WFS Server
What is WFS
WFS is an OGC protocol that allows one GIS application (the client) to make a live connection to another GIS application (the server) and view or even edit the layers hosted on the server. In the case of Diamond Maps, a 3rd party application such as ArcGIS, QGIS, or an 811 call center can make a read-only connection to the Diamond Maps server and view your map content directly. You only need to setup this connection once and then the 3rd party application can get updates anytime it wants.
Setup
The 3rd party app will have its own process for setting up this connection. But the information they will need from you is a connection string that tells the 3rd party app how to communicate with the Diamond Maps server. This string may also be referred to as the server's "base URL" since the client application will be adding other parameters to this URL to make it complete. This connection string is formatted as follows:
https://diamondmaps.com/wfs.ashx?mid=
<MapId> should be replaced with the Map ID that you want the 3rd party to be able to view
<UserId> should be replaced with any user on your account
<Password> should be replaced with the password associated with this user. It is recommended that you create a separate user name just for the WFS connection if your subscription allows for that.
JSON format
By default the WFS server returns data in XML format. Alternately you can request GeoJson format by including the following parameter in your connection string
&outputFormat=json
Controlling which layers are viewable
When the 3rd party connects to the Diamond Maps server they will be able to get a list of all layers belonging to the specified map and will be able to view all of those layers. They can't make any changes. If you only want the 3rd party to be able to view certain layers then we recommend that you create a separate map that contains only the layers you want to share. Then include the ID of this map in the connection string above.
Alternate Authentication
Instead of putting the user name and password in the connection string, the Diamond Maps WFS server also supports basic HTTP authentication where the user name and password are included in the header of each request.
Public Maps
If a map is marked as public in Diamond Maps, then no username and password is required by the WFS client.