[OpenLayers-Dev] review of OpenLayers Overview for osgeo-live

[Cameron Shorter]

Chris,
Thanks for your Openlayers Overview text.

I've reviewed and added suggested changes as below. (Feel free to revert 
if you disagree with my suggestions). In particular, I've tried to add a 
bit of a "user benefits" (why is pure JS good?).
I've also included a Core Features section. I suspect you will want to 
refine this list of functionality.

Source text is at:
https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/livedvd/gisvm/trunk/doc/overview


    Browser GIS Client¶ <cid:part1.06060904.03040106 at gmail.com>

OpenLayers makes it easy for web developers to embed dynamic maps, from 
a multitude of sources, in any web page. OpenLayers provides an 
extensive list of mapping tools and widgets, similar to Google Maps. All 
functionally runs inside the web browser, which makes OpenLayers easy to 
install, without any server side dependencies.

OpenLayers is renound for its comprehensive testing and release cycles, 
ensuring stability across the hundreds of different browser versions.


      Core Features¶ <cid:part2.08080709.02030109 at gmail.com>

    * Loads map layers from many sources:
          o Google, Bing, Yahoo
          o WMST, WFS, WFS-T WMS, GeoRSS, GML
          o ArcGIS, Images, MapGuide, MapServer, TileCache,
            VirtualEarth, WorldWind,
    * Tools
          o Pan, Zoom, Draw, Edit, Save, ...
    * Popups
    * Markers
    * Reprojections


Original Text:


  OpenLayers¶ <cid:part3.06080709.02000403 at gmail.com>


    Web map engine¶ <cid:part4.09020608.06010209 at gmail.com>

OpenLayers makes it easy to put a dynamic map in any web page. It can 
display map tiles and markers loaded from any source. OpenLayers is a 
pure JavaScript library for displaying map data in most modern web 
browsers, with no server-side dependencies. OpenLayers implements a 
JavaScript API for building rich web-based geographic applications, 
similar to the Google Maps API.


Furthermore, OpenLayers implements industry-standard methods for 
geographic data access, such as the OpenGIS Consortium's Web Mapping 
Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) protocols. Under the hood, 
OpenLayers is written in object-oriented JavaScript.

As a framework, OpenLayers is intended to separate map tools from map 
data so that all the tools can operate on all the data sources. This 
separation breaks the proprietary silos that earlier GIS revolutions 
have taught civilization to avoid. The mapping revolution on the public 
Web should benefit from the experience of history.

-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Director
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

Think Globally, Fix Locally
Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
http://www.lisasoft.com

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