[DMSG-Newsletter] DM Solutions Group's Quarterly Newsletter - Winter 2003

DM Solutions Group info@dmsolutions.ca
Fri, 17 Jan 2003 10:09:47 -0500


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                <td><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="url" --><span class="reldate"><br>
                  <strong>January 2003<br>
                  Vol. 1 ed. </strong></span><br>
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                <td><h6><a name="welcome"></a>Welcome!</h6>

                  <p class="bluecopy">Welcome to the first edition of DM
                    Solutions Group’s quarterly newsletter, created to keep
                    our customers and the MapServer and GIS communities informed
                    of new developments and activities taking place at DM Solutions
                    Group.</p>

                  <p class="bluecopy">You are receiving this newsletter because you
                    have expressed an interest in DM Solutions Group in the past.
                    If you do not wish to continue receiving this quarterly newsletter,
                    you can unsubscribe by replying to this message with the subject
                    "Unsubcribe".</p>

                  <p class="bluecopy">The past year has been an important one in terms
                    of growth and advancement for DM Solutions Group.  Our staff has
                    doubled since the end of 2001 and many important developments in
                    technology and services have taken place in this time.</p>

                   <p class="bluecopy">One of the most important developments of the past
                    year has been the rise of the company to a world leader in the development
                    of open source mapping technologies.  With the majority of the core
                    development activity for MapServer now conducted by the DM Solutions
                    team and our extensive involvement in many other open source GIS
                    technologies, the company is positioned to provide open source mapping
                    solutions to many diverse industries and organizations requiring a mapping
                    component within their information technology projects.</p>

                   <p class="bluecopy">New technologies such as MapLab and Flash Mapping,
                    new services such as the MapSherpa hosting service and data services, and
                    upcoming technologies such as the Configurable Web Mapping Client are all
                    contributing towards supporting DM Solutions Group's ability to provide quality
                    mapping solutions to our rapidly growing industry.</p>

                  <p align="center"><img src="http://www.dmsolutions.ca/images/main/dotty.gif" width="480" height="1"></p>

                  <h6 align="left"><br><a name="mapserver"></a>MapServer and Related
                    Technologies</h6>

                  <p> <strong>MapServer 3.7 &#8211; Upcoming Release</strong><br>

                    The latest, and much anticipated MapServer version
                    3.7 will be officially released in the coming months.
                    Experienced developers are currently using the 3.7 development version.
                    MapServer 3.7 incorporates many important changes in response to
                    the needs of the growing MapServer community.</p>

                  <p>MapServer's output mechanism has been modified to support a variety
                    of vector and raster formats, allowing for the creation of
                    SWF (Shockwave Flash) movies, Adobe PDF files, and GML (Geographic
                    Markup Language).  For more information about the new Flash support,
                    see the Flash Mapping section below.</p>

                  <p>On the image side, MapServer 3.7 will support 24-bit output,
                    significantly improving image quality output, and providing
                    the potential for simpler extraction of imagery data.</p>

                  <p>MapServer 3.7 also continues the move towards greater Open GIS
                    Consortium (OGC) standards compliance through the addition of GML
                    output and Web Feature Server support.  The recent addition of support
                    for the Context specification currently in development at the OGC will
                    make it possible to share maps between remote applications.  DM Solutions
                    Group's recent membership with the OGC will help to ensure that MapServer
                    remains at the leading edge of OGC compliance within the Web mapping
                    community.</p>

                  <p>Finally, a new Style object has been added to MapServer 3.7 allowing
                    for greater control on the presentation of GIS data through MapServer.</p>

                  <p>DM Solutions Group is now actively developing mapping applications with
                    MapServer 3.7.  You can learn more about MapServer at
                    <a href="http://www.dmsolutions.ca/techserv/mapserver.html" target="_blank">http://www.dmsolutions.ca/techserv/mapserver.html</a>.
                    More information about MapServer 3.7 will become available as the
                    official release approaches.</p>

                  <p><br><strong>MapLab 2.0</strong><br>

                    DM Solutions MapLab is a suite of Web-based, open source tools
                    that simplifies the process of deploying MapServer Web mapping
                    applications. This full feature release will be available soon, and
                    includes many new and enhanced features. MapLab supports every stage of publishing
                    spatial data online in live mapping applications. It facilitates
                    the discovery and integration of local and remote data sets,
                    the cartographic representation of map layers, and the management
                    of MapServer maps and applications on local and remote Web
                    servers.</p>

                  <p>MapLab 2.0 includes GMapFactory, to rapidly create and deploy
                    custom mapping applications. No programming experience and
                    very limited Web development experience is required to design
                    an application in GMapFactory. For more information
                    <a href="http://www.dmsolutions.ca/techserv/maplab.html" target="_blank">click here</a></p>

                  <p><br><strong>Flash Mapping</strong><br>

                    Flash mapping is a new feature developed for MapServer, which
                    allows for the integration of Web mapping content into a Flash
                    environment. Using MapServer&#8217;s new Flash mapping feature,
                    developers can now create Flash applications with interactive
                    mapping capabilities.</p>

                  <p>Flash Mapping provides a means of communication between Flash
                    and MapServer, providing the capacity to generate maps on-the-fly
                    and allow applications to query and interact with spatial
                    data in real-time.</p>

                   <p>Developers have full control on how they want map data to
                    be presented within a flash environment. Data can be rendered
                    as raster images, vector data or some combination of both.
                    This leaves tremendous flexibility to the developer to meet
                    specific requirements of a project.</p>

                  <p>Flash mapping capability will be available beginning with MapServer version
                    3.7. For more information on Flash Mapping <a href="http://www.dmsolutions.ca/techserv/flashmap.html" target="_blank">click
                    here</a>.</p>

                  <p align="center"><img src="http://www.dmsolutions.ca/images/main/dotty.gif" width="480" height="1"></p>

                  <h6><br><a name="sneak"></a>Sneak Peek</h6>

                  <p>DM Solutions in collaboration with GeoConnections and the Centre
                    for Topographic Information in Sherbrooke (CTIS), is currently
                    developing the Configurable Web Mapping Client (CWC) based on MapServer.
                    This technology to be released through an open source license will allow
                    Web developers to easily integrate a mapping component into their Web
                    applications through a Tag based mechanism.  This will allow Web developers
                    without extensive knowledge of mapping technologies to embed mapping content
                    into existing IT environments. In addition, CWC will allow for seamless
                    addition of any OGC Web Map Server (WMS) compliant sources.</p>

                  <p>Initially CWC will allow for map creation through MapLab's MapBrowser
                    interface, while application development will be conducted through a Tag-based
                    system.  CWC tags will provide application capabilities such as keymaps, map size
                    definition, and navigation tools.  In the future it is anticipated that MapLab will
                    be enhanced to support the creation of CWC applications through a web-based interface.
                    One other important benefit of CWC is that both the HTML document containing the CWC
                    tags, and the XML document defining the data can exist anywhere on the Internet.</p>

                  <p>Look for demonstrations of this technology in the Spring as a series of CWC-based
                    applications are made available to the public.  Look for more information about CWC
                    on DM Solutions' Web site in the near future. In the interm, feel free to contact DM
                    Solutions at <a href="mailto:info@dmsolutions.ca">info@dmsolutions.ca</a> for more information about this exciting new technology.</p>

                  <p align="center"><img src="http://www.dmsolutions.ca/images/main/dotty.gif" width="480" height="1"></p>

                  <h6><br><a name="web"></a>New Website</h6>

                  <p>Check out DM Solutions Group&#8217;s newly designed Web site
                    - <a href="http://www.dmsolutions.ca" target="_blank">www.dmsolutions.ca</a>. The new site features customer solutions,
                    more information on DM Solutions&#8217; technology and services,
                    news, events, and a new look! </p>


                  <p>Interested in having your company or organization featured
                    on DMSolutions.ca? Simply tell us how DM Solutions Group
                    customized a mapping application for you, or how you used DM Solutions
                    Group technology, and how you and your organization and your customers
                    are benefiting. <br>
                    E-mail <a href="mailto:info@dmsolutions.ca">info@dmsolutions.ca.</a></p>
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                <td bgcolor="#eff3f7"> <p class="menuItem"><strong>»</strong>
                    <a href="#welcome">Welcome!</a><br>
                    <strong>»</strong> <a href="#mapserver">MapServer and Related Technologies</a><br>
                    <strong>»</strong> <a href="#sneak">Sneak Peek</a><br>
                    <strong>»</strong> <a href="#web">New Website</a><br>
                    <strong>»</strong> <a href="#events">Upcoming Events</a><br>
                    <strong>»</strong> <a href="#press">Press Coverage</a><br>
                    <strong>»</strong> <a href="#ogc">OGC Membership</a><br>
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                      <td><h5><a name="events"></a>Upcoming Events</h5>

                        <p class="sidestory">Look for DM Solutions Group at the
                          following events:</p>

                        <p class="sidestory"><strong>Community Geomatics Conference</strong><br>
                          February 17, 2003<br>
                          Carleton University<br>
                          Ottawa, ON</p>
                        <p class="sidestory"><strong>CGDI Development Network Workshop</strong><br>
                          February 27, 2003<br>
                          Laval University, QC<br>
                          <em>DM Solutions Group President, David McIlhagga will
                          be presenting geospatial technologies and applications.
                        </em></p>

                        <p class="sidestory"><strong>GeoTec</strong><br>
                          March 16-19, 2003<br>
                          Vancouver, BC<br>
                          <em>DM Solutions Group President, David McIlhagga will
                          be presenting a business case for open source GIS technology.
                          </em></p>

                        <p class="sidestory"><strong>GITA&#8217;s Annual Conference</strong><br>
                          March 2-5, 2003<br>
                          San Antonio, TX</p>

                        <p class="sidestory"><strong>MapServer User Meeting</strong><br>
                          June 6-7, 2003<br>
                          Minneapolis, MN</p>

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                      <td><h5><a name="press"></a>Press Coverage</h5>

                        <p class="sidestory">Read about DM Solutions Group in
                          the following articles:</p>

                        <p class="sidestory"><strong><a href="http://www.geoplace.com/gw/2003/0301/0301net.asp" target="_blank">GeoWorld</a></strong><br>
                           Internet Resource of the Month - National Flu Monitoring System</p>

                        <p class="sidestory"><strong><a href="http://www.dmsolutions.ca/news/press/nov152002.htm" target="_blank">The
                          Ottawa Citizen</a></strong><br>
                          Health Canada Web site tracks outbreaks of flu</p>

                        <p class="sidestory"><strong><a href="http://nt1.directionsmag.com/weekly_email.asp?id=172#webmap" target="_blank">Directions
                          Magazine</a></strong><br>

                          Map of the Week &#8211; Avoid the flu season&#8230;find
                          it on a Map!</p>
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                      <td><h5><a name="ogc"></a>OGC Membership</h5>
                        <p class="sidestory">DM Solutions Group has recently
                          become a member of the Open GIS Consortium.  OGC is
                          an international industry consortium of more than 230
                          companies, government agencies and universities
                          participating in a consensus process to develop
                          publicly available geoprocessing specifications.
                          DM Solutions is actively participating in the development
                          of the OGC map Context specification.</p>
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                      <td><h5>Contact Information</h5>
                        <p class="sidestory"><strong>Headquarters</strong>:<br>
                          72 Chamberlain Ave., 3rd Floor<br>
                          Ottawa, Ontario K1S 1V9<br>
                          Tel: 613.565.5056<br>
                          Fax: 613.565.0925 <br>

                        <a href="http://www.dmsolutions.ca" target="_blank">www.dmsolutions.ca</a></p>
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    <td height="19" bgcolor="#003366" class="copywrite"><div align="center"><font color="#ffffff">©
        2003 DM Solutions Group Inc.</font></div></td>
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