GIS Maps Providers – Guide & Recipes¶

Applies to GeoServer (WMS), MCLite (PostgreSQL rasters), MIKECore (DFS2/DFSU), plus MapStyle backends. Use this page to pick a provider fast, and wire it up. Deep dives are linked.

See for more details¶

Quick map of the providers (the big picture)¶

Map sources (what renders your bitmap)¶

Provider	Kind	R/W	“Layers” mean…	Where data lives	Best for / notes
GeoServer WMS → `SKBitmap`	Ungrouped	Read	`<workspace>:<layer>`	GeoServer WMS	Tokenized WMS template → image; optional Basic Auth; time param appended (`hh`).
MCLite GroupedMapSource	Grouped	Read	MCLite groups / raster ids	PostGIS rasters (PostgreSQL)	Postgres-only for render/time/stream; catalog works across DBs.
MIKECore `Dfs2MapSource` / `DfsuMapSource`	Ungrouped	Read	A file (`.dfs2` / `.dfsu`)	DFS files on disk	Contouring engine; requires `EPSG:3857`; supports time stacks & palettes.

Style repositories (where styles are stored)¶

Provider	What it stores	Typical consumer	Notes
GeoServer MapStyleRepository (REST)	SLDs on the GeoServer host	GeoServer WMS	Add via zipped style or raw SLD XML.
PostgreSQL MapStyleRepository	Arbitrary `StyleCode` text	MIKECore, custom renderers, WMS too	Simple table (`id`,`name`,`style_code`).
In-process MapStyleRepository (JSON, etc.)	Local JSON	Any	Handy for dev; swap later for PostgreSQL.

Which one should I pick?¶

You have GeoServer and want WMS images → GeoServer WMS
Your rasters live in PostGIS and you want catalogs + time → MCLite Grouped
You need to render DFS2/DFSU files directly → MIKECore
You want centralized styles shared across services → PostgreSQL MapStyle

Capabilities at a glance¶

Capability / API	GeoServer (WMS)	MCLite (PG)	MIKECore (DFS2/DFSU)
`GetMap` (single image)	✓	✓	✓
`GetMaps` (time stack)	✓	—	✓
`GetDateTimes(id)`	✗	✓	✓
Catalog (`GetAll`, groups, etc.)	✗	✓	✗
ASCII/aux stream	✗	✓ (AAI)	✗
Style via GeoServer	✓	—	—
Style via PostgreSQL	—	✓*	✓
Auth	Basic (opt)	DB creds	—

MCLite render ignores MapStyle colors (pipeline is DB-driven), but you can still use a style repo for legends/UI.

IDs & parameters — mental model (cheat-sheet)¶

Common `MapService.GetMap(...)` signature¶

(style, crs, bbox, width, height, sourceId, dateTime, item, parameters)

GeoServer (WMS) Template tokens: [group] (workspace), [layer], [bbox], [crs], [width], [height], [mapstyle]. Mapping:
- GetMap: sourceId → [group], item → [layer], style → [mapstyle]
- GetMaps: dictionary value is [layer]; final item arg is [group]
- Adds &time= (yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss.fffZ) if dateTime present
MCLite (PostgreSQL rasters) Grouped; sourceId/item are unused. Pass provider keys in parameters:
- rasterid (required): table/raster to draw
- srs (used only if crs arg is empty)
- time (optional range string "start\end", either side optional)
MIKECore (DFS2/DFSU)
- crs must be "EPSG:3857" (throws otherwise)
- sourceId = file name when the provider was constructed with a directory; empty if constructed with a file
- item = item name or number (string "3")
- parameters (optional): includevector, isoline, vectorcolor, scale, coloringtype, shadingtype, etc.

Registering providers (minimal wiring)¶

Programmatic (ServiceLocator)¶

// GeoServer WMS
var wmsQuery = "[group]/wms?service=WMS&version=1.1.0&request=GetMap&format=image/png" +
               "&layers=[group]:[layer]&bbox=[boundingbox]&width=[width]&height=[height]&srs=[crs]&styles=[mapstyle]";
ServiceLocator.Register(
  new DHI.Services.GIS.Maps.MapService(
    new DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer.MapSource("https://gs/geoserver/", wmsQuery, "user","pass"),
    new DHI.Services.GIS.Maps.MapStyleService(
      new DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer.MapStyleRepository("https://gs/geoserver/","user","pass"))),
  "geo-map");

// MCLite (PostgreSQL rasters)
ServiceLocator.Register(
  new DHI.Services.GIS.Maps.GroupedMapService(
    new DHI.Services.Provider.MCLite.GroupedMapSource(
      "dbflavour=PostgreSQL;host=localhost;port=5432;database=ws;user id=...;password=...;workspace=workspace1"),
    mapStyleService: null),
  "mclite");

// MIKECore DFS2 / DFSU
ServiceLocator.Register(
  new DHI.Services.GIS.Maps.MapService(
    new DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore.Dfs2MapSource(@"C:\data\dfs2\R20141001.dfs2"),
    mapStyleService: null),
  "dfs2-map");
ServiceLocator.Register(
  new DHI.Services.GIS.Maps.MapService(
    new DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore.DfsuMapSource(@"C:\data\dfsu"),
    mapStyleService: null),
  "dfsu-map");

// Styles in PostgreSQL (optional)
var pgRepo = new DHI.Services.Provider.PostgreSQL.MapStyleRepository(
  "Server=localhost;Port=5432;Database=ProviderTest;User Id=postgres;Password=secret");
ServiceLocator.Register(
  new DHI.Services.GIS.Maps.MapService(
    new DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore.Dfs2MapSource(@"C:\data\dfs2\R20141001.dfs2"),
    new DHI.Services.GIS.Maps.MapStyleService(pgRepo)),
  "dfs2-map-pgstyle");

Via `connections.json` (WebApi snapshot)¶

{
  "geo-map": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.MapServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "MapSourceType": "DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer.MapSource, DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer",
    "MapSourceConnectionString": "BaseUrl=https://gs/geoserver/;Query=[group]/wms?...&styles=[mapstyle];UserName=admin;Password=geoserver",
    "MapStyleRepositoryType": "DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer.MapStyleRepository, DHI.Services.Provider.GeoServer",
    "MapStyleConnectionString": "BaseUrl=https://gs/geoserver/;UserName=admin;Password=geoserver",
    "Name": "GeoServer WMS",
    "Id": "geo-map"
  },
  "mclite": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.GroupedMapServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "MapSourceType": "DHI.Services.Provider.MCLite.GroupedMapSource, DHI.Services.Provider.MCLite",
    "MapSourceConnectionString": "dbflavour=PostgreSQL;host=...;port=5432;database=...;user id=...;password=...;workspace=workspace1",
    "Name": "MCLite (PG)",
    "Id": "mclite"
  },
  "dfs2-map": {
    "$type": "DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi.MapServiceConnection, DHI.Services.GIS.WebApi",
    "MapSourceType": "DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore.Dfs2MapSource, DHI.Services.Provider.MIKECore",
    "MapSourceConnectionString": "[AppData]dfs2\\R20141001.dfs2",
    "Name": "DFS2",
    "Id": "dfs2-map"
  }
}

If you rely on [AppData], set once at startup:

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

Using over HTTP (what routes you get)¶

Typical host exposes a WMS-like endpoint and (for grouped connections) a layer catalog:

GET  /api/maps?request=GetMap&service=wms&version=1.3.0
      &width=1024&height=768
      &styles=<styleIdOrCode>
      &layers=<connectionId>
      &crs=EPSG:4326|EPSG:3857
      &bbox=xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax
      &item=<layerOrItem>
      &timestamp=<ISO>               # GeoServer/MIKECore time
      &rasterid=<name>               # MCLite (forwarded to Parameters)
      &time=<start\end>              # MCLite time window

Examples

GeoServer WMS GET /api/maps?...&layers=geo-map&styles=coast-sld&crs=EPSG:4326&bbox=8,54,13,58&item=coastline
MCLite (PG) GET /api/maps?...&layers=mclite&crs=EPSG:3857&bbox=1110000,6400000,1130000,6420000&rasterid=RainGrid_1h&time=2024-04-01T00:00:00Z\2024-04-01T06:00:00Z
MIKECore (DFS2) GET /api/maps?...&layers=dfs2-map&crs=EPSG:3857&bbox=1110000,6400000,1130000,6420000&item=Water%20Level&timestamp=2014-10-01T10:00:00Z

Grouped catalog (MCLite)

GET /api/maps/mclite/layers?group=workspace1/raster
GET /api/maps/mclite/layers/fullnames?group=workspace1/raster;nonrecursive
GET /api/maps/mclite/datetimes/{fullname}
GET /api/maps/mclite/layers/{fullname}/stream/ascii

Tips¶

GeoServer (WMS)
- Use WMS (not WFS/WMS-PNG mixups). Keep your template consistent with server version (srs vs crs, axis order).
- In GetMaps, parameters["crs"] is used; in GetMap, pass crs argument.
- Time param uses 12-hour hh. If your server expects HH, customize your template/placeholder.
MCLite
- Render/time/stream are PostgreSQL-only; SQLite/SQL Server throw NotSupportedException.
- Required provider key: rasterid. crs wins over parameters["srs"].
- Returns null if view doesn’t intersect the raster overview envelope—handle that in callers.
MIKECore
- Strict EPSG:3857 only; anything else throws. Convert upstream.
- item can be name or index as string (e.g., "3").
- Dispose every SKBitmap (especially in stacks).
- Consider the cached connection variant for hot extents (pretiles, zoom levels, TTL).
PostgreSQL MapStyles
- Table bootstrap creates public.map_style if missing; it won’t create schemas for you.
- Use a least-privilege DB role; rely on pooling (Npgsql default).