Geovonic Connect includes App Launcher plugins to support sophisticated workflows in Civica Authority Altitude (CAA). Working in collaboration, the GIS mapping applications are used to select a group of properties to be passed to CAA for processing.
There are currently two Civica Authority Altitude workflows supported by Geovonic Connect:
- Bulk Letter Generator
- Map Neighbours
A good knowledge of CAA and ArcGIS Experience Builder is required to configure these workflow launchers.
Bulk Letter Generator
Use the bulk letter generator to request Civica Authority Altitude to send a letter to a group of properties.
Map Configuration
Your map requires a property layer. This layer will show the parcel boundaries of all properties contained in Civica Authority Altitude. An attribute on the GIS layer will be mapped to a property in CAA.
CAA provides two methods for relating a GIS parcel to a property record:
- Using a common numeric ID for the CAA property and the GIS feature. The GIS features have an attribute that contains the same ID used in CAA.
- Using a mapping table between GIS features and CAA properties. A “GIS Layer” table is defined in CAA that maps a GIS feature attribute to the related CAA property.
Geovonic Connect App Launcher Configuration
| Field | Description |
| Name | Choose a name for your launcher that will be displayed to your widget users. It is recommended that you use a verb phrase for this launcher such as “Run CAA bulk letter generator” or “Send CAA bulk letter”. |
| Relationship | The launcher must be connected to an ArcGIS feature layer. Layer link relationship is not supported for this launcher. |
| Link | Use the “Search for layer” tool to find your properties layer. |
| Layer (sub-layer) | Select the specific layer containing your property parcels. |
| Use relay service | The relay service is not required to access Civica Authority Altitude as it runs in the public cloud. You may need to whitelist the Geovonic Connect IP address (see article). |
| Launcher Type | The launcher type is: Civica Authority Altitude – Bulk Letter Generator. |
| Enable multi-select | This checkbox should be enabled. Multi-select indicates that the user can select several properties to send to the bulk letter generator. |
| Launch URL | This checkbox should be enabled. After running the Geovonic Connect bulk letter tool, CAA will be launched to complete the processing flow. |
| Search Attribute | The attribute on your feature layer that maps to the property record in CAA. Use the [+] button to choose the attribute to ensure the attribute name is properly formatted. |
| Application Base URL | The URL for your CAA server.
For example, “https://demo.civicalg-au.altitudelg.com”. The base URL will be used as the root for both the identity service (“/idsrv…”) and the main API (“/main/api/v2/…”). |
| GIS Client ID | CAA has the concept of GIS client credentials, used specifically for the integration of CAA with GIS systems. Enter the GIS client ID … |
| GIS Client Secret | … and GIS client secret. |
| Scope | The scope defines the amount of access granted to the GIS client.
For example, “gis_integration_api authority_client_public” |
| Module | Use the value “PR” to indicate the property module. |
| Program Master Key | The ID of the program to run in CAA. Normally 2042. |
| GIS Layer Name | If you are using a GIS mapping layer in CAA to relate map features to property records, enter the name of the CAA GIS layer name. This value is not required if the feature attribute contains the actual CAA property ID. |
| Icon Colour | The colour of the launcher button shown on the Geovonic Connect widget. The launcher button is only used for sending a letter to a single property. For a multiple selection, your user will select the launcher from the tools menu. |
| Label | The label shown on the launcher button. |
Using the CAA Bulk Letter Generator
- Using the selection tool, select a group of properties on the map. You can add to an existing selection set by holding down the SHIFT key.
- Click on the Tools menu and choose your bulk letter generator app launcher.
- Select the letter template from the Document Template list.
- Click Submit.
- After a short pause, the CAA application will be launched with the bulk letter dialog box displayed. Continue the workflow in CAA.
(Note: Your browser’s pop-up blocker may prevent Geovonic Connect from opening CAA. Look out for any warnings from your browser.)
Map Neighbours
Use the map neighbours launcher to define relationships between neighbouring properties in Civica Authority Altitude, and to optionally send letters to the neighbours.
This workflow is typically used for finding the neighbours affected by a planning application. The main parcel(s) represents the applicant, and the neighbour parcel(s) are those surrounding the applicant.
There are three steps to the map neighbours workflow:
- CAA: User opens a planning application in CAA and clicks on the “Map Neighbours” button. Clicking the button opens ArcGIS Experience Builder.
- Experience Builder: The user selects the neighbouring parcels on the Experience Builder map, and selects the CAA map neighbours tool. The user fills in the form with details of any letters to be created and returns to CAA.
- CAA: The user completes the neighbours process in CAA.
Map Configuration
Your map requires two property layers showing the parcel boundaries. The first layer is used to highlight the main parcel(s), and the second layer is used to select the neighbour parcel(s).
Due to the way that Experience Builder works, the two layers must come from different feature services in your ArcGIS. The easiest way to handle this is to create a view from your property layer to act as the second layer. This way you have two feature services that are pointing to the same underlying data.
Define the symbology for your layers differently. The main parcels layer will be filtered so that only the applicant parcel(s) is shown; use symbology to make this stand out. All features will be displayed on the neighbour parcels layer, and your user will make a selection on this layer.
An attribute on the GIS layers is mapped to a property record in CAA. CAA provides two methods for relating a GIS parcel to a property record:
- Using a common numeric ID for the CAA property and the GIS feature. The GIS features have an attribute that contains the same ID used in CAA.
- Using a mapping table between GIS features and CAA properties. A “GIS Layer” table is defined in CAA that maps a GIS feature attribute to the related CAA property.
Geovonic Connect App Launcher Configuration
This workflow requires you to configure two app launchers in Geovonic Connect: the first launcher opens Experience Builder highlighting the main parcel(s) for the user to make the neighbour selection, the second launcher passes the selection back to CAA.
Civica Authority Altitude – Start Map Neighbours
After configuring the Start Map Neighbours launcher, copy the given Geovonic Connect URL into Civica Authority Altitude as the GIS launch URL.
| Field | Description |
| Name | Choose a name for your launcher. This launcher name is only visible to you. It will not be seen by your end users. |
| Relationship | The launcher must be connected to an ArcGIS feature layer. Layer link relationship is not supported for this launcher. |
| Link | Use the “Search for layer” tool to find your properties layer. |
| Layer (sub-layer) | Select the specific layer containing your property parcels. |
| Use relay service | The relay service is not required to access Civica Authority Altitude as it runs in the public cloud. You may need to whitelist the Geovonic Connect IP address (see article). |
| Launcher Type | The launcher type is: Civica Authority Altitude – Start Map Neighbours. |
| Enable multi-select | Not used. |
| Launch URL | Not used. |
| Search Attribute | The attribute on your feature layer that maps to the property record in CAA. Use the [+] button to choose the attribute to ensure the attribute name is properly formatted. |
| Application Base URL | The URL for your CAA server.
For example, “https://demo.civicalg-au.altitudelg.com”. The base URL will be used as the root for both the identity service (“/idsrv…”) and the main API (“/main/api/v2/…”). |
| GIS Client ID | CAA has the concept of GIS client credentials, used specifically for the integration of CAA with GIS systems. Enter the GIS client ID … |
| GIS Client Secret | … and GIS client secret. |
| Scope | The scope defines the amount of access granted to the GIS client.
For example, “gis_integration_api authority_client_public” |
| Experience Builder App URL | The full path of the Experience Builder app to be opened. The “draft=true” query parameter can be included during testing. |
| Main Parcels Data Source | In Experience Builder, a map layer is referred to as a data source. To find the data source ID of your main parcels data source, ensure the “Data selection” option is enabled in the “Manage URL status”, launch your app and select a feature on your main parcels layer. The data source ID will be shown in the URL bar. It will look something like “dataSource_1-Property_Parcels_1234”. Copy the data source ID and enter in the configuration form. |
| Neighbour Parcels Data Source | Repeat the process for the Neighbour Parcels Data Source. Copy the data source ID of your neighbour parcels layer in to the configuration form. |
| Map Widget ID | The ID of the map widget in your Experience Builder app. To find the ID of your map widget, ensure the Map widget is enabled in the “Manage URL status” settings, launch your app and move the map. The widget ID will be shown in the URL bar. It will look something like “widget_12”. Copy the widget ID and enter in the configuration form. |
| Geovonic Connect Widget ID | Finding the widget ID for Geovonic Connect requires you to use the developer tools in your browser. If using Chrome, right click on the background area of the “Geovonic Connect” widget and choose “Inspect”. Now step up through the web page source until you find the widget ID. This looks like data-widgetid=”widget_12″. Copy the widget ID and enter in the configuration form. |
| Map Neighbours App Launcher Slug | The “slug” for your app launcher using the Map Neighbours Submit plugin. The slug is a lower-case version of the launcher name with spaces replaced with hyphens.
For example, if you have created a launcher called “Submit Map Neighbours” the slug will be submit-map-neighbours. |
| Feature Layer URL | The full URL for the properties feature layer. This typically ends in “/FeatureServer/0”. |
| App Client ID | An application login is required for the Start Map Neighbours launcher to query the feature layer. The application login must be created by the same user as the feature layer owner.
Enter the app client ID … |
| App Client Secret | … and app client secret. |
| Icon Colour | Not used. |
| Label | Not used. |
This launcher will only be used from the “Map Neighbours” button in Civica Authority Altitude. You should hide it from users of the Geovonic Connect widget by turning it off in the widget properties when creating an application using this Feature Layer.
The launcher will not work if launched from the widget.
Copy the external launcher URL and configure it in Civica Authority Altitude as the GIS launch URL.
Civica Authority Altitude – Submit Map Neighbours
| Field | Description |
| Name | Choose a name for your launcher that will be displayed to your widget users. It is recommended that you use a verb phrase for this launcher such as “Submit CAA map neighbours”. |
| Relationship | The launcher must be connected to an ArcGIS feature layer. Layer link relationship is not supported for this launcher. |
| Link | Use the “Search for layer” tool to find your properties layer. |
| Layer (sub-layer) | Select the specific layer containing your property parcels. |
| Use relay service | The relay service is not required to access Civica Authority Altitude as it runs in the public cloud. You may need to whitelist the Geovonic Connect IP address (see article). |
| Launcher Type | The launcher type is: Civica Authority Altitude – Start Map Neighbours. |
| Enable multi-select | This checkbox should be enabled. Multi-select indicates that the user can select several neighbour properties. |
| Launch URL | This checkbox should be enabled. After mapping the neighbour properties, CAA will be launched to complete the processing flow. |
| Search Attribute | The attribute on your feature layer that maps to the property record in CAA. Use the [+] button to choose the attribute to ensure the attribute name is properly formatted. |
| Application Base URL | The URL for your CAA server.
For example, “https://demo.civicalg-au.altitudelg.com”. The base URL will be used as the root for both the identity service (“/idsrv…”) and the main API (“/main/api/v2/…”). |
| GIS Client ID | CAA has the concept of GIS client credentials, used specifically for the integration of CAA with GIS systems. Enter the GIS client ID … |
| GIS Client Secret | … and GIS client secret. |
| Scope | The scope defines the amount of access granted to the GIS client.
For example, “gis_integration_api authority_client_public” |
| Module | Use the value “DD” to indicate the development applications module. |
| Program Master Key | The ID of the program to run in CAA. Normally 2042. |
| GIS Layer Name | If you are using a GIS mapping layer in CAA to relate map features to property records, enter the name of the CAA GIS layer name. This value is not required if the feature attribute contains the actual CAA property ID. |
| Icon Colour | The colour of the launcher button shown on the Geovonic Connect widget. The launcher button will not be used as the map neighbours process requires a multiple selection. |
| Label | The label shown on the launcher button. |
Using the CAA Map Neighbours Workflow
- Starting in Civica Authority Altitude, when viewing a Development Application, click on the “Map Neighbours” button.
- ArcGIS Experience Builder will open with this configuration: –
- Main parcels layer with only the applicant parcel(s) visible. A filter is applied to only show the applicant parcel(s).
- If CAA passed across some existing neighbour parcels, these will be shown as selected on the neighbour parcels layer.
- The map extent will be set to contain the combined extent of the applicant parcel(s) and any selected neighbour parcels.
- Using the selection tool, the user selects a group of neighbouring properties on the map. The user can add to the existing selection by holding down the SHIFT key.
- Click on the Tools menu and choose the map neighbours app launcher.
- The data entry form will show the pre-populated CAA Request ID and DA reference number. Do not change these values.
- Optionally, select an Applicant Template to send a letter to the applicant(s).
- Optionally, select a Neighbour Template to send a letter to the neighbours.
- In the “Create new neighbour links” field, select Yes to record the neighbour relationships in CAA.
- Click Submit.
- After a short pause, the CAA application will be launched with the map neighbours dialog box displayed. Continue the workflow in CAA.
(Note: Your browser’s pop-up blocker may prevent Geovonic Connect from opening CAA. Look out for any warnings from your browser.)