Capabilities files

When a GetCapabilities request is made, the response is a Capabilities file specifying the contents of the service in a standard format. One set of Capabilities files gets created for each ArcIMS service. Details on the format and content of a Capabilities file are available in the WMS Specification. The following information is relevant for WMS services created using the ArcIMS WMS Connector.

Location and name of the Capabilities files

The Capabilities files are located in the Capabilities directory. You assign this directory in the WMS Connector Administrator. The directory does not need to exist ahead of time. Once the directory is created, the format of the Capabilities directory is:

where

<Capabilities Directory> is the directory you chose in the WMS Connector Administrator.
<hostname> is the URL domain name of your WMS site. Examples include www.esri.com or fully qualified machine name.
<port> is the ArcIMS client port. The default is 5300 but can be changed in the WMS Connector Administrator.
<service> is the WMS service name. This name is the same as the ArcIMS service.

Each Capabilities directory contains three capabilities files.

File name	Associated WMS Specification Version
capabilities_1_0_0.xml	WMS 1.0.0
capabilities_1_1_0.xml	WMS 1.1.0
capabilities_1_1_1.xml	WMS 1.1.1

Editing the Capabilities files

The Capabilities files generated by the WMS Connector can be edited, although it is not recommended except for service-specific parameters. If possible, edits should be made to a Capabilities XSL stylesheet. For more information on these files, see Editing the Capabilities XSL Stylesheets.

Caution: If you make edits in a Capabilities file and then update the Capabilities in the WMS Connector Administrator, a new file is generated and overwrites the file you edited. Likewise, if you disable a WMS Service, the Capabilities directory for that service is deleted, and all edits are lost.

Edits that should be made in a Capabilities file are:

Changing a layer from queryable to non-queryable. By default, when the WMS Connector generates a Capabilities file, all vector layers are set to queryable="1". If you do not want one of these layers to be queryable, you must change the setting to queryable="0". Note that raster layers have queryable="0" by default since these layers cannot be queried.
Adding a service-specific SRS (Spatial Reference System) identifier. When a Capabilities file is generated, the following SRS identifiers are included: 4326 (WGS84), 4269 (NAD83), 4267 (NAD27), along with the coordinate system of the service. If you want to add an additional SRS identifier for one service only, make the change in the Capabilities file. If you want to add or remove SRS identifiers for all services, you should make the change in the Capabilities XSL stylesheet. For a complete list of identifiers, see About SRS Identifiers.
Changing the opaque value. By default, opaque="0" for the WMS Service, which means the layer has significant no-data areas that the client can display as transparent. Vector layers commonly fit this category. If your service contains a raster layer or vector layers with minimal no-data areas, you can set opaque="1".

Relationship to XSL stylesheets

When the WMS Connector creates a Capabilities file, the format is determined by the corresponding Capabilities XSL stylesheet. The stylesheet is where you can make global changes to the Capabilities file that affect all WMS services. For more information on these files, see Editing the Capabilities XSL Stylesheets.