The iPointer® Toolbox enables developers to manage content on the iPointer® Server, define application behaviors, define access control rules, set up logging and reporting routines, and more.

Content Manager

The Content Manager allows developers to store and manage geographic and multi-media content in the iPointer® Server.

For geographic data, the Content Manager allows developers to import geographic data into the iPointer® database. Each geographic feature (stored as a two-dimensional polygon) is assigned a postal address.

Once the geographic data is stored, developers can then link text, audio, and image data to specific geospatial locations. Multiple audio and image files can be linked to a single location.  A single location can be further broken down into sub-features (e.g., multiple shops in a single building). Content can also be categorized by themes (e.g., historic, architecture, shopping, etc.) that allow iPointer® applications to tailor search results by theme.

Multimedia content can be stored locally in the iPointer® server or it can be accessed dynamically using links defined in the Content Aggregator.  Local storage of content is especially suited for projects where the multimedia content for a specific coverage area is relatively static.  iPointer® applications typically rely on a mix of local/static content and remote/dynamic content.

The Content Manager also provides developers tools for packaging and downloading to the handset.  This is particularly useful when bandwidth constraints require content to be cached as close to the end-user as possible to ensure fast response time.

Content Aggregator

The Content Aggregator lets developers configure access to data stored in external databases and Web services.  This is very useful for aggregating data from premium content databases, such as white/yellow pages, event calendars, or any other data source that is searchable by postal address or location. The iPointer®’s geospatial selection algorithms use these data aggregation links along with the geocode of the identified spatial object to search for related content from external data sources.

The Content Aggregator expects to interoperate with other data sources using XML data exchange standards.  The Content Aggregator can identify data access routines that are external function calls written in Java or XML programming languages like XSLT or XQuery.

Logging and Reporting

When in use, all iPointer® activities can be logged in the iPointer® database.  That said, please note that end-user preferences can be set to protect privacy by removing personal information from this log.

By default, the iPointer® logs only pointing activities. This is particularly useful for producing reports for end-users that give them a record of their iPointer® Tour, which lets them relive their experience.

By logging pointing activities, the iPointer® is also able to produce reports that show aggregated trends such as popular sites, level of content accessed, and more.  This type of data can be critical feedback for iPointer® tour developers.

The iPointer® logging function can also be configured to track user position by time interval and/or movement based on GPS readings.  The ability to track and record positional data in this way allows mobile developers to develop Location-based Services such as friend and family finder, Geofencing, and more.

Access Control

The iPointer® Toolbox provides administrators with the ability to set up user ids, passwords, as well as define different levels of data access to the iPointer® Server.  Other than protecting administrative access to the iPointer® Server, access control schemes are generally left to the discretion of the mobile application developer.