**5. Walkthrough of GeoMeeting prototypes**

This section explains functionality requirements and enabling technologies of three GeoMeeting prototype's design.

## **5.1. GeoMeetingV1**

#### *5.1.1. Key features*

• Construction and installation of GeoMeeting prototype, a Web-based client-server architec-

• Through the use of any browser like Chrome, Opera, Internet Explorer, or Firefox, GeoMeeting prototype provides the opportunity of easy accessibility of the main interface

• Online map sharing application is depicted using open source technologies, APIs and programming languages like Flex SDK, MXML, Adobe blaze DS, Java Script, Action Script,

• GeoMeeting application is considered extremely useful during collaborating decisionaimed events such as emergency response, disaster management, and urban planning

GeoMeeting has myriad of capabilities but its operational status is still in its progressive stage.

The upcoming section's discussions are based on the execution of different versions associ-

This section explains functionality requirements and enabling technologies of three GeoMeeting

ture, is very easy; we just need to plug and play.

**Figure 10.** Conceptual architecture of the GeoMeeting system.

ated with the GeoMeeting prototype development.

**5. Walkthrough of GeoMeeting prototypes**

activities because GeoMeeting is a live conference technology.

**Figure 10** demonstrates a conceptual architecture of the GeoMeeting system.

of a prototype to the users.

22 Trends in Geomatics - An Earth Science Perspective

and open layer API, etc.

prototype's design.

Participants may visit the log-on page for GeoMeeting using a standard Web browser such as Mozilla Firefox 13+. Once the log-on page is displayed, the person can enter a user name and connect the GeoMeeting environment. After the meeting session is entrenched, the GeoMeeting elements will charge its default interface as shown in **Figure 11**.

Depending on your connection speed, the loading of Web services from different sources may take only a few minutes or sometimes take few seconds. The GeoMeeting component provides the following key functions: *Caption A* illustrates two pointers. Black pointer will activate the geo-referenced pointer on the GeoMeeting component that has a means of "gesturing" at the map to other participants and helps in highlighting an study area issue which can be seen by all participants on a real-time basis, whereas the white pointer will deactivate the pointer on the GeoMeeting component to other participants who can be useful for single user/moderator work. All participants map will relocate as of the moderator, and participants can have discussions over there. *Caption B* illustrates a search toolbar. Search option provides the way to find a specific place of interest. The textual/graphical comments may be included at a see-through map layer and act as a shared whiteboard. The features can be in the configuration of points, lines, and polygons. These configurations are geo-referenced which means that they will be scaled as the map display is zoomed and extent which show outcomes in no misrepresentation of the configuration. The geo-referencing toolbar is constructed for the purpose to show the real-time supportive geo-referenced based configuration on map. The annotation tools are

**Figure 11.** GeoMeeting interface.

organized in a toolbar. To use the annotation tools, click on the appropriate icon on the toolbar and then click on a location on the map or map feature. Add a point, draw a line or draw a polygon. *Caption C* illustrates the textual/graphical notations. A standard toolbar is provided with map zoom-in, zoom-out, and pan functions as shown in *Caption D*. This is basically a typical control in real-time map sharing environment, which allows the user to scroll curser for zooming, left or double-clicks the left mouse button for re-centering the map image to the area where you double-click on the map. *Caption E* is a base layer switcher which is represented by giving and allowing participants to switch between different base maps and including maps given by any Web Map Services (WMS), Open Layer, and the Open Street map layers recording textual and graphical configuration. *Caption F* represents the real-time chatting; it allows any participant in the meeting session to exchange textual information. Chat window panel is developed for sending and receiving messages to other people, as though they are all in the same room, looking at the same map view. In other words, it provides a way for adding remarks linked with the spatial context. The list of participants attending the meeting session is provided through an embedded window panel, shown in a *caption G*. The big down-side blue arrow is used to hide/display the real-time chatting and participants list interface.

programming language which saves different type of codes in it. Map chat panel and user list are all in different div's and all in the specific percentage, i.e., 100%; when we center align, the flash div's does not visualize the map, chat, and user panel properly. Its solution is sorted out in GeoMeeting V2 by assigning pixel value to chat, and users list div same as of map div in order to visualize it properly. Editing toolbar is used for the demarcation of point, line, and polygon, and a hand tool is used for map panning. Initially, it creates a problem as we select any of them (point, line, polygon, and hand) it did not select properly. In fact, the map container (window) was placed over the editing toolbar, that is why it was creating a problem. As a solution, the editing toolbar's z-axis position was changed (by increasing its z-index value) on the map so that selection of the editing tools can be developed properly and easily. Another issue in the GeoMeeting V1 is that when tools are selected from the editing toolbar and we draw any feature on a map it was not drawn correctly. Many times elements got stuck with the map panel and not allowed it to draw. At the time of development, this issue was seen because of the conflict in different versions launched at different timings. As a solution, old version 2.10 open layer library was replaced with version 2.12 until it was identified and detached from the open layer libraries.

Architectural Design and Prototyping of Co-PPGIS: A Groupware-Based Online Synchronous…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80091

25

**6. Using mock-up case scenarios illustration of the prototype:** 

**activities**

**GeoMeeting implementation in planning and management related** 

**6.1. Scenario 1: GeoMeeting: how well municipalities are meeting the need for parks**

As parks are crucial to communities, because parks provide opportunities to people or public for exercise and experience nature which are paramount for physical and mental well-being of humans, it helps in revitalizing local economies; so there is a dire need to estimate park areas and raise municipality residents' living standards. For recognition and generation of easy access to basic essentials of life, such as national parks, green infrastructure, recreation, etc., Government bodies are primarily accountable or answerable because they maintained the available park data but they are not sufficient to fulfill the challenges of data handling and sharing. Therefore, a Web-based GeoMeeting system has been launched to handle and share real-time data, support cooperative meeting sessions at regular intervals, and provide a set of tools like point that helps to recognize park areas and unrevealed base map information about the infrastructure. Video- or audio-based map sharing and Geo-teleconference have been made easy for decision makers to make a decision quickly. Every sort of editing, made by presenter, associated to park marking, will be displayed to all users simultaneously for collaborative decision-making. The presenter can spot a place, add comments, and interpret information related to: park access analysis at city level, complete information and data about every city park, identifying the areas where need of parks is most essential, and recognizing which improvements would provide the greatest advantage to local park system. This sort of

GeoMeeting prototype has been used in myriad different fields of studies like public security, crime mapping, disaster occurrences, layout frameworks for preparedness and emergency responses during a disaster, environmental and resources and local government. The section below is comprised of the demonstration of some points using the scenario-based discussion (i.e., the instances come from incidents or cases developed in different regions of the world).

### *5.1.2. Technology*

Prototype Web client interface is executed in JavaScript, Adobe Flex, and Action Script. The clients communicate with each other with the application server which is known as Tomcat and real-time messaging server which is Blazeds using a typical set of protocols, i.e., HTTP. The construction of this GeoMeetingV1 makes use of the following technologies such as Web servers (Tomcat), Web map server and tools (GeoServer), Server-side programming (MXML), Client side programming (HTML, JavaScript, Dynamic HTML, ActionScript), Realtime Messaging Server (BlazeDS), and APIs: Google map API V2 and Open layer.

#### *5.1.3. Discussion*

The GeoMeeting elements are basically the technological breakthrough in the field of geo-information management. The GeoMeeting is an evolution of map sharing component built previously based on collaborative PPGIS framework, which supports innovative map sharing component technology for better decision-making. There are some issues that need to be addressed and minimized in the upcoming versions of the advanced prototype. At first step, the mouse pointer was used with pixel value that uses screen coordinates for movement of pointer on a map element. But, when it comes to higher or lower resolution, the technique of pointer displays a wrong geographic area. This issue was resolved by justifying the map panel to be left aligned as the problem remained same in center and right alignment, the screen coordinates to initialize from a top-left corner which will be same in all screen sizes, but another problem arises that when mapsharing component was left aligned and displayed on a bigger screen, there is a lot of vacant/empty white space generated on the right-hand side of the screen. This issue will be resolved in the GeoMeeting V2 in which the mouse pointer is synchronized with map coordinates transformation technique instead of using screen coordinates, and participants get the same geographic area as of the moderator.

To make the interface eye catching, the map should be center aligned, but when we center align the map, flash div was moving toward a problem. Flash div is just like a receptacle in the programming language which saves different type of codes in it. Map chat panel and user list are all in different div's and all in the specific percentage, i.e., 100%; when we center align, the flash div's does not visualize the map, chat, and user panel properly. Its solution is sorted out in GeoMeeting V2 by assigning pixel value to chat, and users list div same as of map div in order to visualize it properly. Editing toolbar is used for the demarcation of point, line, and polygon, and a hand tool is used for map panning. Initially, it creates a problem as we select any of them (point, line, polygon, and hand) it did not select properly. In fact, the map container (window) was placed over the editing toolbar, that is why it was creating a problem. As a solution, the editing toolbar's z-axis position was changed (by increasing its z-index value) on the map so that selection of the editing tools can be developed properly and easily. Another issue in the GeoMeeting V1 is that when tools are selected from the editing toolbar and we draw any feature on a map it was not drawn correctly. Many times elements got stuck with the map panel and not allowed it to draw. At the time of development, this issue was seen because of the conflict in different versions launched at different timings. As a solution, old version 2.10 open layer library was replaced with version 2.12 until it was identified and detached from the open layer libraries.

organized in a toolbar. To use the annotation tools, click on the appropriate icon on the toolbar and then click on a location on the map or map feature. Add a point, draw a line or draw a polygon. *Caption C* illustrates the textual/graphical notations. A standard toolbar is provided with map zoom-in, zoom-out, and pan functions as shown in *Caption D*. This is basically a typical control in real-time map sharing environment, which allows the user to scroll curser for zooming, left or double-clicks the left mouse button for re-centering the map image to the area where you double-click on the map. *Caption E* is a base layer switcher which is represented by giving and allowing participants to switch between different base maps and including maps given by any Web Map Services (WMS), Open Layer, and the Open Street map layers recording textual and graphical configuration. *Caption F* represents the real-time chatting; it allows any participant in the meeting session to exchange textual information. Chat window panel is developed for sending and receiving messages to other people, as though they are all in the same room, looking at the same map view. In other words, it provides a way for adding remarks linked with the spatial context. The list of participants attending the meeting session is provided through an embedded window panel, shown in a *caption G*. The big down-side

blue arrow is used to hide/display the real-time chatting and participants list interface.

time Messaging Server (BlazeDS), and APIs: Google map API V2 and Open layer.

Prototype Web client interface is executed in JavaScript, Adobe Flex, and Action Script. The clients communicate with each other with the application server which is known as Tomcat and real-time messaging server which is Blazeds using a typical set of protocols, i.e., HTTP. The construction of this GeoMeetingV1 makes use of the following technologies such as Web servers (Tomcat), Web map server and tools (GeoServer), Server-side programming (MXML), Client side programming (HTML, JavaScript, Dynamic HTML, ActionScript), Real-

The GeoMeeting elements are basically the technological breakthrough in the field of geo-information management. The GeoMeeting is an evolution of map sharing component built previously based on collaborative PPGIS framework, which supports innovative map sharing component technology for better decision-making. There are some issues that need to be addressed and minimized in the upcoming versions of the advanced prototype. At first step, the mouse pointer was used with pixel value that uses screen coordinates for movement of pointer on a map element. But, when it comes to higher or lower resolution, the technique of pointer displays a wrong geographic area. This issue was resolved by justifying the map panel to be left aligned as the problem remained same in center and right alignment, the screen coordinates to initialize from a top-left corner which will be same in all screen sizes, but another problem arises that when mapsharing component was left aligned and displayed on a bigger screen, there is a lot of vacant/empty white space generated on the right-hand side of the screen. This issue will be resolved in the GeoMeeting V2 in which the mouse pointer is synchronized with map coordinates transformation technique instead of using screen coordinates, and participants get the same geographic area

To make the interface eye catching, the map should be center aligned, but when we center align the map, flash div was moving toward a problem. Flash div is just like a receptacle in the

*5.1.2. Technology*

24 Trends in Geomatics - An Earth Science Perspective

*5.1.3. Discussion*

as of the moderator.
