Smallworld in iPad (Part 2)

Paul Meester from Realworld (http://www.realworld-systems.com/ - Booths 8,9 & 10 @ Smallworld EMEAI) pointed out to me that a trend in Smallworld-on-tablet development is moving towards using Smallworld GSS as the server solution. The tablet client can then be developed as a web page that uses Smallworld data served by GSS.

Realworld has an iPad demo at their booth. If you haven't caught the demo this week at the conference, then be sure to contact them after the conference.

Smallworld on iPad

Being a bit of an iPadphile, I couldn't help but notice that a few of the vendors at the Smallworld EMEAI 2011 Users Conference had iPad-based solutions.

breakoutimage (Booth 12) has an iPad app

ubisense (Booth 21) has a product, myWorld, that works on any web browser, but looks very nice on the iPad. Check out a picture of Peter wearing myWorld here.

If you know of other Smallworld-on-iOS apps out there, please let me know and I will amend this post.

SVG export from Smallworld

I met Robert Schweikert from SEPM at the Smallworld EMEAI Users Conference today. He told me about his X-Translator product. I was particularly interested in the SVG (scalable vector graphics) export format. While I know that various products have existed over the years that export Smallworld data to SVG, it was good to see that X-Translator handles that as well. You could use SVG to allow a user to have vector-based interaction with data in web browsers or other 3rd party readers. It looks very interesting and would be worthwhile for anyone who has an interest in improving user/data interaction to look at.

Please find Robert and ask him to show you what products he has to offer. If you don't know him, you can use the picture here to help you find him.

Check out MDT (Eclipse Plugin for Smallworld)

On Thursday, 12 May from 14:40-16:10 in the Doppler Hall, Astec will be presenting MDT (Magik Development Toolkit) in a session where they show a full end-to-end project workflow.

I have to admit that I haven't tried MDT for quite a few years. I tend to think of myself as someone that is quite content with Emacs. But some of the stuff I briefly saw at the Astec booth tonight at the SW EMEAI Users Conference piqued my interest and I plan to be a the workshop. I really like how they have integrated Mylyn context management, SVN and bugzilla to provide and easy way to manage development tasks within the IDE. I also heard that they will be demonstrating how to use the Eclipse UML modelling tools to generate Magik code. I can't wait to see that!

I wonder if the UML modelling can be extended to help visualize complex hierarchies like the configuration XML files in Smallworld?

See you at the demonstration on Thursday afternoon.

Presentations on Smallworld and Web Services

There are two interesting Smallworld-and-web-services presentations at the SWUG and Smallworld EMEAI Users Group meeting this week.

Both on Thursday, 12 May at 09:00

"OpenStreetMap und Co. im Smallworld GIS? Kein Problem mit der Smallworld GIS Integrationstechnologie" by Oliver Löken 09:00-09:25 in Europa Hall

"Business process automation – Do web services help" by Dr. Gillian Kendrick 09:00-09:40 Mozart Hall 4 & 5

Going to 2011 Smallworld EMEAI Users Conference

I am excited to announce that I will be attending the 2011 Smallworld EMEAI Users Conference in Salzburg, Austria this year. I will be there from 10-12 May. Last year in Noordwijk I was able to meet many people for the first time and I am looking forward to reconnecting in Salzburg. Additionally, this years Users Conference will be held in conjunction with the Smallorld User Group e.V. annual meeting so I will also get to practice my German... und darauf freue ich mich schon!

My main purpose in attending is to help promote my company's (iFactor Consulting) Web Maps Connector (WMC). Like last year, the good folks at Realworld Systems have offered me some space in their booth to run some WMC demonstrations. I am looking forward to meeting with customers and resellers and plan to show support for some exciting new data vendors and formats. I will post more as the time draws closer.

I will be tweeting on hashtags #swgis and #swuc and encourage everyone else to do so as well.

Please come by the booth for a demo. If you are not interested in Web Maps Connector, please come visit anyways and we can talk about the Smallworld community, OpenStreetMap, cycling and even beekeeping :)

Bis bald!

Some cool geospatial events in Denver in the next year

There are some really exciting Geospatial events happening in and around Denver in the next year. While they are not strictly related to Smallworld, I think these would be great venues for spreading the word about Smallworld technology to a wide geospatial audience.

• WhereCamp5280 - November 19-20, 2010
• State of the Map 2011 - September 2011
• FOSS4G - September 12-16, 2011

At the Smallworld Americas User Conference in Baltimore this year, a GE-hosted forum discussed how Smallworld could gain exposure in the big world. I would like to suggest that one way to do this is to provide sponsorship for these events and get staff/partners to provide presentations for these events. At the very least, send observers.

PS. If you are travelling from out of state/country, you can attend the two September 2011 events in Denver, then spend a week travelling around the Rocky Mountain west and then travel over to Chicago for the Americas User Conference (September 25-29, 2011). What a great month that is going to be!

Smallworld Latin America Users Conference #swgis #swuc

I learned today that Smallworld will be hosting a Latin America Users Conference later this year. What a great idea! I likely won't be attending but would love to hear feedback from attendees. I'd be interested to see if Latin American attendees are more avid Tweeters. Please tweet on under #swuc. I guess now is a good time to get familiar with http://translate.google.com :)

Here is the announcement I received from Smallworld...

Please mark your calendars.

GE Energy will host a Smallworld Latin America Users Conference November 30-December 1 in São Paulo, Brazil.

The venue will be CENESP (Centro Empresarial de São Paulo) on Avenida Maria Coelho Aguiar 215 - Bloco G, 2nd Floor

v Join fellow customers, channels, third party companies related to our industry, and GE staff.

v Listen to industry presentations, case studies, and product announcements.

v Spend time at the Exhibition to learn about the latest software developments and innovations.

v Network and socialize with colleagues from across the Latin America.

v Simultaneous translations to be provided for Spanish and Portuguese.

Please RSVP to Denise Buciotti Coelho by phone +55 11 3067-8223 or email denise.coelho@ge.com.

Smallworld Twitter after the Conference #swuc #sworld

This year was the first year that the Smallworld Users conference was covered by Twitter. The turnout was fairly decent with the likes of @ifactor, @pmbatty, @mweisman, @JEJusticeJR, @mbfbsae90, @SafeSoftware, @cliffhangerSolu, @Fasterre, @aardvark179 and @boulderalf all posting from the conference.

I met an attendee at the conference who was very new to Magik/Smallworld. He mentioned that he had been watching the #swuc tweets to see what to expect leading up to the conference. Because this seems to be fairly new to the #sworld community, he couldn't get a good read on it. I am hopeful that this new communication medium will find its way into the Smallworld community in the next year.

By the way, I have started tweeting about all things Smallworld under the #sworld hashtag. It turns out that #smallworld has alot of other connotations on Twitter but #sworld has not yet been used.

What are advantages of Smallworld #swuc

At the "Smallworld Visibility Forum" today there was a question about "what does Smallworld do well and what doesn't it do well and has that been documented?" I thought that was an worthwhile question and was wondering if you have had exposure to other GIS systems to compare advantages/disadvantages of the systems?

For example...

1. I think wrapping the database records as objects in Magik provides for realistic real-world

modelling.

2. Long transaction support is still an industry leader.

3. External access to VMDS has a performance bottle neck in Magik.

I would love to read your comments pro/con in the comments of this blog. Or you can send me an e-mail directly. If there is a lot of response, I can set up a wiki page at http://www.gesmallworld.org that lists the advantages/disadvantages.

Using SQL from Magik against VMDS #swuc

At the Smallworld Users Conference yesterday, I heard someone ask when GE would provide an interface to write SQL from Magik against VMDS tables. It turns out that the functionality already exists. Here are some examples.

1. You can get a SQL prompt directly at the Magik prompt...

MagikSF> sql(gis_program_manager.cached_dataset(:gis))
$
SQL> SELECT name, address1 FROM hotel ORDER BY address1
$
Name                Address 1         

Acorn Guest House   154 Chesterton Road
Hamilton Lodge      156 Chesterton Road
De Freville House   166 Chesterton Road
Rosswill            17 Chesterton Road
Cam Guest House     17 Elizabeth Way  
Kirkwood House      172 Chesterton Road
All Seasons         219 Chesterton Road
Lyngamore           35 Chesterton Road
Suffolk House       69 Milton Road    
Southampton House   7 Elizabeth Way   
Ashley Hotel        74 Chesterton Road
Arundel House       Chesterton Road   
Gonville Hotel      Gonville Place    
Garden House        Granta Place      
University Arms     Regent Street     

15 record(s) selected
SQL> SQL> select count(*) from min_road
$
COUNT(*)

833     

1 record(s) selected
SQL> SQL>

NOTE: the sql() procedure is defined in module :sql2. You can load that module if your image doesn't have the sql() procedure loaded.

2. You can also use the sql2_parser object directly in your Magik code.
You can find out more by searching the Smallworld documentation for "SQL Support". To be clear, this is not the same as Smallworld's SQL Server image code. This is strictly related to writing SQL in Magik to query Smallworld tables.

I have never used this in code, but I suppose it could come in handy if you were more comfortable writing a SQL statement compared to writing a selection predicate. I'm curious to hear if anyone else uses this SQL functionality within Smallworld.

Smallworld and OpenStreetMap at #swuc

My presentation at the Smallworld Users Conference is titled "Let Other People Maintain Your Landbase (Without Having to Pay Them)". It could just as easily have been titled "Integrating OpenStreetMap with Smallworld".

I will be covering some options for how the utility can move out of the business of maintaining landbase. Most of the presentation will be an introduction to OpenStreetMap and how you might make use of that in your Smallworld applications. If you cannot make it to the presentation, let me know and I will send you the slides.

The presentation is on Friday, September 10 in Key Ballroom 3 from 3:45-4:25pm.

On Saturday, September 11, GE will be hosting a forum titled "Smallworld and the Big World". One of the agenda items is related to "open data". I will be attending that forum and hopefully actively participating in the "open data" bit. This forum will be in Key Ballroom 4 from 2:45-4:30pm.

See you in Baltimore! I am looking forward to meeting lots of people. Please stop by the iFactor booth and say hi.

Should you attend FME Users Exchange #swuc

If you are involved with moving data in or out of Smallworld I maintain that the most powerful way to do that is using Safe Software's FME product. If you are already using FME or if you are just wondering how FME can help you integrate Smallworld data with other data formats, I recommend that you attend the FME Users Exchange on Thursday, September 9 from 1pm-4pm in Baltimore at the site of the Smallworld Americas 2010 Users Conference.

There will be great presentations by customers, GE and Safe representatives. I will be presenting on how to enhance your GE FME-Smallworld Magik interface to let you do things like updating and deleting records and also creating Smallworld joins via FME.

As a bit of a trailer, here is a 5 minute video that highlights some of the items I will be presenting in more detail (video: http://bit.ly/ainbzt)

You can see my prioritized presentation points here: http://bit.ly/9nFvkd

Sign up for the FME Users Exchange at #swuc

The Smallworld-FME Users Exchange is happening at the Smallworld Americas Users Conference in Baltimore, MD this next Thursday, September 9 from 1:00-4:00pm. It will be in the Key Ballroom 4, Hilton Ballroom. If you are a Smallworld/FME user, I would highly recommend that you attend this event. There will be a customer case study, some best practices and demos and also a product roadmap presentation from GE.

You can find out more information about it here: http://bit.ly/cvok0h

#FME Users Exchange at #swuc topics

The FME Users Exchange at the 2010 Smallworld Users Conference will take place in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday, September 9 from 1pm to 4pm (EDT). You can read more details of the agenda at http://bit.ly/cvok0h.

I will be presenting a section on "Best Practices: Tweaking FME-Magik code to improve your FME experience in Smallworld". It turns out that I have more material to cover than the approximately 30 minutes allotted to me. So in the spirit of conference collaboration, I thought I would put all my proposed topics up for a vote. The topics with the most votes get moved to the top of my presentation list. The ones with the least votes get used as filler at the end :)

Please vote on the topics here http://bit.ly/9nFvkd ( you are also welcome to add your own topics).

See you in Baltimore!

Promote your #SWUC 2010 items here

When I attend Smallworld Users Conferences, I typically don't get around to all the booths because I get busy with other things. So I usually feel like I have missed some good demonstrations and presentations by the time the conference is done. So I thought that it would be helpful for the various Smallworld vendors/exhibitors/presenters to promote what they were planning to share at the conference.

So here's my idea.

1. Get your Twitter account going (if you don't already have one)

2. start posting short tidbits about what you are planning for the conference. Be sure that you use the hashtag #swuc.

From now until the conference, I will keep a dynamic Twitter feed on that hashtag running at the top of this blog. This will be a way for us to get Smallworld-related commercial content onto this blog without anyone having to receive them in their RSS readers or inboxes. Come back to this blog often to see the latest updates. Or you can browse to #swuc to see the results on the Twitter search page. You could embed the Twitter search results in your own blog or company web page as well to spread the love.

I would love to see posts about stuff like:

• will you be attending?
• what demos you will give at your booth
• if you don't have a booth, say that you will be representing your company anyways and would love to meet with customers (tell them which bar to meet you at)
• presentations you will be doing or are interested in
• thoughts on trends/topics at the conference

I'm thinking that a lively contribution stream will make the conference that much more interesting. And if for no other reason, please post so that it doesn't become just an iFactor Consulting promotion stream :)

Smallworld and the Big World #swuc

Recently the organizers for the Smallworld Americas Users Conference sent out an e-mail related to booking your exhibit booth. If you saw the subject line and ignored the e-mail (maybe because you are not a vendor), you would have missed a significant announcement. I have copied the announcement here in case you missed it...

====begin announcement====

This year we are introducing a new session on the agenda that may interest you…it is open to all attendees including customers, partners, and GE staff:

Smallworld and the Big World – Saturday September 11th 2:45-4:30pm, with a 15 minute break at 3:30

After a week of concentrating on products and applications within the Smallworld community, we’d like to shift the focus outside: how we relate to the bigger world.

This session is an open forum to discuss things like:

· visibility (making Smallworld and MapFrame more visible in the geospatial arena)

· standards (OGC and others)

· policy (stimulus, other government actions)

· technology trends (smart phones, neo-geo, social networking)

· organizations (sources of information and influence).

====end announcement====

I particularly am interested in the "technology trends" item. I have started doing work with integrating OpenStreetMap (neo-geo) with Smallworld (paleo-geo?) and now seeing that GE is going to have a forum about that is very encouraging. My presentation on OSM and Smallworld integration is currently scheduled for the same time as the open forum, but I am trying to get the time changed so I can be part of the forum as well.

I also see that they want to discuss social networking. In a past blog I have suggested that conference attendees try tweeting about all things conference-related under the hashtag #swuc. I think the amount of traffic on that hashtag could be gauge of how much the Smallworld community is already into this technology trend.

Could GE encourage their attending employees to start tweeting/blogging about conference proceedings? That would be very encouraging.

Exciting things happening in the Smallworld realm!

Smallworld and OpenStreetMap #swuc

Lately I have become very interested in the possibilities of integrating data from http://www.openstreetmap.org (aka OSM) with Smallworld. You can find out more about the mission of OSM at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org, but in summary…

“OpenStreetMap creates and provides free geographic data such as street maps to anyone who wants them. The project was started because most maps you think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, holding back people from using them in creative, productive, or unexpected ways.” (http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Think of OSM as Wikipedia but on a world-wide geographic database. I am presenting at this year’s Smallworld Americas Users Conference in September a presentation entitled “Let other people maintain your landbase (without having to pay them)”. It will be a discussion of some options available to Smallworld users to get out of the landbase maintenance business. Most of it will be centered around OpenStreetMap and how you can integrate that freely available data as a Smallworld data layer (both raster and vector data). The session will be in the last time slot of the conference on Saturday, so if you are interested in the topic but cannot attend the presentation, please let me know and I will send you the slides.

As an example of OSM data, if you are a utility that has Bakersfield, California, USA in your service area, have a look at this link http://osm.org/go/TY4w8rXaV- This is the OSM data that is available for this area. If you read the attribution on the features in this view, you can see that someone got the data from the City of Bakersfield GIS download site. You don’t get that kind of building detail (even individual trees!) from Bing or Google. Although if you do integrate aerial imagery into Smallworld you could just see the building profiles. But if you are testing the viability of integrating external datasets with your Smallworld environment, you might want to consider OSM. The price is right and the data quality/quantity keeps increasing. The beauty of OSM data is that if you know that some data is missing or incorrect in the map, you can make edits to the database yourself and the changes will be available on the map within an hour or two. That kind of turn-around is not available from most other data vendors. Clearly there are trade-offs between using OSM vs. Bing/Navteq/TeleAtlas but that is what I hope to cover in my presentation.

If anyone has questions about how OSM could be integrated into their Smallworld database, please let me know.

Smallworld Americas Users Conference #swuc

The 2010 Smallworld Americas Users Conference is coming up soon (September 8-11, 2010). You can read more about it here. An important thing to note is that the order as well as the start day are different compared to previous North American Smallworld Users Conferences:

• Training sessions occur on Wednesday and Thursday (September 8 and 9)
• The opening Cocktail Reception and first Technology Showcase Exhibition is on Thursday night.
• Opening session and workshops start on Friday morning and finish on Saturday afternoon.

So this year there is 1 less day of workshops than in other recent North American Smallworld Users Conference. So now there is no excuse for anyone to leave early :)

Twitter alert!!! If you will be sending tweets about/from the conference, I suggest that you use the hash tag #swuc

Here is why I will be using Twitter at the conference:

• coordinating information technical meetups. (Kind of like an informal unconference)
• provide commentary about workshops. Hopefully if enough other people send tweets, I can find out what is happening in workshops that I am unable to attend
• reach out to new attendees and international guests. The Smallworld Users Conference is a great way to network and get caught up with friends and colleagues from years gone by. Unfortunately, if you are new to the Smallworld community in North America you might find it more difficult to access this great network. Using a well-known channel such as Twitter will allow anyone to post questions/answers related to the conference during the conference.

I'm curious to see how this will take. I have had great experiences with this kind of approach at other conferences. I imagine there could be benefits to the Smallworld Conference attendees as well.

See you in September!

Going to 2010 Smallworld EMEAI Users Conference

I am very excited to announce that I will be attending the 2010 Smallworld EMEAI Users Conference in Noordwijk, The Netherlands this March. I have been to quite a few Smallworld Users Conferences in the Americas but never in EMEAI. For those of you not familiar with the acronym, EMEAI stands for Europe, Middle East, Africa, India.

The kind folks at Realworld Systems have offered me a spot in their booth to demo the iFactor Web Maps Connector product. If you are interested in other iFactor product offerings, I will also be able to demonstrate or discuss them.

Aside from those product-demo goals, if you would like to talk about Smallworld/FME, SmallworldCamp, Visualization, or just introduce yourself, please come find me at the Realworld booth.

And if I have time, I think it would be fun to do some informal code demoing and sharing. Kind of like a mini BarCamp at Smallworld. Please send me a note if you are interested in this kind of informal sharing and we can coordinate a meeting time.

Over the years I have made many contacts in the Smallworld realm in the EMEAI region but have never met them in person. I'm hoping that on this trip I will be able to meet many of you and also make new acquaintances.

See you in March!