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December 2000
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OpenGIS Map Server by DEMIS
The OpenGIS Map Server provides interactive access to the DEMIS Map Engine over the Internet using protocols defined by the OpenGIS Consortium. Using a fourth generation web browser, users can interactively view a remote GIS database by selecting layers to display, zooming in or out and querying map features.
Main features
The Map Server basically consists of a straightforward OpenGIS compatible interface to the Active Map Engine running on the web server. Therefore most of the functionality provided by the Map Engine becomes available over the internet, including support for visualization of:
- Vector map layers
- Grid layers
- Geo-referenced bitmap (raster) layers
A list of supported file formats is provided on the Active Map Engine product page
The Map Server software is bundled with Mapper, an interactive Map Composer which can be used to create maps for the map server by importing data from Mainstream GIS platforms and control the appearance of individual layers by changing color, line- and fill styles or point symbols.
Also, the map server software is bundled with a huge vector database providing topographic maps from the entire world. This database is used in their online demonstration which can be found at http://www2.demis.nl/mapserver/
The client user interface developed for this demonstration will also be provided, this is just an example of the kind of user interface that can be provided using DHTML and JavaScript features available in fourth generation browsers. This client user interface can be customized or even completely redesigned to fit the needs of your application.
System requirements
The Demis Map Server system requirements are:
- Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000
- Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 or higher
- Active Server Pages (ASP) for server application scripting
- 20 MB of free disk space
The official specifications for the Web Mapping Testbed, as defined by the OpenGIS consortium can be found there in PDF format.
Applications
The Map Server Technology is relatively new, therefore only a few applications have been built by them at this stage. They are currently working on a web site for the Dutch department of public works, providing interactive 1:250.000 scale maps of the Netherlands
The OpenGIS Web Mapping protocol opens up an enormous potential for applications. The protocol allows the server to render images with a transparent background so the Images rendered by different servers can be "cascaded" by overlaying them on top of each other. A "cascading" service like this is provided by Cubewerx, one of the pioneer companies participating in the OpenGIS consortium.
Licensing and Consultancy
Their Map Server is a high-performance / low-cost alternative to other map server software on the market and they have a very flexible licensing policy.
- Single server license, 500 US$
- Site license, (any number of servers within a domain) 1000 US$
- Turn-key solutions can be developed for
you by their software engineers.
Availability
The Map Server software and documentation may be ready for distribution by December 2000, a downloadable trial version will also be available then.
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