FYI: press release: OGC SEEKS INPUT ON WEB MAPPING STANDARD

Tue Dec 14 14:39:50 PST 1999

I would probably look at building conformity using mapscript rather than changing
the base C code. That is write perl wrappers to send/recieve GML or answer the "Get"
type requests. Most of this is just undertanding a different syntax either via a
URL or using XML and Perl is exceptionally well suited to those tasks. MapServer
pretty much already understands the OGC features since they are all allowed within
a shapefile anyway.

Stephen Lime
Internet Applications Analyst

Minnesota DNR
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-297-2937

>>> "Sullivan, James R." <SullivanJ at nima.mil> 12/14/99 03:48PM >>>
Believe the OGC folks have some very good ideas.   But it is part of their
job to be 'tea leaf readers' to some extent.  Believe Mapserver should
strive to be as close to OGC as possible without getting 'painted into a
corner'.    How would Mapserver conform to the Object wrappers being
prescirbed by OGC?

Jim Sullivan

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Stephen Lime [SMTP:steve.lime at dnr.state.mn.us] 
	Sent:	Tuesday, December 14, 1999 3:16 PM
	To:	bfraser at geoanalytic.com; mapserver-users at lists.gis.umn.edu 
	Subject:	Re: FYI: press release: OGC SEEKS INPUT ON WEB
MAPPING STANDARD

	I'd like hear what folks involved with the OGC think about these
proposed
	standards and whether or not the MapServer should strive to support
them.
	I've skimmed the rfc's and in many cases the MapServer could easily
be 
	extended to support them. I do have concerns about things like layer

	symbolization and annotation especially with regards to label
collisions. Stick
	maps are not what I'd call progress given what might be possible
within an
	individual system. The earthquake mapping MapScript demo shows what
can 
	happen when an app is dependent on remote data. I shudder at the
thought
	of trying to tie remote datasets of any reasonable size into a
robust "public"
	application. GML may well be suited to non-realtime exchange of
geodata
	but seems a bit bloated (ascii + xml tags) for high performance
apps. Will GML
	be well suited to streaming - an implementation question? Still,
good topics
	to discuss and possibly move forward on within the context of the
MapServer.

	Steve

	Stephen Lime
	Internet Applications Analyst

	Minnesota DNR
	500 Lafayette Road
	St. Paul, MN 55155
	651-297-2937

	>>> "Brent Fraser" <bfraser at geoanalytic.com> 12/14/99 01:14PM >>>
	MapServers,

	  I know some have seen this press release, but for 
	those not in the loop, here it is...

	Brent Fraser
	GeoAnalytic Inc.
	1150 , 633 - 6th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2P 2Y5
	Tel:  (403)213-2700 Fax:  (403)213-2707
	bfraser at geoanalytic.com 
	www.geoanalytic.com 

	=============================================
	OGC SEEKS INPUT ON WEB MAPPING STANDARD
	Wayland, MA, USA, December 13, 1999: The Open GIS Consortium, 
	Inc. (OGC) today issued Requests for Comment on its pending 
	OpenGIS Web Map Server Interface Specification and OpenGIS 
	Geography Markup Language (GML) Specification.

	The OpenGIS Web Map Server Interface Specification provides a 
	set of open protocols that will make it possible for users of 
	ordinary web browsers to obtain and automatically overlay "map
	 layers" of the same geographic region, where each layer is a 
	"view" into geographic data potentially held by a different 
	web server. Map servers can be from different vendors, and 
	they can vary widely in terms of processing capabilities and 
	data type (including multiple vector and raster types). The 
	three protocols are relatively simple, and it is not difficult
	 in most cases to add them to data servers. GetCapabilities 
	provides information about what a server can do. GetMap gets 
	maps, which might be georeferenced images (such as JPEG and 
	PNG), simple display graphics (such as SVG or WebCGM), or more
	universally displayable "picture element" data (Simple 
	Features XML, also known as GML). GetFeature_info provides 
	information about features, so that users can query to get 
	attributes of specific geographic features in a map layer.

	GML is a method for encoding OpenGIS Simple Features (basic 
	vector-based geographic data) in XML. XSLT "stylesheets" can 
	then be used to render this "smart data" in 
	application-specific ways. The GML draft document will be 
	submitted to W3C as a Note.

	In the OpenGIS Web Mapping Testbed, the Web Map Server was 
	used with catalog services defined in the OpenGIS Catalog 
	Services Specification, which provides a common architecture 
	for online automated directories or registries of web-based 
	geospatial data and geoprocessing services, rather like 
	"spatial search engines."

	As vendors implement these open standards in software, and as 
	online geodata suppliers make their data available, web users 
	will easily find, view, overlay, and combine different 
	thematic maps for a given region.

	Geospatial data includes digital maps (including individual 
	map elements such as roads, lakes and political boundaries), 
	Earth images, and database records with street addresses or 
	other fields that indicate physical location. Much geospatial 
	data is currently available on the web, but users must posses 
	considerable expertise and special geographic information 
	system (GIS) software to overlay or otherwise combine 
	different "map layers" of the same geographic region. Now, 
	consensus among GIS software vendors in OGC has made it 
	possible for such overlays and combinations of complex and 
	essentially different kinds of geographic information to 
	happen automatically over the Internet, despite differences 
	in the vendors' geographic data storage, analysis, and 
	display systems.

	The OpenGIS Technical Document 99-077 titled, "Web Map Server 
	Interface Specification" was submitted by BBN Technologies 
	(Cambridge MA), Cadcorp Ltd. (UK), CubeWerx Inc. (Canada), 
	Ionic Software s.a. (Belgium), Laser-Scan Ltd. (UK), SICAD 
	Geomatics GmbH & Co. oHG. (Germany), Social Change Online Pty 
	Ltd. (Australia), and the US Army Engineer Research and 
	Development Center (Alexandria, VA). The OpenGIS Technical 
	Document 99-082r1 titled "Geography Markup Language (GML)" 
	was submitted by Galdos Systems, Inc. (Canada), Oracle Corp. 
	(Redwood Shores, CA), MapInfo Corp. (Troy, NY), Compusult, Ltd
	 (Canada), and CubeWerx (Canada). Both documents are available 
	for comment at http://www.opengis.org/techno/request.htm.

	After the OGC Technical Committee reviews and incorporates 
	comments, these specifications are likely to be formally 
	adopted (as a single specification) at the OGC Technical 
	Committee and Management Committee meetings to be held in 
	Vancouver, BC in February, 2000.

	OGC is an international, not-for-profit organization working 
	toward integration of geospatial capabilities into the world's 
	information systems.

	Lance McKee
	Vice President, 
	Corporate Communications and Public Sector Programs
	Open GIS Consortium, Inc.
	35 Main Street
	Wayland, MA 01778 USA
	Tel. 508-655-5858
	Fax 508-655-2237
	http://www.opengis.org 
	lmckee at opengis.org 

	www.opengis.org 