Today's GIS Computing environment almost certainly requires the use of PCs as part of a total solution. Consequently, the integration of PCs into the UNIX environment, particularly at the mid-range platform, introduces a variety of challenges for today's GIS organization. This presentation address the spectrum of PC to UNIX connectivity issues within the context of an operation Enterprise GIS project. The presentation address the fundamentals of the connectivity, and then expands into a discussion of the pains, triumphs and recommendations of a real life Enterprise example: Baltimore County. Specific techniques and vendor products are addressed all with the focus of supporting a GIS operation.
As ArcView and local area networks (LANS) and PC become more prevalent in the workplace, system administrators and end-user are trying to use ArcView in everyday business activities. There are several considerations that need to be addressed before simply installing ArcView and letting the user run wild. Items such as the PC to be used, the RAM in the PC, the location of the data, the network infrastructure and the amount of data are all very important factors in determining how to optimize ArcView's performance. These topics will be discussed, and minimum and optimum configurations will be presented.
In the past, proprietary PC software made data dependent on the application. However, the PC world via Microsoft and those that follow, are making tremendous strides to eliminate data type dependency as an issue. With such products as the soon to be Windows 95, Windows NT, the Pentium processor, and the plethora ODBC drivers now on the market, database engines are becoming more and more transparent to the end user. Also to note, Dynamic data exchange (DDE) and Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL) are employed as an internal communications protocol Windows uses to enable one application to "Talk" to or exchange data with another application. Normally used to transfer information between applications, DDE can also be used within applications. DDE enables you not only to share information between applications, but also to send commands from one application to another to control the behavior of the receiving application. Graphics data is also following the same trend as the tabular within applications. We find a suite of standard graphic file formats from CGM, TIFF, Cals, DXF to the ArcInfo coverage format for GIS data all with available conversion software to move you from one data type to another. ArcInfo has gone so far as to create an INFO to dBASE utility found in version 7.0, thus creating a closer link and recognition of the important and dominance of the PC file format for information penetration in to the common use market. We see the application of PCs in an enterprise GIS or Corporate information infrastructure as the exercise in appropriate technology not an exercise of downsizing. Just as not all functions and applications in information technology are suitable for PCs, we also find most workstations and the available software cannot provide the same cost benefit flexibility needed by most power PC users. This conversation will focus on a hybrid solution for corporate GIS based on an incremental strategy which allows one company to achieve not only immediate benefits, but also ensures the successful transfer of data in the future to its corporate facilities database. While the integration issue has traditionally been viewed from the mainframe system down, an alternative approach has been one of integration for the PC level up. Why is this important? This approach would allow a company to leverage its existing investments in PC-CAD technology, associated training and data collection. The key to this incremental strategy is to develop a database design that is based on relational database technology. This "cooperative processing" provides a distinct path for the data's future in the corporate enterprise environment.