Monthly Archives: April 2006

Logo Contests Galore: MapGuide and OSGeo

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The MapGuide Open Source project has announced a Logo/Mascot Contest:
http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/MapGuide_Logo/Mascot_Contest

The wording for this announcement looks eerily familiar (it’s based on an annoucement I helped draft for the main Open Source Geospatial Foundation contest a while back) but the goodies are a bit more general-interest than the OSGeo contest:

  • $150 worth of free swag featuring the new logo
  • a 30g video iPod

I wonder who’s sponsoring these prizes ;)

In related news, the OSGeo Logo Contest has turned up several excellent designs in the submission phase, and voting is open to all people with logins to the OSGeo site… which happens to be the sole requirement for OSGeo membership. First visit the OSGeo website to check out the logo contest submissions, and then vote using the procedure outlined in this email:
https://mail.osgeo.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=discuss&msgNo=447

Random Tidbits:

  • I prefer the OSGeo moniker, but I heard Steve Lime at the recent Oregon GIS In Action conference say that he prefers OSGF. I wonder how this will shake out in time.
  • I wonder what is going to happen to the fifth copy of MapGuide Studio, since the OSGeo contest only got four entries. Hint: I could use a copy to play around with at home :)
  • I realize that my sporadic postings have been a bit MapGuide-centric. No apologies here; I’m going to be posting about what I’m currently interested in and playing with.

MapGuide Open Source Package Utilities

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MapGuide Open Source uses a binary XML data structure to store its site configuration. This contains things such as data1, layer definitions, map definitions, web layouts, and just about everything else. The existing data management tools don’t provide an easy way to reference external data2, but the advantages far outweigh this disadvantage.

The recent 1.0.0 release of MapGuide comes with a great feature that allows you to import and export portions of this XML data store, including any referenced spatial data, into something called a “package”. A package is just a zipfile with an .mgp extension, which contains XML data and any referenced files.

The only problem with this feature is that it could only be accessed via the web-based site administrator. I wanted to use this ability to automate data transfers from my intranet site to my externally hosted internet site, and really didn’t want to be staying up until midnight each night. Fortunately, MapGuide Open Source is, well, open source. The site administration interface is written in PHP, and uses the same well-documented web API as the web maps.

Armed with a hammer (what else would you use to drive screws?) I attacked the site administration import/export code, and came up with a couple PHP utilities for importing and exporting packages from the command line using the php CLI.

cli_loadpackage.php
Usage: php cli_loadpackage.php AdministratorPassword PackageName.mgp

cli_makepackage.php {watch line wrap}
Usage: php cli_makepackage.php AdministratorPassword PackageName.mgp Library://FolderPath "Package Description"

You can download mgpackageutils.zip from my site, but only with the understanding that I accept no responsibility for your use of these tools. Even if you turn into a chicken. This archive contains the PHP utilities, a readme file, a copy of the LGPL license, and a couple DOS batchfiles for testing:

http://www.jasonbirch.com/files/mgpackageutils.zip

Next job? Create a utility to unzip the .mgp file, rsync the results to the external site, and zip it back up before importing on the other side. I’ll just file that at the bottom of my 10-page TODO list…

Footnotes:

1. Although the data itself could potentially be stored as a byte stream in the XML file, spatial data is typically stored within the Library repository on the server.

2. At some point I hope to be able to provide some tools to define external data sources, based on a conversation on the MapGuide Users List)

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MapGuide Open Source 1.0 Released

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MapGuide Open Source 1.0 has moved from RC1 to Release status.

If you haven’t already downloaded and installed this application, now is the time to do so. This change combines over a month of bug fixes and better installation procedures. As well, the following great new features have been added:

  • Make Package: This new feature is a great boon to administrators for performing several tasks:
    • Transferring data between development and live servers
    • Creating all layers on a central server, and then copying a subset to external servers
  • Digitize API: This will allow developers to create generic redlining and collaboration tools for both the AJAX and DWF interfaces.

Check out a full list of the features as well as the version 1.0 release notes on the MapGuide Open Source website.