DEPARTMENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT Non-proprietary Web Mapping Solutions for Use in Corporations: a WSP Case Study Tian (Scarlett) Jiang August 2010 Bachelor Thesis in Geomatics Bachelor Programme in Geomatics Examiner: Dr. Julia Åhlen Supervisor: Christian Lundberg & Prof. Bin Jiang This page is intentionally left blank 2 Abstract The development of web mapping industry is so fast that hundreds of web mapping software products are being created each year. These products are usually parts of three solution categories: a) proprietary solutions, b) Open source solutions, or c) Web 2.0 mashup solutions. Due to the solutions’ maturity, rich functionalities and great external support, most enterprises use proprietary products to build their web mapping applications. Seldom are the latter two, named as non- proprietary solutions in this study, ever used in corporations. This study explores the suitability of non-proprietary web mapping solutions for WSP Sweden. Two prototype applications are developed using one Open source web mapping solution and one Web 2.0 mashup solution. Both applications attempt to accomplish similar tasks as an existing application, Stockholmshem tree inventory project, to demonstrate the functional potential of each solution. The implementation process will help to further access both prototype solutions on the basis of: a) how well they satisfy WSP’s list of demands; b) their implementation difficulty; and c) their response performances. The results indicate that both categories of non-proprietary solutions can satisfy the most important demands of WSP’s basic web mapping application. While Open source solutions are more suitable for meeting advanced demands, mashup solutions can help to quickly establish a simple application. The combinational use of both solutions is a promising alternative to the predominant ArcIMS-based proprietary solution used at WSP. 3 Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Contents ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ 6 List of acronyms ..................................................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 8 1.1 Background – WSP overview ..................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Aims of study .............................................................................................................................. 9 1.3 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................................. 9 2. Web mapping technology ................................................................................................................ 10 2.1 Proprietary web mapping solution ............................................................................................ 11 2.2 Non-proprietary web mapping solution .................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Open Source web mapping solution ............................................................................... 11 2.2.2 Mashup solution .............................................................................................................. 12 3. Choice of web mapping solutions in corporations – a WSP case study .......................................... 14 3.1 Current proprietary web mapping solutions .............................................................................. 14 3.2 Background on non-proprietary prototype solutions ................................................................ 14 3.2.1 Open Source prototype solution ...................................................................................... 14 3.2.2 Web 2.0 mashup prototype solution ................................................................................ 15 4. Method - evaluating non-proprietary web mapping solutions ......................................................... 16 4.1 Implementation .......................................................................................................................... 16 4.1.1 Open Source prototype .................................................................................................... 17 4.1.2 Web 2.0 mashup prototype ............................................................................................. 20 4.2 Prototype solution evaluation .................................................................................................... 21 4.2.1 List of requirements ........................................................................................................ 21 4.2.2 Implementation difficulty ................................................................................................ 21 4.2.3 Performance evaluation ................................................................................................... 22 4 5. Result - evaluating non-proprietary web mapping solutions ........................................................... 24 5.1 Implementation result ................................................................................................................ 24 5.1.1 Open Source prototype .................................................................................................... 24 5.1.2 Web 2.0 mashup prototype ............................................................................................. 26 5.2 Prototype solution evaluation .................................................................................................... 27 5.2.1 List of requirements ........................................................................................................ 27 5.2.2 Implementation difficulty ................................................................................................ 29 5.2.3 Performance evaluation ................................................................................................... 30 6. Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 31 6.1 Interpretation of implementation results ................................................................................... 31 6.2 Interpretation of evaluation results ............................................................................................ 31 6.3 Limitation .................................................................................................................................. 32 7. Conclusion and Future prospects ..................................................................................................... 34 References ............................................................................................................................................ 35 Appendix I – PHP code to query database ........................................................................................... 40 Appendix II – Ajax code ...................................................................................................................... 40 Appendix III – PHP to output XML .................................................................................................... 42 Appendix IV – List of requirements .................................................................................................... 38 5 Acknowledgements The research presented in this thesis was carried out during February 22nd to May 21st in 2010 at Geographic Information department, WSP Stockholm. I am profusely grateful for having had the opportunity to work at such an inspiring, productive, and friendly environment. Thanks are due to all those who have made the accomplishment of this thesis possible: To my supervisor at WSP Stockholm, Christian Lundberg, for continuous technical and social support; To my supervisor at University of Gävle, Professior Bin Jiang, for constructive advice on the writing of this thesis; To WSP professional, Johan Sundin, for sharing his knowledge on various web mapping software components; To my “reading group”, Finn Hedefalk and Alexey Tereshenkov, for invaluable comments on the writing of the thesis; To all other staff at WSP, who have commented, or made suggestions on the study during various stages in the process; To my friends and family, who remained great supporters throughout this journey. Stockholm, May 15th 2010 Tian (Scarlett) Jiang 6 List of acronyms AJAX Asynchronous JavaScript and XML API Application Programming Interface CSV Comma-Separated Values DEG Display Element Generator ESRI Environmental Systems Research Institute GI Geographic Information GIS Geographic Information System GML Geography Markup Language HTML HyperText Markup Language HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol KML Keyhole Markup Language MS4W MapServer For Windows OGC Open GIS Consortium PGIS Participatory GIS PHP Hypertext Preprocessor RDBMS Relational Database Management Systems SL Storstockholms Localtrafik AB WFS Web Feature