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Building a CGDI-enabled Cartographic Toolkit
Users can now access and format geospatial data in more ways than ever, thanks to recent technical innovations. Through this project, some of those innovations will be built into MapServer, enhancing this free, publicly available web mapping software. The project will also develop a set of simple web mapping tools so that even non-specialized users can make the most of the new enhancements.
MapServer software will get three enhancements under this project. First, the software will now support styled layer descriptors (SLD) technology. SLD enables users to tailor their maps by modifying such features as line widths, styles and colours, rather than being limited to the attributes supplied by the data source. For example, using SLD, a user who wants roads drawn in black can get them in that colour even if the data server supplies them in red. Second, the project will develop an SLD client translator, an invisible mechanism for MapServer that will free users from having to create a separate document to request their SLD choices. Third, the project will add filter encoding to MapServer. This feature will allow users to request defined layers of information-for instance, only those roads classified as major highways, or only those cities above a certain population.
The project will also design a mapping toolkit so that users, regardless of their technical knowledge, can exploit the new MapServer features. The existing MapLab, which is a free, open-source mapping tool, will benefit from a simple new interface. As well, the project will create a new software application, combining many mapping features into one tool that non-GIS professionals can use to create and customize their own mapping applications.
Agriculture Canada and Natural Resources Canada are two federal departments that currently use MapServer technology. Through the project, these departments can make their data holdings, in the Canadian Soil Information System and the National Forest Information System respectively, more accessible and helpful to the public. Also, the project will test the new features and tools with Lignum Ltd., a B.C.-based forest company, thus introducing geospatial data and tools to an industry that benefits from geomatics. In the longer term, all users of MapServer and MapLab, including many educational institutions, will benefit from the enhancements introduced by this project.
Primary Partner:
DM Solutions Group Inc.
Ottawa,
Ontario;
Partners: Agriculture Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Lignum Ltd.
Funding From GeoConnections: $206,793.00 ( 50.0 %)
Estimated Inception Date: March, 2003
Estimated Completion Date: March, 2004
Deliverables from this project benefitted the following provinces: All provinces