Netwrkengeer
IS-IT--Management
how does PostgreSQL compare to DB2, What makes it better or worse
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- Thread starter Netwrkengeer
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Do you just want coordinates, or do you want graphical maps with coordinates? If it is the first, then I believe there are publicly available databases, or even purchaseable data snapshots that you can get. Maybe from the USGS, or even the US Post Office.
The two remote services I have worked with are and Each one just provides a simple HTTP GET/POST services, which provides maps to the browser, with a fairly simple list of parameters. This made my job harder, since I had to do a log of logic on the PHP side, assembling arrays of values into strings to post to the remote server.
Maptech apparently also sells a few other interesting things, such as a standalone dedicated mapping server ( I have never worked with this, but it looks interesting. MapsOnUs has a fairly limited service, but at least they are cheap. All the others wanted at least 2-3 times as much per year to rent the service.
Really, there are a lot of different services out there that can do what you want, and I'm sure that for the right price, there are some that are configured as a full web servics, with XML/SOAP methods, etc... to make it far easier to connect to a remote API. It just comes down to defining exactly what you want to do, and then examining a lot of choices, to see what they can offer. Most of these systems allow you to do a "test drive" for free, or even use a limited part of the API in production for free.
Beyond that, there is no software I know of that is specifically set up to integrate the two, although I have done some work in that area with PHP. It really is not that complicated if you just want to send address requests to a mapping server and get the coordinates back. -------------------------------------------
"Now, this might cause some discomfort..."
(
The two remote services I have worked with are and Each one just provides a simple HTTP GET/POST services, which provides maps to the browser, with a fairly simple list of parameters. This made my job harder, since I had to do a log of logic on the PHP side, assembling arrays of values into strings to post to the remote server.
Maptech apparently also sells a few other interesting things, such as a standalone dedicated mapping server ( I have never worked with this, but it looks interesting. MapsOnUs has a fairly limited service, but at least they are cheap. All the others wanted at least 2-3 times as much per year to rent the service.
Really, there are a lot of different services out there that can do what you want, and I'm sure that for the right price, there are some that are configured as a full web servics, with XML/SOAP methods, etc... to make it far easier to connect to a remote API. It just comes down to defining exactly what you want to do, and then examining a lot of choices, to see what they can offer. Most of these systems allow you to do a "test drive" for free, or even use a limited part of the API in production for free.
Beyond that, there is no software I know of that is specifically set up to integrate the two, although I have done some work in that area with PHP. It really is not that complicated if you just want to send address requests to a mapping server and get the coordinates back. -------------------------------------------
"Now, this might cause some discomfort..."
(
- Thread starter
- #22
Netwrkengeer
IS-IT--Management
Well it is 2 parts,
1. I need to send address requests to a mapping server and get the coordinates back. "Simple, you've helped me do that almost a year ago." - Now I just need to find a service that I'm not borrowing from.
2. I need to send two addresses or coordinates (doesn't matter) to a mapping server to retrieve road distance between the two addresses.
Do you know of any software you could buy to have on a local server, so you don't need to Post/Get, in order to retrieve info?
1. I need to send address requests to a mapping server and get the coordinates back. "Simple, you've helped me do that almost a year ago." - Now I just need to find a service that I'm not borrowing from.
2. I need to send two addresses or coordinates (doesn't matter) to a mapping server to retrieve road distance between the two addresses.
Do you know of any software you could buy to have on a local server, so you don't need to Post/Get, in order to retrieve info?
If you want it to run locally, you will probably have to shell out at least a five-digit amount for the software, and regular payments to update the data. I believe that ESRI ( is the biggest provider of such things. Basically, if it is possible with GIS and mapping, they have done it. However, it costs. I haven't done any production work with ESRI software, although I played with some test stuff a few years back. There are plenty of other providers of this stuff, but I have no direct experience with them.
I don't know of any specific library to interface PHP with a commercial GIS system such as ESRI's, but it can't be too hard. Really, what you want is to query a database, and I'm sure some of these products provide standard database connectivity, such as ODBC or JDBC.
A lot of the raw data that is used in these GIS packages is actually available for free, if you know where to look. Hey our taxes paid for this stuff, so it ought to be freely available from the government. So, if your needs are fairly well-defined (as seems to be the case), it might be worth looking into this. It would require some more work up front, but you would not be bound to any specific vendor, and I'm almost positive it would cost less.
One of the things you have to consider when you host this data locally is performance. This is a large dataset, and if you want to do anything useful with it, you will need to do some real research into server/OS capability with this amount of data.
Hope this helps. I can't help you much beyond this, without doing some real research ;-). -------------------------------------------
"Now, this might cause some discomfort..."
(
I don't know of any specific library to interface PHP with a commercial GIS system such as ESRI's, but it can't be too hard. Really, what you want is to query a database, and I'm sure some of these products provide standard database connectivity, such as ODBC or JDBC.
A lot of the raw data that is used in these GIS packages is actually available for free, if you know where to look. Hey our taxes paid for this stuff, so it ought to be freely available from the government. So, if your needs are fairly well-defined (as seems to be the case), it might be worth looking into this. It would require some more work up front, but you would not be bound to any specific vendor, and I'm almost positive it would cost less.
One of the things you have to consider when you host this data locally is performance. This is a large dataset, and if you want to do anything useful with it, you will need to do some real research into server/OS capability with this amount of data.
Hope this helps. I can't help you much beyond this, without doing some real research ;-). -------------------------------------------
"Now, this might cause some discomfort..."
(
- Thread starter
- #24
Netwrkengeer
IS-IT--Management
Thanks, Perfect answer, I have found some Gov. related info on Gov. sites. Here is what I found, for your own info.
Well I think that is it for know, Unless you have any Epiphanies on the subject! Well If I have any more questions, I know where to find you.
Thanks, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.
Well I think that is it for know, Unless you have any Epiphanies on the subject! Well If I have any more questions, I know where to find you.
Thanks, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.
- Thread starter
- #25
Netwrkengeer
IS-IT--Management
Alright I've Got more questions..
What are my options for setting up SSL, I'm running FreeBSD/Apache.
Have you worked with OpenSSL "
Do you know of any Free solutions to SSL, and what are my SSL requirments.
Thank you
What are my options for setting up SSL, I'm running FreeBSD/Apache.
Have you worked with OpenSSL "
Do you know of any Free solutions to SSL, and what are my SSL requirments.
Thank you
I'll let Alex answer that for you in the FreeBSD forum ;-). Look for user aaxvp. -------------------------------------------
"Now, this might cause some discomfort..."
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"Now, this might cause some discomfort..."
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- Thread starter
- #27
Netwrkengeer
IS-IT--Management
Thank you, I will await his answer
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