How to Build a WorldWindJS Web App

Lesson 1: HTML with Bootstrap

In a hurry? Here’s the completed code: Lesson 1

Prerequisites

Our web app will consist of three files. Create the following files in your favorite IDE or editor.

If you want to start with one of the Bootstrap Examples, you should check out this template: Bootstrap Starter Template

Dependencies

We’re going to create the basic web page structure. We’ll include the CDN (content delivery network) links for the Bootstrap and Font Awesome CSS, plus a link to our custom.css file. Also, we’re adding the JavaScript CDN links for BootStrap and JQuery, a link to our app.js file.

Copy/paste the following HTML into your web page.

HTML
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta charset="utf-8">
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">

        <title>WorldWind Starter Template</title>

        <!-- Bootstrap 4.0 CSS compiled and minified -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0/css/bootstrap.min.css"
              integrity="sha384-Gn5384xqQ1aoWXA+058RXPxPg6fy4IWvTNh0E263XmFcJlSAwiGgFAW/dAiS6JXm" crossorigin="anonymous">

        <!-- Font Awesome icons (see: https://fontawesome.com/icons?d=gallery) -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v5.0.10/css/all.css" 
              integrity="sha384-+d0P83n9kaQMCwj8F4RJB66tzIwOKmrdb46+porD/OvrJ+37WqIM7UoBtwHO6Nlg" crossorigin="anonymous">

        <!-- Custom styles and overrides -->
        <link href="custom.css" rel="stylesheet">
    </head>
    <body>

        <!-- JavaScript is placed at the end of the document so the page loads faster -->
        <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.2.1.slim.min.js" integrity="sha384-KJ3o2DKtIkvYIK3UENzmM7KCkRr/rE9/Qpg6aAZGJwFDMVNA/GpGFF93hXpG5KkN" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
        <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.12.9/umd/popper.min.js" integrity="sha384-ApNbgh9B+Y1QKtv3Rn7W3mgPxhU9K/ScQsAP7hUibX39j7fakFPskvXusvfa0b4Q" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
        <script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0/js/bootstrap.min.js" integrity="sha384-JZR6Spejh4U02d8jOt6vLEHfe/JQGiRRSQQxSfFWpi1MquVdAyjUar5+76PVCmYl" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>    
        <script src="app.js"></script>    
    </body
</html>

The <meta> elements above are important for Bootstrap and must be included. You can add other <meta> elements like author, description, etc. Feel free to edit the <title>.

Our web app uses a Bootstrap Navbar component to create the main menu at the top of the page. The Navbar is responsive: it automatically adjusts its layout based on the page width. We’ll go ahead add menu items all for the features that we will implement, including:

Copy the following block of HTML and paste it at the beginning of your page’s <body/> section:

HTML
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-md fixed-top navbar-dark bg-dark">

  <!--Branding icon and text-->
  <a class="navbar-brand" href="https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/web target=_blank">
    <img src="images/nasa-logo_32.png" width="30" height="30" class="d-inline-block align-top" alt="">
    WorldWind
  </a>

  <!--Hamburger menu displayed on small screens/windows-->
  <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#main-menu" aria-controls="main-menu" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
    <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
  </button>

  <!--Main menu content-->
  <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="main-menu">
    <ul class="navbar-nav mr-auto">
      <!--Layers-->
      <li class="nav-item">
        <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="collapse" href="#layers" role="button">
                <span class="fas fa-list" aria-hidden="true"></span>
                <span class="d-md-none d-lg-inline" aria-hidden="true">Layers</span>
        </a>
      </li>
      <!--Markers-->
      <li class="nav-item">
        <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="collapse" href="#markers" role="button">
                <span class="fas fa-map-marker-alt" aria-hidden="true"></span>
                <span class="d-md-none d-lg-inline" aria-hidden="true">Markers</span>
        </a>
      </li>
      <!--Settings-->
      <li class="nav-item">
        <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="collapse" href="#settings" role="button">
                <span class="fas fa-cog" aria-hidden="true"></span>
                <span class="d-md-none d-lg-inline" aria-hidden="true">Settings</span>
        </a>
      </li>
    </ul>
    <!--Search Box-->
    <div class="form-inline">
      <input class="form-control mr-sm-2" type="text" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search">
      <button class="btn btn-outline-success" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#preview">
            <span class="fas fa-search" aria-hidden="true"></span>
        </button>
    </div>
  </div>
</nav>

At this point you have a basic menu system. It doesn’t do much yet, but it is responsive. Check it out by opening your web page in a browser and then resize the browser and watch how the menu responds. Also open your browser’s development tools and try out the page using the mobile emulation settings.

Feel free to change the branding text and link from WorldWind to something else. Also, you can also replace the .navbar-dark and .bg-dark with alternatives to change the style. The .navbar-dark and .navbar-light classes control the Navbar’s text color and the .bg-* classes control the Navbar’s background colors.

Main Content

Now we’ll add the elements that will host the globe, the layers, markers and settings panels, and the search preview modal. These elements won’t have much to display at this stage, but they will be wired up to the menu system.

Copy the following block of HTML and paste it the below the closing <nav/> element.

HTML
<!-- Use container-fluid for 100% width and set padding to 0 -->
<main role="main" class="container-fluid p-0">
  <!-- Globe -->
  <div id="globe" class="worldwindow">
    <!--.d-block ensures the size is correct (prevents a scrollbar from appearing)-->
    <canvas id="globe-canvas" class="d-block"
            style="width: 100%; height: 100%; 
            background-color: rgb(36,74,101);">
        Try Chrome or FireFox.
    </canvas>   
  </div>

  <!--Panels-->
  <div class="worldwindow-overlay noninteractive w-100">
    <div class="card-columns">
      <!--Layers-->
      <div class="collapse" id="layers">
        <div class="card globe-card interactive">
          <div class="card-header">
            <h5 class="card-title">
              <span class="fas fa-list" aria-hidden="true"></span> Layers
              <button type="button" class="close pull-right" aria-label="Close">
                                    <span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
                                </button></h5>
          </div>
          <div class="card-body">
            <p class="card-text">Marker list goes here.</p>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <!--Markers-->
      <div class="collapse" id="markers">
        <div class="card globe-card interactive">
          <div class="card-header">
            <h5 class="card-title">
              <span class="fas fa-map-marker-alt" aria-hidden="true"></span> Markers
              <button type="button" class="close pull-right" aria-label="Close">
                                    <span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
                                </button></h5>
          </div>
          <div class="card-body">
            <p class="card-text">Marker list goes here.</p>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <!--Settings-->
      <div class="collapse" id="settings">
        <div class="card globe-card interactive">
          <div class="card-header">
            <h5 class="card-title">
              <span class="fas fa-cog" aria-hidden="true"></span> Settings
              <button type="button" class="close pull-right" aria-label="Close">
                                    <span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
                                </button></h5>
          </div>
          <div class="card-body">
            <p class="card-text">Settings go here.</p>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <!--Search Preview Dialog-->
    <div id="preview" class="modal" tabindex="-1" role="dialog">
      <div class="modal-dialog" role="document">
        <div class="modal-content">
          <div class="modal-header">
            <h5 class="modal-title">Search Results</h5>
            <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal" aria-label="Close">
                                    <span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
                                </button>
          </div>
          <div class="modal-body">
            <p>
              Search result go here
            </p>
          </div>
          <div class="modal-footer">
            <button type="button" class="btn btn-primary" data-dismiss="modal">Go to</button>
            <button type="button" class="btn btn-secondary" data-dismiss="modal">Cancel</button>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
</main>

Also copy/paste the following CSS into the custom.css file. This CSS adds some padding to the top of the body element so that children do not display under the Navbar. It also defines some custom CSS classes.

CSS
body {
  /*Account for the height of the navbar component*/
  padding-top: 3.5rem;
}

.worldwindow {
  width: 100%;
  height: calc(100vh - 3.5rem);
  background-color: black;
}

.worldwindow-overlay {
  position: absolute;
  width: 100%;
  top: 3.5rem;
}

/* Prevents an element, like a <div/> from consuming user input */
.noninteractive {
  -webkit-touch-callout: none;
  -webkit-user-select: none;
  -khtml-user-select: none;
  -moz-user-select: none;
  -ms-user-select: none;
  -o-user-select: none;
  pointer-events: none;
}

/* Allows an element to receive user input */
/* Useful if a parent element is using .noniteractive */
.interactive {
  -webkit-touch-callout: auto !important;
  -webkit-user-select: auto !important;
  -khtml-user-select: auto !important;
  -moz-user-select: auto !important;
  -ms-user-select: auto !important;
  -o-user-select: auto !important;
  pointer-events: auto !important;
}

Finally, copy/paste the following JavaScript into your app.js file. This code adds an event handler make the main menu easier to work with on small screens, and it adds a handler that closes panels when their close icon is clicked.

JavaScript
$(document).ready(function() {
  "use strict";

  // Auto-collapse the main menu when its button items are clicked
  $('.navbar-collapse a[role="button"]').click(function() {
    $('.navbar-collapse').collapse('hide');
  });

  // Collapse card ancestors when the close icon is clicked
  $('.collapse .close').on('click', function() {
    $(this).closest('.collapse').collapse('hide');
  });
});

Summary

At this stage you have a functioning prototype of the web app. The menu system is functional and responsive:

Here’s the complete code for lesson 1: a web app prototype sans globe.

Notes

Following are some explanations of the components used in the HTML. If you’re not interested you can skip ahead to Lesson 2.

Full Width and Padding

The <main/> element, above, hosts main content of our web app. We want the element to be the full width of the page so we apply the Bootstrap .container-fluid class (versus .container) to the element. We also also override Bootstrap’s default padding around the element by setting the padding to zero via .p-0, part of Bootstrap’s spacing utilities. You can experiment with other padding options.

Cards: Panels for layers and settings

We’ll use Bootstrap Card components to host the WorldWind layers and settings content. Bootstrap includes a few options for laying out a series of cards. We’ll use Masonry-like columns by wrapping them in .card-columns.

Next Steps