Display a map

Learn how to display a map with a basemap layer using OpenLayers.

A map contains layers of geographic data. A map contains a basemap layer and, optionally, one or more data layers. You can display a specific area of a map by using a map view and setting the location and zoom level.

In this tutorial you will use OpenLayers to display a map of the Santa Monica Mountains in California using the topographic basemap layer.

This tutorial is the starting point the other OpenLayers tutorials.

Prerequisites

You need an ArcGIS account to access the developer dashboard and create an API key.

Steps

Create a new pen

Go to CodePen to create a new pen for your application.

Add HTML

Define an HTML page to create a map that is the full width and height of the browser window.

In CodePen > HTML, add HTML and CSS to create a page with a div element called map.

Use the HTML to create a page with a map. Use the map div to display the map. Use the CSS to make the map full width and height.

The <!DOCTYPE html> tag is not required in CodePen. If you are using a different editor or running the page on a local server, be sure to add this tag to the top of your HTML page.

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<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no" />
    <title>OpenLayers Tutorials: Display a map</title>

    <style>
      html,
      body,
      #map {
        padding: 0;
        margin: 0;
        height: 100%;
        width: 100%;
        font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
        font-size: 14px;
        color: #323232;
      }
    </style>

  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="map"></div>

  </body>
</html>

Load the libraries

You will need add <script> and <link> tags to load the JavaScript and CSS files for OpenLayers and ol-mapbox-style.

In the <head> element, add references to the OpenLayers CSS and JavaScript library.

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    <style>
      html,
      body,
      #map {
        padding: 0;
        margin: 0;
        height: 100%;
        width: 100%;
        font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
        font-size: 14px;
        color: #323232;
      }
    </style>

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/openlayers/openlayers.github.io@master/en/v6.7.0/css/ol.css" type="text/css" />
    <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/openlayers/openlayers.github.io@master/en/v6.7.0/build/ol.js"></script>

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Add a reference to the ol-mapbox-style library, which is required to load and style a vector tile layer using a vector tile style in OpenLayers.
The additional library olms.js is provided by the developers of OpenLayers. The acronym "olms" stands for OpenLayers Mapbox Style. For more information, see the ol-mapbox-style documentation.
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Create a map and view

Use the Map and View classes to create an OpenLayers map.

The OpenLayers Map class displays the contents of the map and provides a user interface to interact with it. It supports clicking, zooming, panning, rotating, and tilting the perspective of the map. It also lets you interact with the visible contents of the map data, for example finding features at the mouse cursor. You can also use it to modify the data displayed by adding new sources or changing layer properties. OpenLayers takes care of automatically re-rendering as needed in response to changes made to layers.

For further details, see the OpenLayers documentation.

Add a <script> element in the <body> element.

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  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="map"></div>

    <script>

    </script>
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Use the Map class to create the map with options to control its display and behavior. Set the target property to "map", which is the id of the div element.

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    <script>

      const map = new ol.Map({ target: "map" });

    </script>
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Create a View, and use setView to apply it to the map. To center the map view, set the center property to -118.80500,34.02700 and the zoom property to 13.

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    <script>

      const map = new ol.Map({ target: "map" });

      map.setView(
        new ol.View({
          center: ol.proj.fromLonLat([-118.805, 34.027]),
          zoom: 12
        })
      );

    </script>
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Get an API key

To access location services, you need an API key or OAuth 2.0 access token. To learn how to create and scope your key, visit the Create an API key tutorial.

Go to your developer dashboard to get an API key.
Copy the key as it will be used in the next step.

Add the basemap layer

OpenLayers does not directly support a vector basemap or a vector style file, so you will use the openlayers-mapbox-style (olms) JavaScript library to load a Mapbox style from the Basemap layer service and render it with OpenLayers.

The Mapbox style is JSON file that contains a reference to the vector tile layers used in the style, and visual styling rules to apply to one or more data layers in those tiles.

Store your API key as a variable. You will need to include this API key whenever you invoke ArcGIS services.

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      map.setView(
        new ol.View({
          center: ol.proj.fromLonLat([-118.805, 34.027]),
          zoom: 12
        })
      );

      const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";
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Create a basemapId variable and set it to ArcGIS:Streets.

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      const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

      const basemapId = "ArcGIS:Streets";

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Construct the basemap URL based on basemapId and your API key.

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      const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

      const basemapId = "ArcGIS:Streets";

      const basemapURL = "https://basemaps-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/" + basemapId + "?type=style&token=" + apiKey;

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Use olms to apply the basemap style to your map. The olms function takes two inputs, the map element and the URL for a Mapbox basemap style file.

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      const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

      const basemapId = "ArcGIS:Streets";

      const basemapURL = "https://basemaps-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/" + basemapId + "?type=style&token=" + apiKey;

      olms(map, basemapURL);
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Run the app

In CodePen, run your code to display the map.

The map should display the topographic basemap layer for an area of the Santa Monica Mountains in California. Pan and zoom to explore the map.

What's next?

Learn how to use additional ArcGIS location services in these tutorials:

Change the basemap layer

Switch a basemap layer in a map.

Display a custom vector tile style

Add a styled vector basemap layer to a map.

Search for an address

Find an address or place using a search box and the geocoding service.

OpenLayers Guide

Display a map

Solution

Estimated time

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OpenLayers Guide

Display a map

Prerequisites

Steps

Create a new pen

Add HTML

Load the libraries

Create a map and view

Get an API key

Add the basemap layer

Run the app

What's next?

Change the basemap layer

Display a custom vector tile style

Search for an address

Find a route and directions

Solution

Estimated time

Was this page helpful?

Was this page helpful?