Hi, I'm not sure if I fully understand your need, but anyway here's a solution that could work for you : put your data in a PostGIS table and have them served by a "feature server". Then, create a vector layer in your OpenLayers application that connects to this "feature server".
PostGIS : http://postgis.refractions.net/ --> check the 'installation' procedure on the right Importation of your data to PostGIS : If the format of your data is suppoted by GDAL, you could use one of its tool (ogr2ogr or shp2pgsql) to import you data to your PostGIS database. I would go with shp2pgsql : http://postgis.refractions.net/documentation/manual-svn/ch04.html Once it's done, make a quick test of your data by creating a new layer to your existing WMS server. If you're using MapServer : http://mapserver.org/input/vector/postgis.html Now, choose and set up a "feature server". Choose among : * GeoServer, supports WFS and WFS-T (GML) (there could be more, I don't know much of GeoServer) * MapServer, supports WFS (GML) * TinyOWS, supports WFS and WFS-T (GML) * FeatureServer, supports WFS and GeoJSON (in transactional mode) * MapFish-server, supports GeoJSON (in transactional mode) (I don't know much of this one either) If you seek simplicity and the use of standards (WFS-T is a standard), I'd go with TinyOWS. FeatureServer is really easy to install and use too. Create a layer object in the config file of your chosen "feature server" that connects to your PostGIS table. Here's a sample TinyOWS config I made for a demo a while ago : http://dev4.mapgears.com/bdga/config.xml What remains after that is to create an OpenLayers.Layer.Vector object that connects to your "feature server" layer created. Here's a demo using OpenLayers+TinyOWS+PostGIS I made a while ago. The vector lines (roads) are served by TinyOWS and the data comes from a PostGIS database. You can look at the source for inspiration : http://dev4.mapgears.com/bdga/bdgaWFS-T.html Be sure to read any "readme" files you find along the way. I really hope this helps, Alexandre ngreen wrote: > I'm looking for some help getting started. I've spent about a week looking at > various OL examples and "getting started" pages but they cover only the most > minimal basics. And while I'm very handy with php and SQL, my Javascript is > limited so I'm struggling. > > I want to set up a basic map with an image base (done) and vector layers for > points, lines (done) and polygons (done). > > The bit that's unclear is how to write that information to a database and > load it into the map. > > The information at http://dev.openlayers.org/docs/files/ doesn't help me > much because of my limited javascript and examples which touch on what I > want to do tend to offer only part of the solution. All I've figured out is > that I should probably be using the GeoJSON format and for the loading info > part, writing the JSON to a php file something like this? > > http://n2.nabble.com/Displaying-Multiple-Markers-from-Database-td1828946.html#a1828954 > > I've googled and googled and googled and searched these forums but can't > find any decent examples that tell the whole story. > > Can anyone point me to one? I'm doing this as a favour for some friends who > sadly don't know anyone with better javascript than me. > -- Alexandre Dubé Mapgears www.mapgears.com _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [email protected] http://openlayers.org/mailman/listinfo/users
