Comments on: Mapstraction Updates

By: FLorin Homone

FLorin Homone — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:43:13 +0000

That;s nice
However we are having Multimap provider. When trying to access
http://mapstraction.appspot.com/#multimap
it is saying:
“Multimap viewer is not defined”.

By: JamesD

JamesD — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:05:42 +0000

Thanks for the useful info. It’s so interesting

By: Andrew Turner

Andrew Turner — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:35:35 +0000

@Steven & @Timmy – there is a fundamental difference between what the goals of Mapstraction and OpenLayers are:

Mapstraction is an abstraction library that provides a common interface around the primary base functionality of the broad range of mapping providers. It will still provide the native interface of those providers (e.g. a GoogleMap will still look and act like a Google Map, and same for Yahoo, MS, etc.)

OpenLayers is an entirely (except for gmap wrapper?) open-source, built from the ground up mapping and geo library that implements all of it’s own functionality rather than use a third-parties.

As for use-cases, Mapstraction is meant for users that want choice in which provider or library they are using, but still use that provider; OpenLayers provides a more feature rich, advanced interface more appropriate to “GIS” applications.

And any discussion of lightweight vs. GIS is a red-herring – you know what I mean.

@Timmie – specific to your question. MapFish is a set of controls that sit on OpenLayers, right? It’s not a mapping library.

And you can bring in WMS/WFS/kamap if the provider supports it. Again, the difference between Mapstraction and OpenLayers.

By: Timmie

Timmie — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:27:03 +0000

Hello,
this library looks really nice.

I would like to have some more information:
* Can you highlight the main differences towards mapfish?
* How do I add WMS, WFS and kamap layers?

Thanks,
Timmie

By: Steven Citron-Pousty

Steven Citron-Pousty — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:25:16 +0000

Hey Andrew
Thanks for the history and summary. So how does mapstraction and openlayers fit together in the ecosystem. Why would somebody choose one over the other? Where are there strengths and weaknesses. It would be really helpful if someone could lay this out for the users. Not in a snipey way but in a “one person’s take” kinda way – would probably strike an interesting discussion. I know you and Chris/Schuyler are friends and this would be really interesting to hear.
Thanks again
Steve