This documentation will cover basic configuration of Aurora software. Of course the map and layers we are using are specific to our database and reflect the data we are working on. Therefore feel free to diverge from the sample field entries and make it work with your data. Despite these obstacles we strongly believe that if you follow this guide you should be able to enjoy fruits of your work in no time.
Shown below is our sample Aurora webpage.
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Detailed description of how to achieve such effect will be provided further down.
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Please remember that any changes made to the script must be saved before they will be available for external users in served script. To save the script please use one of the options in the Scripts section of the Aurora Creator tab. You can always check currently edited script name just below the Save buttons.
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Script Settings
Start the work on Aurora script by opening Aurora Creator tab. Here you can configure all settings, themes, workflows and tasks for the Aurora script. Please click on the Script Settings tool.
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There are 3 mandatory fields in the Aurora Script Settings General tab , please set:
- Map – here you can select which map will be displayed in the Aurora script. Please click the Browse button to select desired map. Aurora is using the same map as Earthlight. Please be aware that all map settings (visibility, copyrights etc.) will be moved and used in Aurora.
- Application ID – Application ID is required for the Aurora embedding snippet script in the Publish function. It should start with a letter, only A-Z 0-9 characters and no spaces are allowed.
User name – User name will be automatically used for Aurora when accessing Earthlight security system.
Info Permissions and Shares for the user should be configured so that it can display the map correctly.
Please note that you should grant at least read only access to all layers from Map to specified Aurora user.
Aurora user should have no password (empty password).
This is how configured General tab used in this guide looks:
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When all settings in the General tab are set, please move to HTTP Addresses tab. In this tab you have to enter the Aurora Service Address. Aurora Service Address must be set if you want to serve Aurora script to external users.
This are all mandatory script settings for the Aurora script. You can read more about all Scripts settings here: Script settingsSettings
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When all necessary settings in the Script Settings are configured you can start using the Preview tool to see how the Aurora Script looks in a web browser. Please click the Preview button to start the compilation process. When it’s done, click Run button. Aurora will be displayed in a new tab.
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Theme Editor
Theme Editor is a simple tool which allows to customize the look of Aurora application. It contains ten tabs of editing options. For detailed description of all Theme Editor settings please visit: Theme Editor
Creating a structure of Aurora sections, categories and workflows
Now we can focus on creating a structure of sections, categories and workflows for our Aurora Script. Please use the Add function in the bottom-left corner to create a structure similar to the one presented below:
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All elements of the structure will be presented in the Aurora. Sections are main blocks which are holding additional elements – categories and workflows. To better understand the structure of Aurora elements please compare the structure created in Aurora Creator tab (screen above) with the Aurora presented for users (screen below).
Adding tasks to the workflows
Tasks are building blocks of workflows. You can combine as little or as many tasks into a workflow as you see necessary. To add a task to the workflow, please select the workflow and click Add button on a Workflow tasks panel on the right side.
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For the full list and description of all Aurora tasks please visit: Aurora tasksTasks
Explanation of the basic Aurora script presented in this guide
This is our suggestion of how a basic Aurora script can look. We have created 3 sections in the Aurora script used in this guide:
Find nearest
The first section contains workflows which allows us to locate 5 nearest objects/places to the location pointed by the Aurora pushpin. For example we will use Windmills workflow to find 5 nearest windmills. The main task used in this workflow is – Find nearest.
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You can find additional explanation of all 5 tasks used in this workflow below:
- Clear result set
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This task is necessary to clear the result pane after using other workflows. It’s added automatically to most workflows. This task doesn’t require any configuration. Just please add it to the workflow.- Change Layer Visibility
The one and only job of this task is to show/hide selected layers. You can configure it by selecting the task and pressing theProperties button. In each workflow of Find nearest category we’ve set the layer visibility to show the one exact layer. This is how the task properties window is configured for one of the workflows in this category:
- Find Nearest
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- The main job of this task is to show nearest records from chosen layers in the selected location. We can configure it by selecting the task and pressing the Properties button.
In all instances of the Find nearest section workflows there is a single layer selected and result rows are set to 5. It means that the task will show maximum 5 nearest records. This is how configured task look:
For Find Nearest task documentation please visit: Find
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- Nearest task
- Fetch Result Set
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This task is necessary for most of other tasks. Its job is to fetch specified result set. In the task bar you can set which result set should be fetched by the task. We’ve set it to fetch "inspection" result set because the result set of Find Nearest task by default is set to "inspection".- Show Result Pane
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- This task is responsible for showing result set of selected workflow in the result pane. There is no need to change any settings for this task. Just please add it to the workflow.
Description and usage explanation of all Aurora tasks can be found here:
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Basic tasks
This section contains workflows which allows us to obtain other results. For example:
Find all Hill forts workflow
This workflow allows us to find all Hill forts in the United Kingdom. All of them will be displayed on the map and presented on the result list in the Aurora. We can then move to any record by simply double clicking it on the result list.
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You can find additional explanation of all 4 tasks used in this workflow below:
- Clear result set
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This task is necessary to clear the result pane after using other workflows. It’s added automatically to most workflows. This task doesn’t require any configuration. Just please add it to the workflow.Find by Query
This task is responsible for finding records specified by a query.
Because the stg_land_use_symbol layer contains data of many different points of interest and we want to find only Hill Forts – we can use Find by Query to precise which records should be displayed. We can configure it by selecting the task and pressing
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the Properties button.
This is how the Query Builder looks:
For Find by Query task documentation please visit: Find by Query
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Fetch Result Set
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This task is necessary for most of other tasks. Its job is to fetch specified result set. In the task bar you can set which result set should be fetched by the task. We’ve set it to fetch "inspection" result set because in the previous (Find by Query) task we’ve set the result set to "inspection".
Show Result Pane
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This task is responsible for showing result set of selected workflow in the result pane. There is no need to change any settings for this task. Just please add it to the workflow.
Description and usage explanation of all Aurora tasks can be found here: Tasks
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Display all Camp sites workflow
This is a very simple workflow. Its job is to display all Camp sites in the United Kingdom. All of them will be displayed on the map but the result list will remain empty and the user will be only able to inspect the Camp sites by clicking on their icons on the map. The main task used in this workflow is – Change layer visibility. This is how complete workflow tasks list look:
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You can find additional explanation about all 3 tasks used in this workflow below:
- Clear result set
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- This task is necessary to clear the result pane after using other workflows. It’s added automatically to most workflows. This task doesn’t require any configuration. Just please add it to the workflow.
- Change Layer Visibility
The one and only job of this task is to show/hide selected layers. You can configure it by selecting the task and pressing theProperties button. This is how the task properties window is configured for this workflow:
- Show Result Pane
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This task is responsible for showing result set of selected workflow in the result pane. There is no need to change any settings for this task. Just please add it to the workflow.
Description and usage explanation of all Aurora tasks can be found here:
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Find all museums in selected District Borough workflow
The last workflow in the Basic tasks section allows us to find all places located in selected area. The main task used for this operation is – Find by layer. This is how complete workflow tasks list look:
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This is a bit more complicated workflow. You can find additional explanation about all 6 tasks used in this workflow below:
- Clear result set
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This task is necessary to clear the result pane after using other workflows. It’s added automatically to most workflows. This task doesn’t require any configuration. Just please add it to the workflow.- Drill down through layers
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This task allows you to configure what layers will be inspected in push pin location when it is executed. In this workflow we have used the Drill Down through layers task to inspect District Borough layer – because as a final result we want to display all museums located in selected district.
For Drill Down Through Layers task documentation please visit: Drill Down Through
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- Layers
- Combine Result Set
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This task allows to combine results from many tasks and display all of them as a result of using a single workflow. In the previous step we’ve used the Drill Down through layers task. Results of this task are always set as Inspection. Now we’re using Combine Result Set task to change the Inspection result set to Selection result set. We will need this configuration in the next step.- Find by Layer
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- This task works similar to the Earthlight Select by Layers tool. It can show records from one layer by comparing them to records from different layer. You can set various comparing methods in the task properties as well as add a buffer or set calculation precision. In this workflow we want to find all Museums that are located in selected district. That’s why we’ve set: Select records from Museums that intersect with records from District Borough layer that are Limited to SELECTION result set (that’s why we’ve changed the Inspection result set to Selection result set in the task number 3). As a final step we’ve changed the result set of this task to"A".
For Find by Layer task documentation please visit: Find by Layer - Fetch Result Set
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This task is necessary for most of other tasks. Its job is to fetch specified result set. In the task bar you can set which result set should be fetched by the task. We’ve set it to fetch "A" result set because in the previous step we’ve the result set of Find by Layertask set to "A".- Show Result Pane
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This task is responsible for showing result set of selected workflow in the result pane. There is no need to change any settings for this task. Just please add it to the workflow.
Description and usage explanation of all Aurora tasks can be found here:
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Legend
This section allows us to control the visibility of all Aurora map layers. To change the visibility, you have to check/uncheck the small box next to the layer’s name. This section contains only one workflow and only one task – Show map legend. You can read more about this task here: Show map legend taskMap Legend
Publishing the Aurora script
When the Aurora script is prepared and you are ready to publish it, please click the Publish tool icon.
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The Publish tool allows you to configure the size settings for published Aurora script as well as provides you the Aurora stand-alone web address and Aurora embedding JavaScript snippet. For more information please visit: Publish tool
Summary
This guide was created to allow you to better understand the basics of creation of the Aurora script. There are many more useful features related to the Aurora script which are described in other documentation parts of the Aurora software. All settings and configurations of the script presented in this guide were set to reflect the data we are working on. Feel free to use different names and themes for all Aurora elements. Here are the most useful links for the Aurora software:
- Full description of the Script Settings tool: Script Settings
- Change the Aurora look by using Theme Editor: Theme Editor
- Description and usage explanation of all Aurora tasks: Aurora tasks listTasks
- Publishing Aurora by using Publish tool: Publish tool