Drupal GIS Discussion

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zzolo's picture

Let's do GIS together!

So, Drupal as GIS? Well, Drupal is already being used for GIS; but Drupal is not a GIS. There are many modules addressing a lot of aspects of GIS. But, I feel like we end up duplicating work here and there.

For instance, http://groups.drupal.org/node/20468 is great. But, its kind of funny because bdragon and I just discussed doing this with the openlayers module yesterday, literally. I also realized that I wanted to maybe parse some WMS data and nicemaps was already doing that, but didn't want to have it as a dependency, necessarily.

So, my goal with this discussion is to come up with a plan for a GIS system in Drupal. Not one module to encompass everything, but an understanding of how we want our GIS to work in Drupal. How can we leverage Drupal to make it a great Web-based GIS tool, in a standardized, open-source way?

I see 3 layers, and maybe a module that would provide an API to hold them to together. This is where the discussion comes. I am no GIS expert, but I understand basics and the huge desire for maps (and just visualization of data). I also see that our efforts need a little more cohesion. So, please feel free to tell me this is all wrong, but do so with some better suggestions and in a constructive manner.

Layer 1: Storage and Attachment

Storage is our first layer. Where do we get this data from? There are many sources. If we want to store data natively, Geo.module is filling this role wonderfully. If we want to pull in data from outside source, Geo.module begins to fill this role (as far as I know), but not completely. NiceMap.module address some specifics, but again, not completely. We should have a standard way of bringing in data from whatever source.

And we can't deny that we are working in Drupal and we have nodes. Ideally, we want to be able to attach GIS data to anything, on a basic level, we need to attach it to nodes. Geo.module does some of this, but again, a little standards go a long way. Maybe Attachment should be its own layer.

Layer 3: Presentation

Going out of order on purpose. This layer is the fun, exciting, visual part. This is where all the data is brought together and displayed. Gmap, openlayers (eventually), and nicemap modules all provide some of this. But they all get data in their own way. This layer is also very involved with Views, as views is the de facto way to aggregate data and display it.

Layer 2: Interface

This is where I get a little fuzzy. There needs to be a way to bring the layers together, right? And as I am writing this, maybe this Interface layer is the module that is needed. A thin, extensible module that knows GIS, that creates sockets for data to plugin into, and some speakers for data to come out of. Some sort of MagicGIS module.


So, these are my basic ideas. Again, I am not sure if they are good or even communicated well, but just trying to spark the discussion. I encourage you to think about this, not in terms of Drupal technical details, but in terms of how to allow Drupal to be a hub for all the GIS data and GIS technologies out there.

Comments

I wholeheartedly agree with

phayes's picture

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. The more discussions we have here the better.

A few comments:

  1. I would be more than happy to roll my newly minted geoGUI module into the OpenLayers module. The project page for the OpenLayers module, (http://drupal.org/project/openlayers), seems to suggest that it is pretty sparse. Who is the maintainer for the OpenLayers module, would they be into working with me on this?

Layer 2 - Interface: It seems to me like Views will play an important role in this. I would imagine that much of layer 3 (presentation), could be handled by a View theme, that takes whatever nodes (or other data) is in the View, looks to see if it has spatial data, and if it does, then displays it on a map. I can see where we might want your MagicGIS module, to plug-in additional layers from WMS, etc. Or maybe MagicGIS allows you to pipe Views with spatial data to a more 'stand-alone' "spatial geobrowser" program.

I find this all very exciting. I landed a contract recently that will require me to build out some of drupal's mapping functionality (geoGUI being the first module to come of this). The next big one will be to build some sort of OpenLayers powered interface that can take a View as input, find attached spatial data, and display it on a map with AJAX.

I would like to align my efforts as much as possible with what the community thinks are good solutions that play well with what other people are building. So this conversation comes at an opportune time for myself.

Cheers,

Patrick

OpenLayers Module

zzolo's picture

Patrick,

We should definitely combine these modules. Drupal could use some less module fragmentation, for sure.

The OpenLayers modules is "owned" by Brandon (bdragon) and I have recently received commit access and have started working on it. Our goals for the module seem to be the same as yours:

  • CCK Widget for Geo.module for input
  • Plugin with Views.module for presentation

You should hit up Brandon (bdragon) or I (zzolo) on IRC and maybe we can work out some details. Otherwise, I would encourage you to checkout the OpenLayers module to just see the structure of where I see things going, and I will checkout your module and see how you have already implemented your ideas.

--
zzolo
alanpalazzolo.com

--
zzolo

Drupal GIS; Where do I Start Guys?!

Ryan Hell's picture

In my humbled opinion, zzolo is on the right track with consolidating the modules for Drupal GIS. I am starting to dig into Drupal for GIS purposes and I really have some high hopes for Drupal as a solution for multiple GIS projects at hand. The frustrating part is I have until now been using everything else besides Drupal; odd because I actually love Drupal and have been following for a while now.

Some initial thoughts as I start Drupal again this week:
Too many GIS modules/systems, they seem fragmented, too much work to do what I can do elsewhere easier it seems. Or maybe it is too early and also I was not doing enough before to warrant the robust nature of Drupal as opposed to WordPress?

I am going to keep at it, I have some time. I love the potential, and Drupal has the features I think might make my collaberative running site awesome.

My plan is to enable site users to upload .gpx files easily and have their GPS Tracks displayable in their forums profile page. Fairly simple and likely already possible with a few plugins, will look tonight.

I hope this all wasn't terribly off topic, but I wanted to say hello and start meeting the GIS wizards here in the Drupal Community.

Ryan

Ryan Michael Hell
Business Information Systems Developer
Seattle, WA 98003
ryan.h@nwtronix.com

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