I recently wrote a couple of modules that add some functionality on top of openlayers in conjunction with ThinkShout and wanted to let the group know in case anyone else finds them useful and to gather some early feedback.
The first is OpenLayers Taxonomy, which will create an openlayer's layer for each term in an selected vocabulary. The features for each layer are rendered by an openlayers data view display that accepts the taxonomy term as an argument. This was born out of the need to unify and improve the user experience for filtering features on a map. We felt it was incongruous to have the native openlayers layer switcher on the one hand, and other views filters, in this case for taxonomy terms, in a traditional block. Hosted on GitHub, http://github.com/levelos/openlayers_taxonomy.
The second is OpenLayers KML Layer, which creates an openlayer's layer and associates it with one or more map presets when creating or updating configured nodes. The use case here is to simplify the process of adding KML layers to an existing map for end users. Also hosted on GitHub, http://github.com/levelos/openlayers_kml_layer.
Feedback and suggestions are very welcome. I'm also experimenting with hosting modules on GitHub and the best way to sync them with CVS on d.o. Any experience on that would be much appreciated.
Comments
Hi Lev, I'm a bit fuzzy on
Hi Lev, I'm a bit fuzzy on the OpenLayers KML Layer module's explanation. Do you have a use case you could provide?
further clarification
Hey R.J. - Sure thing. Basically, it allows regular site users to add KML layers to a given map preset through the familiar and safe node interface and workflow. So once an admin sets everything up, users can create nodes with a KML layer file field, and a new KML layer will automatically be added to a map. Think an organization that presenting different kinds of data in a single map interface.
The openlayers module allows you to add a KML layer type through it's configuration UI by entering a relative path to the file, but the interface is very complicated and exposes more power than you typically want to grant to a site editor. You also can't actually upload KML files, they need to be added to the server in a separate process, E.g., FTP, and then reference that path. A user would then need to associate the new layer with a map preset and set all the options correctly. Way more than a typical user can go through to add content to a site.
We're launching a site this week or next that uses both these tools, which we'll share.
Lev Tsypin
ThinkShout, Inc.
thinkshout.com | twitter.com/levelos
Awesome! Thanks for the
Awesome! Thanks for the clarification.
Very cool, there's some
Very cool, there's some similar work going on getting KML into Managing News. And great to see another module implementing a layer_type plugin cleanly.
Thanks Tom. Will the work you
Thanks Tom. Will the work you mentioned be released as a standalone module, or just bundled with Managing News? Partially wondering if I should hold off posting the KML module to d.o. and/or if it's similar enough that I should hold off on more refinement so we could merge them at some point.
Lev Tsypin
ThinkShout, Inc.
thinkshout.com | twitter.com/levelos
hosted on d.o. now
Quick update that current versions of these modules are hosted on drupal.org now with beta releases.
http://drupal.org/project/openlayers_taxonomy
http://drupal.org/project/openlayers_kml_layer
Lev Tsypin
ThinkShout, Inc.
thinkshout.com | twitter.com/levelos
@luobabe That's a really cool
@luobabe That's a really cool job, well done :) We plan to work on a module like this, now we are more than happy to work on your module, just forked.
@tmcw: See my pull requests on github :) I've integrated in KML module, WKT support + some other minor issues fixed.