Abstract
The integration of geospatial software components has recently received considerable attention due to the need for rapid growth of GIS application and development environments. However, finding appropriate source code components that can be incorporated into a system under development requires considerable verification to ensure the source code can work correctly. This paper therefore describes the design of a repository system that employs a new specification language, namely SpecJ2, to address the challenges involved in integrating and operating software components. SpecJ2 was designed to represent the architectural attributes of source code components and to abstract their complexity by applying the notion of separation of concerns, a key consideration when designing software systems. The results of the experiment showed that SpecJ2 is capable of defining the different architectural attributes of source code components and can facilitate their integration and interaction at run-time. Thus, SpecJ2 can classify software components according to their identified types.
Highlights
There are many open-source GIS projects actively running and most have reached a high level of maturity in applying their tools to the provision of information that can feed into decision-making processes [1]
The terms “source code components” and “software components” will be used interchangeably throughout the paper as both refer to source code fragments
To avoid the complexity of source code matching characteristics, we developed a specification language, namely SpecJ2, to summarize and document the necessary attributes of source code components
Summary
There are many open-source GIS projects actively running and most have reached a high level of maturity in applying their tools to the provision of information that can feed into decision-making processes [1]. GIS applications have evolved rapidly by integrating different components to generate a fully functional system that serves a specific domain [2]. Business requirements are the key driver in defining the architecture of any GIS application in terms of identifying the functional components related to: data collection and remote sensing components; storage and retrieval components; semantic analyses and data geoprocessing components; and presentation and reporting components. The diversity of available OSS-GIS solutions might confuse normal users and complicate the process of identifying the best GIS tool for users in terms of the functionality, usability, and integration of applications with other platforms. This paper aims to establish a general-purpose repository system that identifies, classifies, integrates, and develops open-source GIS components to fulfill the requirements of GIS business applications. The paper addresses the difficulties involved in component integration as this is the key element underpinning the development of GIS applications. The terms “source code components” and “software components” will be used interchangeably throughout the paper as both refer to source code fragments
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
