[Freegis-list] Geovisualization / mapping library

[Ari Jolma]

Mateusz Loskot kirjoitti:
> Ari Jolma wrote:
>> This project is related to the OSGeo Cartographic Library proposal: 
>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Cartographic_Library
>
> Ari,
>
> It's very interesting though the general idea is a bit vague to me.
> I've read the Wiki page and I'm still unable to grab the core of this 
> idea. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask some questions:
>
> 1. Is this idea about creating something like libgd (http://libgd.org) 
> for GIS - not another geometry rendering engine, but a renderer 
> specialized for GIS and cartpgraphy?

Basically yes.

>
> 2. What are the key differences to MapServer and Mapnik?

There aren't really so many. The technology is one (Cairo instead of 
AGG) and the idea to limit the scope to just the rendering but at the 
same time trying to be more flexible towards explorative visualization 
etc. But I really can't tell, I'm not intimate with either of those and 
every time I look they have evolved.

I plan to use GDAL as the only data source but I anticipate use cases 
which require stretching the GDAL data model a bit. For example layers 
of features with differing schemas and possibly multiple geometries.

>
> 3. Why GNOME libraries but not something multiplatofrm in terms of 
> desktop environments?

Personal choice ;) -- interoperates well with the other stuff I do. GTK 
(the foundation of GNOME) is multiplatform. What do you mean by 
"something multiplatform"?

>
> 4. How does it relate to FOSS desktop applications like QGIS? Is the 
> library going to serve as desktop GIS core in future (like desktop GIS 
> for GNOME)?

QGIS uses Qt, which is similar in functionality to GTK but different. 
I'm surely going to use the library as a building block for a GTK 
"geocanvas" and then use the geocanvas as a building block for geo 
applications. I'll probably use Perl for most of the canvas and the 
apps. This will (hopefully) replace some graphics code I have now in libral.

It would be interesting if this library could evolve into something more 
broadly used by the GTK/GNOME community.

Ari

>
> Greetings


-- 
Prof. Ari Jolma
Geoinformatiikka / Geoinformatics
Teknillinen Korkeakoulu / Helsinki University of Technology
tel: +358 9 451 3886 address: POBox 1200, 02015 TKK, Finland
Email: ari.jolma at tkk.fi URL: http://www.tkk.fi/~jolma