Client-Based Spatial Browsing on the World Wide Web

Abstract

Being able to visualize both spatial and nonspatial data is becoming increasingly important to today's Internet users. Spatial data viewers and query tools can aid in visualization, but they should also let users access data instantly and with minimal effort. The authors explore new ways to allow visualization of data stored in a central server database on a simple client. They also consider usage scenarios in which transferring the whole database to the client for processing isn't feasible due to the amount of data on the server, insufficient computing power on the client, and a slow link between the two.