[Chameleon] ka-Map: new open source project

[Paul Spencer]

no 'powered by' graphic yet.  I think Liz was looking for 
art-work-contributions in the Chameleon tiki ...

I have always imagined a small, stylized chameleon curling up at the end 
... 'imagined' being the operative word since my artistic abilities are 
'limited'

Cheers

Paul

Ken Sanderson wrote:
> 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
> 
> 
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> Chameleon at lists.maptools.org
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> 

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|Paul Spencer                           pspencer at dmsolutions.ca   |
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|Applications & Software Development                              |
|DM Solutions Group Inc                 http://www.dmsolutions.ca/|
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