Maplet’s benefits are: Has better usability than existing solutions do. <back> - Immediate feedback during definition of search criteria. - Integrates a map in a solid way into a search engine. - Cropping an area is done intuitively by drawing a particular area with a mouse. - Allows to analyze targets very quickly. - With a slide bar it is possible to study the effect of a range of values on the item count. - User interface is made simple and intuitive with the help of a slide bar. - User is able to choose reasonable search criteria with the help of the Maplet engine quickly. Unnecessary loadings that result in too small or too large amounts of targets, can be avoided. Makes a service more attractive. <back> - Try it just for fun ! Also works on PDA devices and mobile terminals. <back> - Client side is implemented with Java1.1. - Maps are only transferred after cropping an area. When changing the search criteria, a small size of data containing item and location information is transferred. - Maps and other data are compressed for transmission which enables them to be used in slow connections. Speeds up building a new service. <back> - The search engine is created with parameters. The user interface is defined with an XML file and the search engine uses information defined with a few SQL statements in a parameter file. Reduces costs when making a new service. <back> - Implementation is done quickly. - Demos can be used in the beginning. The very first version is created in a short time and making changes based on user feedback happens fast. Can be added easily to existing Web services. <back> - Can use directly an existing production database. - Can handle product list and product info pages within an existing service. - Can be installed next to an old search engine. Can be redefined for different terminals with a little effort. <back> - User interface is defined with XML, and that enables to make special definitions for different terminals. - Also works on different PDA devices, because client side application is implemented with Java version 1.1. Easy to personalize for different user groups. <back> - User interface is defined with XML, it is thus easy to make specific definitions fast for different user groups. Independent on any type of geographic information source <back> - A tourist map as well as aerial pictures or satellite images are suitable for Maplet. - You can use vector or raster images as map-based sources, Maplet handles all maps in raster image format. Independent on map server. <back> - Your present map server can be in use. - You can change your map server or map provider, as necessary. To add quicky maps into a Web service. <back> - Maplet has ready-made interfaces to the most common map servers. - Connection to any map server is created fast with the Java interface. Reduces workload on production server. <back> - Maplet helps the user to make reasonable search criteria and thus unnecessary loadings will be reduced in a number. - The use of Maplet search engine doesn’t load production server or database system, the searches are targeted at the cache memory in the main memory Devide workload on different components, as necessary. <back> - Maplet Client draws points and takes care of the user interface. - Maplet Server returns the item counts and location information from the cache memory. - Map server returns maps. - Database server gives information after the search (for example a product list page, a product info page). - An old production machine makes product list and product info pages if they are already available. Independent on database <back> - Any SQL database will be OK to be used as a data storage. - A text file will also do. No installation needed from the end user. <back> - Works as a Java Applet that starts up automatically from a web page. - Is also suitable for irregular use. Good scalability <back> - As data source increases, power usage increases slowly. - Countlet servers can be installed in parallel. All the maps and databases in the world can be in use, if necessary. <back> - Maps and attribute data are not needed to be installed on a terminal, instead they can be loaded straight from the Web.