Introduction
OpenGIS Consortium
OpenGIS Specification
OpenGIS® Simple
Features Specification (SFS) for OLE/COM
OpenGIS® SFS
for CORBA
OpenGIS® SFS
for SQL
Products tested to be OGC compliant
OpenGIS®
SFS for OLE/COM
OpenGIS®
SFS for SQL
OGC Memberships and Benefits
Associate Membership
Technical Committee
Membership
Principal Membership
Conclusion
Much of today's spatial information technology is based on proprietary systems containing geographic data accessible only to those using these closed systems. This type of system architecture yields isolated islands of data that have been accumulated at great expense of time and money.
Because GIS software uses proprietary, vendor-specific data formats, GIS users are typically locked into a specific vendor for all of their geographic applications. Those who use solutions and data from multiple vendors must bear the high cost of translation and subsequent loss of data integrity.
For GIS data management, the real problem is at the database level. More than 80 percent of data has a spatial component, yet because of the isolation of spatial data, spatial and geographic information systems account for less than two percent of IT spending. While relational databases have increased capability and functionality over the past 20 years, spatial data management technology has changed very little. File-based, proprietary, and mostly separate from mainstream information processing systems, spatial data has lacked the power and cost savings relational database technology offers.
To resolve these problems as well as addressing the need to create geographic applications that will be interoperable within and between any of today's evolving distributed computing platforms, a standard in geodata and geoprocessing need to be defined. This is addressed by the OpenGIS specification that is being defined by Open GIS Consortium (OGC), a not-for-profit trade association dedicated to promoting new technical and commercial approaches to interoperable geoprocessing.
The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) is a not-for-profit membership organisation established to address the lack of GIS interoperability among different systems.
OGC draws its members from an international array of businesses, government agencies and academic institutions. With approximately 200 members, OGC represents the largest organised force in GIS market place.
The OpenGIS Specification consists of an Abstract specification and an Implementation specification.
The Abstract Specification defines an “Essential Model” for understanding geographic information representation, discovery, access and processing at various levels. The Essential Model is a model of the “facts” consisting of “real” objects (entities, attributes and relations) and instantaneous events. This specification is a living document subject to changes and additions at each OGC Technical Committee Meeting. Only members of OGC can formally propose changes and additions. Currently, sixteen topics under this specification have been published.
The OpenGIS Implementation Specifications are the result of OGC's Technology Development Process and are engineering specifications that implement part of the Abstract Specification for particular distributed computing platforms. Currently, specification for three distributed computing platforms are ready :
OpenGIS® Simple Features Specification (SFS) for OLE/COM
This specification addresses the additional problems with GIS specific interfaces beyond the interfaces available through current Microsoft data access technologies. This specification is, then, based on use of the OLE DB and ADO facilities provided by Microsoft.
OpenGIS® SFS for CORBA
The purpose of this specification is to provide interfaces to allow GIS software engineers to develop applications that expose functionality required to access and manipulate geospatial information comprising features with ‘simple’ geometry using OMG’s CORBA technology.
OpenGIS® SFS for SQL
This specification define a standard SQL schema that supports storage, retrieval, query and update of simple geospatial feature collection via the ODBC API. A simple feature is defined by the OpenGIS Abstract specification to have both spatial and non-spatial attributes.
All completed specifications can be downloaded from the following website : http://www.opengis.org/techno/specs.htm.
OpenGIS® SFS for OLE/COM
Cadcorp Simple Features for COM component, used in Cadcorp
SIS Version 5.1
Cadcorp Simple Features for COM component, used in Cadcorp
PowerMap Version 1
OpenGIS® SFS for SQL
ESRI Spatial Database Engine (SDE) for Informix Version
3.0.2
ESRI SDE for DB2 Datajoiner Version 3.0.2
ESRI SDE Database Engine for Oracle Version 3.0.2
Oracle8 Spatial Cartridge Version 8.0.5
Oracle8i Spatial Version 8.1.5
There are three membership programs associated with OGC. These are Associate Membership, Technical Membership and Principal Membership.
Associate Membership
Technical Committee Membership
By adopting the OpenGIS specification, the end user can stand to reap the following benefits :Real-time access to a universe of geographic information vastly larger than today's accessible universe of geographic information
More applications (and middleware and compound documents) that take advantage of geographic information.
The ability to work with different geodata types and formats
within a single application environment and continuous workflow, without
being concerned about the details of these types and formats
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