Giraffe Distinctions

Giraffe Has 3 main types of Layers - Drawing, Data, and Portfolio. You might see all of these layers together in the Layer Palette at the same time. That is because, at the end of the day, Giraffe is a GeoJSON editor, and regardless of source, the drawings, spatial layers, and projects are all spatial datasets.

• Layer type is shown with a symbol in the Layer Palette
  • ‣ Globe = Portfolio Layer
  • ‣ Pencil = Drawing Layers
  • Data Layers
    • ‣ Square = Vector Data Layer (Upload Vector Files as Layers )
    • ‣ Photo = Raster Data Layer (Upload Raster Files as layers)

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Data

Data Layers are external geospatial datasets that add context to your Giraffe projects.

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Learn more in Data Layers

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Drawing

Drawing Layers are where you author and visualize new geometries in Giraffe.

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Learn more in Drawing Layers

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Portfolio

The Portfolio turns all of the projects in your Workspace into a spatial dataset.

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Learn more about Portfolio Layer

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Format

“Raster is faster but vector is corrector.”

Raster data represents geospatial information using a grid of cells or pixels, each with a value indicating a specific attribute (like elevation or temperature) and is resolution-dependent. Vector data, on the other hand, uses points, lines, and polygons to represent discrete features like roads, boundaries, and rivers, providing more precision and scalability. Raster is best for continuous data, while vector is ideal for discrete data.

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Vector

Vector data is scalable and can also be searched, filtered, and styled using Lens (Data Table)

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• Vector sources:
  • ESRi Featureserver
  • GeoJSON files (.geojson)
  • Shape files ( .shp / .dbf / .prj )
  • Cad files ( .dxf )
  • Spreadsheets with addresses (.csv)

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Raster

Think of raster data as spatially-oriented PDFs or photos. It is not scalable and cannot be searched.

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• Raster sources:
  • ESRi Mapserver, Imageserver, Sceneserver
  • WMS
  • Images (.png / .jpeg)
  • PDF files (.pdf)

Source Connection

API spatial server connections provide dynamic, real-time access to geospatial data hosted on a server, allowing updates and live data integration. Point-in-time files like shapefiles are static, representing data as it existed when the file was created, without any automatic updates. APIs are ideal for continually changing datasets, while shapefiles are suited for stable or archived data snapshots.

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API

API connections to Esri, WMS, and Mapbox layers provides up-to-the-minute data without interruptions.

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• API sources:
  • ESRi
  • WMS
  • Mapbox

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Static

Static uploads are great for data that doesn’t need to be updated often and isn’t too large.

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• GeoJSON files (.geojson)
• Shape files
• Cad files ( .dxf )
• Spreadsheets with addresses (.csv)
• Images (.png / .jpeg)
• PDF files (.pdf)

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• All Mapping Articles </aside>