Information Management

WMS Merge enhances the integration of Open Geospatial Consortium Inc. (OGC®) Web Mapping Service (WMS) layers when requested from multiple sources and/or servers.

Overview

WMS Merge accepts multiple URLs formatted as Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) - Web Mapping Service (WMS) GetMap calls and translates the requests to the targeted WMS servers distributed on the network. Each of the images returned from the GetMap request are then merged at the middleware server rather than at the client side where many traditional WMS clients merge results. The advantages to merging GetMap layers at the middleware rather than at the client can be summarized as follows:

• Map Reprojection - Not all map servers support image generation in the same projection. WMS Merge will translate, "on-the-fly", image map output from a GetMap request to the requested projection, prior to merging the GetMap layers. This action results in a single image being returned in the requested projection regardless of the projection supported by the map server. WMS Merge uses EPSG codes for coordinate reference and coordinate transformation information.
  
  
• Map Layer Dimming - In some cases, users may wish to request that a layer be dimmed by a percentage prior to being merged with other layers. This is useful in circumstances such as highlighting road networks. This functionality is enabled through a percentage brightness value assigned per layer.
  
  
• Map Layer Caching - Having GetMap requests merged by middleware provides WMS Merge with the ability, in certain instances, to cache a GetMap layer, rather than making a subsequent request, thus reducing server and network overhead while improving overall response time.
  
  

WMS Merge Distribution Environment

WMS Merge is distributed as a WebARchive (WAR) file. The new way of deploying Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) Web modules that include Java Servlets and/or JavaServer Pages (JSP) relies on packaging the application and associated files into a WAR file. The WAR file is the same format as a JavaARchive (JAR) file and requires minimal input for installation.

WMS Merge is a component of Compusult’s Web Enterprise Suite; a set of Internet-based applications and toolkits that support Web mapping, information cataloging, discovery, retrieval and delivery services.

WMS Merge is also a contributor to the Open Geospatial Consortium Catalogue Services Interoperability initiative.