MapTP API for the Java Platform

MapTP is made for software developers. The MapTP application programming interface (API) is designed for seamless integration of mapping functionality into software applications. The creators of the MapTP product not only built an efficient map engine that delivers superior results to client applications. At least as important as runtime efficiency and richness of functionality was and still is the design of an API that is intuitive, flexible, and powerful. All programming interfaces follow object oriented design paradigms.

The term MapTP JAPI stands for "Map Transfer Protocol Java Application Programming Interface". It was designed to offer seamless integration of mapping functionality into software applications written in the Java programming language.

The Java and C++ programming languages have different concepts for organizing classes and for avoiding name clashes. While Java uses the package concept, C++ has namespaces. These terms are used whenever the programming language is important. For general descriptions where the particular programming language is not important and that apply to both Java and C++ the term package is used preferably throughout the documentation.

Mapsolute in turn organizes packages in package sets. A package set defines a class hierarchy of cohesive, possibly interdependent and associated classes. Many times a package set is also a compilation unit.

The package sets are described in the table below. See the reference guide for complete documentation of the MapTP API for the Java Platform.

MBase	The MBase package set contains utility classes for message handling, synchronization, and resource management. MUtil is the only package in the MBase package set.
MapTP	The MapTP package set defines the protocol that is used between MapTP client applications and the MapTP server for compressed and incremental vector data transport. The protocol defines an object model that gives access to maps and map vector data. The package set also defines protocols for the communication between services and the MapTP server. Besides the protocols, the package set provides sessions that are used for communication, a rendering engine that controls the interaction with maps and the drawing process, and functionality for a persistent map storage.
Maplet	The name Maplet stands for mapping application. The Maplet package set provides functionality that is required by most MapTP mapping applications. For example, classes of the package provide functionality for the connection management to the MapTP server and control the process of requesting map data from the MapTP server. Moreover the package set defines an interface for painters and provides a concrete painter class that can be used to paint maps according to MapTP's standard map definition scheme. The Maplet package set further provides a windowing toolkit containing controls for building GUIs. In addition the package set contains the application's resource manager, the main panel of the application and the application frame window.

The following diagram shows the packages of the MapTP JAPI: