[ka-Map-users] ka-Map and OpenLayers

[Schuyler Erle]

* On 21-Jun-2006 at 12:19PM EDT, Aaron Koning said:
> Let me ask a silly question. As Tim has described the 2 components
> below, how similar would number 1 (Merge ka-Map client side
> functionality with OpenLayers) be when compared to Community
> Mapbuilder? is there potential for a three way merge and/or
> concentration on the most robust client side mapper of the three?
> Just trying to make life more complicated... or simpler...

The big difference between Mapbuilder and OpenLayers is that
Mapbuilder is very XML-centric... all of their configuration is done
on the server-side, using XML and XSLT. By contrast, OpenLayers
implements a pure server-agnostic JavaScript API more akin to Google
Maps. 

We have discussed this some with the Mapbuilder community, but not
come to any definitive conclusions. Again, by contrast, when the
existing ka-Map JavaScript code base is compared side by side with
OpenLayers, the similarities are really startling. So a merger of the
JavaScript components of OpenLayers and ka-Map feels to me like a very
natural step, whereas merging code bases with Mapbuilder would (I
fear) require a lot of changes to how things are done on one side or
the other.

That said, a three-way merge would be totally fine by us, so long as
the concept of a pure JavaScript library API is retained in the final
outcome. :)

SDE