Re: [ZMapServer-Developers] Archetypes wrapper products for ZCO

[Sean G. <sgi...@fr...>]

On May 7, 2005, at 4:03 AM, Kai H=E4nninen wrote:

> Hi
>
> I've been working on my ZCO based Plone mapping product also and I
> thought I'd share some of my work also. I'm working towards having the
> code base in a releasable state and will put up a demo site also in =
the
> near future. I'll let you know.
>
> Here are some of the background and currently available features that
> you might find useful in your own projects. The product is called
> PrimaGIS (named after the family of products at the company I work =
for)
> and will be released under the GPL licence.
>
> PrimaGIS is originally based on the PloneMap project
> (http://plonemap.makina-corpus.org/) which in turn uses the older
> ZMapServer product. Currently some of the exellent ideas from PloneMap
> are retained, but the code has been modified heavily and I've added=20
> many
> new features. PrimaGIS works with PCL/ZCO and is not ZMapServer
> compatible.
>
> We use Plone and Archetypes heavily in our development and the main=20
> idea
> behind PrimaGIS is to provide a spatial extension to arbitrary
> Archetypes based objects. The idea is to have the available maps
> integrate nicely in our existing Plone sites as part of the content, =
so
> PrimaGIS is more of an extension than a full featured mapping
> application.
>
> The use model is such that all low-level technical configuration of =
the
> maps (ZCO side and PrimaGIS initialization) is done by system
> administrators. After this, site (content) administrators, who might=20=

> not
> be technically oriented, may add content to the map by simply clicking
> with the mouse with (almost) the same ease as editing other content.
>
> The way PrimaGIS works is that a location on the map is represented by=20=

> a
> proxy object. Currently there is only GeoArchetypesProxy, which uses=20=

> the
> Archetypes Reference mechanism for referencing AT objects.
> GeoArchetypesProxy knows only it's location on the map and the objects
> it refers to, so it is very simple.
>
> At a lower level PrimaGis defines data layers that implement ZCO
> interfaces (IFeatureStoreProxy, ILayerProxy) allowing it to=20
> interoperate
> directly with ZCO. These data layers contain the proxy objects.
>
> The main features of PrimaGIS are following:
>       * Many-to-many mappings between arbitrary Archetypes based=20
> objects
>         and map locations (GeoArchetypesProxy). A single Archetypes
>         object may be located on multiple maps and/or multiple=20
> locations
>         and a single location on map may refer to multiple Archetypes
>         objects.
>       * Context-sensitive portlet for showing relevant spatial
>         information for Archetypes objects (links to maps that refer =
to
>         the object)
>       * Background communication using XmlHttpRequest for refreshing=20=

> map
>         imagery to avoid reloading whole pages.
>       * User editable map content
>       * Info-on-map using JavaScript popups with the overlib-library.
>         Moving on location on the map will popup a small window =
showing
>         the Title and Description of the referred object(s).
>       * Rubberband zooming (not 100% IE proof, any help appreciated
>         here)
>
> It's hard to give a clear picture of the product in just an email, but
> I'm working towards moving the code to a publicly accessible =
repository
> and setting up the demo site so if anyone is interested you could take=20=

> a
> look.
>
> I've noticed that the people on this list have varying needs and ideas
> for a ZCO/Plone based mapping solution, but I believe we could benefit=20=

> a
> lot from sharing the ideas and code here.
>
> cheers,
> Kai H=E4nninen
>
> --=20
> Kai H=E4nninen                  mobile:+358-44-541 9567
> Software engineer             www.mbconcert.fi
> MB Concert Ky                 kai...@mb...
>

Hi Kai,

I hadn't heard from you in so long that Yves and I thought we were=20
going to have to go ahead without you :)  I can't wait to try out=20
PrimaGIS.

But about this list ... I have been considering leaving sourceforge for=20=

a while.  Its support has been decreasing in quality, and my original=20
ZMapServer product is effectively defunct.  If I start new PCL and ZCO=20=

developers lists, I wouldn't want these to become catch-all lists for=20
all the different Plone mapping projects that may arise.  I'd want the=20=

lists to be more on-topic for those specific projects.

Perhaps we should think about starting a new Plone mapping interest=20
group with a separate list.

cheers,
Sean


--
Sean Gillies
sgillies at frii dot com
http://zcologia.com=