create the endpoints of your line segments (at least 2).

2. Then click the button that appears in the area below the map to stop drawing and make your selection.

3. The map display will redraw and the features that intersect the line or polygon will be highlighted and a list of selected features will appear in the query frame.

Find

Click the button to open an input form field which you can use to search for a text string among the database attributes of the active layer. For example, you could type in and search for the name of a particular park, hospital, or city hall (note: searches are not case-sensitive).

If a feature is found that matches the text string that you entered, a database record will be returned and displayed in the space below the map. You can then click on the record number (highlighted in blue) to automatically redraw the map display so that it is centered on that feature.

Property Search (Parcel Search)

Click the button to open a form which you can use to search for and select an individual property, either by its parcel number or by its street address.

Search by Parcel Number
Here's How:

1. Click the button to open the input form.

2. a: Enter the 10-digit parcel number (sometimes referred to as the PIN) in the space provided.
   b: Click the "Find Parcel" button.
   The map display will automatically redraw and center on the selected parcel, which will be highlighted. A database record that shows both the parcel number and the street address will appear in the space below the map.

See also: Conducting a property search with iMAP
See also: Parcel Viewer

Search by Address
Here's How:

1. Click the button to open the input form.

2. a: Enter the street address* (see "Street address format" below) in the space provided.
   b: Click the "Find Parcel" button.
   The map display will automatically redraw and center on the selected parcel, which will be highlighted. A database record that shows both the parcel number and the street address will appear in the space below the map.

*Street address format:

• Include ordinal endings for numbered streets,
  e.g., 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.

• Do not use punctuation marks
  e.g., NE 94th ST not N.E. 94th ST.

• Use the following two-letter abbreviations for street types:
  AV = Avenue
  BL = Boulevard
  CT = Court
  DR = Drive
  HW = Highway
  LN = Lane
  LP = Loop
  PW = Parkway
  PL = Place
  RD = Road
  ST = Street
  WY = Way

See also: Conducting a property search with iMAP
See also: Parcel Viewer

Location: Measure and Locate Places On The Map

Buffer

A buffer is a zone that extends a specified distance outward from given feature. A buffer can be used to identify map features that fall within a certain distance from a given feature, for example, all property parcels that are within a quarter-mile of a certain stream.

Click the button to open an input form which you can use to specify a buffer around a selected feature on the active layer. The specified buffer will be drawn as a gray overlay on the map display.

Here's how:

1. Activate the layer that contains the feature around which you want to create a buffer. For example, activate the "Lakes and Large Rivers" layer if you want to create a buffer around a particular lake.

2. Select the feature you wish to buffer using one of the selection tools: .

3. With a feature selected, click the buffer button. The buffer input form will then be displayed.

4. From the drop-down list in the buffer input form choose the data layer that contains the features you want to identify with your buffer zone, for example, "Parcel".

5. Enter a buffer distance.

6. Click the "Display Attributes" check-box next to the the "Create Buffer" button.

7. Click the "Create Buffer" button. iMAP will then draw the buffered area on the map display and generate a list of all of the features in the chosen layer that fall within the buffered area.

Coordinates

Click the button to activate the tool. Then click anywhere on the map to see the geographic coordinates of the point where you click. A red dot will be added to the map at that point. The coordinates will be displayed in the query frame below the map so that you can copy them for other uses.

Two sets of coordinates are shown: Latitude/Longitude (in decimal degrees, not degrees-minutes-seconds) and State Plane X/Y (in feet), which is the standard coordinate system for King County GIS data.

You can also enter your own coordinates in this form and click the "Zoom Map" button. The map display will re-center on those coordinates and place a point there (as long as the point is within King County)

Tip: The geographic coordinates of your cursor are also displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the iMAP window The coordinates are updated every time you move your pointer, even when another tool is selected.

Measure

Click the button to activate the tool. You can then find the straight-line distance between any two points on the map display.

Here's How:

• Click once at the point you wish to measure from.

• Click a second time at the point you wish to measure to.

• A line segment will be drawn on the map connecting the two points, and the real-world distance between the points will be shown in a report field that appears at the top of the map display.

• Each additional click will draw another contiguous line segment. The distance between the two most recent points will be displayed, as well as the total length of all of the contiguous line segments.

Use the set units button to change the distance units.

Use the clear selection button to clear the distance report fields and erase the measure lines from the map.

Click the button to activate a drop-down list from which you can choose the unit of measure (feet, miles, meters, or kilometers) to be applied to the map display. First choose one of the units from the list and then click the "Set Units" button next to the drop-down list.

The unit of measure affects the measure tool and the buffer function.

Display: Control Elements of the Map Display

Click the button to turn the overview map on and off.

Coming Soon!!

Click the button to clear (de-select) all selected, highlighted features (i.e., points, lines, or polygons) from the map display. The map display will redraw automatically.

Also use this button to clear line segments and to reset the measure totals to zero when using the measure tool.

Output: Print or Save the Map Display

Create A Printer-Friendly Map
(Note: Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download a free copy from the Adobe website.)

Click the print button to open a form into which you can enter a map title of your choice, and then with just the push of a button on the form create your own custom map layout within your browser. Once the layout is created, you can either print it OR save it to PDF format straight from your browser.

1. Click the print map button to open the input form.

2. Type your own map title into the space provided.

3. Choose whether or not to display an "Overview Map" and a map legend. By default, the overview map will not display and the legend will display. An Overview map is a small map of King County with the area of your main map outlined. The legend will display the symbolization for all the layers currently turned on and visible at your scale.

4. Select your page orientation (portrait or landscape).

5. Select your page size: 8.5 x 11 inches (letter), 8.5 x 14 inches (legal) or 11 x 17 inches (tabloid).

6. Choose your scale bar units: feet, miles, kilometers or meters.

7. Optional comments: you may add any comments that you would like displayed with your map. These comments will be displayed at the bottom of your map in small type.

8. Click the "Create Print Page" button. A map layout will open in a new browser window. If you like the layout and want to print the map, just use your browser's print function to print a copy or the "save as" function to save a PDF version of your layout.

The main map display contains an image that is generated anew each time the display redraws. You can save just this image by clicking the save map button.

When you click this button a new browser window will open that contains just the map image. You can then use your browser's "Save Image" function to save it to your own computer. (In Internet Explorer, choose "File" from the main browser drop-down menu, then select "Save As." Or Windows users can just right-click on the image and choose "Save Picture As." Mac users click on the image and hold until the "Save Picture As" option appears.) 

Special Buttons

Click the button to access the iMAP help pages.

Clicking the reset button is the equivalent of closing your browser and starting iMAP again, it returns the iMAP display to its initial state. Use reset if you start getting unexplained errors, or if for any other reason you simply want to start over.

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Revised April 2, 2007