Autodesk 15606-011408-9330 User Guide - Page 62

Map Authoring
Show only the layers that users really need. You can make the layers avail- able but not visible when the user first displays the map, reducing the amount of data that needs to be processed when the map is first loaded.
Create static layers for small, frequently accessed data that does not need to be kept secure. Static layers are loaded only once, and zooming in and out on the layer does not send requests to the server. For larger data sets, data that changes frequently, and data that needs to be kept secure, use dynamic layers instead.
Use the Display Ranges option and pyramid the data. This involves creat- ing multiple layers that show the same data but at different resolutions. You might have one layer that displays very detailed data and appears only when the user is zoomed in close, a second layer that displays less detail and appears only when the user is zoomed out farther, and a third layer that shows very generalized data and displays only when the user is zoomed out quite far. Data Preparation
For point and text layers, rather than creating an SDF for the points and linking it to a SQL table for the attribute data, consider storing the points in the SQL table as well and using that table as the source for the layer. Whenever you link an SDF to a SQL table, it takes longer to process than a layer based on just an SDF or a SQL table. This is not true of themes, however. When setting up a theme, it doesn't matter whether the data source and theme source are the same SQL table, or the data source is an SDF and the theme source is a SQL table-performance will be the same in both cases.
If there are multiple theme categories for a layer, consider using separate layers that reference separate SDFs. If possible, you could also export the information in a SQL table to a comma-separated (CSV) file and import it into its own SDF, rather than including it as a theme category of a layer based on another SDF.
Generalize data as much as possible. This involves reducing the resolution of the data so that there is less data to process. You can generalize SDFs using SDF Loader or SDF Component Toolkit; you can subsample raster images using Raster Workshop. Note that generalization reduces the amount of detail you will see when you zoom in, so you might want to create multiple layers of the same area using different resolutions for different display ranges. Also, data with complex shapes, such as parcel data, 62 | Chapter 3 Designing Your System