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GEOSS Data Core

Conventions used in SAEOSS and SAEON Shared Platform in respect of online resources

The GEOSS Data Core meta-data records available from SAEOSS and SAEON contain links to automated, publicly available data services that users can access. Some of the online links are subject to internal conventions that users should be aware of:

  1. Our Web Map Servers typically contain hundreds of layers, each with one or more styles. Hence it is not helpful to end users if we provide a link only to the WMS/ WFS. We have implemented a convention that includes the layer - but this URL might not resolve on its own. The typical syntax for this is described below.
  2. Some meta-data records point to more than one online resource. Because of limitations of how the meta-data was created, this is currently non-standard, but relative easy to resolve.

 

Convention 1: Layer Pointer and WMS

 

In this convention, we point to a WMS and a layer within it, defining the layer by way of a query string parameter DEFLAYER (default layer). Example:

http://app01.saeon.ac.za:8080/geoserver/wms&DEFLAYER=DWA_shp:mainstemsk-ll

This can be resolved by

  • Stripping or ignoring the DEFLAYER argument and requesting GetCapabilities for the WMS itself;
  • Processing DEFLAYER and the WMS URL in your own process or client software;
  • Using SAEOSS/ SAEON Shared Platform components to resolve it for you, as shown below. In this instance, download facilities are also provided if needed.

http://app01.saeon.ac.za/PLATFORM_TEST/MAP/signature.asp?sources=http://app01.saeon.ac.za:8080/geoserver/wms&DEFLAYER=DWA_shp:mainstemsk-ll

 

Convention 2: Multiple References

 

In some cases, the way in which meta-data is created leads to a convention for referencing multiple online resources - this will be made standard in the near future. Example of such a situation:

'http://app01.saeon.ac.za:8082/geoserver/wms&DEFLAYER=BEEH_grid:koppen','http://sarva.dirisa.org/resources/documents/beeh/Section 03.3 Clim Zones.pdf'

This is essentially a delimited array, and each of these point to a specific online resource - in this case a WMS/ LAYER resource such as described in Convention 1, as well as a n online document that describes the data set.

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