Table of Contents for
Web Mapping Illustrated

Version ebook / Retour

Cover image for bash Cookbook, 2nd Edition Web Mapping Illustrated by Tyler Mitchell Published by O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005
  1. Web Mapping Illustrated
  2. Cover
  3. Web Mapping Illustrated
  4. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
  5. Foreword
  6. Preface
  7. Youthful Exploration
  8. The Tools in This Book
  9. What This Book Covers
  10. Organization of This Book
  11. Conventions Used in This Book
  12. Safari Enabled
  13. Comments and Questions
  14. Acknowledgments
  15. 1. Introduction to Digital Mapping
  16. 1.1. The Power of Digital Maps
  17. 1.2. The Difficulties of Making Maps
  18. 1.3. Different Kinds of Web Mapping
  19. 2. Digital Mapping Tasks and Tools
  20. 2.1. Common Mapping Tasks
  21. 2.2. Common Pitfalls, Deadends, and Irritations
  22. 2.3. Identifying the Types of Tasks for a Project
  23. 3. Converting and Viewing Maps
  24. 3.1. Raster and Vector
  25. 3.2. OpenEV
  26. 3.3. MapServer
  27. 3.4. Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL)
  28. 3.5. OGR Simple Features Library
  29. 3.6. PostGIS
  30. 3.7. Summary of Applications
  31. 4. Installing MapServer
  32. 4.1. How MapServer Applications Operate
  33. 4.2. Walkthrough of the Main Components
  34. 4.3. Installing MapServer
  35. 4.4. Getting Help
  36. 5. Acquiring Map Data
  37. 5.1. Appraising Your Data Needs
  38. 5.2. Acquiring the Data You Need
  39. 6. Analyzing Map Data
  40. 6.1. Downloading the Demonstration Data
  41. 6.2. Installing Data Management Tools: GDAL and FWTools
  42. 6.3. Examining Data Content
  43. 6.4. Summarizing Information Using Other Tools
  44. 7. Converting Map Data
  45. 7.1. Converting Map Data
  46. 7.2. Converting Vector Data
  47. 7.3. Converting Raster Data to Other Formats
  48. 8. Visualizing Mapping Data in a Desktop Program
  49. 8.1. Visualization and Mapping Programs
  50. 8.2. Using OpenEV
  51. 8.3. OpenEV Basics
  52. 9. Create and Edit Personal Map Data
  53. 9.1. Planning Your Map
  54. 9.2. Preprocessing Data Examples
  55. 10. Creating Static Maps
  56. 10.1. MapServer Utilities
  57. 10.2. Sample Uses of the Command-Line Utilities
  58. 10.3. Setting Output Image Formats
  59. 11. Publishing Interactive Maps on the Web
  60. 11.1. Preparing and Testing MapServer
  61. 11.2. Create a Custom Application for a Particular Area
  62. 11.3. Continuing Education
  63. 12. Accessing Maps Through Web Services
  64. 12.1. Web Services for Mapping
  65. 12.2. What Do Web Services for Mapping Do?
  66. 12.3. Using MapServer with Web Services
  67. 12.4. Reference Map Files
  68. 13. Managing a Spatial Database
  69. 13.1. Introducing PostGIS
  70. 13.2. What Is a Spatial Database?
  71. 13.3. Downloading PostGIS Install Packages and Binaries
  72. 13.4. Compiling from Source Code
  73. 13.5. Steps for Setting Up PostGIS
  74. 13.6. Creating a Spatial Database
  75. 13.7. Load Data into the Database
  76. 13.8. Spatial Data Queries
  77. 13.9. Accessing Spatial Data from PostGIS in Other Applications
  78. 14. Custom Programming with MapServer’s MapScript
  79. 14.1. Introducing MapScript
  80. 14.2. Getting MapScript
  81. 14.3. MapScript Objects
  82. 14.4. MapScript Examples
  83. 14.5. Other Resources
  84. 14.6. Parallel MapScript Translations
  85. A. A Brief Introduction to Map Projections
  86. A.1. The Third Spheroid from the Sun
  87. A.2. Using Map Projections with MapServer
  88. A.3. Map Projection Examples
  89. A.4. Using Projections with Other Applications
  90. A.5. References
  91. B. MapServer Reference Guide for Vector Data Access
  92. B.1. Vector Data
  93. B.2. Data Format Guide
  94.  
  95. ESRI Shapefiles (SHP)
  96.  
  97. PostGIS/PostgreSQL Database
  98.  
  99. MapInfo Files (TAB/MID/MIF)
  100.  
  101. Oracle Spatial Database
  102.  
  103. Web Feature Service (WFS)
  104.  
  105. Geography Markup Language Files (GML)
  106.  
  107. VirtualSpatialData (ODBC/OVF)
  108.  
  109. TIGER/Line Files
  110.  
  111. ESRI ArcInfo Coverage Files
  112.  
  113. ESRI ArcSDE Database (SDE)
  114.  
  115. Microstation Design Files (DGN)
  116.  
  117. IHO S-57 Files
  118.  
  119. Spatial Data Transfer Standard Files (SDTS)
  120.  
  121. Inline MapServer Features
  122.  
  123. National Transfer Format Files (NTF)
  124. About the Author
  125. Colophon
  126. Copyright

Downloading PostGIS Install Packages and Binaries

Install packages or binary (precompiled) versions are available for a few different computing platforms.

PostgreSQL and PostGIS are both in active development, and some links and references for getting them installed can become quickly out of date. You should always refer to the main web sites for the latest pointers and instructions:

PostGIS for Windows

Native Windows versions of PostgreSQL have recently become available. These allow you to install the standard PostgreSQL database and, depending on the package, may also include PostGIS functionality. For packages that don’t include all the PostGIS functionality, the PostGIS libraries and scripts need to be installed and run. Some Windows installation packages have been created to help automate this.

The official install package for PostgreSQL is available at ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/binary/. Under the most recent version, there is a Windows folder.

One version was developed by Mark Cave-Ayland and is available from his web site , http://www.webbased.co.uk/mca/. He includes links to the main PostgreSQL installers as well as his own package containing PostGIS and other spatial libraries such as GEOS and Proj. This package is used by many people who frequent the PostGIS mailing list (which is the place to ask questions when you run into difficulty). See this link to search the archives of the mailing list or to subscribe to it: http://postgis.refractions.net/support.php.

PostGIS is also available as a MapServer for Windows package. See the MS4W download page for notes and the package to download: http://www.maptools.org/ms4w/. MS4W is easy to install and start using.

Another PostGIS installer is available as part of the DC Maintenance Management System (DCMMS) at http://dcmms.sourceforge.net/.

PostGIS for Linux

Different Linux distributions tend to have different easy-to-install versions of PostgreSQL and PostGIS. RPM and Debian packages are probably two of the most common.

Tip

French readers may be interested in this page, which describes some installation sources in French: http://www.01map.com/download/.

RPM packages

If you are looking for simplicity (and your operating system supports them), RPM packages are probably your best bet. Packages are available from a couple of sources. As with the Windows sources mentioned previously, you will get the PostgreSQL database package and then either compile your own PostGIS portion or install a PostGIS package. If you just want a PostgreSQL database, try going directly to a PostgreSQL download mirror and searching under the binary and rpms folders for your platform. RedHat 9 and Fedora Core 1 and 2 are both available at ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/binary/v8.0.1.

If you intend to compile your own PostGIS support using these packages, you will need to install the source RPM packages as well. PostGIS compilation needs access to files that come only with the source PostgreSQL packages.

Refractions Research hosts a comprehensive set of RPM packages including a PostGIS package. They also have packages for Fedora, Mandrake, RedHat, SuSE, and source packages as well. You can find these packages at http://postgis.refractions.net/rpms/.

Debian packages

These sites have several open source GIS-related packages available for Debian Linux:

http://agrogeomatic.educagri.fr/debian
http://www.bitdaddy.com/gisdebs

For more details about how to build PostGIS in a Debian environment, the following document may be helpful: http://edseek.com/archives/2004/03/31/installing-postgis-on-debian-gnulinux/.

PostGIS for Mac OS X

There are definitely some people using PostGIS in a Mac OS X environment, but getting access to prepackaged binaries and instructions isn’t easy. The best way to get help is to contact users on the PostGIS mailing list at http://postgis.refractions.net/mailman/listinfo/postgis-users.

By searching the mailing list, you should be able to find someone else who is using PostGIS on OS X. Most users are more than happy to help fellow Mac users along in their PostGIS quest. A PostgreSQL package exists on FINK at http://fink.sourceforge.net/pdb/package.php/postgresql74.

The development package (which includes files you’ll need if you compile PostGIS yourself) is available at http://fink.sourceforge.net/pdb/package.php/postgresql74-dev. Note that these packages are slightly older than the current version and may not include the most recent functionality.

Marc Liyanaga’s web site also has some packages and instructions for getting started: http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/postgresql/.