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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>I’m going to try out my first “non-java”
metacrs post, so go easy on me. :]<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>I know that there are a couple of different
sources for common CRS definitions used by the different CRS programming
libraries. For example, there is the EPSG database, Proj4, and maybe something
from the OGC?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>I was wondering if there had ever been any
effort to consolidate these different sources of definitions into a single data
product maintained by an “open source” organization like the OSGeo.
Maybe this data product is an XML file, maybe it is a group of text files, or
maybe it is something else that I haven’t thought of.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>I suspect each of the different CRS
programming libraries has someone that is trying to keep up with changes and
additions to the CRS definitions from the different sources mentioned above. I
wonder if working together to consolidate multiple CRS definition sources into
a single “FOSS maintained” source might save us all some work.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>There is already a “standard”
and open format for CRS definitions, namely WKT, correct? Couldn’t this
be used? (I know there are thousands of CRS definitions, but we could use
streaming access to a text file, at least on the Java side of things.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>When I first started to look at the GeoTools
CRS source code I was very confused about the source of CRS definitions. Of
course, I understand where they came from now, but I was surprised that we were
depending on a bunch of land surveyors that work for oil companies for CRS definitions.
:]<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>At any rate, maybe there is already some
type of “single source” for CRS definitions already in existence.
But I thought it didn’t hurt to ask.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>It would seem that this would be one area
that programmers using different languages could cooperate.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>Landon<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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