1.7. Use WMS with TMS services#

WMS is an abbreviation for web map service , a popular way for professional GIS software to publish maps (rarely used by non-GIS personnel).

TMS stands for tiled map service ( tile map service ).

1.7.1. WMS in Leaflet#

When someone publishes a WMS service, the most likely link is to the GetCapabilities document. In this tutorial, we will use the demo map service from GeoServer at https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/web/. We will use GeoServer’s demo map service at https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/web/. As you can see on this page, “WMS” links to the following URL:

https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?service=wms&version=1.3.0&request=GetCapabilities

Leaflet cannot parse WMS’s GetCapabilities document. So you have to create a L.TileLayer.WMS layer, which is used to provide a basic WMS link and specify any WMS options you need.

The basic WMS link is just a GetCapabilities link with no parameters, for example:

https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?

The way to use this in Leaflet’s map is simple:

var map = L.map(mapDiv, mapOptions);
var wmsLayer = L.tileLayer.wms('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?', wmsOptions).addTo(map);

An instance of L.TileLayer.WMS requires at least one option: layers. Note that the “layer” concept in Leaflet is not the same as the “layer” concept in WMS!

The WMS server will define a set of layers in the GetCapabilities XML document, but the document is mostly lengthy and difficult to understand, so it is usually used like QGIS. Software to view information about available layers in the WMS server:

We can see that OpenGeo demonstrates WMS with a WMS layer named ne:ne with a base map. Let’s see what it looks like:

var wmsLayer = L.tileLayer.wms('http://webgis.osgeo.cn/cgi-bin/mapserv?map=/owg/mfb3.map&', {
    layers: 'states',
    format: 'image/png',
    transparent: true,
}).addTo(map);

Note that the Mapfile used above needs to define the output projection as EPSG:3857.

It is also important to note that if the Mapfile is not properly configured, it is possible that the MapServer map (the full map by default) will be used as a slice to form an overlay.

Show the example

Or we can try the WMS layer of nasa:bluemarble:

var wmsLayer = L.tileLayer.wms('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?', {
    layers: 'nasa:bluemarble'
}).addTo(map);

Show the example

The layers option is a comma-separated list of layers. If the WMS service defines multiple layers, the map can introduce multiple layers to create images at the same time.

For example, on the WMS server we are using, there is a ne:ne_10m_admin_0_countries layer displays the country’s terrestrial and country names. There is also a ne:ne_10m_admin_0_boundary_lines_land layer shows country borders. If we request two layers at the same time, the WMS server will combine the two layers into one image and separate them with a comma:

var countriesAndBoundaries = L.tileLayer.wms('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?', {
layers: 'ne:ne_10m_admin_0_countries,ne:ne_10m_admin_0_boundary_lines_land'
}).addTo(map);

Note that this will request an image from the WMS server that is different from the L.TileLayer.WMS created for the country and country boundaries, which will both Add to the map. In the first case, an image request is made and then the WMS server decides how to combine the images. In the second case, two image requests are made, and then the Leaflet code running in the web browser determines how the images are combined.

If we combine these with layer controls, we can create a simple map to see the differences:

var basemaps = {
Countries: L.tileLayer.wms('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?', {
    layers: 'ne:ne_10m_admin_0_countries'
}),

Boundaries: L.tileLayer.wms('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?', {
    layers: 'ne:ne_10m_admin_0_boundary_lines_land'
}),

'Countries, then boundaries': L.tileLayer.wms('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?', {
    layers: 'ne:ne_10m_admin_0_countries,ne:ne_10m_admin_0_boundary_lines_land'
}),

'Boundaries, then countries': L.tileLayer.wms('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?', {
    layers: 'ne:ne_10m_admin_0_boundary_lines_land,ne:ne_10m_admin_0_countries'
})
};

L.control.layers(basemaps).addTo(map);
basemaps.Countries.addTo(map);

Change to “Countries, then The boundaries option, so you can see the borders of the land, and the WMS server is smart enough to display the building tags on the map. When multiple layers are requested, how to combine the layers depends on the WMS server.

Show the example

1.7.2. Information for GIS users of WMS services#

From a GIS perspective, Leaflet’s WMS processing is very basic. It does not support GetCapabilities, does not support legend, and does not support GetFeatureInfo.

We can do this in the Leaflet’s API Found in the documentation documentation Additional options for L.TileLayer.WMS. Any option can be passed to the WMS server via a link to getImage.

Also note that Leaflet supports very few coordinate systems: CRS:3857, CRS:3395 And CRS:4326 (see the L.CRS documentation). If your WMS service is unable to provide images in these coordinate systems, you may need to create additional coordinate systems in Leaflet using Proj4Leaflet . In addition, to use the correct CRS when initializing your map, add it to any WMS layer:

var map = L.map('map', {
    crs: L.CRS.EPSG4326
});

var wmsLayer = L.tileLayer.wms('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/ows?', {
    layers: 'nasa:bluemarble'
}).addTo(map);

Show the example

1.7.3. TMS in Leaflet#

Although Leaflet does not explicitly support the TMS service, the naming rules for tiles are very similar to the naming rules for L.TileLayer, so the TMS service will not be described here.

Using the same OpenGeo WMS/TMS server demo, we can see a TMS endpoint:

https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/gwc/service/tms/1.0.0

Check MapCache help about TMS And TMS specification , You can see the links to the map tiles in TMS as follows:

http://base_url/tms/1.0.0/{tileset}/{z}/{x}/{y}.png

Using OpenGeo’s TMS service as L.TileLayer, we can check the function documentation to see which tileset is available and builds our basic link:

https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/gwc/service/tms/1.0.0/ne:ne@EPSG:900913@png/{z}/{x}/{y}.png
https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/gwc/service/tms/1.0.0/nasa:bluemarble@EPSG:900913@jpg/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg

Use the tms:true option when instantiating a layer as follows:

var tms_ne = L.tileLayer('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/gwc/service/tms/1.0.0/ne:ne@EPSG:900913@png/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', {
    tms: true
}).addTo(map);

var tms_bluemarble = L.tileLayer('https://demo.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/gwc/service/tms/1.0.0/nasa:bluemarble@EPSG:900913@jpg/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg', {
    tms: true
});

Show the example

A new feature of Leaflet 1.0 is the ability to use {-y} instead of tms: true options, for example:

var layer = L.tileLayer('http://base_url/tms/1.0.0/tileset/{z}/{x}/{-y}.png');

tms: true option (Leaflet 0.7) or {-y} (Leaflet 1.0) is necessary because the origin of the coordinates of L.TileLayer is usually in the upper left corner, so the Y coordinate is lowered. In TMS, the coordinate origin is in the lower left corner, so the Y coordinate rises.

In addition to the differences in y coordinates and the discovery of tiles, the TMS service also provides accurate services in the form of L.TileLayer.

Use WMS with TMS services

Contents

1.7. Use WMS with TMS services#

1.7.1. WMS in Leaflet#

1.7.2. Information for GIS users of WMS services#

1.7.3. TMS in Leaflet#