[postgis-users] Upcoming Book: PostGIS in Action

Fri May 8 15:49:08 PDT 2009

Wow!  Congratulations to you both; and how nice that we can all share in 
the benefits of your hard work!

Paragon Corporation wrote:
> Several months ago we asked  you about the value of a PostGIS book and if
> you would buy such a thing.  We got a lot of favorable comments and
> suggestions.  We think our success in getting a book contract was in large
> part because of this.  We thank you very much for your heart-warming
> support.
>
> Needless to say we got a couple of contract offers a couple of months ago
> and settled on Manning.  We liked the fact that they had pre-book sales and
> also allowed readers to provide input into what they would like to see in
> the book.  Now that our book has reached Pre-Book sale status and is now
> listed on the Manning site, we can celebrate a little and announce its
> existence.
>
> The book detail summary is not in place yet, but you can download the first
> chapter for free and order now if you want.  
>
> http://www.manning.com/obe
>
> Ordering early allows you to get the chapters as they are written and get
> the final e-Book/Hardcopy.  We have an estimated Hard-Copy completion of
> around January/February 2010 and the full ebook copy should be available
> about 2 months before that.
>
> The book will cover both basic concepts as well as advanced.
>
> Things that will be covered (we have chapters 1,2,3 already written but
> nothing is set in stone until it hits hard-copy),  so feel free to voice any
> ideas you have on our author blog.
>
> Below are the following chapters we have planned (or done)
>
> 1) What spatial databases do in general, which ones exist, and OGC
> terminology
> 2) What geometry types PostGIS supports and how well it supports each with
> some simple exercises of creating each type.  Here we cover 2d, 3d, 3dm
> basic geometry types and curved geometries
> 3) Data modeling -- This chapter starts by going over some basic storage
> models -- using schemas, do you use table inheritance, have untyped or
> specific typed geometry column, separate tables, separate columns, use srids
> or not and so forth as well as pros and cons of each.  It then concludes
> with simple exercises demonstrating these different storage approaches.  
> 4) Working with geometries -- this covers key geometry properties and
> concepts -- such as what a spatial reference system is and kinds out there,
> other key geometry properties and functions that take one geometry.  It will
> conclude with business case uses for these.
> 5) Deals mostly with relation operations and functions that take more than
> one geometry as input (pretty much a companion to chapter 4)
> 6) This chapter covers combining what was learned in 4 and 5 to create more
> sophisticated queries.  It will show things such as clipping geometries,
> splitting geometries with lines, combining spatial aggregates with sql
> aggregates, generating a farm of test data.
> 7) working with real data -- we go in depth into how to load data with
> shp2pgsql and OGR2OGR.  Tricks for determining the spatial reference system
> of a data source when there is or is no meta data.  Also exporting to
> various different data sources.
>
> 8) Speeding up queries -- demonstrates how to write optimal SQL statements
> as well as somewhat hackish statements to force the PostgreSQL planner to
> follow a more optimal plan.  How to use explain and graphical explain to
> determine where the bottlenecks in your queries are. Choosing the right
> indexes (spatial and btree, compound vs. non-compound).  Key PostgreSQL
> settings.
>
> --Part 2: 
> 9) This covers specific use cases -- how to fix different kinds of invalid
> geometries, various proximity analysis/nearest neighbor exercises, using
> buffers, linear referencing. I think we have about 25 exercises planned out.
>
> 10) PostGIS add-ons and ancillary tools -- planned here are Tiger Geocoder,
> PgRouting, PLPython, PLR
> 11) Using PostGIS in web applications -- planned here UMN Mapserver,
> GeoServer, SharpMap, OpenLayers, (maybe Web Feature Server)
> 12) Using PostGIS in desktop environment -- here we plan to do some quick
> exercises using -- OpenJump, QuantumGIS, uDig, GvSig
> 13) WKT Raster -- new work going on here -- we'll cover difference between
> raster and vector data, installing WKT Raster, loading raster data, raster
> /vector overlays, analysis of color bands
>
> The Appendixes
> Appendix A:  Additional Resources
> We'll have listings of useful blogs and sites for more tips and tricks,
> places to get data etc.
>
> Appendix B: Installation, Upgrade
> We'll provide resources where you can get binaries for PostGIS
> How to PostGIS enable a new db
> How to upgrade from one version to another (both soft and hard and the lazy
> hard)
>
> Appendix C: SQL Primer
> Basic SQL stuff that is pretty standard in most relational databases
> Different join types (INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, EXCEPT, UNION [ALL]  with cute
> diagrams of each), Aggregates, recursive queries and common table
> expressions (new in PostgreSQL 8.4 but supported in other high-end dbs --
> SQL server, IBM, Oracle), Windowing queries
> Doing inserts, updates, cross table updates
>
> Appendix D: PostgreSQL Specific Features
> Things that are somewhat unique to PostgreSQL -- such as how to create
> custom aggregates, arrays as data types, rules, triggers, sql and plpgsql
> function primer. 
>
> Thanks for your support,
> Leo and Regina
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>   

-- 
Chris Hermansen         mailto:chris.hermansen at timberline.ca
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