CC BY
49
УДК 528.48 Mehmet Zeki Coskun
Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry Istanbul Technical University, Turkey coskun@itu.edu.tr.
DOCUMENTATION AND PRESENTATION OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS BY WEBGIS
Summary
In these days, when the technology groves rapidly, it is very important for people to understand the world they live on and to know the place where they are on the world. It is much easier for people to reach to positional information with the support of the rapidly growing technology, than the older days. Nowadays, geographic information systems (GIS) are able to be used with mobile devices which are not so expensive. These devices can be GPS, PDA (pocket computers), or even cellular phones. With the spread of the Internet, the importance of the geographic information systems is much more understood. Today, such strong geographic information systems can be used via internet (Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth). This study is part of MSc. Degree study prepared in Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry, ITU (Istanbul Technical University) and this study has not been finished. The problems and the solutions faced during the development of the application are included into the conclusion part of the study. Furthermore, several suggestions through the experiences gathered during the study are included to the conclusion part for the individuals who will develop a GIS application.
Key words: GIS, History, Monument, WEB, Internet.
INTRODUCTION
Position is the key to the understanding of the globe where the mankind is living on. It’s the knowing the positon and using it increases beat of life. Thus, people would like to know their environment and their location. Electronic gadget manufacturers and software technology companies (like mobile phones, pdas, hanheld GPS’, Google Maps, Google Earth, Microsoft Virtual Earth) use the technology and science to satisfy the people’s demands. These technologies become habits for people who use them. They would not go where they don’t know without checking there online or they use gps phone to send their locations or meeting point to a friend. Nowadays, GIS technologies or related techonlogies are getting into our lifes with an incresing speed and we are sincerely welcoming these technologies (Antenucci 1991, Bartelme 1989, Yomralioglu, 2000).
Goal of this work is to show how to develop a web software and use it with an ordinary internet browser. In next chapters problems and difficulties which I have encountered during the project will be exposed. Also, solutions to these problems will be revelead so anyone who develops a GIS software with the framework that I do, can use these solutions.
This paper includes describes steps of the study, product which was produced. Some advaces were given to anyone who will develop a web GIS application.
INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES
Internet is an endless interactive medium, source of information. Somebody has to produce this information and serve it over the internet so others can reach it and use it for their own purposes. Recent year, there have been several online GIS software emerged (Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth etc.). These online applications indeed quite handy in our daily life. This powerful GIS applications transform the GIS data into basic images and html code and serve in this form so an ordinary internet browser can easily interpret the code and show output maps and graphics. Internet technology re-invented it self and came in amazingly different level but underneath all this the programming languages are not really different than 5 or 6 years ago. Back then we use HTML and Javascript, today we still use HTML and Javascript. Although we use the same programming languages, our ways of usage quite chaged in years. In these chapter internet technologies and internet programming languages will be described in as largely as it can be. (Bidgoli, 2003; Farrel 2004; Voisard and David, 2002).
APPLICATION
Goal of this project is to develop a simple web based geographic information application to publish data of historical properties by using Microsoft Asp.Net, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, ESRI ArcGIS Server and to make documentation of experiences and difficulties that encountered while the development process. The web application consists of two independent parts first is internet map application, second part is common database application. Map application is developed on ArcGIS Server. Second part is developed on Asp.Net, this application uses Sql Server 2000 as database. Map application stores the spatial features of the point or area and database application stores the text data about point or land property. With these two kind of data, all the features of the property can be stored and can be served to users. Basic calculations or analysis like distance or area measurement can be done with ArcGIS Server. Steps of the project might be writed down as setup of design of application, ArcGIS Server setup and customization, coding, problems while developing (URL-1; URL-2)
ArcGIS Server
ArcGIS Server allows you to publish GIS resources across an enterprise and over the web. GIS resources are the maps, address locators, geodatabases and tools. ArcGIS server hosts these data and allows other application to use and interact these resources. The biggest advantage of ArcGIS server, is to support any client or server technology (Java, .Net etc.) that can communicate with the ArcGIS Server (URL-1).
Figure 1. ArcGIS Server Topology
Application Design
Enterprise applications deal huge amounts of data. With this kind and amount of data performance is the first problem which comes into mind. When performance have to be considered, architecture of the application is being more important. Design of the database and design of the application have to match each other. Both of the main part of the application have to be designed while considering other one.
While developing such an application, application has to be splitted into smaller parts, these parts will be called as layers. Enterprise applications mostly have three layers and a database layer where database operations are taking place, bussines layer where calculations and data transformations are being done, interface layer where user interacts with the system. As the Figure 4.2 shows layers place in order, data processes should be happen this order. First user places a command from web site, the toppest layer. Bussines layer process the inputs and cast the input into the necessary object type and calls the function at the data layer and transmits the inputs to the data layer function. Data layer function connects the database and sends query sentences to the database engine and database engine execute sentences on database and if there is return value trasmits to the business layer. (Fowler 2002)
Presentation Layer (Ul):
Web Site
Domain Layer (Business Logic);
Processing Data
Data Layer:
Interacting with Database
Data Model:
SQL Server & ArcGlS Server
Figure 2. Main Layers of Application
APPLICATION STRUCTURE
This GIS application was created as a .Net solution. A .Net solution consists of several .Net projects; ASP.NET web project, .Net Class Libararies. All the projects are written in C#. Class libraries are the basement of the application, all the application has been built on them. Class libraries consist of dataaccess layer, business layer and entities. At the bottom of the application just above the database data access layer resides. Data access project is named OmegaDataAccess which is divided two main namespaces.
First is Core which contains basic database functions (connection open, close, command create, command dispose). Seconds namespace is Custom which contains custom and special functions that written for the project for example
Property_BasicDataInsert,
Property_Search (URL-2; URL-3).
All the basic tasks and complex calculations are done in business layer, which is formed by OmegaDomain and OmegaEntity. Business layer is the middle layer in the project, data is type transformed here and used anywhere in the application.
Presentation Layer
I I
Business Logic Entities
1 I
Data Access Layer
Figure 3. Structure of an Application
Solution Explorer - OmegaDataAccess ▼ ^ X
£ [2] 4
Data Access Layer
Business Layer 1
Business Layer 2
*3 Solution 'GISTourist' (6 projects)
IS D:\~\GlSTHapping\ presentation Layer
B S.jj!] jOmegaDataAccess j
Bl aial Properties EE Si References SI □ Configuration IS □ Core SI □ Custom b all OmegaDomain IB S'Mi Properties IB LiSI References IB □ Core IB iU Custom B OmegaEntity
IB «31 Properties IB ijdl References
ac^ EntLandProperty.es flc^) EntLandPropertyImage.es b a]3 OmegaUI IS Properties IS lial References IS lJ Core * OmegaWeb Application
Figure 4. Mapping Components
- Task Results
- Table Of Contents
Mapping Components above the business layer there lays the presentation layer as the users know it as web site. In this project presentation layer is a web site, the layer interacts with the users. Web site consists of two parts, first is database related common web site, other is mapping application which uses ArcGIS Server as a data resource. Mapping application puslishes vectoral or raster maps. Map resources can be added with server management tool. Map.aspx is the map demostration file. There are several important components on the page (URL-1);
- Map Resource Manager
- Map
- Task Manager
DATABASE RELATED WEB PAGE
This web page belongs to the other side of the application. First web page that is mention is a GIS application. This application is the literal side of the GIS. Many information about property is stored in this application. This information is searchable and editable in many ways like GIS information.
Figure 5. Search Screen With Criteria List
Property search can be made by some parameters. These parameters are not limited, if needed new parameters can be added to the criteria list for more extensive search.
Criteria list;
- Property Search
- Property Name
- Inventory No
- Country
- Province
- Town
- Year Of Construction
- Architect
- Style
- Property Original Name
- Property Original Owner
- Property Present Owner
At the bottom of the Figure 4-27 one search result is found from the given
criteria. Results are in an table form with some details. On the Property Name
column there is a link which leads the user to a page where full details of the property can be found. Details can be found in three main groups as categorized.
Figure 6. Basic Property Details With Property Images
In Figure 6, first part of the propery details can be seen. First part covers basic information of the property, also images of the property are uploaded to the database with image type information, so user might know what the type of image. There is no limit of uploading images, it’s users option. Basic information covers these information; property name, inventory number, country, province, town, geographic coordinates, historic period, year of construction, architect, style, current use.
In Figure 7. second part of the information table can be seen. This part contains detailed information of property’s location, state of preservation, also artistic style. Property inventory covers; neighborhood, street, door number, map number, block, plot number, degree of construction, original name, original owner/investor, inscription, title deed, present owner, person/establishment in charge of the property's maintenance, describe property's construction history, state of preservation, structure, façade, roof, interior, decoration, humidity protection, installation quality, water, sewage, electric, telephone, heating, analitical information, number of basement floors, number of floors, roof type, roof material, function, state of integrity, valuable architectural features, time frame, historic value, artistic and aesthetic value, clarity, symbolic value, urban aspects of property, predominant function of the area where is property located, area of the nominated propery (in hectares) and the proposed buffer zone, estimated population located within area of nominated property and buffer zone, proposed interventions by the master plan (if exists), townscape/landscape value, uniqueness/rarity, integrity.
LEVEL 2. PROPERTY INVENTORY ANALITICAL ІИЕОЛМАТЮИ Estimated Population
Neighborhood: Mann County Number of Basement Floors 0
Stre«C Gotden Gate Number of Floors • And Buffer Zone
Door Hoc 73 Roof Type hipped roof Proposed
Mac tio Block: 45 74ÎS Roof Material Function marseiile residential Master Plan
PlOt'Cadettral No: Degree Of Construction: 342ft 23» DEFINITION OF VALUE State of integrity bmkfrog with integrity Valuable Architectural features Townicape landscape Value 1 '
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Inscription:
TlBe Deed: Letraset sheets containing Protection Activities
Present Owner: Time Frame Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy lent ever smce the 1500s, when an
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property's Historic Value remaining essentially unchanged. N was popuiansed in the 1960s with the release of
maintenance Describe Property's Construction History Artistic And Aesthetic Land Use Proposals By
STATE Of PRESERVATION Intervention In The Area Proposed By The Master Plan
Façade very good Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever smce the 1500s, when an
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Decoration Humidity Protection very poor Symbolic Value Letraset sheets contain ■ng lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop
installation Quality Urban Aspects Of Property
Water poor
Sewage poor of The Area where Is residential
Electric poor Property Located
Telephone poor Area of The Nominated
Heating IKKK 45
HVAC poor Buffer Zone
Others 4 I
Figure 7. Property Inventory Details.
In Figure 8. third and the final part of questionnaire can be seen, this part mostly contains information about the threats againts the property, requested assistance behalf of the property, current owners and/or responsible people.
CONCLUSIONS
Main goal of the work is to dvelop basic web-based GIS applications as the result of which is building a web site that publishes historical places and monuments. This web site can contain both geographic information and literal information as well.
Geographic information is stored in ArcGIS resource files which are published on ArcGIS server, literal information is stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2000/2005.
Web site is built on Asp.NET framework 2.0. Asp.NET is one of the best solution for rapid application development. Ready to use components, easy debugging, error correction can be counted as standing features of Asp.NET. A mapping web site is built with using all these contemporary technologies, the site is not large application but it possesses basic capabilities of the known gis web applications.
Every software project has its own problems and difficulties, it’s the nature of software development. Success of software project lays on the balancing the cost and quality of the software. There were several problems encountere during the development phase of the project like difficultues about confiquration, large data management, not friendly user, highly cpu power and so on.
If we put all the suggestions a GIS application should be installed on multi-core cpu computer, also database server should be on separate machine. Level of GIS data detail should be determined exactly. Extra high detailed data will decrease the performance of the application but low detailed data which can not meet the needs of the people is useless.
REFERENCES
1. Antenucci J.; 1991, “Geographic Information Systems: A Guide to the Technology”, Springer
2. Bartelme, N.; 1989, “GIS-Technologie”, Springer, Berlin
3. Bidgoli H.; 2003, “The Internet Encyclopedia”, John Wiley & Sons
4. Farrel A.; 2004, “The Internet and Its Protocols”, Elsevier
5. Fowler M.; 2002, “Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture”, Addison-Wesley
6. Voisard A., David B.; 2002, "A database perspective on geospatial data modeling", IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data and Engineering
7. URL-1: ESRI Developer Network; 2007, http://edn.esri.com/
8. URL-2: Microsoft Developer Network; 2007,
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/default.aspx
9. URL-3: Sun Microsystems; 2007, “About Java Technology”,
http://www.sun.com/java/about/
Biographical notes
Mehmet Zeki Co§kun was born in Malatya in 1964. He graduated from ITU-Geodesy and Photogrammetry Engineering Department, then received M.Sc. in
1992, and PhD degree in 1998. He has been an assistant professor in Surveying Techniques Division since 2000. The fields of interests are GPS, GIS, Mobile GIS, Emergency Planning, and software development.
ITU, Civil Engineering Faculty
Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry
Maslak - Istanbul - Turkey
Tel: +90(212)2856573
Fax: +90(212)2856573
coskun@itu.edu.tr
http : //atlas .cc.itu.edu.tr/~coskun
© Mehmet Zeki Coskun, 2008
