GIS Providers – Guide & Recipes¶

Applies to GeoServer (WFS), MCLite, MIKECloud, MIKECore (DFS2/DFSU), and ShapeFile. Use this page to pick the right provider fast, and wire it up. Deep dives live in the provider-specific guides.

See for more details¶

Quick map of the providers (the big picture)¶

Provider	Kind	R/W	“Groups” mean…	Where data lives	Best for / notes
GeoServer (WFS → FeatureCollection)	Ungrouped	Read	n/a (use Group = workspace)	GeoServer WFS (GeoJSON)	Fetch features from WFS via templated URL. `GetIds()` lists layers via `/rest/layers`.
MCLite FeatureRepository	Grouped	Read/Write	MCLite folders	DB (PostgreSQL/SQLite/SQL Server)	Full CRUD on collections/features/attributes; metadata; optional XML metadata search; KML*
MIKECloud GroupedGisRepository	Grouped	Read/Write	Projects / Subprojects	MIKECloud vector datasets	Create/read vector datasets via Transfer. Listings OK; per-feature CRUD is limited (see notes)
MIKECore DFS2 FeatureRepository	Ungrouped	Read	n/a	DFS2 file	Turns a time slice into polygons per cell. Requires `DateTime=…`.
MIKECore DFSU FeatureRepository	Ungrouped	Read	n/a	DFSU file/folder	Mesh → polygons per element. Optional `Item=…`, `DateTime=…`. Can enumerate `*.dfsu`.
ShapeFile FeatureRepository	Grouped**	Read/Write	OS folders (when in folder mode)	`.shp/.shx/.dbf` (+ `.prj`)	Read/write shapefiles; simple Equal filtering; writes `.prj` from `Metadata["Projection"]`.

KML streaming only on PostgreSQL.

Note

“Grouped” here means “folder-based IDs” when you point the repo at a folder.

Which one should I pick?¶

Pull features from an existing GeoServer/WFS → GeoServer (WFS)
Database-backed, full CRUD + search → MCLite
Cloud project datasets (create/read; listings) → MIKECloud (Grouped)
Turn rasters/meshes into feature polygons → MIKECore (DFS2/DFSU)
Read/write shapefiles on disk → ShapeFile

Capabilities at a glance¶

Capability / API	GeoServer	MCLite	MIKECloud (Grp)	DFS2	DFSU	ShapeFile
`Get(id)` → `FeatureCollection<string>`	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
`GetAll()` / group listings	✗	✓	✓	✗	✓	✓*
Metadata search / filters	“n/a”	✓**	(limited)	✗	✗	Equal/OR
Feature CRUD (add/update/remove single feature)	✗	✓	AddFeature✓	✗	✗	✓
Attribute DDL (add/update/remove columns)	✗	✓	✗	✗	✗	✓
Associations (TS/Docs/Sheets)	✗	✓	✗	n/a	n/a	✗
Envelope / Footprint	✗	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
Reprojection on read (`outSrid`)	n/a	n/a	✓	✗	✗	via .prj

ShapeFile “listings” happen by pointing the repo at a folder.

Note

MCLite supports token AND across values, plus optional XML metadata search.

IDs & groups — mental model (cheat sheet)¶

GeoServer (WFS) — semicolon key=value pairs: Group=<workspace>;Layer=<layer>;Crs=EPSG:XXXX;BoundingBox=xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax[;Time=…][;Size=w,h] You provide a templated query with placeholders like [group], [layer], [crs], [boundingbox].
MCLite — full path: "/Group/Sub/Name" (grouped). DB stores geometry + attributes; CRUD and search supported.
MIKECloud (Grouped) — full path: "Group/Sub/Name" under a project; repo creates missing subprojects on Add.
MIKECore
- DFS2: DateTime=yyyy-MM-ddTHHmmss[;File=…][;BoundingBox=xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax]
- DFSU: [File=…][;Item=…][;DateTime=…][;BoundingBox=…] (unknown keys throw)
ShapeFile — either a folder (IDs look like "roads/primary.shp") or a single file repo (ID is the file).

For providers that use folder-style IDs, follow your host’s URL encoding rules (often /→|). See your GIS Web API guide.

Registering providers (minimal wiring)¶

All controllers resolve services by connectionId from ServiceLocator.

GeoServer (WFS)

using DHI.Services; using DHI.Services.GIS;
using DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer;

var query = "[group]/ows?service=WFS&version=1.1.0&request=GetFeature" +
            "&typeName=[group]:[layer]&srsName=[crs]&bbox=[boundingbox]&outputFormat=application/json";

ServiceLocator.Register(
  new GisService(new FeatureCollectionRepository(
      baseUrl: "https://my.gs/geoserver/", query: query, userName: "user", password: "pass")),
  "geoserver");

MCLite (grouped, updatable)

using DHI.Services; using DHI.Services.GIS;
using DHI.Services.Provider.MCLite;

ServiceLocator.Register(
  new GroupedUpdatableGisService(new FeatureRepository(
      "dbflavour=PostgreSQL;host=localhost;port=5432;database=mc_ws;username=...;password=...;workspace=workspace1")),
  "mclite");

MIKECloud (grouped)

using DHI.Services; using DHI.Services.GIS;
using DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECloud;

ServiceLocator.Register(
  new GroupedUpdatableGisService(new GroupedGisRepository(
      "apiKey=<APIKEY>;projectId=<PROJECTID>;environment=Prod")),
  "mc-gis");

MIKECore (DFS2 / DFSU)

using DHI.Services; using DHI.Services.GIS;
using DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore;

ServiceLocator.Register(new GisService(new Dfs2FeatureRepository(@"C:\data\R20141001.dfs2")), "dfs2");
ServiceLocator.Register(new GisService(new DfsuFeatureRepository(@"C:\data\dfsu\")), "dfsu");

ShapeFile (folder or file)

using DHI.Services; using DHI.Services.GIS;
using DHI.Services.Provider.ShapeFile;

// Folder mode (list many)
ServiceLocator.Register(new GisService(new FeatureRepository(@"C:\data\shp")), "shape");

// Single-file mode (write one)
ServiceLocator.Register(new GisService(new FeatureRepository(@"C:\data\roads.shp")), "roads-one");

Optional: configure via `connections.json` (snapshots)¶

{
  "geoserver": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.GisServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "RepositoryType": "DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer.FeatureCollectionRepository, DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer",
    "ConnectionString": "BaseUrl=https://my.gs/geoserver/;Query=[group]/ows?service=WFS&version=1.1.0&request=GetFeature&typeName=[group]:[layer]&srsName=[crs]&bbox=[boundingbox]&outputFormat=application/json;UserName=user;Password=pass",
    "Name": "GeoServer WFS",
    "Id": "geoserver"
  },
  "mclite": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.GroupedUpdatableGisServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "RepositoryType": "DHI.Services.Provider.MCLite.FeatureRepository, DHI.Services.Provider.MCLite",
    "ConnectionString": "dbflavour=PostgreSQL;host=localhost;port=5432;database=mc_ws;username=...;password=...;workspace=workspace1",
    "Name": "MCLite (grouped, updatable)",
    "Id": "mclite"
  },
  "mc-gis": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.GroupedGisServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "RepositoryType": "DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECloud.GroupedGisRepository, DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECloud",
    "ConnectionString": "apiKey=[env:MIKECLOUD_APIKEY];projectId=[env:MIKECLOUD_PROJECT];environment=Prod",
    "Name": "MIKECloud (GIS)",
    "Id": "mc-gis"
  },
  "dfs2": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.GisServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "RepositoryType": "DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore.Dfs2FeatureRepository, DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore",
    "ConnectionString": "[AppData]dfs2\\R20141001.dfs2",
    "Name": "DFS2 reader",
    "Id": "dfs2"
  },
  "dfsu": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.GisServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "RepositoryType": "DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore.DfsuFeatureRepository, DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore",
    "ConnectionString": "[AppData]",
    "Name": "DFSU reader",
    "Id": "dfsu"
  },
  "shape": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.GisServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "RepositoryType": "DHI.Services.Provider.ShapeFile.FeatureRepository, DHI.Services.Provider.ShapeFile",
    "ConnectionString": "[AppData]shp",
    "Name": "Shapefile",
    "Id": "shape"
  }
}

If you use [AppData], set once at startup:

AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetData("DataDirectory",
  Path.Combine(builder.Environment.ContentRootPath, "App_Data"));

Tips¶

GeoServer
- Must call WFS (GeoJSON) endpoints; WMS (images) is used at GIS Maps.
- If your template uses [width]/[height], the ID must include Size=w,h.
- Time appends with 12-hour hh in the built-in logic; if you need HH use your own placeholder.
MCLite
- Server-side filter supports QueryOperator.Equal only; tokenized AND search applies to metadata APIs.
- KML streaming is PostgreSQL-only.
- Geometry normalized to Multi* on write; plan your symbology accordingly.
MIKECloud (Grouped)
- associations:true on Get → throws (not supported).
- outSrid must be an int string (e.g., "4326"); otherwise throws.
- Per-feature CRUD beyond AddFeature isn’t implemented yet.
MIKECore
- DFS2 DateTime format is yyyy-MM-ddTHHmmss (no colons).
- DFSU: unknown ID keys throw; use BoundingBox, not BBox.
- Bounding boxes are full containment (all vertices inside) for both DFS2/DFSU.
ShapeFile
- Read filtering is Equal only; multiple filters are OR’d.
- .prj is written from Metadata["Projection"] if present and not a known “local/none” marker.