Using the Internet to Access Geographic Information: An Open GIS Interface Prototype

Interfaces to access geographic data can be designed in a number of ways. When the design takes into consideration interoperability concerns, the software’s architecture becomes one of the main issues. In the interfaces that intend to be interoperable, the design often includes a module that is responsible for the interaction with the user, and another which implements the connection to the GIS. The distribution of tasks between the user interface and the connection module will be discussed here. The design of an interface that allows the user to gain access to geographic data stored in one or more GIS, using the Internet as a communications medium, will be proposed as an alternative.