Wide Open Spaces:
MySQL as a Web
Mapping Service
Backend
Don Beesing
Alion Science and Technology
USJFCOM Experimentation
Modeling and Simulation
April 22, 2009

Overview
Going to show MySQL in one aspect of GIS World

Security Restrictions

Feel free to ask questions


Problem
Experiment based environment

How to share geospatial information

Many different government organizations

Disparate systems on each site

Fallback systems to use


Solution
WMS (Web Mapping Service)

OpenGIS Standard

Http request returns images

Can be a queryable service


Constraints
Typical commercial setup

Timing & dollar issues

Unofficial open source policy

Our idea

MySQL & MapServer


Diagram of Implementation
Users without Users with access to
access to WMS WMS Publishing
Publishing
Point and click GUI
COP
COP/WMS Server
WMS Feed
WMS Feed
HTTPDServer
HTTP Feed
MapServer CGI
MySQL Server

MySQL
Already a key component of lab
•
Proof of concept
•
Stubbornness of lab manager
•

MySQL Implementation
• Schema setup – geometry type
• Parent/child tables for updates
• Roads not taken
– Shapefile import

MapServer
Open source
•
Standards compliant
•
OGR connector to link w/MySQL
•
Standards version issues
•
Reliance on linked WFS
•

MapServer Format Example
Meta Data Header
WEB
METADATA
\"wms_title\" \"J9 Noble Resolve WMS Server\"
\"wms_onlineresource\" \"https://yoursite.com/mapserv?map=nr.map&\"
\"wms_srs\" \"EPSG:4269 EPSG:4326\"
\"wfs_title\" \"J9 Noble Resolve WFS Server\"
\"wfs_onlineresource\" \"https://yoursite.com/mapserv?map=nr.map&\"
\"wfs_srs\" \"EPSG:4326\"
END
END

Format Example
Layer Info
LAYER
CONNECTIONTYPE OGR
CONNECTION
\"MYSQL:noble_resolve_08,user=test,password=test,host=127.0.0.1,port=3306\"
DATA \"SELECT geom,id,max(update_id) as `update_ref`,object_title,IF(u.description IS NULL,
g.description, u.description) as `description`, IF(u.attachments IS NULL,
SUBSTRING_INDEX(SUBSTRING(g.attachments,2),',',1),
SUBSTRING_INDEX(SUBSTRING(u.attachments,2),',',1)) as `Attachment` FROM geoint g LEFT
JOIN geoint_updates u ON id=record_id WHERE object_type IN ('POINT','MULTIPOINT') AND
incident_type='fire' GROUP BY id, update_id;\"
NAME \"fire_points\"
METADATA
##wms metadata
\"wms_title\" \"fire_points\"
\"wms_author\" \"USJFCOM J9\"
\"wms_srs\" \"EPSG:4269 EPSG:4326\"
\"wms_include_items\" \"all\"
##wfs metadata
\"wfs_title\" \"fire_points\"
\"gml_featureid\" \"id\"
\"gml_include_items\" \"all\"
\"gml_geometries\" \"standard\"
\"gml_standard_type\" \"point\"

Format Example
Layer Info (cont)
END
TYPE POINT
STATUS ON
DUMP TRUE
TOLERANCE 3
TRANSPARENCY 90
TEMPLATE \"test.php\"
PROJECTION
\"init=epsg:4326\"
END
CLASS
NAME \"fire_points\"
SYMBOL graphics/flames.gif
END
END

Screenshot Demo
Giesken
James
J9 Control

Screenshot Demo

How did MySQL grade out?
Pros

Cons

Incompletes


Unresolved Issues – Steps Forward
Speed of Google Maps
•
Grouping of layers
•
Standards Assessment
•
MySQL GIS function usage expansion
•

Thanks
Would like to thank Steve Judy who was instrumental
•
in the front end design and design of some of the
subtables used for this project
Also would like to thank Chris Kannan of NGA who I
•
bounced a lot of these ideas off of and who put me in
contact with people who had used MapServer before

Questions
Any Questions after the conference can be directed to:
Don Beesing
dbeesing@alionscience.com

References
http://mapserver.org
•
http://www.gdal.org/ogr
•
http://www.opengeospatial.org
•
http://www.jfcom.mil/about/experiment.html
•
jo