Openlayers vs Gmap
I want to build a site which will contain an inventory of nodes. Some will be point features, others will be linear or polygonal features.
Then I want to plot all of these nodes on a common map, showing the points, lines and polys.
I have been playing with GMap and Locations but it appears now that I may not be able to display all three types of node (or two if polys are a closed set of lines) on a common map.
So I have started playing with Openlayers and Mapping Kit. Though I was able to get a map created and displayed, I am finding it very difficult to do anything with these kits. I can't find any user instructions that explains at my admittedly basic level how to use the software. What's available appears to assume that I'm a hardcore coder.
Question 1: which is my best option for this application? Gmap, Openlayers, something else?
Question 2: if it's Openlayers, is there documentation or a user guide written for me?
Thank-you.
umapper
i have not tried it a lot yet but i think umapper is good for you
sorry for my english
http://drupal.org/project/umapper
looked at umapper
Thank-you. I installed the umapper module to have a look at it. It solves the problem of getting points and lines on the same map (the thing I can't get working with GMaps), but it creates a problem with how to show a map of an individual point or line feature, show that feature in conjunction with others in the same category, and show all features on a composite map. I'm also okay with the modest Google logo on the bottom left of each map, but would need to remove the umapper branding. For that, at least, I would need to go with the Premium service - don't know how much that might cost, so I have asked them.
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geo and openlayers seem to be the future direction. However, as both are young modules under active development there are bound to be hiccups along the way.
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I'm in the same boat
Potential "Help Vampire" status notwithstanding, I have been looking and looking and looking and can not, for the life of me, find out where I am supposed to code those map arrays for the Openlayers module. I assumed, apparently wrongly, that I could use them on a page using the PHP filter module, but alas I get nothing but a blank page. I can get a basic map to display using the presets, which is simple, but the presets have limited functionality. I have also thought that a map array is basically just a type pf PHP array, so I looked into how and where you code PHP arrays in Drupal (I am new to this PHP stuff), but all I can find is bunch of PHP code and no explanation of where you are supposed to put the code. Sigh...
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If you wonder if you're a 'help vampire' chances are you're not-- they invariably don't realize they're sucking the life out of people and will actually argue that they're not. ;-)
As for your question-- did you trying posting to the openlayers issue queue?
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Don't be a Help Vampire - read and abide the forum guidelines.
If you find my assistance useful, please pay it forward to your fellow drupalers.
GMap, Openlayers, something else?
When I posted this question five months ago, it was in the midst of trying out various mapping modules in Drupal and in Joomla! (oh, don't gasp with disdain - Joomla! is an awesome CMS too, though I am now much happier working in Drupal.).
I gave up on which is best (I think the long-term mapping winner will be Openlayers, but at this stage, it's too unevolved and still too undocumented for people like me.) and had to go for whatever I can make work best with what is available.
So, I chose to work with GMap and Drupal. I was unable to do everything I wanted. The biggest shortcoming was being unable to combine point, line and polygon map objects on a single map. But I was successful doing most of what I needed to do for my client.
I did succeed in building a site that uses no fee-based proprietary software. I'm using GMap, which does rely on Google's mapping and map API, so I guess there's a bit of a risk that Google might start charging for access, but I hope it's unlikely, as that's not its business model at all. I also succeeded in not modifying code, most of the time. The few exceptions are documented, so my client can keep the whole show running by bringing in someone who knows Drupal, or is technically adept and will spend a few days learning.
Here's the website: http://www.sentinelhotspots.ca
Drupal, of course, is the soil in which everything else was able to grow. I've got something like two dozen modules installed, of which GMap and Locations are the two without which I'd have no website at all. CCK, Content Template, Pathauto - couldn't have made it happen without them, either.
The development process is interesting. Sometimes I spent multiple frustrating days trying to achieve something essentially simple, but a show-stopper. No small amount of that time was spent in Google and in the Drupal forum.
I learned a lot about using the Forum. When you have nowhere to turn, a forum is the right place to go. Some of the issues I was hamstrung on, there would be many threads in the Forum and no clear direction. With other issues, I'd be the only person who apparently ever asked the question. So, I jumped in on a number of threads, and originated many others. Most of the time, I'd get no response. But sometimes I'd hit paydirt - out of the Drupal community would come someone with just the fix or answer I needed.
I am confused and disappointed that the authors of GMap chose not to help or comment on questions about the amazing software they have developed and made available to us.
But at no point did I feel I was being a "Forum Vampire", and having read the description, I still don't think I have been. I take exception to the sanctimonious finger-wagging of that label. There are more constructive things that folks can do, than get hung up about others who don't behave quite like they think others should behave. .
Two of the best examples I can think of are Sean Effel of drupaltherapy.com and the great people at lullabot.com. The tutorials they have made available to us are excellent. Addison Berry's guide to installing Drupal and Sean's guide to GMap and Location are immeasurably useful. Thanks, both of you.
In my small way, when I have figured out how to do something about which earlier I opened a new thread, I have tried to go back and explain the solution, so the next person down the same road will at least see how I resolved the issue.
@mcengland: sorry I can't help you with your Openlayers question. I took the GMap road, and that has made all the difference. Good luck.
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As I responded above-- if you are honest enough to wonder whether or not you're a help vampire, then you're likely not and have no reason to take exception to the term. However, like it or not, there most definitely are help vampires and they do frequent this forum. I also greatly respect and admire the lullabots and sean-- however, neither of them spend any time in the forums. In fact, very few well known contributors do (Michelle being the one exception that springs to mind)-- I'm not sure what that says though. Maybe those of use that do are just gluttons for punishment, lol.
In any case, if you're not a help vampire there's no reason to pay any attention to my signature-- just move along. If even one help vampire is rehabilitated it's well worth it. And until you spend a significant amount of time helping others in the forums, it would be nice if you didn't judge those of us that do-- there is no 'sanctimonious finger wagging' intended on my part.
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Don't be a Help Vampire - read and abide the forum guidelines.
If you find my assistance useful, please pay it forward to your fellow drupalers.
I didn't intend to start
I didn't intend to start something here... I read the "Help Vampire" thing before I posted and mentioned it because I have had numerous open source software issues where I asked for assistance on something after hours and hours of trying to figure it out on my own (I never ask a question without googling the hell out of an issue) and sometimes (but not always) encountered a mentality that I MUST be stupid for asking the question, despite the fact that every issue I have ever brought up somewhere was apparently not documented anywhere.
Anyway, it sounds like I'm about at the level of @ArthurC, where I can do a pretty darned good job altering significant amounts of code to get what I want, but I am not a programmer (I'm a biologist), and this is my first exposure to Drupal (converted to that from Joomla 2 weeks ago) and my first exposure to PHP, other than the minimal amount I've gained from using pmapper and php-mapscript with MapServer. I also recently built a database administration site using Plone/PostGIS/MapServer/pmapper, but that doesn't help much here.
In this case, I am stuck on something that is probably relatively simple in that, at this moment, I merely want to display a bunch of kml layers I was able to easily display on my old Joomla site (I don't have those articles on the Drupal site because I can't). The sticking point is figuring out arrays... what to do with those map arrays in Drupal/OpenLayers, are they the same as standard PHP arrays? Breaking that barrier will be an immense help.
If you want to peak at what I am trying to work on, its at http://mcengland.com. I have a simple map using Openlayers presets on the front page, but you can't add anything other than base layers using the presets... to add layers, you have to use map arrays. Documentation is relatively lacking. The sample map arrays they give have a bunch of extraneous code for putting in layers they are assuming you would want to use, and I am not certain I removed the code properly because I don't fully understand it. Attempting to put a map array in a page using the PHP filter doesn't work (just get a blank page). I have tried other PHP snippets using the same methodology (various snippets from this site) and most, but not all, worked as they were supposed to.
Anyway, I did open a support ticket on Saturday. No one really seems to be using that area.
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help.
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I wouldn't say you started anything-- so don't worry about it. And as i said before, if you care enough to wonder if you're being a vamp then you're probably not! Trust me, the real vamps either 1) don't care if they are or 2) refuse to even consider the possibility.
Unfortunately, openlayers is still largely an unknown quantity and with so few users (check the usage stats) it's going to be tough getting the eyes and ears of someone who actually knows how to use it. I've been meaning to poke around it for a while, so I'll try to take a look and see if I can figure out the gist of how to use it. If I do I'll post back.
In the meantime, what prompted to you choose openlayers over gmap at this point in time?
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Don't be a Help Vampire - read and abide the forum guidelines.
If you find my assistance useful, please pay it forward to your fellow drupalers.
OSM?
"I have a simple map using Openlayers presets on the front page, but you can't add anything other than base layers using the presets... to add layers, you have to use map arrays. Documentation is relatively lacking."
I have got to a similar stage. I have the module installed, I can add base layers and display them. However I want to install Openstreetmap as a base layer and there appears to be no documentation as to how to do that...
OSM
On my install, OSM was listed as one of the layers in the presets UI. I have the OSM Cycle Map as the base on my home page map.
GMap
I just modified my site to use GMap until I figure this out. I would rather use Openlayers as significant portions of my site plans involve the use of Mapserver WMS overlays, which I could use in the Openlayers module in the same manner as kml overlays (apparently) if I could only figure out how.