This document is archived and information here might be outdated.  Recommended version.


Map Class (ArcObjects .NET 10.8 SDK)
ArcObjects Help for .NET developers > ArcObjects Help for .NET developers > ArcObjects namespaces > Carto > ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto > Classes > M > Map Class
ArcGIS Developer Help

MapClass Class

A container for the display and manipulation of map data.

Product Availability

Available with ArcGIS Engine, ArcGIS Desktop, and ArcGIS Server.

Supported Platforms

Windows, Solaris, Linux

Interfaces

Interfaces Description
IActiveView Provides access to members that control the active view - the main application window.
IActiveViewEvents Provides access to events that occur when the state of the active view changes.
IBasicMap Provides access to members that control the basic map.
IBasicMap2 Provides access to members that control the basic map.
IConnectionPointContainer (esriDisplay)
IDisplayAdmin (esriDisplay) Provides access to members that control display administration.
IDisplayEvents (esriDisplay) Provides access to members that control Display Events.
IDynamicMap Provides access to dynamic display.
IDynamicMapEvents (esriDisplay) Provides access to events that occur when the state of the dynamic display changes.
IGraphicsContainer Provides access to members that control the Graphics Container.
IGraphicsContainerSelect Provides access to members that control graphic container selection.
ILayerMasking Provides access to means to mask layers with other layers.
ILevelMasking Provides access to means to mask layers with other layers based on symbol levels.
IMap Provides access to members that control the map.
IMapAdmin Provides access to Map administration methods.
IMapAdmin2 Provides access to Map administration methods.
IMapAdmin3 Provides access to Map administration methods.
IMapAdmin4 Provides access to Map administration methods.
IMapAutoExtentOptions Provides access to the Map's auto extent options.
IMapBarriers Provides access to members that control map barriers.
IMapBarriers2 Provides access to members that control map barriers.
IMapBookmarks Provides access to members that control the map bookmarks.
IMapBookmarks2 Provides access to members that control the map bookmarks.
IMapCache Provides access to Map spatial cache.
IMapClipOptions Provides access to the Map's clipping options.
IMapEvents Provides access to events that occur when the state of the map changes.
IMapGeographicTransformations Provides access to members that control the map's set of geographic transformations and the directions in which they are applied.
IMapLayers Provides access to layers.
IMapLayers2 Provides access to layers.
IMapOverposter Provides access to members that control the Labeling (annotation) of a map.
IMapTimeDisplay Provides access to members that control the current time on the map.
IMapTimeDisplay2 Provides access to members that control the current time on the map.
IMxdContents Provides access to members to pass data into and out off a MXD map document file. Coclasses that implement this interface can limited the implementation to one property if required.
IPersist (esriSystem)
IPersistStream (esriSystem)
IRelationshipClassCollection Provides access to members that return the memory relationship classes defined for standalone tables or layers in ArcMap.
ISelectionEvents Provides access to events that occur when the selection changes.
IServiceLayerCredits Get the service layer credits text.
IStandaloneTableCollection Provides access to members that control the standalone table collection.
ITableCollection Provides access to members that control a table collection.
ITransformEvents (esriDisplay) Provides access to members that control Transform Events.
IViewManager Provides access to members used to describe or define view behavior.
IViewRefresh Provides access to members that are useful for refreshing views.

Remarks

A Map object is a container for map data.  A Map object contains layers of both feature and graphic data.

The following is true for the ArcMap application model.  Developers creating their own application may find some things different.

Every map document contains at least one Map object.  Only one Map can have focus at a time and this Map is termed the focus map.  A FocusMap property is conveniently placed on the IMxDocument interface.  IMxDocument also has a Maps property which returns a reference (IMaps) to the entire collection of Maps.  With IMaps you can get a create or delete Maps or get a reference to an existing Map.

All of the layers in a map share the same spatial reference.  The Map's spatial reference is automatically set to the spatial reference of the first layer loaded.  New layers loaded into a Map are projected to the Map's spatial reference if their spatial reference is different.

Map's are contained by MapFrames - the PageLayout object has a MapFrame and a MapFrame has a Map.  Each Map, in turn, has a collection of Layers and MapSurrounds.  Each MapSurround is also associated with a MapSurroundFrame.  There are several types of Layers including FeatureLayers, FDOGraphicsLayers, and GroupLayers.  MapSurrounds include Legends, NorthArrows, and ScaleBars.

Every Map has a Basic Graphics Layer where all graphics including labels are drawn by default.  Users may create additional graphics layers called Groups or Annotation Target Layers all of which are managed by the CompositeGraphicsLayer.

See Also

IMxDocument.FocusMap Property | IMxDocument.Maps Property