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Open-Source GIS Libraries

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of GIS

  • 288 Accesses

Synonyms

GDAL; OGR; PROJ; Java Topology Suite (JTS); Java Conflation Suite (JCS); Geometric Engine Open Source (GEOS); GPSBabel ; OGIS; Gnu Public License (GPL)

Definition

Open source GIS librariesprovide basic functionality for certain aspects and tasks of open source and commercial GIS software. Libraries are helper software which offers services to independent GIS software, thus enabling code and data to be shared in a modular way. If a software provides an additional abstraction layer, underlying libraries can be exchanged if needed, e. g., due to performance, accuracy or functionality reasons. In GIS, some basic functionality is required by many derived and specialized GIS software and tools. Rather than implementing the same functionality again and again, specialized libraries can provide the functionality, offering derived software a head start rather than having to write everything from scratch. Typical cases where libraries are traditionally used are graphics and GIS format...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Evenden, G.: Brief History of PROJ[4] (2004) http://lists.maptools.org/pipermail/proj/2004-March/001117.html. Accessed 17 Feb 2007

  2. GDAL: GDAL – Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (2007) http://www.gdal.org. Accessed 22 Feb 2007

  3. GEOS (2007): GEOS homepage (2007) http://geos.refractions.net. Accessed 22 Feb 2007

  4. GPSBabel Community (2007): GPSBabel: convert, upload, download data from GPS and Map programs (2007) http://www.gspbabel.org/. Accessed 20 Feb 2007

  5. OGR (2007): OGR Vector Formats (2007) http://www.gdal.org/ogr/ogr_formats.html. Accessed 22 Feb 2007

  6. QGIS Community (2007): QGIS Community – Home (2007) http://qgis.org. Accessed 22 Feb 2007

  7. QGIS Community (2005): QGIS Community – Interview with Frank Wamerdam (2007) http://qgis.org/content/view/58/44/. Accessed 17 Feb 2007

  8. Vivid Solutions (2006): Java Conflation Suite (JCS) (2007) http://www.vividsolutions.com/JCS/. Accessed 20 Feb 2007

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cartography, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Andreas Neumann & Marco Hugentobler

Authors
  1. Andreas Neumann
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  2. Marco Hugentobler
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Shashi Shekhar (McKnight Distinguished University Professor) (McKnight Distinguished University Professor)

  2. Management Science and Information Systems Department, Rutgers Business School Newark and New Brunswick Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Hui Xiong (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag

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Neumann, A., Hugentobler, M. (2008). Open-Source GIS Libraries. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35973-1_924

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