Robert, This is a very valid, and widely held view. However, to my mind, it is precisely because PDF is a page layout (or description) format that it is so appropriate for cartographic output. Acrobat reader will never be a GIS - but it does provide all the tools needed to distribute interactive maps. It is not available for all environments, but then neither is anything else. I spent a lot of time working with SVG before I decided to write my own PDF library (luckily I found iText before I went totally mad).
The two main shortcomings in SVG (for my purposes) are a shortage of readers and an almost complete lack of data security. It is precisely because I don't have to write readers that I am so excited about PDF. I am also entirely anti-plugin when it comes to Acrobat - there is more than enough in the "native" implementation. (If you have iText or pdflib.) To me it is all the "piggery" that makes the format so versatile. Emergency Services & Land Administration people I have spoken with are very excited about the possibilities. (This doesn't mean that I am one-eyed and immune to the other options. I spent 15 years working on GIS interchange standards and perhaps I have become cynical but PDF exists, in all its broad curly tailed pinkness, NOW.) The need, as I see it, is not for a new GIS but for a method of packaging GIS output... and providing people with the means to use that output away from the GIS infrastructure. (A lot of people who need access to spatial data don't have ready access to even dial-up internet.) This, I believe, is exactly what PDF was created for. It is not a magic bullet but, so far, it works for me. Happy New Year AlanK -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of robert engels Sent: Monday, 1 January 2007 9:12 AM To: Post all your questions about iText here Subject: Re: [iText-questions] FW: OutOfMemory exception onContentByte.LineTo Personally, I think you are heading down the wrong road. PDF was designed as print/prepress layout format. Over the years they have continually added more and interactive and multimedia features, but it still is not a very good document format, and the additional added complexities have made it essentially a proprietary format (since the amount of effort required to fully implement the spec is enormous. It is easier to write software to create PDFs (like iText) than it is to write software to view them (Adobe Reader and then a bunch of other viewers that don't implement anywhere near the full spec). Also many of the 'plugins' require M$ Windows, limiting with "open" nature. Adobe Reader has become a pig, because the spec has become a pig. Things like open-doc are superior formats for actually working with data. I think there are far superior open-source GIS solutions. PDF may make working with trivial maps easier but even so, but a simple SVG would probably work even better. Just my 2 cents... FYI our company uses PDF and GIS extensively. On Dec 31, 2006, at 2:42 PM, Alan wrote: > Bruno replied: >> I've just sent you a mail about this privately. > > Thanks. I have replied. > >> I had the same feeling a few years ago, but especially >> since Paulo and I went to JavaPolis, I think it's possible >> to change this. It's just a matter of finding the right >> angle. > > That is heartening. You and Paulo have done so much work it is good > that it > is "paying off". > >> I don't have access to those tools right now, but as GIS >> is my soft spot, I'm very interested in promoting such a tool. >> I have entered a contest in Belgium with the intention to >> prove that Free/Open Source Software can be used commercially >> without any problem in proprietary software. Maybe I could present >> your tool as a business case. > > This sounds appealing... > >> The first thing we need to do, is setting up a web page with >> some information about the tool (without actually providing >> the software, just a description and some samples in PDF). >> I can host this page on itext.ugent.be, just make sure you >> don't send me any files that can't be published publicly >> (don't send any copyrighted or sensitive material). > > I will construct some maps using public domain (and/or) fictitious > data and > forward them soon. > >> Then I'll contact the ESRI people I met at JavaPolis, >> I'll insist that they have a look at it, and I'll try >> to find some event where I can demonstrate the maps. > > Thanks. > >> Maybe we can ask Leonard to bring it to the attention >> of Adobe. There aren't many PDF viewers that support OCG, >> so your maps would be a good way to promote the use of >> Adobe Reader instead of Foxit, Preview, Ghostview, >> or any other PDF viewer. > > With the few IT people I've shown here a common response has been "I > honestly didn't know PDF had so much going for it." > > Cheers > AlanK > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > --- > Take Surveys. Earn Cash. 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