15 www.opengis.org. The W3C submits Scalable Vector Graphics SVG, which is
a language for describing two dimensional vector and mixed vectorraster graphics in XML www.w3c.org.
2.3.3. Web Map
There are three kinds of Web map: Static map, Dynamic map and Interactive map. •
Static map: A static map publish refers to embedding maps as graphic images like
GIF, JPEG and PNG inside an HTML page. The map images are usually used as a visual presentation to illustrate the points inside the HTML text. But the map
image itself is not intelligent. That is, the map image is a static image displayed on the Web browser. The user cannot click on it to zoom to a certain area or get
more information. A static map publishing does not support feature data at the client side and does not have map-rendering tools. To publish a static map image,
you can save a ready-made map as a graphic map image format and embed it inside an HTML page. In addition, Acrobats PDF is another popular method to
publish static maps on the Web. A static Web map also can provide additional information by creating hyperlinks from hot spots on the map image to other
Web pages. •
Dynamic map It automatically generates and refreshes Web map images as scheduled or
when new data become available. Examples are weather maps, environmental pollution monitoring maps, time-zone maps and flight-line maps. Because
dynamic Web maps are regenerated to refresh the Web page image, facilities may be provided for users to pan and zoom the map display.
16 •
Interactive map It is generated in response to a users query for specific data types.
Examples include interactive yellow pages, direction-finding pages or other address-mapping services available on the Web. Users enter an address, ZIP code,
state or other geographical name and a map is generated to show the location or region requested. The geographic location is found by querying a geographic
database for the user-specified geographic name or by matching the address to a geographic location. The maps also can have hot spots for hyperlinks to other
Web pages.
2.3.4. Web-GIS Development Cycle
