GeoRaptor and SQL Developer - Another approach?
Folks,
The moribund GeoRaptor project lit lots of faces all over the world.
But the project simply has no traction even though a few of us want to help.
I have pushed SQL Developer integration with some non-mainstream companies I know that have Oracle Spatial and Java experience but no one seems interested in providing product outside of their own applications.
IMHO the best team to put spatial into SQL Developer is the Oracle Spatial Products team headed by Xavier Lopez. I would like to see closer integration between these two Oracle teams such that we don't see independent MapBuilder downloads but extensions for SQL Developer itself such that we could use the flexbility and power in SQL Developer (eg explain plan) with Oracle Spatial. (Why not be able to execute Spatial SQL eg SDO_ANYINTERACT but with the filter geometry coming from the user clicking on the screen? How about explain plan for this?)
GeoRaptor has integration with ArcSDE and ArcIMS. But why? ESRI does this already via ArcExplorer for its customers and is not interested in putting their tools in someone elses product. So, why not integration with MapViewer? Why not WMS and WFS (of which MapViewer does both)?
But given SQL Developer's positioning as a tool of choice for MySQL, SQL Server (PostgreSQL) why not extend existing MapBuilder visualisation capability by having it render data from MySQL Spatial and other database spatial? (A Tools>Option>DisplayGeometryAsWKT would be cool - not just the nice SDO_GEOMETRY rendering in the existing GeoRaptor.)
Finally, the shapefile loader could be complemented by a shapefile exporter as there is lots of GeoTools Java around that shows how to do this.
So, to push debate I've done this:
http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=42626:39:2113453281829203::NO::P39_ID:6481
Please vote.
regards
Simon