[OSGeo-Discuss] Options for setting up a Web Feature Service

[Christopher Schmidt]

On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 12:34:34PM +1000, nicholas.g.lawrence at transportandmainroads.qld.gov.au wrote:
> 
> Hello osgeo people,
> 
> I am a member of a professional institution that is considering setting up
> a web feature service that publishes point locations, of members and
> offices, in a global context.
> 
> The idea being to, instead of producing a map directly, to instead just
> publish the WFS, which makes the information available for mash-ups.
> 
> The published data is likely to have a very small volume and only
> be updated a few times per annum.
> 
> How do you go about setting up a WFS?

To be honest, in this case, I wouldn't.

Instead, I would publish a file describing the data in a well understood
data format. KML is widely used and understood by many different clients.
Publishing the data in a single file, well understood by many clients --
like Google Maps, Google Earth, etc. -- is likely to be more effective
at having the data reused than publishing it in a "WFS".

If the data was large -- many thousands of results -- then "WFS" might be a
better answer. (Though KML NetworkLink might still be better.)

With a small collection of data, however, a static file -- KML, GeoJSON,
or some other widely used format (GML doesn't count, Ron), would probably
be good.

(The primary reason I would select GeoJSON over KML is if the 
attributes -- more than name and description -- are important, though recent
KML work has sort of improved that situation as well.)

Best Regards,
-- 
Christopher Schmidt
Web Developer