Help File for Erie County Internet Mapping Service

MAP WINDOW: The main window where the map is displayed. The contents of the display are controlled by the various tool buttons, layer controls, and queries. At the bottom of the display is the scale bar. The scale bar measurements are set by the scale bar button on the Map Tools.

MAP REDRAW BUTTON: VERY IMPORTANT! - The user must click on this button to refresh the map whenever the layers are changed (turned on/off)

This small window displays the extents of the Map Window on an overview map of Erie County. The red box in the Overview Window indicates the extent of the map displayed in the Map Window. By clicking on the Overview, the user can move the location of the red box and change the view in the Map Window.

MAP TOOLS: The various tools displayed here are used to control the map display. Users can ZOOM IN/ OUT, PAN the Main Map Window, QUERY the features in the Map Window, MEASURE DISTANCES, etc.

The Toolbar at the left side of the Map Window contains a variety of buttons that can be used to control the map display. Clicking on any button will activate that tool for use. It is important to remember that the tool which is active - indicated by a red box around the image - remains active until a different button is clicked. The Active tool is also indicated at the lower left side of the browser window.

TOOLBAR	Description of Toolbar Buttons
		Toggles the legend On/ Off	Toggles the Overview map On/ Off
		Zoom In: click or draw box	Zoom Out: click or draw box
		Zoom to extents of all layers	Zoom to extent of Active layer
		Return to last view/ extent	Pan by holding mouse button and moving the hand
		Obtain info. from Active layer by clicking on feature	Obtain info. by using a Structured Query
		Find text string in Active layer database	Measure distances
		Set units (miles, feet, etc.) for measuring	Create buffers to select data
		Select features from Active layer: draw rectangle	Select features from Active layer: select line or polygon
		Clear the selected features	Locate an address
		Print the map

First - select which map layers to turn on and off by checking or unchecking the "Visible" column, and,

Second - select which layer to make "Active". In order to query, or ask for information, about the features of a particular map layer, that layer must be turned on as the "Active" layer. While multiple layers can be selected for display, only one layer can be "active". After selecting the layers for display in the Map Window, click on the Refresh Map button to see the results in the Map Window.

Note that several of the layers are "scale- dependent". Parcels, Major Roads, and Roads will appear or not appear on the Legend depending on how the Map Window is zoomed in or out. The more detailed layers such as Parcels and Roads are not appropriate to display on a county-wide map, so these layers will only appear on the Legend when the map is zoomed in to a scale where viewing these layers is feasible.

Use this drop- down menu to select a specific city/ town/ village to zoom to. The selected municipality will be drawn in the Map Window, using the layers selected in the Map Layer Controls.

This drop down box offers four choices for viewing parcel level maps: Outlines of parcel boundaries/ Shading by Assessed Value/ Shading by Property Class Code/ Query Parcels. Note that the parcel layer is scale- dependent. This means that the parcel layer is only available on the Legend when the map is zoomed to less than a typical town. The parcel layer will not show up in the Legend until the map is zoomed in to a scale that is appropriate to display these small polygons.

The Parcel Display Options menu includes two thematic maps: Current Total Assessment, and Land Use. The data for these maps are derived from the Real Property System, and are determined by local assessors. The Land Use classifications are based upon the property class codes in the RPS. Selecting either of these two thematic maps will open a window containing the appropriate map legend.

To view the legend for a map: Click on the Legend icon on the upper left corner of the Toolbar. This will change the "Layers" frame to show all of the symbols (colors, lines, etc.) for all of the visible layers. The Parcels thematic legend will near the top of this "Legend" frame. To add/ remove layers, toggle the Legend icon on the Toolbar back to its' original view.

There are several steps involved in selecting an address. Users are cautioned that the address database used in this application is not complete. It is based on the Census Bureau's TIGER file, and may not contain the most recent streets or addresses in the County. Efforts are underway to incorporate a more complete database into this application, and this will be added when it become available.

To locate an address, use the "push-pin" icon at the lower right side of the Toolbar. Click on the icon to open a new window containing fill- in boxes for entering the street number and name,and the municipality name.

Enter the Street Number and Name, such as: 120 Franklin St. or 120 FRANKLIN STREET

Use the Drop Down Box for "Municipality" to choose the municipality. This can also be left blank. If this is left blank, the search may return multiple results for the Address. These choices will appear in a separate window, from which the user can click on a choice (using the # column) to display that address.

If the search for the address is successful, the location will be labeled in the main Map Window, and a "Locate Results" window will display the address. To zoom in closer to the address, click on the number in the "#" column, and the map window will zoom in and center on the address.

The "Locate Another Address" button on the "Locate Results" window can be used to continue searching for addresses.

When you are finished searching for addresses, close the "Locate Results" window.

The Highlighted, or Selected, address can be cleared from the Map Window by clicking on the eraser icon on the Toolbar.

There are several steps involved in constructing a "query" to obtain information from the map layers.The example described below is specific to obtaining information from the Parcel layer. Similar procedures are used to construct a query to obtain data from any of the map layers. Note that this a simple explanation of how to use "SQL" conventions to query a database; this is a complex topic too involved to get into in detail in this application.

Step 1: Make the layer you want to Query "Active" by turning on the button on the Layer Controls. To make parcels active, you may need to zoom in until Parcels appear at the top of the Layer Controls.

Step 2: Click on the Query button (Icon with the red ? mark) on the Toolbar. This will open up a new window for constructing the query. NOTE: THIS WINDOW WILL BE BEHIND THE CURRENT BROWSER WINDOW ! YOU MUST BRING IT TO THE FRONT TO ENTER INFORMATION. Click on the button for this window on the taskbar at the bottom of the computer screen to bring it to the front.

Step 3: To locate a parcel by the last name of the owner, choose "OWNER 1" in the Field menu, and "LIKE" in the Operator menu. In the Value field, enter the last name of the owner, in UPPER CASE, followed by a %. For example: LASTNAME%

Step 5: Click on the "Execute Button".This will begin the search of the Parcels database for all owners with a lastname beginning with "LASTNAME".

Results: A new "Query/ Selection Results" window will open. Note that this can take a few minutes - the Parcels database has over 350,000 records for Erie County! If more than one record is found, the window will contain a list of all the records located. If more than 25 records are found, the additional records can be listed by choosing "More Records" at the bottom of the list.

After reviewing the details of the records, choose an individual record by clicking on the number in the first column. This will zoom the Map Window to the selected record. If the Parcels layer is not turned on, make it visible by clicking the check- box on the Layer Controls. If the window is zoomed in too close, zoom out by clicking on the Zoom- out icon on the Toolbar and zooming out on the Map Window.

After reviewing the selection, clear it by clicking on the Clear Selection (eraser icon) on the Toolbar.

Similar procedures can be used to query any of the map layers, by making them Active, and selecting an appropriate field to construct a query on.

To print a map, click on the Printer icon on the lower left of the Toolbar. This will open a dialogue window where the user may type in a title for the map.

Click on "Create Print Page" to open up a new browser window containing a preview of the printed map. You can then use the File/ Print menu to print the page.

Example of Land Use Classification Thematic Map	Legend

Example of Total Assessed Value Thematic Map	Legend