The GeoAPI Standard Working Group (SWG) aims to create the GeoAPI 3.0 Standard which will define a set of Java language interfaces along with an associated test suite, to provide a standardized, programming language level realization of some core OGC specifications. These interfaces will facilitate the creation of accurate, coherent, interoperable, and verifiable implementations of those OGC standards.
The GeoAPI SWG Standard will propose the candidate GeoAPI 3.0 Standard, along with the Java language interfaces described by the standard, and an associated test suite which can be run against any implementation of the interfaces.
The candidate GeoAPI 3.0 standard will explain the work, document the interfaces and explain the rationale for all the deviations from the OGC Standards.
The Java interfaces described in the GeoAPI 3.0 standard will cover the following OGC standards:
This work is not expected to cover all OGC standards.
A reference implementation of the interfaces will exist but will not be part of the work of this SWG.
Existing work by the GeoAPI project (http://www.geoapi.org), will be taken as a starting point. Specifically, the Standard will only include the most stable interfaces of the GeoAPI project, for which a reliable reference implementation exists and there is at least one other implementation.
This work emerges from the earlier OGC standard OpenGIS Geographic Objects Implementation Specification version 1.0.0 (03-064r10) by re-using the non graphical elements of that earlier work. This earlier specification defined GeoAPI 2.0.
The work of the SWG will be completed when the candidate specification has been proposed to the working group, all comments to that specification have been addressed, and a final revision has been accepted by the SWG and approved by the OGC technical committee.
The GeoAPI 3.0 SWG will produce a standards document, a set of Java language interfaces and a test suite through which groups implementing the Java interfaces can test their implementation.
Since the work merely re-interprets other OGC specifications, it is not anticipated that the work of the SWG would include any work which could be subject to trademark or patents.
The Java language interfaces and test suite will be distributed with OGC copyright under one of the following license, to be determined by the working group:
The code interfaces produced by this working group should be useful to any group implementing OGC standards using the Java language, or any users of those implementations.
It is expected that the deliberations of this working group will be followed mostly by those who aim to create the above implementations.
This work overlaps the work of the Architecture working group to the extent that this effort aims to develop a coherent definition of all OGC standards. Any issues in harmonization which arrives in the course of this working group's discussions will be brought to the attention of the Architecture group for resolution.
The GeoAPI interfaces also aims to work harmoniously with the standard Java library. Where necessary for smooth integration with the Java language, the GeoAPI interfaces favor the Java models.
The SWG has not yet met. There have been a series of meetings by the GeoAPI ad-hoc working group which have prepared the work for this SWG.
The following contributors (listed in alphabetical order) are interested by this proposal:
| Person | Organization |
|---|---|
| Rob Atkinson | CSRIO (Australia) |
| Adrian Custer | Geomatys (France) |
| Martin Desruisseaux | Geomatys (France) |
| Jérôme Gaspéri | CNES (France) |
| Gilles Gesquière | LSIS (France) |
| Max Martinez | ERDAS |
| Emmanuel Séguin | IGN (France) |
The SWG is expected to continue meetings for expanding this work on the initial standard to develop future revisions of the standard. A first set of expansions will lead to Java language realizations of all the core OGC specifications such as OGC Abstract Topic 6 - Schema for coverage geometry and functions, OGC Abstract Topic 1: Feature geometry, and OGC Abstract Topic 5: Features. Subsequent revisions may expand this work to the OGC Web Services specifications or to other programming languages.