Book Image

GeoServer Beginner's Guide

Book Image

GeoServer Beginner's Guide

Overview of this book

GeoServer is an open source server-side software written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Designed for interoperability, it publishes data from any major spatial data source using open standards. GeoServer allows you to display your spatial information to the world. Implementing the Web Map Service (WMS) standard, GeoServer can create maps in a variety of output formats. OpenLayers, a free mapping library, is integrated into GeoServer, making map generation quick and easy. GeoServer is built on Geotools, an open source Java GIS toolkit.GeoServer Beginner's Guide gives you a kick start to build custom maps using your data without the need for costly commercial software licenses and restrictions. Even if you do not have prior GIS knowledge, you will be able to make interactive maps after reading this book.You will install GeoServer, access your data from a database, style points, lines, polygons, and labels to impress site visitors with real-time maps.Follow along through a step-by-step guide that installs GeoServer in minutes. Explore the web-based administrative interface to connect to backend data stores such as MySQL, PostGIS, MSSQL, and Oracle. Display your data on web-based interactive maps, style lines, points, polygons, and embed images to visualize this data for your web visitors. Walk away from this book with a working application ready for production.After reading the GeoServer Beginner's Guide, you will have beautiful, custom maps on your website built using your geospatial data.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
GeoServer Beginner's Guide
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Time for action – grouping layers


To compose a full map, we will use a couple of styles created in this chapter and one bundled with GeoServer. We won't create new styles; it is just a matter of selecting layers and setting map properties:

  1. On the GeoServer web interface, go to Data | Layer Groups.

  2. Click on the Add new layer group link:

  3. Insert the name you would like to give to the new layer group, for example, myLayerGroup.

  4. Select the Add layer… link and choose the states layer from the list:

  5. Repeat the previous step to add 10m_roads_north_america and 50m_-rivers-lake-centerlines layers.

  6. In the Coordinate Reference System textbox, insert the EPSG:4326 string. Then click on the Generate Bounds button.

    Note

    You could also build a map with a different SRS than that of layers. In this case, data will be projected at runtime.

  7. You composed the map, but as you selected the layers, they were added with their default style. Click on the style name for the roads layer and select the RoadsThematicScale style...