Web based mapping solutions, have quickly become one of my most devoted topics of study while at ASU. Taking the enigmatic idea of , ‘the stack’, and breaking it down has been one the most valuable lessons I’ve learned thus far. In web mapping, a stack does not have to be completely proprietary, or conversely, completely FOSS. As a budding web-developer, I’ve come to most appreciate and admire boutique solutions which incorporate the packages best suited to meet a client’s unique needs. The majority of this blog, in fact, is devoted to tracking the progress of my training in web mapping.
I first became interested in web mapping during my senior year at Western Washington University. I was interested in devoting my last quarter of study to learning the ins-and-outs of commercial web mapping software, like ArcSDE and ArcIMS. Our Spatial Analysis Lab at the time however did not have the infrastructure to allow me to study these technologies, so I set out to do it on my own.
My first steps into FOSSGIS were rough at best, a whole quarter, nearly ten weeks were spent transforming an aging Toshiba laptop into an Ubuntu GIS Web Server. Using a stack combining OpenLayers for display, UMN Mapserver for rendering, and ESRI shapefiles for a spatial-backend proved to an incredibly eye opening first experience for the novice web mapper.
Along with a new found appreciation for the power of the new geospatial-web came an even larger appreciation for Open Source software. The amount of support for the various FOSSGIS projects that exist is simply amazing. The fact that a student with zero experience in web mapping, or FOSSGIS software, can navigate through the wealth of information regarding these projects to create a working prototype is a testament to those who develop and document these projects, and the spirit of FOSS as a whole.
As I continue to study the various aspects of web mapping, this blog will further serve as a place to document these experiences.
Below are a few interesting web mapping examples that I’ve developed.
Combining OpenLayers with the ArcGIS Server REST API – Worked with James Fee of SpatiallyAdjusted.com to developed these code samples for the 2009 ESRI DevSummit.
MAS-GIS Capstone Project: OpenLayers with ArcGIS Server REST API – A front end site based containing tutorial information and potential business cases for Using OpenLayers with the ArcGIS Server REST API. Simple design using jQuery, Lightbox 2, and SyntaxHighlighter 2. Based upon work done for the 2009 ESRI Developer Summit project (see above).
OpenLayers AJAX / MySQL / JSON Example – Utilizing MySQL to store user input addresses, retrieved as JSON through PHP and populated onto an OpenLayers map canvas with a little help from the Yahoo geocoder. jQuery used to handle various Ajax aspects. Developed for an independent client.