Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
attached to standards for delivering geospatial data over the Web and
includes Web Mapping Service (WMS), Web Features Service (WFS), and
Web Coverage Service (WCS). A good chunk of the web mapping appli-
cations you might use in your browser get some or all of their data from
a W*S service.
Many of our desktop applications include support for at least WMS.
This allows us to include data from across the Internet in our mapping
projects. The good thing is you don't have to understand the standard
or how it works; you just use it and get good data for free.
If you want to get real technical information on WMS, WFS, and WCS,
you can find standards on the Open Geospatial Consortium website.
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6.2
Choosing a Standard Format
You might be wondering about a standard format for all your projects.
This isn't strictly necessary, although it might make your life easier.
Assuming your OSGIS software can handle a multitude of formats,
there may be no reason to convert.
Reasons to Standardize
There are some valid reasons to standardize on a data format for your
raster and vector data. In reality, you'll probably still have some data
that's not in your standard format. Let's take a look at a some reasons
why you might want to convert to a standard format.
Data Management
GIS data can have several unsavory characteristics—and we're not talk-
ing about accuracy or quality. As you begin to work with data, trans-
form it, analyze it, and so forth, you'll find the following:
• It propagates rapidly.
• It grows and hides in places you never expect.
• Unchecked, it rapidly becomes unmanageable.
Some (OK, us) have gone so far as to call GIS data an illicit drug.
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You may be wondering how converting to a standard format will im-
prove data management. Well, it's not a silver bullet, but it can aid in
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