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  • OpenLayers - Free Maps for the Web
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  • By CXOtoday Staff, Dec 26, 2008 1801 hrs IST
  • Tags : OpenGIS, OpenLayers








  • OpenLayers, is an ongoing open source project that allows users to display
    dynamic map in any Web page. OpenLayers is a project of the Open Source
    Geospatial Foundation and implements industry-standard methods for geographic
    data access, such as the OpenGIS (Open Geographic Information System)
    Consortium's Web Mapping Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) protocols.
    OpenLayers is free, based on open source JavaScript and released under a BSD
    license.




    What can OpenLayers do?


     



    OpenLayers can display "map tiles" and markers loaded from any
    source. While Google Maps provides an easy way to add maps to a Web site with
    its Google Map API (you are required to use an API key after signing in), the
    ability to display other data is limited. If you have your own data you want to
    display -- which could be markers, lines, polygonal areas or have data from
    sources other than Google -- OpenLayers can provide those options.



    In a nutshell, OpenLayers can load map data from sources like:

    - Web Map Service

    - Web Feature Service

    - Google Maps

    - OpenStreetMap

    - Virtual Earth

    - Yahoo! Maps

    - MapServer

    - GeoServer

    - ka-Map

    - World Wind servers



    It also supports:

    - GeoRSS: Location-based RSS

    - Keyboard/mouse shortcuts

    - Markers

    - Layer selection: Hide/unhide drawings on a map, similar to layers in image
    editing software



    OpenLayers unites different data sources through its JavaScript API allowing
    developers to quickly build rich Web-based geographic applications. It is a
    pure JavaScript library for displaying map data in most modern web browsers,
    with no server-side dependencies since it is implemented with a JavaScript API
    similar to the Google Maps and Microsoft's Virtual Earth APIs.



    Where can one get OpenLayers?


    In order to use OpenLayers, one can either link to its JavaScript file
    directly or download it from the OpenLayers Web site. OpenLayers works either with data
    you're serving yourself, using a package such as GeoServer or MapServer, or
    with data others are publishing via WMS.

     
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