Re: ARC/INFO8 and COM

[Robert Bell]

I think it might be wise to determine what exactly a
Swram user wants from a GIS interface. Most folks I
know don't use 10% of what a GIS is capable of. 
Typically, they are interested in making a map,
viewing various layers and perhaps some rudimentary
spatial analysis. Obviously, for these things,
Arc/Info is overkill. Granted there are those who
would exploit the real power of a GIS with swarm
(modeling inside arc/info is painfully slow), but how
many are there really? Personally, I would like to see
Swarm integrate a spatial analysis engine, but I'm not
sure that Arc/Info is the way to go (and certainly not
the info part, which fortunately may be avoided with
version 8). So here are my thoughts:

1. Arc/Info is expensive...very. Concentrating on this
will exclude many small institutions and groups that
can't afford this software. That said, it _is_ the
standard, much like micro$oft is the standard for word
processors (which seems to be more a function of
marketing than functionality).  Eventually, people
will stop paying ridiculous license fees when 90% of
their needs can be met by cheaper/free software. I
would think this would be especially true amongst
swarm modelers.

One other note re: ESRI...they make no secret of their
intention to put the bulk of their efforts into NT.
They will still support unix, but who knows for how
long...they make a lot more money with NT. So we have
to consider the lack of cross platform capabilities if
go this route. (Plus they have never and probably
never will support Linux :-(

2. ArcView, while lacking the power of Arc might be a
viable alternative though it is still expensive. The
format for shape files is becoming a standard and ESRI
has a white paper on the subject.  Most current
mapping and analysis programs will read/write shape
files.

3. GRASS is a free alternative, but not very user
friendly (the price we pay for open source) and also
not very good at mapping (though hard to beat its
raster capabilities). Version 5 has been in beta for
over a year, so that is also something to consider.
OTOH, it is a full blown open source GIS.

4. There are several free programs to map and
visualize spatial data (GRASS, GMT, Openmap, Viz5d,
etc). I am currently writing up a short description of
each of these for a project to model pollution
transport that will not require the user to purchase
expensive software. The more I look, the more I am
finding.

5. If we, the swarm community, wish to pursue the ESRI
interfaces, I will help supply the needed information.
My company is a long time business partner of ESRI.

Cheers,
Bob Bell
address@hidden

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marcus G. Daniels <address@hidden>
> To: <address@hidden>
> Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2000 4:50 PM
> Subject: Re: I am signed up for this list but have
> never received any
> messages. Do people not use this list or could there
> be a subscription
> problem?
> 
> 
> > >>>>> "DS" == Darren Schreiber <address@hidden>
> writes:
> >
> > DS> but just I think that will stay a long term
> goal for quite some time.
> >
> > I'd be willing to devote time to implementing and
> documenting
> > client/server ArcInfo 8 interface to Swarm if I
> could 1) work with a
> > GIS expert or get ongoing feedback from the
> Swarm/GIS community 2) get
> > access to it on Unix and on NT (but the possibly
> the former could be
> > done over the net), and 3) get documentation
> including the ArcObjects
> > developers guide and whatever else are the
> standard docs.
> >
> >
> >                  
> ==================================
> >    Swarm-GIS is for discussion of Geographical
> Information Systems (GIS)
> >    and their integration or use with Swarm.  For
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>                   ==================================
>    Swarm-GIS is for discussion of Geographical
> Information Systems (GIS)
>    and their integration or use with Swarm.  For
> list administration
>    needs (esp. [un]subscribing), please send a
> message to
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                  ==================================
   Swarm-GIS is for discussion of Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
   and their integration or use with Swarm.  For list administration
   needs (esp. [un]subscribing), please send a message to
   <address@hidden> with "help" in the body of the message.
                  ==================================