[OSGeo-Discuss] Proposal: OSGeo Cartographic Library

[Brent Fraser]

Ari,

  Traditionally, there has been no widely adopted
vendor/system-independent format for specifying style
information.  Hopefully now that there is an organization
(the OGC) addressing open standards for geographic data
(including styling: SLD) there will be more support for a
styling standard.

  Wouldn't it be great if data suppliers delivered a .sld
(or something like it) with .shp?  And Open Source software
like Quantum, gvSig, OpenJump, and Mapserver actual read the
styling and applied it?

  Other comments below...
Brent Fraser
GeoAnalytic Inc.
Calgary, Alberta

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ari Jolma" <ari.jolma at tkk.fi>
To: "OSGeo Discussions" <discuss at lists.osgeo.org>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Proposal: OSGeo Cartographic
Library


> Brent Fraser kirjoitti:
> > Bruno,
> >
> >   Have a go with my favorite Canadian topographic map
> > (NTS:082H04, "Waterton Lakes" ):
> >
> > Shapefiles:
> >
http://ftp2.cits.rncan.gc.ca/pub/canvec/50k_shp/082/h/canvec_082h04_shp.zip
> >
>
> Thanks for the pointer, that's a nice dataset. Opening
these 39 layers
> makes me ask why there's no style information? Pardon my
ignorance on
> digital cartography, but is it because of standards or
something else?
> How do Arc* tools do it?

Arc* tools, like almost every other GIS tool, have their own
method (some kind of ESRI-specific XML-ish file?).

>
> I think that's one crucial point in this thread. We all do
have our
> favorite software and want-to-have-software for creating a
map or
> geovisualization from this. Maybe a common goal would be
to write a
> specification how to create a map from this data -- note
that there is
> an infinite number of maps that one could create. I'd like
to have a
> file or files associated with datasets like this, that I'd
just open in
> my favorite software and it'd show me a map and not data.

A very good goal.  The great thing about default styling is
that it can produce a good looking map.  You could then
change the styling if you want to (because without it you
HAVE to; what a productivity killer!).

>
> The second thing would be to have a free OSGeo map symbol
set, which the
> map description file would refer to and the software use
when creating
> the map.

That would be good too...
>
> Do I make any sense?
>

Yes!