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| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
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| Mailing List Archives |
| Subject: | Re: GISList: Re: import of e00 using ArcView3.2 |
| Date: |
01/12/2002 12:12:42 PM |
| From: |
Robert Heitzman |
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I apologize for mentioning GIS Depot. It was unfair of me, they are just
passing on data to the public that is offered up by the developers in a
proprietary format. I appreciate what the GIS Depot has done, and is doing,
for the community.
>Try working with DTED or STDS data if you want to have fun
Indeed! Wasn't there a government edict decades ago that stated that public
data would be made available in SDTS? I can understand that there is a
large bulk of historical data stuck in .E00, but there are federal
departments that are today publishing their data in .E00 or some other
propritary format.
I understand that these agencies want access to the best tools to develop,
manage, and publish their data. However, the concept of publishing public
data in a public format has not always been honored. SDTS may not be able
to represent data in every way that the latest GIS tools, but the standard
is, I believe, extensible and before agencies adopt the new tools they
should make sure all has been done to have a way to export the data in a
public format. SDTS if it can handle it, or another public standard
(defacto or offical) if that is required.
.E00, at is base, is a bad choice for public distribution. .E00 is an
interchange format between one vendor's tools. I would guess that their
version of .E00 has to be modified to keep up with the tools. If the
agencies incorporate a new feature that requires a .E00 tweak to interchange
they have not only left behind the non-ESRI community, they have left behind
the bulk of ESRI customers as well.
In my flames to the agencies I suggest that they insist that the GIS tool
vendors support exporting in public formats. The agencies that spend the
million$ are the only ones that can influence the vendors in this way.
If the vendors cannot be persuaded to develop the export tools the agencies
should at least insist on a royalty free way they, or others, can develop
tools that can do the job. I’d guess there is an abundance of resources out
there in the .edu community that would jump on this tool building
opportunity.
I'd suggest to the industry watchers that they keep public access in mind
and point out when an agency fails to meet the SDTS, or other, public format
standards. And to nudge the development community in the same direction.
I will concede that is better to serve a portion of the community, the one's
that can afford ESRI tools (or don't care abut $ that much because its just
taxpayer money), than to serve none at all.
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