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MapGuide is a web-based map platform that includes both server and client components. It is currently available in two forms: "MapGuide Open Source" from the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) under the Lesser GPL license; and as "Autodesk MapGuide for Enterprise" directly from Autodesk.
MapGuide was originally released in 1995 by Argus Technologies of Calgary. Argus was acquired by Autodesk in 1996, and a new version of MapGuide was quickly released as "Autodesk MapGuide 2.0". Autodesk have continued to develop MapGuide, to the current "AutoDesk MapGuide for Enterprise 2010". MapGuide is designed to be easy to deploy, data connectivity, scalability, overall performance, and allow for rapid application development. The latest 2010 version includes improved legends, the ability to reproject raster data, and deprecation of a DWF viewer. "MapGuide for Enterprise" is the commercial version. From spring 2004 to March 2006, a group of Autodesk developers created "MapGuide Open Source" from the then-current MapGuide v6.5.
This was in answer to requests from Autodesk developers and customers for faster innovatio, more frequent releases, and a lower cost of entry and ownership. The open source version attempts to retain the best aspects of MapGuide 6.5 whilst meeting the original MapGuide design goals. It is licensed to the OSGeo under the Lesser GPL License, and many innovations in the open source version make their way back into the commercial version. The open source version lacks connectivity to data stores to a number of data stores (eg. Oracle), AutoCAD integration, and localized versions. As would be expected for an open source application without a commercial support license, it also lacks additional quality assurance and formal support - both are included with purchases of MapGuide for Enterprise licenses. Here is an example tourist map application based on MapGuide (see below for the URL to the interactive application):
The server side of MapGuide is designed for the Windows (running IIS or Apache) or Linux server (running Apache) environments. It supports PHP, .NET (including ASP.NET), FDO, and Java. Data can be served from a number of sources, and MapGuide supports multiple parallel database connections with multiple database servers. Using FDO, MapGuide can work with SQL Server, ArcSDE, SDF (MapGuide's native Spatial Data File ), MySQL, ESRI Shape (SHP) files, ODBC to Microsoft Office, WMS, WFS, and various raster formats. Plug-ins can be added to add support for new data sources without having to recompile the main server. Unlike many open source web mapping systems, MapGuide implements an access-based security system. This can be used to restrict access to the data or map application to authorized users, if required. Despite the design successes of the MapGuide architecture, it has been criticised for a number of limitations. Most MapGuide applications have to rely on a client plug-in, ActiveX control, or Java applet. This client-side plug-in is then controlled using JavaScript. In fact, this JavaScript usually implements most of the application logic. This results in all spatial analysis being performed client-side with rendered graphics, rather than using the underlying spatial data. It could be a specific problem with the various samples (see below), but whilst researchignt his article, I found the maps very slow to display, render, and query. Although MapGuide ships for both Linux and Windows, it is generally recognised as being very Windows-centric. This can be positive (eg. support for .NET), but many systems cannot use Windows-specific technologies like ActiveX controls. The following sites demonstrate MapGuide:
Further information can be found on the OSGeo's MapGuide Open Source website or Autodesk's MapGuide pages.
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