gvSIG,
geographic information system
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...
(GIS), is a desktop application designed for capturing, storing, handling, analyzing and deploying any kind of referenced geographic information in order to solve complex management and planning problems. gvSIG is known for having a user-friendly interface, being able to access the most common formats, both vector and raster ones. It features a wide range of tools for working with geographic-like information (query tools, layout creation, geoprocessing, networks, etc.).
* Integrating in the same view both local (files, databases) and remote data through
OGC standards.
* Including a plugin system which allows to easily extend the application or to develop tailor-made solutions.
* Being
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
software under the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the Four Freedoms (Free software), four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was th ...
(GPL), which allows its free use, distribution, study and improvement.
* Being available in several languages: Spanish, English UK, English USA, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Portuguese-Brazilian, Russian, Chinese, Serbian, Swahili, Turkish, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Basque, Valencian/Catalan, Galician.
* Being developed using
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
, and being available for
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
,
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
platforms
Nomenclature
gvSIG was initially developed for the
Generalitat Valenciana
The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organized.
It consists of seven institutions including the ''Corts Valen ...
(gv), an institution of the self-governed
autonomous community
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, comunidá autónoma
, alt_name =
, map =
, category = Autonomous administra ...
of
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
. This explains the abbreviation gvSIG for which the last three letters stands for ''Sistema d'informació geogràfica (SIG)'', or GIS in English.
Features gvSIG Desktop
Typical tools in a full-fledged desktop GIS client can also be found in gvSIG, among other things:
* Access to vector formats:
SHP,
DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.
DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCA ...
,
GML,
DWG,
DGN
DGN (design) is the name used for CAD file formats supported by Bentley Systems, MicroStation and Intergraph's Interactive Graphics Design System (IGDS) CAD programs. The DGN format is used in construction projects, including buildings, highways, ...
,
KML
Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Key ...
.
* Access to raster formats:
BMP,
GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. ...
,
TIFF
Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processin ...
,
JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
,
JP2,
PNG, VRT, DAT of
ENVI, ERDAS (LAN, GIS, IMG),
PCI Geomatics (PIX, AUX), ADF of
ESRI
Esri (; Environmental Systems Research Institute) is an American multinational geographic information system (GIS) software company. It is best known for its ArcGIS products. With a 43% market share, Esri is the world's leading supplier of GIS ...
,
ILWIS
Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS) is a geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing software for both vector and raster processing. Its features include digitizing, editing, analysis and display of data, and production ...
(MPR, MPL), MAP of PC Raster, ASC,
PGM,
PPM, RST of
IDRISI
TerrSet (formerly IDRISI) is an integrated geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing software developed by Clark Labs at Clark University for the analysis and display of digital geospatial information. TerrSet is a PC grid-based syste ...
, RMF, NOS, KAP, HDR,
RAW
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
.
* Access to remote services:
OGC (
WMS,
WFS,
WCS, WFS-T,
WPS),
ArcIMS
ArcIMS (standing for Arc Internet Map Server) is a Web Map Server produced by Esri accessible through a web browser. It is a GIS that is designed to serve maps across the Internet. Sometimes these maps are just static images allowing simple panni ...
, Ecwp.
* Access to databases and tables:
PostGIS
PostGIS ( ) is an open source software program that adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL object-relational database. PostGIS follows the Simple Features for SQL specification from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).
Technicall ...
,
ArcSDE
ArcSDE (''SDE'' for ''Spatial Database Engine'') is a server-software sub-system (produced and marketed by Esri) that aims to enable the usage of Relational Database Management Systems for spatial data. The spatial data may then be used as part of ...
,
JDBC
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is an application programming interface (API) for the programming language Java, which defines how a client may access a database. It is a Java-based data access technology used for Java database connectivity. I ...
,
CSV.
* Display:zooms, panning, frames, locator.
* Query: information, area and distance measurement, hyperlink.
* Selection: by point, by rectangle, by polygon, by layer, by polyline, by circle, by buffer zone, alphanumeric search, invert selection, delete selection.
* Searching: by attribute, by coordinates.
* Geoprocessing: buffer, intersection, clip, dissolve, union, convex hull, difference, merge, spatial join, XY shift, reprojection, Sextante geoprocessing.
* Graphical editing: add event layers, snapping, grid, flatness, command stack, undo/redo, copy, move, symmetry, rotate, scale, edit vertex, internal polygon, matrix, explode, split, join, autocomplete polygon, insert point, multipoint, line, arc, polyline, polygon, rectangle, square, circle, ellipse.
* Alphanumeric editing: manage fields, edit registers, field calculator.
* Catalogue and gazetteer services
* Vector representation: unique symbol, quantities (dot density, intervals, graduated symbols, proportional symbols), categories (expressions, unique values), multiple attributes, save/load legend, symbology constructor, symbology levels, symbology libraries.
* Raster representation: brightness, contrast, enhance, transparency by pixel, opacity, colour tables, gradients.
* Labeling: Static labeling, advanced labeling, individual labeling.
* Tables: statistics, filter, ascending/descending order, link, join, move selection, export, import fields, coding, normalization.
* Layout constructor: page layout, cartographic elements (view, legend, north, scale, frames, image, text, graphic), grid, templates.
* Printing: to PDF, to Postscript, export to several image formats.
* Network analysis: network topology, stops manager, minimum path, connectivity, minimum spanning tree, origin - destination matrix, emergency / nearest facilities provider, service areas.
* Raster and remote sensing: statistics, filters, histogram, scale range, enhance, save to raster file, vectorization, Region of Interest (ROI) definition, general components, georeferencing, geolocation, supervised classification, band algebra, image profiles, decision tree, main components,
tasseled cap, image fusion, scatter diagram, mosaics.
* Publishing:
MapServer
MapServer is an open-source development environment for building spatially enabled internet applications, built in the C language, and is widely known as one of the fastest Web mapping engines available. It can run as a CGI program or via MapSc ...
's
WCS,
WMS and
WFS,
Geoserver
In computing, GeoServer is an open-source server written in Java that allows users to share, process and edit geospatial data. Designed for interoperability, it publishes data from any major spatial data source using open standards. GeoServer ha ...
's
WFS.
* 3D and animation: 3D Views, XYZ-projected as well as spherical (planetary), 3D layers, 3D symbology, 3D editing, 3D framing, 2D and 3D animation, stereo viewing (horizontal split).
*
Topology
In mathematics, topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformations, such ...
: topological building, topological editing, generalization, reverse line direction, polygons from/to lines, lines from/to points,
Delaunay triangulation
In mathematics and computational geometry, a Delaunay triangulation (also known as a Delone triangulation) for a given set P of discrete points in a general position is a triangulation DT(P) such that no point in P is inside the circumcircle o ...
,
Thiessen polygons, build, clean, topological error fixing (in Batch mode).
* Other: Coordinates Reference Systems manager, import from/export to WMC, scripting, translations manager.
Sextante GIS has been ported to a plugin for gvSIG adding a host of raster and vector analysis functions in addition to gvSIG's impressive built-in vector analysis tools. Within Sextante,
GRASS GIS
''Geographic Resources Analysis Support System'' (commonly termed ''GRASS GIS'') is a geographic information system (GIS) software suite used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, producing graphics and maps, spatial and ...
can be used as extension to make its algorithms available to gvSIG users.
gvSIG Mobile
gvSIG Mobile aims at broadening gvSIG execution platforms to a range of mobile devices, in order to give an answer to the needs of a growing number of mobile solutions users, who wish to use a GIS on different types of devices.
So far, gvSIG Mobile is a Geographic Information System, as well as a Spatial Data Infrastructures client for mobile devices. Such a client is also the first one licensed under open source.
gvSIG Mobile is known for:
* integrating in the same view both local and remote data through
OGC standards.
* being
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
software, under the GNU GPL v2, what allows its free use, distribution, study and improvement.
* being available in several languages (Spanish, English, German, French, ...) .
* being developed using Java, and it's available for platforms supporting Java Micro Edition CDC 1.1. So far, it runs on the following platforms: Windows Mobile 5.0, Windows Mobile 6.0 and Nokia Maemo
GvSIGmobileonopenmoko.wordpress.com
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Features gvSIG Mobile
Typical tools in a mobile GIS client can also be found in gvSIG Mobile:
* Access to vector formats: SHP, GML, KML
Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Key ...
, GPX
* Access to raster formats: ECW, JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
, PNG, GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. ...
.
* Access to remote services: OGC ( WMS).
* Display: zooms, panning, automatic recentre tool.
* Query: information, see coordinates, distance and areas measurement.
* Selection: by point, by rectangle, by attributes, clear selection.
* Search: by attribute.
* GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
: internal/external GPS connection, reprojection to UTM, simulated NMEA frames, waypoints, tracklog in GPX and CSV formats, center on view, signal parameters, satellites used, calculate the distance between current location and the destination location.
* Graphic editing: create points, lines and polygons both GPS and hand based.
* Alphanumeric editing: customized forms.
* Vector representation: point/line/polygon symbology, thematic mapping, export to GML, KML
Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Key ...
and SHP.
* Tables: import fields from gvSIG Desktop.
* Project: Project storage, default properties ( SRS, background colour, default project, icon size, ...).
* Others: data portability and data integration with gvSIG Desktop.
References
External links
*{{official website, http://www.gvsig.org/
GvSIG Association
OA Digital fork
OAdigital.net
Branch from OA Digital
gvSIG Community Edition
gvSIG CE (fork of gvSIG)
gvSIG CE
is a community driven GIS project fork of gvSIG that will be bundled with SEXTANTE, GRASS GIS and SAGA. This project is not supported by the gvSIG Association. gvSIG CE is not an official project of gvSIG.
Why was the gvSIG Community Edition Project Started?
Free GIS software
Free software programmed in Java (programming language)
Geographic information systems