From: "Vitali Diatchkov" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: JTS Topology Suite Development
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:
<geotools-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>,<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [jts-devel] object models and API issues
Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 19:27:58 +0300
Hello!
I am thinking about various object models, libraries, frameworks,
application implementations related to GIS domain.
The information is not systematized and it makes too difficult to orient
in
a world of GIS stuff (outlined above) for novices. I write short list of
tools that are available based on experience.. So if anybody wants to
correct/add/update info, you are welcome to make the picture more clear.
Geometry Object Model:
* JTS + set of useful operations and algorithms are implemented (open
source)
* Oracle - proprietary object model, not very useful for the
development outside of Oracle scope.
Feature Object Model
* Geotools Feature Model - OpenGIS-standard-based, quite powerful for
the development GIS applications of any levels.
* JUMP Feature Model - seems it is ancestor of GT Feature Model - not
really hot as the first one.
Topology Object Model
* Oracle TDM - mostly on the database side - simple object model for
manipulation in Java - proprietary object model not very attractive for
the
development outside of Oracle scope.
* Graph plugin from GT - not really TDM, just some API for
implementation stuff for graph manipulations.
* JTS - not really TDM, mostly is used for internal purposes of
predicate and spatial operation implemented in JTS where geometry graph
serves as internal structure and intermediate step in spatial processing.
WMS, WFS specifications
* GT plugins - seems the most advanced and hot implementations of
these standards.
* Degree project - seems the active development is stopped
Spatial capabilities in RDBMS
* Oracle Spatial (there is limited edition that is free, seems to be)
* DB2
* PostGIS (the only one open source)
GIS client application
* UDIG - the most attractive open source GIS platform
* JUMP - the app with a set of very useful plugin functionality -
seems most of the thing will ported to UDIG environment for the time
being.
It is just entry for my issue.
There are useful sites such as freegis.org where lots of useful open
source
projects are listed.. My issue is more related to the development process
where object models, APIs, etc are described, compared, what is the
purpose,
target of usage, etc.
I have faced with a problem to choose the existing (if exists) Topology
Object Model (java implementation of Topology Data Model)
for the following development in some contexts (topology data store (as a
data store concept for nodes, edges, faces), topology fixing of
inconsistent
data sets, topology layer hierarchy aligning, etc.). Related to topology
seems there is no good and full implementation of TDM as open source while
there are different kinds of topology (polygonal coverage, network
topology,
layers hierarchy), only parts of it are used in one or another project
(JTS
is an example where T - topology - is used locally to build geometry graph
to facilitate predicate operations and spatial processing).
Doesn't it mean the open source community needs some efforts to improve
"topology"-related direction of GIS development? Doesn't it mean the
community needs, let's say, one powerful object model more with existing
geometry object model (JTS), Feature Object Model (GT), DataStore object
model - the "Topology Object Model"?
I'm crazy about not full topology framework while it takes a lot of work
from the community, but to have the opportunity for simple feature model
and
topology data model co-exist . It means whenever some topology-based
processing is needed, TDM can be build locally in the area of interest
from
SFM to serve as a auxiliary structure for editing operations, efficient
querying with topological predicates, whatever needs some topological
information. This task is reachable. The first step is to choose (or
develop) object model that will state of the art in its area.
any ideas?
Vitali.
