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Introduction to major open

source WebGIS
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Contents
1.3.1. Free and open source software, open specification and open data
1.3.2. Components of WebGIS
1.3.3. Component product
1.3.4. Stack Products
WebGIS is composed of four parts, and it can be seen from the name that it includes at least
Web and GIS, which involves technical complexity. From the perspective of WebGIS, open
source tools can be divided into two categories: component products and full-stack
products.

1.3.1. Free and open source software, open

specification and open data
At present, the use and maintenance costs of commercial GIS software are getting higher
and higher. For example, a complete set of ESRI ArcGIS software including client and server
is priced at about 700,000 yuan. And its sales strategy is that if you buy server-side
software, you must buy client-side software. The reason is that since users use their server-
side software to publish services, they must use their client-side software to process data.
This is far beyond the affordable range for some relatively small WebGIS applications. And
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many commercial software GIS data and operations are not completely able to convert and
share, resulting in some information islands.
But on the opposite side of commercial GIS software is open source GIS. Founded in 1994,
OGC is committed to researching and establishing open geographic data interoperability
standards, enabling users and developers to interoperate. The International Geospatial
Development Foundation (Open Source Geospatial Foundation) was established in February
2006. Its mission is to support the development of open source geographic information
software and remote sensing software and promote their wider application, provide
organizational, legal and financial assistance for the projects it supports, and promote the
development, promotion and popularization of OSGeo Foundation’s standard software
based on geographic information and its Interoperability Technology.

Free and open source GIS software

Free and open source software is a type of computer software that can be classified as both
free software and open source software. That is, anyone who is licensed is free to use, copy,
research, and modify the software in any way, and its source code is open and shared, so
people are encouraged to voluntarily improve the design of the software. Such software is in
contrast to commercial software, which is under strict copyright restrictions and whose
source code is generally not available to users.
At present, there are many free and open source GIS software including various levels. For
example, large desktop GIS includes QGIS and grass GIS. Currently the more popular server-
side software includes GeoServer, MapServer and QGIS server, as well as open source GIS
database projects such as PostGIS / PostgreSQL spatial database, In addition, there are some
open source projects such as data conversion tools (such as GDAL / ogr) and map projection
algorithm libraries (such as proj and geotrans). Most of these software are supported by
osgeo.

The role of open data

Open data is a type of data that can be freely used, reused, and redistributed by anyone.
Among its limitations, at best, requires attribution and redistribution using a similar protocol.
Data.gov contains a lot of open data collected by the U.S. government. In addition,
OpenStreetMap (OSM for short) isSkipalsotoa widely used open data source. The OSM project
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was founded by British Steve Coast. The concept was inspired by the Wikipedia website. It is
an online map collaboration project for building free content, the goal is to create a free-
content map of the world that can be edited by anyone, with an easy-to-navigate solution
for cheap mobile devices.

1.3.2. Components of WebGIS

Four components of WebGIS: WebGIS Application Development and GIS Services
1. Client
2. Web Services and Application Services
3. GIS service
4. Data service
Client: The client is where the user interacts with spatial objects and analysis functions in
Web GIS. It is also where Internet GIS programs present their output to the user.
Web Servers and Application Servers: Web servers respond to requests from web browsers
via HTTP. When the web server passes requests to other programs, it requests services from
the application server. The application server acts as a translator or connector between the
web server and the GIS server.
GIS server: GIS server is a main component, which can complete spatial query, perform
spatial analysis, and generate and provide maps to clients according to user’s request.
Data Servers: Data servers provide spatial and non-spatial data in relational or non-
relational database structures. In this website, we pay special attention to GIS server as well
as client application. Many GIS servers are on the internet such as GeoServer, MapServer,
Mapnik, MapGuide, QGIS Server, etc. All of these servers are open source servers, i.e. freely
available. ArcGIS also provides a server, but it is not freely available but has many additional
features. All open source servers are free to download from their respective websites.

1.3.3. Component product

The following products are typically used as components and combined with other tools in
various combinations to create custom
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MapServer
MapServer is an open source platform for publishing spatial data and creating interactive
map applications to the Web. It has been around since the mid-1990s and is considered
mature and stable, with continued active development. Its main focus is to generate maps
from multiple layers, including base imagery and spatial datasets. It also offers smart labels,
including advanced typography and layout, including collision detection. It can read and
serve spatial data in various formats, including Shapefiles, WMS, GDAL, PostGIS, and
GeoTIFF. It is typically used to generate map tiles and its MapCache extension. It has libraries
that support application development in various languages, including Python, Perl, Ruby,
Java, and PHP.
http://www.mapserver.org

PostGIS
PostGIS is an extension to the PostgreSQL database that supports spatial queries.
PostgreSQL is both a relational and object database and is widely regarded as the most
advanced open source database, similar to Oracle and MS-SQL. PostGIS supports various
spatial queries including proximity, radius, bounding box, collision/overlap detection, etc. It is
a very useful tool that is often used in Web GIS projects.
http://postgis.net/

OpenLayers
OpenLayers is a front-end UI library for creating web-based spatial applications using
javascript. It supports various layer sources and backends. For example, map tiles can be
extracted from GoogleMaps or a custom tile source. The advantage this brings is that it
enables developers to reuse elements such as tile sources and instead focus on more unique
aspects of their application, such as “business logic”. Default components such as tile
sources can easily be swapped out later. It supports bitmap and vector layers, including
points, lines and polygons. One of its most widely used features is the ability to overlay data
layers on top of the base map.
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http://openlayers.org

GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library)

GDAL is a translation library for geospatial data formats. It can import and export a wide
variety of file and encoding types. It can be used to convert spatial data between different
projection systems. Raster data formats are handled by GDAL, and vector data formats are
handled by OGR, now included in GDAL. It can also be used to create mosaics from multiple
image file sources. GDAL is a valuable tool for taking data from disparate sources and
transforming it into collaborative work.
http://www.gdal.org

TileMill
TileMill is a desktop application for generating map tile images, which are then hosted as
static files to be used as base layers. TileMill can be used to create visually stunning base
layers. It has a strong focus on aesthetics and includes many well thought out presets that
enable people without a design background to make very attractive and professional map
layers. The development of TileMill is led by a company called MapBox. They offer several
attractive paid services, including tile hosting and curated and fine-tuned base layers.
http://www.mapbox.com/tilemill/

Leaflet
Leaflet is a Javascript library with an emphasis on front-end UI. It supports a combination of
multiple base layers and geometry types. It covers somewhat similar areas to OpenLayers,
but with slightly reduced functionality. Its strengths over OpenLayers are its excellent
support for mobile devices, great product value, clean minimalist design, and a strong focus
on performance.
http://leafletjs.com/

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1.3.4. Stack Products
The following products are distributed as “stacks” or “bundles”. They are preconfigured
combinations of modular products. Some can be used as is (after adding configuration and
base layers), and all of them can be extended further to create custom applications.

GeoServer
GeoServer is mainly based on the Java language. It provides basic functionality for creating
and editing geospatial data and providing maps in a service-oriented architecture. It uses
the OpenLayers module and provides and implements the Web Map Service (WMS)
standard. It also uses the GeoTools framework, which covers a small subset of MapServer’s
functionality. Like GeoServer itself, it is written in Java. It will primarily appeal to developers
already using Java-based tools and platforms.
http://geoserver.org/display/GEOS/Welcome

MapGuide
MapGuide is a full-featured web-based GIS application written primarily in PHP and
Javascript. It includes an AJAX-based application UI for viewing and creating maps and data
layers. It supports an impressive range of layer formats including ESRI SHP, SDF, ESRI
ArcSDE, PostGIS, SQL Server Spatial, raster file formats (via GDA), OGC, WMS and WFS. It
also uses the OpenLayers toolkit and supports custom application development in PHP and
Java. It is primarily based on support for various input formats, out-of-the-box editing tools,
and developers already using PHP.
http://mapguide.osgeo.org

GeoMoose
GeoMoose combines several popular open source libraries to create a powerful and flexible
mapping platform with an emphasis on Javascript/AJAX on the front end. It uses MapServer
as the backend and OpenLayers and
SkipDojo (bothcontent
to main Javascript based) for its user interface. It
provides a powerful set of tools for viewing, editing and querying data in the browser. Its
development community seems to be very active and has a good trajectory going forward.
Its appeal comes from its feature set and modern, approachable user interface. Its well-
documented Javascript API will make it accessible to Javascript developers and other web
builders, since most web developers have at least some exposure to Javascript.
http://www.geomoose.org

GeoDjango
GeoDjango is a set of spatial extensions to the Django application framework. Written
primarily in Python, Django is one of the most popular general-purpose frameworks for
building web applications using Python. Unlike GeoMoose or MapGuide, it does not provide
out-of-the-box applications, but a set of carefully designed building blocks for building
custom applications. Unlike some of the other stack products described above, it makes
fewer assumptions about which other geospatial tools will be used in the stack and provides
integration points through a series of clearly designed, well-documented APIs. It may appeal
to developers who want more choice and control when building applications and those who
prefer the Python language.
http://geodjango.org

MapFish
MapFish is another stack product from the Python community. It is based on the (Python-
based) Pylons framework, as well as the (Javascript-based) OpenLayers and ExtJs
frameworks. Unlike GeoDjango, it provides a simple application out of the box that can be
customized and extended. It also supports development in Rails and PHP via plugins. Its
appeal is that it provides a clean, compact starting point that can be easily extended in
various languages. Compared to GeoDjango, it has the advantage that it gives developers
more options so they can get started faster. It will likely appeal to developers with Python or
Javascript experience, as well as Rails/PHP developers who value its clean, compact design.
http://mapfish.org