Web map & web feature services (WMS or WFS)

Web map services (WMS)

Available web map services depend on your location. To use a web map service, add the WMS and enter the URL you use to retrieve data from the service. Trimble Access saves the configuration information for each WMS in a .wms configuration file in the C:\ProgramData\Trimble\Trimble Data\System Files folder.

When connected to the WMS, you can control the visibility of WMS data (including sublayers) in the Map files tab of the Layer manager screen.

Data from the web map service appears in the map only when the map is in Plan view.

If required, you can use data from more than one WMS at the same time. For example, you may want to view cadastral layers from one WMS and data layers such as roads or land parcels from another.

Web feature services (WFS)

Connect to a web feature service to load georeferenced vector data in the map and then save the features as a .json file.

Once you have created the WFS file, you can select lines or polylines from the WFS file in the map and stake them. You can also create points at the ends of lines and at all points along a polyline, by selecting the Create nodes (DXF, Shape, 12da & LandXML) check box in the Map settings screen. The created points can then be selected for stakeout or Cogo calculations.

When staking WFS data make sure you understand the accuracy of the WFS data provided, and make sure it is in the same coordinate system as the job.

Trimble Access supports the following online feature services:

Esri Feature Service
Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Feature Service (WFS) in the following standards:
- OGC WFS 1.1.0
- OGC WFS 2.0.0

Trimble Access supports feature service data delivered as .json or .gml files:

The following data types are supported for each format:

GeoJSON (.json)	GML (.gml)
point, XYZ point	point, XYZ point, multipoint
linestring, multilinestring	linestring, multilinestring
polygon, multipolygon	polygon, multipolygon
	curve, multicurve
	surface (boundary only), multisurface (boundary only)

Before you can use a WMS or WFS

To add or use a web map service (WMS), the controller must be connected to the Internet.

To add a web feature service (WFS), the controller must be connected to the Internet. Once you have saved the data to a file, an Internet connection is no longer required to view the data.

For information on connecting the controller to the Internet, see Internet connection setup.
You must know the URL to use for the WMS or WFS, including any parameters that must be appended to the URL, such as a version number. For example: https://examplewms.org/wms?version=1.1.
The job must use the same coordinate system and zone as the EPSG code you will select for the WMS or WFS.

To find out the EPSG code for the coordinate system and zone you are using, visit the EPSG.io website: epsg.io/.

To add a WMS or WFS

Map services are delivered based on your current map location and scale. Before adding the WMS or WFS:
1. If there are no points in the job, key in a point with coordinates that match the job coordinate system and that are in a location you would expect to see on the map.
2. Zoom the map to a reasonable scale, for example 100m or 1000m works better than 2m or 20,000km.

To open the Layer manager, do one of the following:

Tap in the Map toolbar or the Video toolbar.
In the Job properties screen, tap the Layer manager button.

Select the Map files tab.
Tap WMS/WFS. (In portrait mode, swipe right to left along the row of softkeys to view the WMS/WFS softkey.)
In the Web map service screen, tap New.
Enter the Name of the service.
In the Service type field, select Web Feature Service (WFS) or Web Map Service (WMS).
Enter the URL of the service and tap Enter.

Be sure to include any parameters that must be appended to the URL, such as a version number. For example: https://examplewms.org/wms?version=1.1.

If the URL includes parameters for sign in credentials such as a username and password, Trimble recommends removing them from the URL and instead enter the sign in credentials by selecting Http Authentication from the Sign in method field. For more information, see To configure the sign in method for the service below.
Wait while the software retrieves information from the web map service. When the software confirms testing of the URL is complete, tap OK.

If the software cannot connect, make sure the URL is correct. If it is, try changing http:// to https:// (or vice versa).
Configure settings for the selected service. See the following sections:
Tap Accept.

The name of the WMS or WFS you have added is shown in the Map files tab of the Layer manager.
To make data from the WMS or WFS visible in the map, tap the WMS or WFS name.

To show or hide layers from the WMS, tap the arrow next to the layer name and then tap the individual layers to show or hide them.
To exit the Layer manager and return to the map, tap Accept.

When displaying WMS data:

To view data from the WMS in the map you may need to zoom to an appropriate level. Different levels of map detail may be shown at different zoom levels.
Internet connection issues can affect the display of WMS data. If the map does not show any WMS data, return to the Web map service screen and tap Test to check the software is able to connect to the configured server.
To provide better contrast with features in the job or in other linked files, use the map Transparency slider to increase the transparency of WMS data. See Map data transparency.

To configure WFS settings

After entering and testing the URL for the WFS, configure the remaining settings for the Web Feature Service:

Make sure the Coordinate system field shows the correct EPSG code. The EPSG codes in the list are provided by the WFS. Trimble Access selects the most likely EPSG code to use, based on data already in the job.

The EPSG code must match the coordinate system and zone of the job. If you are not sure of the correct EPSG code for the coordinate system and zone you are using, visit the EPSG.io website: epsg.io/.
In the Bounding box type field, select the format and order of the coordinates used by the bounding box function.

Web feature services using the older OGC WFS 1.1.0 standard commonly require bounding box coordinates in reversed Latitude, Longitude coordinate order.
The Send bounding box EPSG field determines if the bounding box coordinate EPSG is appended to the bounding box fetch request. Only rarely should this setting need to be adjusted and if you are unsure then leave it set to Yes (default).
Select the Invert axis order check box to reverse the coordinate order of received feature data.

Web feature services using the OGC WFS standard that serve data in GML format commonly require reversed coordinate order.
If the WFS requires users to sign in to use the service, select the authentication approach in the Sign in method field and then enter the required details. For more information, see To configure the sign in method for the service
Tap Next.
Zoom and pan the map to the extents required, and then tap Save to save the features as a .json file. The file is saved to the .wfs Files folder in the <project> folder.

To configure WMS settings

After entering and testing the URL for the WMS, configure the remaining settings for the Web Map Service:

Make sure the Coordinate system field shows the correct EPSG code. The EPSG codes in the list are provided by the WMS. Trimble Access selects the most likely EPSG code to use, based on data already in the job.

The EPSG code must match the coordinate system and zone of the job. If you are not sure of the correct EPSG code for the coordinate system and zone you are using, visit the EPSG.io website: epsg.io/.
To make the background more transparent, select a Transparency value greater than 0%.
Select the Base layer check box if you will use data from more than one WMS in the map and you want data from the selected WMS to be the bottom layer of the map. Data from other WMS services will be displayed on top of this layer.
Select the Request transparent PNGs check box to request transparent PNG files instead of JPG files from the WMS.

This is useful if you will use data from more than one WMS in the map and you want data from the selected WMS to appear on top of data from another WMS, or if you want higher resolution images from the WMS.

PNG files are larger than JPG files and so will consume more data. Not all WMS services provide transparent PNG files.

To configure the sign in method for the service

The Sign in method field provides options for signing in to the WMS or WFS. Depending on the server setup, your authentication credentials may be encrypted when passed to the server.

While many publicly available services have no authentication requirements, this can be quite technical to set up. You will need to enter the sign in details supplied to you by the WMS or WFS provider.

If you are using a WMS URL that includes sign in credentials as parameters, you can keep the sign in credentials as part of the URL and select None in the Sign in method field. However sign in credentials that are part of the URL are never encrypted. To ensure that your credentials can be encrypted if supported by the server setup, Trimble recommends that you remove the sign in parameters from the URL and select Http Authentication in the Sign in method field and then enter the Username and Password.

To select the authentication approach, at the end of the Web Map Service / Web Feature Service screen, select the appropriate Sign in method from the drop-down list.
- None: Many services do not require any authentication.
- ArcGIS Token Server: Requires a Token Server URL and an account Username and Password.
  
  If you select the Save account details check box, the Username and Password are saved to the configuration file on the controller. For more information, refer to the note below.
- Http Authentication: Requires an account Username and Password.
  
  If you select the Save account details check box, the Username and Password are saved to the configuration file on the controller. For more information, refer to the note below.
- OAuth: Is the most secure type of authentication and requires quite extensive inputs. Contact your OAuth service provider for these details.
  
  Once configured, tap Fetch to open the server sign in page in your web browser. Depending on the server setup, this page may open and automatically accept the sign in credentials and then close without being visible. Alternatively, the web page may prompt you to sign in using multifactor sign in.
- ArcGIS Online: Effectively a pre-populated OAuth connection, this may require some server side configuration to allow Trimble Access to successfully connect.
  
  Once configured, tap Fetch to open the server sign in page in your web browser. Depending on the server setup, this page may open and automatically accept the sign in credentials and then close without being visible. Alternatively, the web page may prompt you to sign in using multifactor sign in.
The ArcGIS Token Server and Http Authentication sign in methods provide a Save account details check box:
- Select the Save account details check box to save the Username and Password in the configuration file.
  
  This allows your organization to choose between a common shared sign in across all users, so that users don’t need to manage individual credentials.
- Clear the Save account details check box to prevent the Username and Password fields being saved in the configuration file and instead require the user to enter these details when prompted each time the software attempts to load the WMS or WFS data.
  
  This allows your organization to use the improved security associated with each individual user being required to sign in and have access provided to each feature service at an individual level.
After inputting the appropriate credentials, tap Test to confirm receipt of a valid sign in token. A valid response is indicated by an icon.