In LuciadRIA, the model represents the link between the server that provides the data and the map that shows the data in a layer. The purpose of LuciadRIA models is to store and manage geospatial data, while LuciadRIA views and layers take care of the visualization.

LuciadRIA distinguishes between:

  • RasterTileSetModel instances. These models are capable of downloading multi-leveled, tiled raster data to the browser, so that the map can visualize it.

  • RasterImageModel instances. These models also download raster data to the browser for visualization, but the raster data consists of images of arbitrary sizes and scales instead of tilesets.

  • FeatureModel instances. These models are capable of exchanging vector features between the browser and the server.

More specialized implementations of these classes are available to connect with certain data sources, for example to connect to a WMS or WFS server. Consult the documentation related to those data formats for more information.

Model properties

Geospatial reference

All model data must have a spatial reference, so that the application can determine the location of the data. Otherwise, you can’t display the data on a map.

In LuciadRIA, the class CoordinateReference represents a reference. All data in the model is associated with the same CoordinateReference.

You must configure the model’s CoordinateReference at model construction time. Depending on the nature of the model, you may need to configure the CoordinateReference manually. In other cases, model utilities or factories determine the CoordinateReference automatically from the available data.

For more information about geospatial references, see the model references documentation.

Model metadata

A model can be associated with extra information about the model data, or metadata.

The class ModelDescriptor represents the model metadata in the API. It specifies:

  • The source of the data

  • The data type

  • A name that you can use to label the data in the view

  • A description

You can retrieve the model descriptor from the model through the modelDescriptor property.