[Chameleon] ka-Map: new open source project

[Ken Sanderson]

Looks great, very fast.

Is there a 'powered by' graphic like for ka-Map but for chameleon?

Ken

Paul Spencer wrote:
> ka-Map: new open source project
> ===============================
> 
> http://ka-Map.maptools.org/
> 
> DM Solutions Group is pleased to annouce the release of a new MapTools 
> open source project aimed at the growing interest in highly interactive, 
> javascript mapping applications based on MapServer.  Here are some 
> details ...
> 
> ka-Map provides many of the features that one should expect in a 
> state-of-the-art web-mapping application.
> 
> Features include:
> 
> * tile-based continuous panning
> 
> * no page reloading
> 
> * keymap, legend and scalebar
> 
> * zoom in/zoom out
> 
> * keyboard navigation
> 
> * sliding effects for panning on double click (ok, that one's for fun!)
> 
> We have also implemented some advanced features that are more in tune 
> with the MapServer community's needs:
> 
> * configuration can include multiple map files with different extents, 
> image formats, and scales for each map file.  Client side interface can 
> include the ability to change between map files
> 
> * ability to have layer visibility controls by drawing each GROUP as a 
> separate HTML layer on the client side
> 
> * ability to use HTML legend template to build more advanced layer controls
> 
> * flexible tile caching system
> 
> * separation of the javascript logic from the HTML page to provide an 
> API with which to build your applications
> 
> ka-Map is built on AJAX principles and uses the XmlHttpRequest object to 
> communicate with the server, providing a much more responsive user 
> interface.  The server side is implemented using PHP/MapScript (what 
> else!) but could easily be replaced with anything that would spit out 
> the equivalent javascript in response to the various requests.
> 
> ka-Map uses cached tiles generated on demand by drawing much larger map 
> images and slicing them up.  The caching mechanism is currently quite 
> simplistic and could not handle large data projects, but it is 
> definitely sufficient for getting started.  There are issues with this 
> kind of tile generation, but it is almost essential for performance 
> given the current state of the art.
> 
> ka-Map is aiming to be an API for developing mapping applications.  As 
> such, we are hoping it will be picked up by, and integrated into, some 
> of the other open source projects such as MapBender, ZMapServer, 
> GeoServer, and (of course) Chameleon.
> 
> The home of ka-Map is:
> 
> http://ka-Map.maptools.org
> 
> Downloads and CVS are not quite ready, but you can try out the interface 
> by visiting our first public site based on this technology (basic 
> features only in this one):
> 
> http://maps.dmsolutions.ca/
> 
> Subscribe to the user list to find out when downloads and CVS access are 
> available, and also to participate in the ongoing development and 
> testing of this new technology.
> 
> http://lists.maptools.org/mailman/listinfo/ka-map-users
> 
> We are hoping this project will engage the MapServer community's 
> interest and gain momentum from user contributions.  Please join up and 
> start contributing if you are interested in this technology!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Paul