In a recent post, I attempted to answer the question What can a spatial database do for you? That post was a broad overview of the advantages of storing your geospatial data in a spatial database. This post follows up with more specific information on how to get started and step by step instructions on using one type, SpatiaLite, with the popular open source GIS software QGIS. Continue reading “Quick start to spatial databases with QGIS and SpatiaLite”
New Course: Mobile GIS and Mapping Applications with Leaflet
Mobile GIS and Mapping Applications with Leaflet
This course is available now on Udemy.com. It will show you how to create a mobile specific mapping application using Leaflet.js including
- Formatting your web application for mobile device screens
- Understanding touch screens and adapting your web app for them
- Making your web app look and feel like a native application
- Detecting if the user is using a mobile device
- Detecting if the user is online or not
- Getting the most out of geolocation
- Adding simple charts to your application
- Using web storage to save the state of your application
- Using web storage to store local versions of vector data
- Using the Application Cache API to load a local version of your application for off-line use
- Creating custom base maps with QGIS and QTiles
- Adding custom base maps to the application cache for offline use
Continue reading “New Course: Mobile GIS and Mapping Applications with Leaflet”
Five reasons QGIS should be the backbone of your open source web GIS project
Over the past several years my work has been focusing more and more on web GIS applications and I have chosen to use open source technologies rather than commercial applications for several reasons. Continue reading “Five reasons QGIS should be the backbone of your open source web GIS project”
Diversity Calculator
Diversity Calculator
The motivation for this software came several years ago when I responded to a request on the Society for Conservation GIS list serve. The issue was the difficulty in summarizing the diversity of a set of species locations as point data over a set of study area polygons. Continue reading “Diversity Calculator”
Displaying YOUR GIS data in a leaflet web map (pt 1- Points)
This video shows how to export your GIS data to a GeoJSON text file and load it into a leaflet web map, This requires using the Leaflet.Ajax plug-in. I also demonstrate the basics of styling and filtering point data. Continue reading “Displaying YOUR GIS data in a leaflet web map (pt 1- Points)”
Do I need to know how to code to be a GIS professional?
The short answer is no. But it will help you more than you can imagine. The GIS world doesn’t need everyone to be coders. Most GIS software is sufficiently complex that one could easily spend their entire careers working with one program and never use all of it, let alone have to improve on it. It would certainly be possible to specialize in a specific aspect of GIS or a specific type of analysis and never learn to write your own code. If the thought of programming sends tremors of fear down your spine, fear not. You will always be needed. Continue reading “Do I need to know how to code to be a GIS professional?”
What is GeoJSON and why should you care?
GeoJSON is a core technology in web GIS. It allows vector data to be stored in a text-based format that is easily handled in JavaScript, sent across the internet, or stored in a database (including web storage). Continue reading “What is GeoJSON and why should you care?”
Why your organization needs a web GIS strategy.
What is web GIS?
When most people think about web GIS, they think about publishing a map or a data set for the world to see. That’s certainly part of it, but only a small part. For many years when I would try to sell my employers on the concept of web GIS they would reply “We don’t want everyone to see our proprietary information.” After digging in and learning more on my own I began to realize that there was much more to web GIS than publishing content. Continue reading “Why your organization needs a web GIS strategy.”
Why QGIS should be part of everyone’s GIS toolbox
QGIS is an open source desk-top GIS program. It plays the same role as ArcMap in the ESRI ecosystem. QGIS even comes with QGIS Browser, which is similar in function to ArcCatalog. Most GIS analysts in the US learn ArcGIS in college and work for companies that have ArcGIS available. Many people are under the impression that if they have access to ArcGIS, there is no advantage to their company for them to learn QGIS.
I felt the same way for over a decade. Over the past several years I have come to believe that QGIS has many advantages over ArcGIS. This is true even for companies that already own ArcGIS licenses. There are some things QGIS does much better. Some things it does much cheaper. And admittedly, there are some things that ArcGIS does better. The important thing is to understand the differences and when to use QGIS and when to use ArcGIS. Continue reading “Why QGIS should be part of everyone’s GIS toolbox”