Scripting in GIS applications: experimental standards-based framework for perl

  • Authors:

  • Alexandre Sorokine;Kurt Ackermann

  • Affiliations:

  • Regional Science Institute, 4-13 Kita-24 Nishi-2 Kita-ku, Sapporo 001-0024 Japan;Regional Science Institute, 4-13 Kita-24 Nishi-2 Kita-ku, Sapporo 001-0024 Japan

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 8th ACM international symposium on Advances in geographic information systems
  • Year:
  • 2000

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Abstract

Scripting languages have long been utilized by GIS application developers to achieve higher levels of programming and shorter development times. Modern general-purpose scripting languages — like Tcl/Tk, Perl or Python — allow the smooth integration of various software components, while at the same time providing rich programming capabilities. Increases in processor speed and the development of industry-wide standards are removing obstacles to the proliferation of universal scripting languages in GIS applications.This paper examines the feasibility, architecture and early results of the building of a framework of object-oriented modules for Perl that is designed to provide uniform access to various sources of spatial data from Perl scripts. The framework is independent of any particular GIS application and thus based on the object model detailed in the Abstract Specification by The OpenGIS Consortium. The framework is intended to be used for rapid application development, gluing various software components together and prototyping.