Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
write desktop applications, it does use GRASS on the back end to
provide powerful geoprocessing capabilities via the Web and is an
option depending on your needs.
QGIS libraries
The QGIS
4
libraries support stand-alone application development
using both C++ and Python. Operating system support includes
Linux, *BSD, Mac OS X, and Windows. If you write an application
using the QGIS libraries, you'll also be using the Qt GUI toolkit.
uDig framework
The uDig
5
framework support cross-platform customization using
Java and the Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP). The framework
can be extended through the use of plugins and GUI customiza-
tion. Since uDig is based on Eclipse, you'll use the SWT toolkit
when developing your own customizations.
Now for a caveat when choosing a toolkit: Make sure it can support
the data stores you want to use. uDig has good format support as does
QGIS, since it relies on GDAL/OGR for reading and writing spatial data.
Mapnik support shapefiles, PostGIS, and TIFFs. MapWinGIS supports
shapefiles and ASCII grids and rasters in the form of GIF, TIFF, JPEG,
and BMP.
14.2
Examples of Custom Applications
Here we'll provide a couple examples of applications that have been
written using some of the toolkits we mentioned previously. This serves
to illustrate the kinds of things people are doing with custom applica-
tions and serves to show that when you develop it, you are in control of
the function and appearance.
Quantum Navigator
Quantum Navigator is an example of a complete application developed
with the QGIS libraries. The application is written in Python using the
bindings available for the QGIS libraries. The user interface is designed
in Qt and made possible through the PyQt bindings. The components
used in the construction of this application are as follows:
• QGIS libraries (version 0.9 or later)
4.
5.
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