[OSGeo Africa] FW: UDIG QUERIES

[Gavin Fleming]

Hi all

 

I'm taking the liberty of forwarding a query from a new list member re
UDig, MrSID and mobile devices to the list hoping that some of you will
be able to help him.  

 

Gavin

 

Deon's first questions:

1.	I need to read/convert MrSid aerial photos to display them in
UDig but have not been able to find anything on the website.  Any ideas?
2.	 Someone has asked me regarding installing UDig on a network and
I said that it was the best to run individual software on every machine
and just point it to the database.  I have not had a comeback but was
just wondering...?
3.	We are thinking about linking some mobile devices to UDig but
can't seem to find anything in this regard on the web.  Any suggestions
in this regard?

My initial response:

 

1.	As far as I know, GDAL reads MrSID, which means one solution is
to serve the images through a MapServer WMS service. Then UDig or any
other client will be able to use them anywhere on the network.
2.	I'd recommend installing UDig on each machine. Installing and
updating could be done over the network however.
3.	What do you mean by 'linking mobile devices'? Perhaps you could
be more specific?

 

Deon's subsequent query:

Hi Gavin

 

I have just been to an ESRI workshop where we discussed things like
ArcPad and other GPS devices linked to ArcGIS.  Obviously it was very
detailed but my query is much more general.   I would like to know what
functionality UDig has in terms of linking to handheld GPS's.  For
instance we are currently considering (how far we will get is another
issue entirely) sending our inspectors out with GPS's and having them
log what they see in terms of things like address,  business type, land
use etc. and then linking these coordinates to the specific land parcel.
The data could be very specific i.e. an address number or perhaps even a
longish comment.  I'm sorry I cannot be more specific but we are
basically brainstorming at this stage.

 

I have played around with UDig as front-end for a while now and have
found it rather slow - is this the way it is or are there some tweaks
that I could try.  Obviously I'm comparing it with ArcGIS which is
rather unfair but I'd just like to know.  Are there any other desktops
other than UDig and QGis that I should try.  I'm not quite ready to go
delving into the other database-related stuff quite now and am
specifically looking at smaller desktop applications with some minor
editing of mainly existing shapefiles and using existing aerial photos
as "backdrops" (therefore my query re MrSid as our Tiffs are huge!  

 

As indicated before to a certain extent I'm not comparing apples with
apples but currently I am experimenting trying to utilize features that
can/will impress the unconverted and match or even improve ArcGIS
functionality.  My initial investigations seem to indicate that OSS
might not be quite ready to take over large organizational GIS functions
(in Ekurhuleni Metro for instance) but I am also very interested in the
smaller users as we have many requests from outside parties who need to
read shapefiles but cannot afford an ArcGIS kind of application.

 

I know I sound a little vague on many fronts (and I cannot be considered
a techie) but I will certainly be getting into contact you for more
detailed stuff later if you will indulge me.

 

Thanks again

Deon van der Linde

GIS Manager:  City Development

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municpality

011 398 2111

 

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