Integrating custom maps into off-the-shelf database programs with Leaflet

FileMaker, Microsoft Access, and other pieces of off-the-shelf database software are popular because they make it relatively easy to create and use databases. A major shortcoming of these systems, however, is that they have little to no built-in mapping capabilities—a major problem in fields like archaeology and history that regularly deal with inherently spatial entities. In this talk, I will discuss the development and use of a lightweight web map, built with Leaflet, that could be presented as a simple webpage within a FileMaker database. The map was integrated seamlessly: the current database object was automatically highlighted on the map, users could navigate the map and turn layers on and off, and they could click on an object in the map to jump to its record—all without leaving the FileMaker app. This system was developed for an archaeological excavation that was producing spatial data from photogrammetric models in ArcGIS using a relatively complex process, but the Leaflet system that was used to present the resulting spatial data was quite simple. The final system ran on a local network that was not connected to the Internet, functioned smoothly on mobile devices, and required little effort to update data during the season.