Supporting Resources

for Lecture 27: GIS Marketplace

Index of Resources:

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An Industry Survey

As an industry there are commercial sources for data, software and services. GIS World (now a Pearson Professional company) has an annual Sourcebook. for example; in 1992 chart listed 177 `systems' (before it stopped using a single sheet of paper...). 1994 (the last version in the UW Library System lists 426 firms offering GIS-related products and services. There are 273 rows in the software matrix. This product was called the GIS Directory, but it seems to have been replaced by a "GeoDirectory" and online source. Asking for GIS software firms in North America returned 126 companies (1 Dec1999)... The alphabetical list seems to place ESRI as #2 and a few others who must have paid for their spots at the top of the list before it settles down to A.C.T. GIS, etc. Only the first few (that paid in?) provide live web links.

Here is a review of the last printed version, just to give an idea of what they examined:

Columns on GIS World chart (1994)

Date first installed, number installed, number of users, pricing (lots of options here), source code available, customization, support fee, computer "platform", data structures, geographic reference, projection conversion, digitizing, Database management, input formats, export formats, functions/operations, standards, output/ device support, image processing

Important issues from the list:

Data structures (raster, topol., other vector, quadtree, TIN, other?)

Database management (Dbase, Oracle, INGRES, Info, SQL)

Functions / operations

  1. Measurements: straight distance, curved distance, proximity analysis, area measurement
  2. Generate buffers: around points, around polygons, along straight lines, curved lines, weighted
  3. Map algebra Functions: +-, */, ^, trig functions, slope (differentiate)
  4. Polygon operations: polygon overlay, point in polygon, line in polygon, merge dissolve, delete spurious polygons, Theissen polygons
  5. Terrain analysis with DEM data (note not TIN?): slope angle, compass aspect, interpolate elevation, viewshed, contours, model drainage, cross-section, cut and fill
  6. Miscellaneous (great classification): analysis within corridor, mult. boolean operations (themes and maps?), nearest neighbor, moving window search (SCAN?), compute optimum path, COGO, Network, vector=> raster, raster=> vector
  7. User interface and display: command language, menus, icons, multiple windows, 3D shaded relief, 3D wireframe, 3D draped thematic display, single/dual screen, multi-user, custom menus
  8. Spatial query by cursor or coordinate input

Digital Image Analysis (Remote Sensing): radiometric/ sensor corrections, geometric corrections, filtering, classifications, classified image => db, image display with GIS layers

Artificial Intelligence: AI algorithms (?), pattern recognition, expert systems

User Interface: command language, menus/icons, Windowing environment (Windows, Motif, OpenLook)

Data Display: multiple maps, 3D (shaded relief, wireframe, draped thematic layers), animation, fonts/ annotation

Standards: X-windows, SQL, IRDS, GKS, PHIGS, CGM, POSIX, TCP/IP, GOSP, ISO Network, SDTS, Other (OTHER?)

Output Device: pen plotter, ink jet, electrostatic, film recorder, etc. (important?)

Desktop Market

[Who needs a database when you can have a spreadsheet...] At one time, this was a big battleground, but the need for simpler software was originally driven by the limited capacity of desktop machines (no longer an issue, really).

Atlas GIS: Strategic Mapping (Strategic alliance with Lotus, which has been bought by IBM); 18,000 installations; Now bought up by ESRI. This product has only had minimal upgrades, users offered ArcView upgrades...

Map Info: (Strategic alliance (?) with Excell, Microsoft- a small local firm);45,000 installations

Maptitude: (Caliper, a transportation GIS group) quick and easy choropleth maps, some address matching (product too new for the 1994 installations list...)

ArcView: ESRI's data viewer now grown up as you are aware with Extensions like Spatial Analyst and Network Analyst (two software package that migrated from Arc/INFO). ArcView in its first version was object-oriented coding with no user access (that version is now free on the web and of virutally no interest to anyone). The next two versions used a language "Avenue" for scripting. In Arc 8, the ArcMap is a totally rewritten ArcView without Avenue, since the whole product line is based on ArcObjects and Visual Basic OLE.

Mapping Office for Intergraph (an add-on to MGE...)

Business Map: ESRI's entry in the real desktop marketplace (whatever that turns into).

Microsoft (a small Redmond firm) has a thematic mapping product written for the bottom end of the market ($100).

Everybody has some entry in this marketplace: Spans Map

GeoPositioning Marketplace

gigantic potential, linkage to GIS not entirely clear.
Examples:
Magellan
Trimble

The PDA Marketplace

Each GIS vendor has invested in software for some of the leading PDA platforms (Palm Pilots, etc.). These units can serve as terminals to view GIS and CAD documents, and - with the additional of GPS - to update and sent information back to the database.

Spatial indexing: database viewed from spatial domain

Rtrees (range trees) used by TIGRIS, System 9, Genamap

EXCELL added to Arc at 6.0 (before - nothing except tiles)
Intergraph on indexing

Other Sources of Information

GeoWeb Interactive - Online Resources for GIS/GPS/Remote Sensing

Web presence for GIS World (now GeoWorld) and related companies is "GeoPlace". Their magazines provide a GIS trade outlet for various continents. Online resources: GeoDirectory

A search site that lists software packages: KnowledgeStorm.com lists 89 'solutions' (13 June 2001)

 

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Version of 4 December 2001