GeoServer Beginner's Guide

Share and edit geospatial data with this open source software server

Overview

• Learn free and open source geospatial mapping without prior GIS experience
• Share real-time maps quickly
• Learn step-by-step with ample amounts of illustrations and usable code/list

In Detail

GeoServer is an open source server-side software written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Designed for interoperability, it publishes data from any major spatial data source using open standards. GeoServer allows you to display your spatial information to the world. Implementing the Web Map Service (WMS) standard, GeoServer can create maps in a variety of output formats. OpenLayers, a free mapping library, is integrated into GeoServer, making map generation quick and easy. GeoServer is built on Geotools, an open source Java GIS toolkit.

GeoServer Beginner's Guide gives you a kick start to build custom maps using your data without the need for costly commercial software licenses and restrictions. Even if you do not have prior GIS knowledge, you will be able to make interactive maps after reading this book.

You will install GeoServer, access your data from a database, style points, lines, polygons, and labels to impress site visitors with real-time maps.

Follow along through a step-by-step guide that installs GeoServer in minutes. Explore the web-based administrative interface to connect to backend data stores such as MySQL, PostGIS, MSSQL, and Oracle. Display your data on web-based interactive maps, style lines, points, polygons, and embed images to visualize this data for your web visitors. Walk away from this book with a working application ready for production.

After reading the GeoServer Beginner's Guide, you will have beautiful, custom maps on your website built using your geospatial data.

What you will learn from this book

• Install GeoServer quickly
• Access your dynamic real-time geospatial data which you can easily integrate into your own web-based application.
• Create custom styles for lines, points, and polygons for great looking maps
• Command GeoServer remotely using REST
• Tune your GeoServer instance for performance
• Move GeoServer into production
• Learn advanced topics to extend GeoServer's capabilities

Approach

Step-by-step instructions are included and the needs of a beginner are totally satisfied by the book. The book consists of plenty of examples with accompanying screenshots and code for an easy learning curve.

Who this book is written for

You are a web developer with knowledge of server side scripting, and have experience with installing applications on the server. You have a desire to want more than Google maps, by offering dynamically built maps on your site with your latest geospatial data stored in MySQL, PostGIS, MsSQL or Oracle. If this is the case, this book is meant for you.