Kartograph

Thank you Khurram!

I read through all your points and I think I have most of them covered. I have the incentive, the hardware (sort of), the software and the know-how (except for a bit of time).

Just wanted to clarify your last point on not trying to reinvent the wheel. Could you please elaborate what you were exactly referring to? I started creating my databases from scratch and am currently modifying their models to give them more geometric properties so that I am able to add more features in the future. Am I redoing anything that is already available easily on the web or elsewhere?

I have already mentioned my first and foremost target for the map before, and it is the availability of a complete map server that can deliver custom maps. It will demanded more than any other format since very few people in Pakistan even know what a GPS is.

If you can, do give me an email address I could use to communicate with you further.

Thanks!

Right you are, Khurram.

There are several companies with those maps, and like you said, that data is carefully guarded, reason being that the Surveryor General of Pakistan is the only authority which can create and distribute any such digital maps, and any other party who wishes to do the same has to be given permission by it. None of that data is available to individuals. I already followed up on that last year having talked to numerous government and private companies in every GIS-related sector, all of which refused to share any maps. It's not the people who run those companies, for all of them went beyond their ways to help me out, but the obligations they have been put in by the GSP.

So yes, I am reinventing the wheel, and it will be of the same or better standards to the ones already in existence. I hope to make it as usuable and as widely available as possible.

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There are some things keeping me this month. Hopefully by the end of it I would have a running map server.

Right you are again, Khurram.

Like I said before, I have a severe lack of time this month due the end semester exams. They end on the 30th.

I will be using ArcIMS hopefully due to its native support for ArcGIS databases. Haven't completed everything, but inshAllah expect that to be done soon.

By hardware, yes I meant a GPS as well as extra machines for the server and machine parts to increase the performance of the PC I will be using since ArcGIS in itself is the largest Windows COM software in the world, quite a resource hog, with the burden of the large satellite images.

Yes, I considered the accuracy of the GPS I borrowed. I expect it to be ~ 5m. Consumer-level GPS give only that much accuracy and anything better would require quite a lot of money (in Pakistan, if its available).

Getting a team and website is there on my list, but like I said, I need time. I can understand your enthusiasm. I have been at it for a year now and expect myself to have released a final product by now too, so I share your feelings. I shall post more details later.

The mapping server would be a separate machine requiring a dedicated connection to the internet, ofcourse. All customised mapping servers do.

ArcIMS, yes, is expensive. I got my copy through a torrent. And nope, haven't considered any legal ramifications. It won't be a commercial venture, so if there's any sign of problem anyway, the data's compatible, and all I have to do is switch platforms.

I don't have my own GPS. The one I borrowed was a ... err... don't remember. A rather simple BlueTooth GPS, but didn't have any of those brand names on it.

Have you ever been actively involved in a similar project, Khurram? Would love to learn from your experience!

Thanks for wishing me luck. Half-way through, yet, another week to go.