MapGuide REST Extension

[Jason Birch]

Hi all,
 
Haris Kurtagic of SL-King has been working on a REST extension for MapGuide, which basically exposes the individual features of MapGuide-authored FDO data sources as resources on the web.  The code is currently undergoing a major refactor to work around some limitations and make it ready for the open source community, so it probably won't be available for about a month.  However, in the hopes of gaining early feedback and generating interest, I've blogged about some of the technical details here:
 
http://tinyurl.com/mapguide-rest <http://tinyurl.com/mapguide-rest>
 
and you can see a live example on the City of Nanaimo's new "maps" site:
 
http://maps.nanaimo.ca/data/property/ <http://maps.nanaimo.ca/data/property/>
 
The beauty of this is that I didn't have to write any code, just had to do a bit of configuration.  As we get closer to being release-ready, I'll try to blog a series of short tutorials to cover the basics of configuration and how to work with this extension's Google CTemplate implementation.
 
If you have any questions or feature suggestions, please respond here or in my blog comments, and I'll do my best to respond.
 
Jason
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[Robert Bray-2]

Jason,

Generally speaking I like what I see here. Very simple, elegant, and
powerful. To get a better understanding of how this works, I'd like to see
two things:

* The source code.
* An example and/or document that describes the configuration file.

Thanks,
Bob

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jason Birch" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>; <[hidden email]>;
<[hidden email]>; <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2009 10:04 PM
Subject: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension

> Hi all,
>
> Haris Kurtagic of SL-King has been working on a REST extension for
> MapGuide, which basically exposes the individual features of
> MapGuide-authored FDO data sources as resources on the web.  The code is
> currently undergoing a major refactor to work around some limitations and
> make it ready for the open source community, so it probably won't be
> available for about a month.  However, in the hopes of gaining early
> feedback and generating interest, I've blogged about some of the technical
> details here:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/mapguide-rest <http://tinyurl.com/mapguide-rest>
>
> and you can see a live example on the City of Nanaimo's new "maps" site:
>
> http://maps.nanaimo.ca/data/property/ 
> <http://maps.nanaimo.ca/data/property/>
>
> The beauty of this is that I didn't have to write any code, just had to do
> a bit of configuration.  As we get closer to being release-ready, I'll try
> to blog a series of short tutorials to cover the basics of configuration
> and how to work with this extension's Google CTemplate implementation.
>
> If you have any questions or feature suggestions, please respond here or
> in my blog comments, and I'll do my best to respond.
>
> Jason
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals 

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[Jason Birch]

No source code for you!

:)

Seriously, the extent of the work that Haris is doing rewriting the code
and configuration syntax mean that sharing what I'm using right now
would be counterproductive.  He's indicated that he should have
something available to show within a couple weeks; we'll make sure to
post here when it's available.
 
If there's anything wrong with the public REST implementation (rather
than the back end) please let us know ASAP so that changes can be
incorporated into the rewrite.

Jason

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Bray
Sent: February-13-09 4:22 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension

Jason,

Generally speaking I like what I see here. Very simple, elegant, and
powerful. To get a better understanding of how this works, I'd like to
see
two things:

* The source code.
* An example and/or document that describes the configuration file.

Thanks,
Bob
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[hidden email]
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[Robert Bray-2]

Jason,

>From what I can see I think the public face of the extension is very
promising. I am just curious about how it all maps to resources and server
APIs under the hood, but I guess I can wait a few weeks to get a peek at
that. I don't want to see FDO dependencies in the web-tier for example, that
would be  a serious implementation problem IMO.

Bob


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jason Birch" <[hidden email]>
To: "MapGuide Internals Mail List" <[hidden email]>;
<[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 5:32 PM
Subject: RE: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension

> No source code for you!
>
> :)
>
> Seriously, the extent of the work that Haris is doing rewriting the code
> and configuration syntax mean that sharing what I'm using right now
> would be counterproductive.  He's indicated that he should have
> something available to show within a couple weeks; we'll make sure to
> post here when it's available.
>
> If there's anything wrong with the public REST implementation (rather
> than the back end) please let us know ASAP so that changes can be
> incorporated into the rewrite.
>
> Jason
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Bray
> Sent: February-13-09 4:22 PM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension
>
> Jason,
>
> Generally speaking I like what I see here. Very simple, elegant, and
> powerful. To get a better understanding of how this works, I'd like to
> see
> two things:
>
> * The source code.
> * An example and/or document that describes the configuration file.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals 

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[Haris Kurtagic]

Bob,
Currently REST can get data in two ways: using MapGuide feature service
(in same way as standard web extension) or using http to fetch data.
To me, idea of being able to directly access data using FDO looks useful
too.
I am curious, why you think that would be a problem ?

Haris

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Robert Bray
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 8:37 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
Subject: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST
Extension

Jason,

>From what I can see I think the public face of the extension is very
promising. I am just curious about how it all maps to resources and
server
APIs under the hood, but I guess I can wait a few weeks to get a peek at

that. I don't want to see FDO dependencies in the web-tier for example,
that
would be  a serious implementation problem IMO.

Bob


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jason Birch" <[hidden email]>
To: "MapGuide Internals Mail List" <[hidden email]>;

<[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 5:32 PM
Subject: RE: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension


> No source code for you!
>
> :)
>
> Seriously, the extent of the work that Haris is doing rewriting the
code

> and configuration syntax mean that sharing what I'm using right now
> would be counterproductive.  He's indicated that he should have
> something available to show within a couple weeks; we'll make sure to
> post here when it's available.
>
> If there's anything wrong with the public REST implementation (rather
> than the back end) please let us know ASAP so that changes can be
> incorporated into the rewrite.
>
> Jason
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Bray
> Sent: February-13-09 4:22 PM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension
>
> Jason,
>
> Generally speaking I like what I see here. Very simple, elegant, and
> powerful. To get a better understanding of how this works, I'd like to
> see
> two things:
>
> * The source code.
> * An example and/or document that describes the configuration file.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals 

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[Jason Birch]

Bob wrote:
 
> I don't want to see FDO dependencies in the web-tier for example, that
> would be  a serious implementation problem IMO.

I agree that the version of this module that is distributed with the MapGuide web tier should not have a direct dependency on FDO; access should through the feature service.  However, I also want to keep this code as flexible as possible.
 
For instance, I would eventually like to see a version that doesn't require a full MapGuide webserverextensions install for a light-weight IIS/Apache module (or maybe something lighter) on a dedicated REST server.
 
I would also eventually like to see a version that allows direct RESTful access to HTTP and FDO data sources without the complexity and management overhead of a full MapGuide Server install.  Something similar to FeatureServer.org.  This would enable quick-win data serving for organisations that just want to use something like a Google Maps front end.
 
Jason

________________________________

From: Robert Bray
Sent: Sat 2009-02-14 11:36 AM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
Subject: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension

 


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[Traian Stanev]

You can have FDO on the server side (backing an Apache REST mod) and an FDO provider for REST that can consume the RESTful data server by the server.

Then, the only question I have is what happens if you put the REST FDO provider in the backend, behind the Apache mod, and connect it to the front end of said mod. Does the Apache server disappear in a cloud of recursive smoke? :)


Traian

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email] [mailto:mapguide-
> [hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jason Birch
> Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 4:25 PM
> To: FDO Internals Mail List; MapGuide Internals Mail List
> Subject: RE: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST
> Extension
>
> Bob wrote:
>
> > I don't want to see FDO dependencies in the web-tier for example,
> that
> > would be  a serious implementation problem IMO.
>
> I agree that the version of this module that is distributed with the
> MapGuide web tier should not have a direct dependency on FDO; access
> should through the feature service.  However, I also want to keep this
> code as flexible as possible.
>
> For instance, I would eventually like to see a version that doesn't
> require a full MapGuide webserverextensions install for a light-weight
> IIS/Apache module (or maybe something lighter) on a dedicated REST
> server.
>
> I would also eventually like to see a version that allows direct
> RESTful access to HTTP and FDO data sources without the complexity and
> management overhead of a full MapGuide Server install.  Something
> similar to FeatureServer.org.  This would enable quick-win data serving
> for organisations that just want to use something like a Google Maps
> front end.
>
> Jason
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Robert Bray
> Sent: Sat 2009-02-14 11:36 AM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
> Subject: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST
> Extension
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

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[Jason Birch]

Good question....
 
If you ask Haris nicely, maybe he'll give you a copy of his REST provider to test with.  Be careful though; nobody knows what this would do WRT hadron cohesion.  I wouldn't want to be close to your computer when start httpd...
 
Jason

________________________________

From: Traian Stanev
Subject: RE: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension



You can have FDO on the server side (backing an Apache REST mod) and an FDO provider for REST that can consume the RESTful data server by the server.

Then, the only question I have is what happens if you put the REST FDO provider in the backend, behind the Apache mod, and connect it to the front end of said mod. Does the Apache server disappear in a cloud of recursive smoke? :)

Traian




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[Robert Bray-2]

For me I would like to keep core services in the server and have the
web-tier supply a number of interfaces to those core services. Adding FDO to
the web-tier would blur this significantly. Also it in would mean the web
tier would need to have configuration for data connections, connection
pooling, joins, calculated fields, and a whole host of other things that the
server already does. Why have that in two places?

Bob


----- Original Message -----
From: "Haris Kurtagic" <[hidden email]>
To: "FDO Internals Mail List" <[hidden email]>; "MapGuide
Internals Mail List" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 2:10 PM
Subject: RE: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST
Extension

> Bob,
> Currently REST can get data in two ways: using MapGuide feature service
> (in same way as standard web extension) or using http to fetch data.
> To me, idea of being able to directly access data using FDO looks useful
> too.
> I am curious, why you think that would be a problem ?
>
> Haris
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Robert Bray
> Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 8:37 PM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
> Subject: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST
> Extension
>
> Jason,
>
>>From what I can see I think the public face of the extension is very
> promising. I am just curious about how it all maps to resources and
> server
> APIs under the hood, but I guess I can wait a few weeks to get a peek at
>
> that. I don't want to see FDO dependencies in the web-tier for example,
> that
> would be  a serious implementation problem IMO.
>
> Bob
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jason Birch" <[hidden email]>
> To: "MapGuide Internals Mail List" <[hidden email]>;
>
> <[hidden email]>
> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 5:32 PM
> Subject: RE: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension
>
>
>> No source code for you!
>>
>> :)
>>
>> Seriously, the extent of the work that Haris is doing rewriting the
> code
>> and configuration syntax mean that sharing what I'm using right now
>> would be counterproductive.  He's indicated that he should have
>> something available to show within a couple weeks; we'll make sure to
>> post here when it's available.
>>
>> If there's anything wrong with the public REST implementation (rather
>> than the back end) please let us know ASAP so that changes can be
>> incorporated into the rewrite.
>>
>> Jason
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Robert Bray
>> Sent: February-13-09 4:22 PM
>> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
>> Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension
>>
>> Jason,
>>
>> Generally speaking I like what I see here. Very simple, elegant, and
>> powerful. To get a better understanding of how this works, I'd like to
>> see
>> two things:
>>
>> * The source code.
>> * An example and/or document that describes the configuration file.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Bob
>> _______________________________________________
>> mapguide-internals mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
>
> _______________________________________________
> fdo-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/fdo-internals
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals 

_______________________________________________
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[hidden email]
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[Haris Kurtagic]

I agree, in case when there would be MG server installed you would want
to go trough MG to access data.

I am interested of having http and fdo access to data without MG server
because I see many use cases for it.
To publish data in html from fdo source, create html form to search
data, enable google search on it, publish it via kml,... we would not
need MG server functionalities.

Haris

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Robert Bray
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 9:25 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; FDO Internals Mail List
Subject: Re: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST
Extension

For me I would like to keep core services in the server and have the
web-tier supply a number of interfaces to those core services. Adding
FDO to
the web-tier would blur this significantly. Also it in would mean the
web
tier would need to have configuration for data connections, connection
pooling, joins, calculated fields, and a whole host of other things that
the
server already does. Why have that in two places?

Bob


----- Original Message -----
From: "Haris Kurtagic" <[hidden email]>
To: "FDO Internals Mail List" <[hidden email]>; "MapGuide

Internals Mail List" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 2:10 PM
Subject: RE: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST
Extension


> Bob,
> Currently REST can get data in two ways: using MapGuide feature
service
> (in same way as standard web extension) or using http to fetch data.
> To me, idea of being able to directly access data using FDO looks
useful
> too.
> I am curious, why you think that would be a problem ?
>
> Haris
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Robert
Bray

> Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 8:37 PM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
> Subject: [fdo-internals] Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST
> Extension
>
> Jason,
>
>>From what I can see I think the public face of the extension is very
> promising. I am just curious about how it all maps to resources and
> server
> APIs under the hood, but I guess I can wait a few weeks to get a peek

at
>
> that. I don't want to see FDO dependencies in the web-tier for
example,
> that
> would be  a serious implementation problem IMO.
>
> Bob
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jason Birch" <[hidden email]>
> To: "MapGuide Internals Mail List"
<[hidden email]>;

>
> <[hidden email]>
> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 5:32 PM
> Subject: RE: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension
>
>
>> No source code for you!
>>
>> :)
>>
>> Seriously, the extent of the work that Haris is doing rewriting the
> code
>> and configuration syntax mean that sharing what I'm using right now
>> would be counterproductive.  He's indicated that he should have
>> something available to show within a couple weeks; we'll make sure to
>> post here when it's available.
>>
>> If there's anything wrong with the public REST implementation (rather
>> than the back end) please let us know ASAP so that changes can be
>> incorporated into the rewrite.
>>
>> Jason
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Robert Bray
>> Sent: February-13-09 4:22 PM
>> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; [hidden email]
>> Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide REST Extension
>>
>> Jason,
>>
>> Generally speaking I like what I see here. Very simple, elegant, and
>> powerful. To get a better understanding of how this works, I'd like

to

>> see
>> two things:
>>
>> * The source code.
>> * An example and/or document that describes the configuration file.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Bob
>> _______________________________________________
>> mapguide-internals mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
>
> _______________________________________________
> fdo-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/fdo-internals
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals 

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