[Freegis-list] user map on Postgres web site

[Paolo Cavallini]

We (Faunalia) can provide some help for a postgresql+ postgis+ mapserver 
(+eventually pmapper) solution.
All the best.
pc

At 23:53, mercoledì 26 ottobre 2005, Brent Wood has probably written:
> I guess I should apologise for the cross posting, I know this is gonna get
> to lots of people more than once, but hopefully it will be of enough
> interest that you'll at least read one of them :-)
>
>
> There has recently been a thread on the Postgres user list about a web
> based postgres user/developer map. Claire has built a Google map based
> system, getting locations from IP addresses.
>
> I suggested a fully Open Source based system might be appropriate, and
> could even be a OS GIS suite showcase (applications and global raster
> & vector data) if anyone wanted to take it that far.
>
> Postgres/Postgis/mapserver seems the obvious mix, though I admit it
> is not the only one. ka-map could also fit in there... as well as plenty
> of other OS web-mapping related packages.
>
> A small minority of Postgres users seem to use spatial data, and this
> could present & foster a Postgres based solution for anyone interested in
> adding location functionality to existing Postgres implementations.
>
> So, is anyone out there in OS GIS world interested in becoming part of a
> team to help put this together?
>
>
> Brent Wood
>
> On Wed, 26 Oct 2005, Claire McLister wrote:
> > I took a look at your map, this is great wonderful that you were
> > already thinking along these lines.
> >
> > Looks like there are two issues here: (1) Getting the data points for
> > users/developers maps, and (2) using the most appropriate mapping
> > technology.
> >
> > I think we can use the Zeemaps service (http://www.zeemaps.com) for
> > number (1) above. The way this works is that you create a map and set a
> > few passwords: (a) moderator, (b) member, and (c) viewer. Using the
> > moderator password, you can set certain map properties, e.g.,
> > attributes to maintain with each entry, color legends, etc. With a
> > member password you can modify entries and their attributes, and with a
> > viewer password you can just see details without the ability to modify
> > anything. A casual user can just see the map with the markers and their
> > names, without access to any details for the entries. Hence
> > distributing the member password to the group and having each person
> > add his or her details would be a good way to go. The number of points
> > for Postgresql users can, of course, go pretty high. So far, we have
> > seen reasonable performance with up to 500-600 markers. I don't know if
> > there is an easy way of partitioning the user base into segments that
> > can fit within this range. Another idea would be to just split the map
> > after say 500 points.
> >
> > For the number (2) the choice seems to be between Google Maps vs.
> > Mapserver and its associated Open Source tools. Having looked at
> > Brent's follow up emails, it seems that Mapserver and associated
> > toolkits can give much more flexibility.  Plus they have the advantage
> > that we are not limited by Google's terms, the most annoying of which
> > is that you cannot save, copy, or distribute the map images created.
> > So, it seems best to move towards the Open Source alternatives,
> > specially since they have better images as Brent points out. I've been
> > looking at some of the Mapserver toolkits, and there seems to be an
> > overwhelming amount of choice available for what to pick and not. So, I
> > don't feel qualified to pick the right technologies to use for the base
> > implementation. If someone can pick the mantle on that, I'd be happy to
> > work with that person to see how we can exchange information from the
> > map points stored from (1). If for the time being you feel comfortable
> > continuing with Google Maps, then there's multiple ways we can share
> > information developed by (1) through some kind of a web service API.
> >
> > Claire
-- 
Paolo Cavallini
email+jabber: cavallini at faunalia.it
www.faunalia.it
Piazza Garibaldi 5 - 56025 Pontedera (PI), Italy   Tel: (+39)348-3801953