Open Data via Open Standards using Open Source: a new tool from NIWA

[pcreso]

NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand) has released a free mapping tool for anyone to download and use with NIWA (or other) data. See: https://www.niwa.co.nz/software/quantum-map for information, user guides, to provide feedback and to download a Windows installer for the application.

Quantum Map is a simplified version of the popular Quantum GIS application, with the more complicated analytical capabilities removed, creating an easy to use desktop mapping application. Both Quantum Map and Quantum GIS are Open Source applications, available as free downloads for anyone to use.

Quantum Map includes a custom NIWA tool which provides direct access to map data that NIWA is making available using open Web Services. This means that just like your browser can open a web page, Quantum Map can open layers of map data provided over the internet and plot them directly on your screen. Such datasets include climate and hydrometric stations, freshwater biodiversity data, Bay of Islands survey data, etc. NIWA has an ongoing programme to make more of its datasets available using this approach. To enable field or offline use, the tool allows you to store the web data locally on your computer to use as desired, and to update such local versions as requitred.

Unlike web portals, Quantum Map can be used offline and to display local datasets, which can be added to the map just like the web based layers. This approach allows users with private or confidential data to visualise their data along with NIWA and other data, without sending the sensitive data anywhere but their own PC, or providing anyone else with access to the data.

NIWA will be continuing to make more data available via these services, and will be further enhancing Quantum Map to provide more functionality for users to access and work with the data.

For those who already have their own GIS or mapping applications, these can generally already support the Web Services uses, so the data can be used in your existing desktop or web mapping applications. A growing list of the available datasets (not just from NIWA) is at https://www.niwa.co.nz/ei/feeds/report

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[pcreso]

Let's start with an apology from me.... Murphy has outdone himself this time!

NIWA's new super easy to use desktop mapping tool is slightly broken, but this has been a very effective test of the user feedback system on the web page! My email address has seldom been as popular.

It has, of course, worked fine for the last two weeks, but just after I sent the email I added a new service to the NIWA page listing the services: https://www.niwa.co.nz/ei/feeds/report

Instead of giving users a NZ basemap layer with high resolution rivers (from the REC dataset), I broke the XHTML that the Quantum Map NIWA tool uses to get the list of services. Sigh!

So it all works really well, except you can't refresh the list of services. Will get on to this first thing next week!!!


For all those enthusiastic users who can't wait until next week, you can still play, just not quite as easily. Quantum Map itself still works fine, even if the harvesting of data sources doesn't.

You can add the same services manually instead of harvesting them.

Fire up your browser & go to the web page above so you can see the layers which are available.

In Quantum GIS open the NIWA tool, open the data sources tab, click "Add".

Copy & paste the appropriate data source (service) name from the list on the web site into the Name field, choose WMS/WFS as appropriate, copy & paste the URL from the web page into the URL field in the datasource dialogue box, & save it.

This is the same process you would use to add such data sources not listed on the NIWA page.

Once you have done this for each layer described in the docs, you can continue as if it was all working properly.


Again, an embarrassed apology - & enjoy the weekend

Thanks for your patience (& interest)


Brent

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[Ivan Mincik]

Hi, thanks for pointing to this project. Where we can download source code ?


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[Ivan Mincik]

What approach did You use to limit user interface ? Did You removed some
staff from code ?


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[Ivan Mincik]

On Fri, 2012-08-17 at 18:16 -0700, [hidden email] wrote:

> Hi Ivan,
>
> Two approaches I know of, the developer (Sourcepole in Switzerland)
> got a pretty free hand in how to do this.
>
> Editing capabilities are hidden from the toolbar on startup, but are
> still in the package, analysis tools are removed. Whether just made
> unavailable or actually not compiled in I don't know.
>
>

I am interested in building some similar limited interface for beginners
and limit tools to some reasonable set which I will be able to offer
support.
For that reason I was interested to diff Your source codes. Is it
possible to get it ?

I wonder if new customization support (Settings -> Customization) could
somehow be used for this purpose.



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Ivan Mincik <[hidden email]>

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[Marco Hugentobler-4]

Hi Ivan

The analysis tools are removed with the customisation feature in QGIS
(the installer sets hidden analysis tools as default, later it can be
enabled by the user if needed).

The source code is available on github:
https://github.com/mhugent/Quantum-GIS/tree/nqmap

Regards,
Marco

On 18.08.2012 08:46, Ivan Mincik wrote:

> On Fri, 2012-08-17 at 18:16 -0700, [hidden email] wrote:
>> Hi Ivan,
>>
>> Two approaches I know of, the developer (Sourcepole in Switzerland)
>> got a pretty free hand in how to do this.
>>
>> Editing capabilities are hidden from the toolbar on startup, but are
>> still in the package, analysis tools are removed. Whether just made
>> unavailable or actually not compiled in I don't know.
>>
>>
> I am interested in building some similar limited interface for beginners
> and limit tools to some reasonable set which I will be able to offer
> support.
> For that reason I was interested to diff Your source codes. Is it
> possible to get it ?
>
> I wonder if new customization support (Settings -> Customization) could
> somehow be used for this purpose.
>
>
>

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Dr. Marco Hugentobler
Sourcepole -  Linux & Open Source Solutions
Churerstrasse 22, CH-8808 Pfäffikon SZ, Switzerland
[hidden email] http://www.sourcepole.ch
Technical Advisor QGIS Project Steering Committee

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[Ivan Mincik]

On 08/18/2012 08:57 AM, Marco Hugentobler wrote:
> Hi Ivan
>
> The analysis tools are removed with the customisation feature in QGIS
> (the installer sets hidden analysis tools as default, later it can be
> enabled by the user if needed).
>
> The source code is available on github:
> https://github.com/mhugent/Quantum-GIS/tree/nqmap


Marco, thanks for information.


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[Ivan Mincik]

On 08/18/2012 03:22 PM, Nathan Woodrow wrote:
> We have done something similar with a project at work to build a QGIS
> based data collection program.  The program is a normal QGIS install
> that uses the customization feature to remove the interface items, and
> a plugin to add the extra functionality. http://youtu.be/lBJjZFXgvRA

Thanks for information.
So, if I understand customization code correctly, all I need is to add
'customization.ini' file to 'resources' directory of my installation ?

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[Nathan Woodrow]

Yep.  It really should be stored in the same path as when you set
--configpath but there is a bug so you just have to add the
customization.ini file.

- Nathan

On Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:31 PM, Ivan Mincik <[hidden email]> wrote:

> On 08/18/2012 03:22 PM, Nathan Woodrow wrote:
>> We have done something similar with a project at work to build a QGIS
>> based data collection program.  The program is a normal QGIS install
>> that uses the customization feature to remove the interface items, and
>> a plugin to add the extra functionality. http://youtu.be/lBJjZFXgvRA
>
> Thanks for information.
> So, if I understand customization code correctly, all I need is to add
> 'customization.ini' file to 'resources' directory of my installation ?
>
> --
> Ivan Mincik

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[Ivan Mincik]

On 08/18/2012 03:34 PM, Nathan Woodrow wrote:
> Yep.  It really should be stored in the same path as when you set
> --configpath but there is a bug so you just have to add the
> customization.ini file.
>

>> Thanks for information.
>> So, if I understand customization code correctly, all I need is to add
>> 'customization.ini' file to 'resources' directory of my installation ?


I did copy customization.ini to my Debian package installation folder
'/usr/share/qgis/resources/' to simulate custom package installation and
it is not taken to account. Only file in '~/.config/QuantumGIS' is working.
What kind of bug do You mean ?


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