You can configure your own custom base map in MLinkPlanner by specifying a tile server URL. The prototype URL encapsulates a request format that is specific to the map provider and varies from provider to provider. It consists of a text string that begins with http://, has a domain name and possible parameters, plus some symbols that MLinkPlanner substitutes with real-time tile request information when actually contacting the server.

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The possible symbols that MLinkPlanner accepts in the prototype URL are [X], [Y], and [Z] coordinates and zoom. To lookup map imagery in their database, most map providers use tile coordinates of x and y, plus zoom. For example, OpenStreetMap provides map imagery using x, y, and zoom. You can test-fetch a map tile of a portion of North America by typing the following URL into a web browser: http://a.tile.openstreetmap.org/3/1/2.png. The numbers at the end of the URL represent zoom, x, and y, respectively.
 

In order for MLinkPlanner to properly fetch tiles from a map provider, a generalized prototype URL scheme must be furnished. This generalized URL scheme will be used by MLinkPlanner to fetch any tile, at any coordinate, with any zoom. To accomplish this, the symbols [X], [Y], and [Z] are inserted in place of explicit coordinates. For example, creating custom map types in MLinkPlanner for OpenStreetMap can be accomplished by mixing the known explicit URLs above with the symbols representing x, y, and zoom to form a custom map prototype URL: http://a.tile.openstreetmap.org/[Z]/[X]/[Y].png. When MLinkPlanner needs a map tile fetched from a provider, it will replace the [X], [Y], and [Z] symbols with the actual coordinates and zoom for the tile required and then use the resulting URL to contact the map provider’s server to fetch the map tile.