ThinkGeo UI 13.2 is Released
Asynchronous Rendering and Data Fetching
The 13.2 release utilizes the TAP async/await programming model for map rendering and data fetching. If you’re new to asynchronous programming, you can find a very informative guide here.
As you migrate your applications to this new model in 13.2, you will notice an immediate performance improvement - especially in multi-tile layer rendering and when fetching large datasets.
If you’re a mobile programmer, you may have seen this async/await model when 13.1 was released, but starting in 13.2, the same functionality is also in WPF and Winforms. Switching to the new async/await model is really quite simple, and we’ll walk you through the steps below!
In the past, your MapView_Loaded method would resemble the code snipped below and the user would make a mapView.Refresh() to render the map:
In the code above, Refresh() is a synchronous method and if you had other code running after refresh, it will block until Refresh() is completed. Note: the green underline shows the old Refresh() is now deprecated.
With the new async/await model in 13.2, the user needs to define their MapView_Loaded method using the ‘async’ keyword. You will also need to use the ‘await’ keyword when calling the new mapView.RefreshAsync() method.
And that’s all the changes that are required in the user’s codebase! But this small change allows many new ThinkGeo Layers and FeatureSources to implement the same asynchronous model. One example is that our web-based layers for Google, Bing, OpenStreetMap, etc. will now load all web tiles asynchronously and performance is greatly improved.
While the older mapView.Refresh() is still supported for now, it has been deprecated and we recommend upgrading to the more responsive RefreshAsync() when you upgrade your applications to 13.2.
Improved WMS and Upgraded CAD Support
ThinkGeo 13.2 has improved support for a wider range of WMS servers. There are also new helper methods to better configure access to non-standard WMS servers.
In addition to the WMS changes, ThinkGeo.CAD dependencies have also been updated to support the latest ODA 24.9 release.
Bug Fixes and Stability Improvements
ThinkGeo 13.2 also includes many bug fixes and stability improvements as well as added features for debugging such as the new ThrowingException event now available on all Overlays. You can read more about how to use this new event in the recent ‘Debugging Tips’ blog post here.
We are committed to constantly improving our product line and encourage our users to post any suggestions or bugs to our Community Forums. Or, you can submit a ticket from our helpdesk and our support staff will be happy to guide you through any issues you may have.
If you prefer a more direct approach, we would be delighted to have a conversation with you. Please feel free to schedule a meeting by clicking here. We look forward to discussing our products and how they may fit into your organization.
