Introducing enlighten Administrator 5.1

Introduction

The enlighten Administration view provides you with a powerful tool for performing enlighten administration tasks through an easy-to-use web interface.

User’s with administrative privileges have access to a special section of the enlighten site that is not visible to normal enlighten users. This is identified as the Administration View and provides users with a powerful tool for performing enlighten administrative tasks through an easy-to-use web interface.

The enlighten Administration View displays the options available to a user with all administrative privileges assigned. A user with restricted administrative privileges would have fewer menu items available.

The Administration View is divided into the following groups:

• Site Administration: Customize the enlighten Home page. Update enlighten with the latest documentation and FAQ's.
• User Administration: Add, edit and delete users from the system. Manage Layer and Function access.
• Map Administration: Administer the customisable enlighten Mapping functions.
• Log Administration: View and delete the User and Administrator Logs created by the system.

The remainder of this document will outline the administrative functions available in each of the groups mentioned above. This will also instruct the site administrator on how to configure and customize these functions.

What's New in Enlighten 5.1 For Administrators

Redline Layers, Projects and Stages

The Redline functionality has been expanded to allow for the creation and management of Redline Projects, and their various Project Stages. Redline Layers are managed independently of Redline Projects and their associated Stages. Organizations can opt to implement the Projects method of Redline markups or continue with the standard Redline markup method.

Redline Layers

Redline Layers are map layers used to draw various markup objects such as lines, polygons, and text. Notifications can be configured for each Redline Layer to alert members of a designated Notification Group whenever new markup is added. This ensures timely action based on the type of markup. For example, when new water assets are marked up on the Asset Creation Redline Layer, a notification is sent to the GIS team so they can promptly add the asset details and connect them to the network.

Redline Projects and Stages

Redline Projects are created in the Enlighten Map, with project extents defined using polygon boundaries. Users are granted specific permissions for various Redline Projects and their respective Project Stages, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive information throughout each stage of the project lifecycle.

Redline Projects are defined on the Enlighten map using a spatial polygon that represents the project's boundary. Each project includes:

• A unique Project Name
• A Project Description
• A Project Status (either Active or Inactive)
• Project Stage

When a new project is created, users are prompted to define its spatial extent by drawing a polygon on the map. This polygon is stored as a spatial object in the SP_PROJECT table within the Enlighten database. The project boundary is displayed on the Basemap’s Project layer, and its properties can be viewed using the Show Info form.

Each project can also be promoted through a series of configured Project Stages that indicate the project's progress - from Preliminary Design through to Completion. Redline markups associated with a project are managed through these stages, typically including:

• Preliminary Design
• Feasibility
• Detailed Design
• Review Completed
• Construction
• Completed

Redline database settings

Further enhancements for Enlighten 5.1 sees the Redline settings being moved from the web.config to the EN_SETTINGS table so that they can be edited using Enlighten's Site Administration > Configure Settings functionality without having to restart the website when parameters are updated. This functionality reduces any down-time and users benefit from fewer disruptions and interruptions to their web sessions when configuration changes are made for Enlighten settings.

The following Redline settings are categorized as being MAP settings:

• RL_FEATURE_SOURCE - Feature source of redline features
• RL_LAYER_PREFIX - Prefix of redline layer
• RL_SYMBOL_PREFIX - Prefix of redline symbol
• RL_SYMBOL_DEFAULT - Default redline symbol library
• ENABLE_RL_PROJECT - Enables Redline Projects functionality
• REDLINE_COMPLETE - Redline objects with Complete status are not displayed
• RESOURCE_FOLDER - The folder containing all dynamically created MGOS resources such a Redline Objects, Collections and Projects.

ESRI Feature Service

Enlighten 5.1 introduces support for adding an ESRI Feature Service layer to the map as a remote, URL-based layer. This functionality is limited to adding a single Feature Service layer at a time per enlighten user. The feature is accessible via the Add/Manage Layers pane. 

Once added, the layer can be configured by the user to load automatically on subsequent logins by enabling the Restore Added Layers option within their User Options. The Manage User Options pane also allows users to retain any style settings applied to the Feature Service layer. This ensures that visual customizations - such as color changes - are preserved and restored when the layer is reloaded.

Although the ESRI Feature Service layer is added by users within the Enlighten Map environment, the Administrator is responsible for configuring the default ESRI URL for the service as part of the ESRI_DEFAULT_URL setting found within the Site Administration > Configure Settings. All ESRI Feature Services require a paid subscription or license, so please contact ESRI for your organization's plan details.

Enlighten Settings Changes

Enlighten Settings made accessible to Administrators

The following Enlighten settings have been moved from the WEB.config file to the Site Administration configuration settings to be easily accessible by the Enlighten Administrator user:

• MGE_URL - The URL of the Map Guide web site.
• RESOURCE_FOLDER - The folder to contain all dynamically created MGOS resource.
• VIEWR_APP_DEFN - The name of an MGOS application definition for internal users.
• EXT_VIEWR_APP_DEFN - The name of a MGOS application definition for external users
• MAX_TRACE_SEL_COUNT - The maximum count of selecting the network trace result.
• LOG_FILE_FULL_PATH - The full path of the log4net log file.
• ADMIN_LOGOUT_USERS - Site Administrator setting to enable the function for an Administrator to terminate active user sessions.

Hosting different versions of Enlighten

In Enlighten 5.1, the hosting server can now host different versions of Enlighten React Viewer on the same server. Enlighten 5.0 React Viewer is installed in the folder C:\Program Files\OSGEO\MapGuide4\Web\www\viewer by default, and Enlighten 5.1 React Viewer is installed in the folder C:\Program Files\OSGEO\MapGuide4\Web\www\viewer5.1.0 by default. This is very useful when transitioning from one version to another where the sign-off on the new version is required before the older version is "switched off".

The setting 'MGE_URL' defines the URL for the MapGuide Open Source software on the Server on which it is installed i.e. https://[server name]/mapguide4. This setting is typically setup when completing the initial Enlighten 5.1 installation using Enlighten Management Console where the Default value is set to '$IIS_Server$/mapguide4'. See topic called Map Configuration Settings in the Enlighten Installer documentation for more information. 

Different Map setup for Internal and External Users

With the addition of new configuration settings in version 5.1, external users can be directed to use a different version of Enlighten which could be hosted in the cloud environment, versus a local version for office based users hosted on local servers within the organization.

• VIEWR_APP_DEF - sets the name of the MapGuide Open Source application definition for internal users.
• EXT_VIEWR_APP_DEF - sets the name of the MapGuide Open Source application definition for external users.

These setting refers to the location of the MapGuide Open Source application definition setup for all internal and external users of the enlighten website.

The MapGuide Application Definition (AppDef) is the core configuration file used in MGOS and describes the layout, functionality and behavior of the web mapping application. The application tells MapGuide how the viewer should look, what tools, menus and layers are available to users.

If, as and Administrator, you want to limit the layers available to external users who are perhaps only adding redline markups to certain utility layers, you can create a separate map definition file and use it exclusively for those users. This approach helps improve both performance and the user interface.

Hosting scanned GeoTIFF Images on a separate server

Enhancements to the enlighten settings sees the introduction of additional configuration parameters allowing the scanned GeoTIFF images to be located on a different server to the Enlighten / MapGuide Open Source (MGOS) installation. These GeoTIFF images, forming the under layering images such as the As-Constructed Design plans can often be large format image and PDF files, therefore requiring substantial disk space for storage.

Note: A GeoTIFF format is a standard for storing geo-referencing information within a TIFF image file, essentially allowing geographic data like map projections and coordinates to be embedded directly into a raster image. This makes it possible to accurately position the image on a map within a GIS application. It's essentially a geo-referenced version of the standard TIFF image. The method of geo-referencing TIFF images is completed using a combination of Munsys Spatial Data Manager application using the Geo-scan functionality, and specifically designed utilities to generate a geo-referenced image.

It is common practice for large organizations to have their Document Management Systems on a separate file server or in the cloud, thus allowing scalability and sharing via remote access. The GeoTIFF images could therefore have a different URL with it's own levels of security and access via centralized management and user permissions.  If no specific Geo-scan server parameter is defined, enlighten defaults to use the current enlighten url and the path and file names stored with the Geo-Tiff images.

SRID setting for Geo-scan images

The recent addition of a Geo-scan coordinate system setting in the Enlighten database introduces a significant enhancement for handling GeoTIFF images with varying coordinate systems. By storing the Spatial Reference Identifier (SRID) code for each GeoTIFF, the system allows these images to be transformed on the fly to align with the coordinate system configured for the Enlighten map. This capability ensures that GeoTIFF images can be accurately displayed beneath utility layers, even when they originate from different coordinate systems.

The CS-Map library offers robust support for various coordinate systems and projections, ensuring that spatial data, including GeoTIFF images, are accurately transformed and displayed. This integration enhances the flexibility and interoperability of the Enlighten platform, accommodating diverse geo-spatial data sources and coordinate systems. This means that GeoTIFF images can be stored with their original coordinate systems and dynamically transformed to fit the map's coordinate system settings. This feature streamlines the process of integrating and displaying geo-spatial data from multiple sources, improving the overall user experience and data visualization capabilities within the Enlighten platform.