[mapserver-users] ArcIMS Gateway

[Alison Slaats]

Ed, Paul & Others

The majority of the map services (or servers) available on the Geography Network
are ArcIMS-flavor image or feature services, however, there are about 20 WMS
listed, so they are acting as a clearinghouse for the OGC-type of map services as
well.  Having said that, I should note that about 15 of the 20 WMS are served
by ESRI itself.  

To see a list of these WMS, go to the Geography Network, and then click on 
"Maps", then select "Live Map Services" (http://www.geographynetwork.com/maps/services.cfm) 
It is a bit unclear, but this page contains 3 types of map services arranged in the
following sections:
ArcIMS Image Map Services
WMS 
ArcIMS WMS Map Services

Because there are so many ArcIMS image map services, you hardly notice the other
kinds of map services at the bottom of the page.  If you scroll all the way does you
will see the 20 WMS listed.   You can view these services using the
web-based geography network client simply by clicking on the name of the service & then
clicking on the map tab.

I totally agree with Paul's comment that ESRI clients like ArcMap & ArcExplorer
should support WMS in addition to ArcIMS internet map services.   
I am guessing they will in future versions.  Coincidentally
I just put in a request to ESRI a couple of days ago asking if and when they will be doing 
this.  I have not heard anything back yet, but when I do, I can pass on that information.
I do not think any of the other big vendors GIS software can read WMS directly yet either.   
I would be cool if someone invented a "converter" in the mean time ....

There are a couple of web viewers out there for WMS.  One of them is CubeVew
at CubeWerx Inc.:
http://www.cubewerx.com/demo/cubeview/cubeview.cgi 

Using this web client, you can combine several WMS from several sources on one map.
You can view a list of various places currently offering WMS (under Data Store).  You can
also add your own map service to the map by typing in the URL in the text box at the bottom
of the screen.  I checked it out ... and the WMS listed on the ESRI site work well in this viewer ...

Also, NSDI is working on projects to integrate WMS into the metadata online linkage part
of metadata records, so sometime in the near future, we will be able to search for WMS on
NSDI nodes, not just Geography Network !!

Alison




==========================
Alison Slaats
GIS Web Applications Developer
Metropolitan Council
+651-602-1561
http://gis.metc.state.mn.us/
http://www.datafinder.org/


>>> "Ed McNierney" <ed at topozone.com> 10/01/01 11:17AM >>>
Paul (or others) -

Is this what ESRI uses on the Geography Network?  They claim to support
WMS servers as Geography Network participants, but I (a) can't find any
and (b) can't quite figure them out since I can't find any WMS support
in ESRI *clients*.  This would *seem* to indicate the existence of a
translator going the other way, as you ask.

	- Ed

Ed McNierney
Chief Mapmaker
TopoZone.com
ed at topozone.com 
(978) 251-4242


-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Ramsey [mailto:pramsey at refractions.net] 
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 12:40 PM
To: mapserver-users at lists.gis.umn.edu 
Subject: [mapserver-users] ArcIMS Gateway


Mapserverers,

  We have started playing with ArcGIS 8.1 and were pleased and
interested to note that it supports adding an "Internet Server" as a
data layer. ESRI is certainly picking up the "distributed GIS" ball.
There is, of course, one small catch: when ESRI says "internet server"
they mean "ArcIMS server". :)

  ESRI actually packages a little module with ArcIMS which sits in front
of IMS and turns OGC Web Map Server requests into IMS-style requests.
Basically a WMS emulator. I was thinking that it would be useful to have
an emulator which does the reverse: sits in front of a WMS server and
turns IMS-style requests into WMS requests -- an IMS emulator. That way
people could use WMS servers for external data serving and still be able
to add those WMS layers to ArcGIS projects.

  So (1) has anyone already done this? and (2) does anyone see any
notable pitfalls in doing so?

Paul