GroundWork CSS

After getting back from MXDU I have had some correspondence with Paul Hastings in regard to using the Java Connector and his current project of encapsulating ArcIMS functionality within a CFC (using the Java Connector). Paul has also mentioned that he (and his company) is working on a Flash front end that will also be able use this CFC. In my opinion, this is very good way to go with CF + ArcIMS development…and there is no reason why an alternative CFC could not be developed to use the CFX tag as well. In any case I think that this type of solution would be very much a “killer app” for CF + ArcIMS and as such I think that Paul deserves some support on this project from the community and the “powers that be”…how many shopping cart examples are we supposed to be able to digest anyway (my only MXDU gripe) ? I also recognize that the development of such an application is a very valuable asset, but I am not sure if Paul is willing or able to make this work open source…so it would be good to pool resources in some way…but I do not know how.

I believe Robin Hilliard from MM Australia should be looking at this type of solution as well and it may be good to get some of his “inside” input. Robin presented a version of a Flash based GIS that used mapinfo files — whereby he assembled the layers as vectors in Flash. While I believe this approach to be far too heavy for Flash to handle at present, I think Robin could be swayed to look at ArcIMS and the power of ColdFusion to lend a hand (and resources) for this type of application. He had mentioned forming a group to extend his mapinfo Flash project, but I suggest (as did David Whiterod, Stuart Kinninmonth and Tim Donovan) that as a group already formed for the development of web-based GIS products with ColdFusion, he should consider the ArcIMS approach. In any case, it would be good to throw around a few ideas…