Sharing Cartography

April 21, 2009 62 Comments

There are tons of ways to store spatial data, but sharing cartography is much harder. ESRI seems to be using their new Layer Package “format” to keep the ESRI layer file with the datasets. Outside of that I don’t really see much in the way for cartography support with data layers (other than the odd ESRI LYR file offered up on FTP sites). In a way, there is much to like about ESRI’s decision to use essentially a sidecar file for storing symbology and maybe there is a more open method of sharing this information.

Most of the time when you download data, you just get the raw file format (usually shapefiles). You then drag your new downloaded dataset to your viewer (possibly ArcView, maybe uDig) and then you proceed to try and figure out how to color the map up (of course there is no metadata so you can’t figure out what field you should symbolize on) in an attempt to match that PDF of a scanned map that someone gave you.  Wouldn’t it be better if there was included symbology that allowed you to view that data layer the way the author intended?

Well as I said, ESRI’s Layer Package format does this.  The Layer file is of course a problem because you need ArcObjects to read it.  But in an ESRI world, that isn’t too much of a problem.  Outside of an ESRI world, maybe the MapServer Mapfile might be the best way to get symbology information in (heck you can write out a Mapfile from ESRI, let alone all those open source clients).  Some have said KML is that format.  I disagree because it doesn’t lend itself to storing attribute information (maybe there are ways, but I still question if KML should be used this way).  At least KML does store simple symbology with the dataset.

Ron Lake offers up SLD/SE as an option, but acknowleges that it really has no traction.  I really haven’t seen SLD used much beyond some GeoServer documentation and I’ve not seen anyone try and use SLD for storing cartography in desktop clients (NOTE: According to comments uDig does support SLD, but not be default which is a good starting point).  Sean Gillies thinks CSS is the best option but again we run into the issues of desktop clients not supporting it and probably won’t (though Sean gets GeoMonkey cred for continuing to use the term “GeoWeb” every chance he gets).

What about Mapnik?  It does a superb job at rendering great maps and Andrew Turner says there is a project that can convert CSS into Mapnik.  Now that might be a workflow.  CSS is very easy to edit and and work with and  Mapnik is great at rendering cartography (and could easily be supported by desktop clients).  CSS gets stored as a sidecar file to the dataset and the rich cartography can be read with Mapnik to render the maps as the author wishes the maps to look.  Maybe Sean is on to something after all…

If we are going to go out on the GeoWeb wall of death, well need a sidecar.

If we are going to go out on the GeoWeb wall of death, we'll need a sidecar.

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Developing a GeoStack

February 3, 2009 14 Comments

From time to time, someone will stand up and proclaim themselves above “stacks“.  I’ve done it and I’m sure you also do it.  The reality is that we apply our preferences on our own GIS Stacks. Should you fear a stack?  As I often like to say, the best solution for the best problem.  This might mean an ESRI stack one morning, a GeoServer stack in the afternoon and maybe a Microsoft stack at night.  The term stack seems to be getting a bad rap in the geo world.  I suppose being close minded about solutions (even within proprietary and open source stacks) can cause you to implement the wrong solution at the wrong price.  I like the idea of the problem dictating what solution stack you’ll go with in the end.  I’ve got preferences to my solutions, but I rarely enter a project exactly knowing what the whole stack will look like (beyond the OS).  As I begin to prepare to kickoff a project next week with a client, I’m thinking tonight about what I’m working with; ArcSDE 9.2, Apache with Tomcat and Oracle 10g.  Beyond that I’m free to work with whatever solution best meets the customers needs.  Do we go with ArcGIS Server 9.2 or 9.3?  Do we go with the Java Web ADF  or the ESRI REST API?  Do we go with GeoServer or MapServer?  Do we go with the ArcGIS JavaScript API or OpenLayers?  

I can’t wait until next week to find out our stack.

 

Will it be door number 1, door number 2 or door number 3?

Will it be the stack behind door number 1, door number 2 or door number 3?

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MapDotNet Server 2007 v6.5

January 3, 2008 2 Comments

I’ve been getting a demonstration ready to go for a client using MapDotNet Server (MDNS) and figured it was a great time to update to the latest version. Version 6.5 was released December 17, 2007 and is a huge update. Improvements include:

There is a lot more than that and you can read the whole release notes here.

Filed under GIS, MapDotNet Server Tagged with , , ,

Create GIS workstation using Ubuntu and open source GIS software

October 22, 2007 34 Comments

I get tons of emails from people asking where they can get free ArcView licenses for home use. People really want to work with GIS at home as well as at work which makes sense to me. I’ve always pointed folks to QGIS and other tools, but Matt Perry has a wonderful and easy way to most of the important open source GIS tools on Ubuntu with just a couple of commands.

just keeps getting easier and easier to get a fully functional open source GIS workstation up and running thanks to Ubuntu. The following instructions will take your vanilla installation of Ubuntu 7.10 and add the following top-notch desktop GIS applications:

Postgresql/PostGIS : a relational database with vector spatial data handling
GRASS : A full blown GIS analysis toolset
Quantum GIS: A user-friendly graphical GIS application
GDAL, Proj, Geos : Libraries and utilities for processing spatial data
Mapserver : web mapping program and utilites
Python bindings for QGIS, mapserver and GDAL
GPSBabel : for converting between various GPS formats
R : a high-end statistics package with spatial capabilities
GMT : the Generic Mapping Tools for automated high-quality map output

Download Ubuntu, install, run a simple command, enjoy GIS for free. Seems like a great solution to me!


Look how fun OSGeo is!

Filed under GRASS, Mapserver, Open Source, OSGeo, PostGIS, PostgreSQL, QGIS Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Open Source on the beach at Waikiki

October 1, 2007 25 Comments

I’m “stuck” in Waikiki this week at our Honolulu office helping them get back on track with their GIS after our GIS coordinator resigned to join her husband in the peace corps on Tonga. The new GIS person is really excited about GIS and that is always nice to be around. Sometimes even I need my GIS Kool-aid recharged.

Anyway I was hanging out at Duke’s Waikiki and randomly started talking to the group next to me at the bar. Turns out that they are all readers of my blog and have been migrating their GIS from an ESRI only shop to a combination ESRI/open source shop. It was interesting to hear how they were picking and choosing the best products from ESRI and open source to help them better get their work done. What was also interesting is that they didn’t decrease their maintenance costs, but reallocated. They’ve replaced most of their ArcView seats with QGIS, replaced all but one license of ArcSDE with PostGIS and in turn used those savings to buy more licenses of ArcInfo and extensions. They’ve been able to give their high end GIS analysts the tools they feel that they need to get their work done, but still increased their GIS production. Every person at their company has either an ArcInfo or QGIS license on their desk that they can connect to WMS services hosted by MapServer and PostGIS.

I wish I could have spent more time with them talking about this, but they were heading to China in the morning so they needed to get to bed. I liked how they were able to give better tools to everyone by prioritizing what they needed and picked the best tools for the job.

Filed under ArcGIS Desktop, ArcSDE, ESRI, Extensions, GRASS, Mapserver, Open Source, OSGeo, PostGIS, PostgreSQL, QGIS Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,