Creating valid INSPIRE GML data sets for TN

[lb]

Dear All,

I'm trying to set up a WFS for serving INSPIRE conformant road data
with deegree3. I have successfully installed the inspire-foss demo and
now I'm trying create a simple valid WFS-T for inserting INSPIRE GML.
As i haven't coped with xml stuff in the past, I am confused about the
way I can create a valid INSPIRE GML file. I started with
RoadTransportNetwork.xsd which refers to other XSDs and these to
others. Is this the common way I can do it? Is there some XML editor
suitable for that task?

Thank you in advance,
lb

[Just van den Broecke]

Hi Lily,

Yes, the INSPIRE XML/GML schemas can be intimidating at first ! I am not
familiar with visual tools, but have heard of XMLSpy.

I would recommend starting with a less complex INSPIRE Annex I theme.
Most will take GN, GeographicalNames.xsd and within there the NamedPlace
Point feature. The other reason is that there are already some examples
of GN spatial data sets like:
http://code.google.com/p/inspire-foss/source/browse/trunk/etl/NL.Kadaster/GeographicalNames/test/inrichtings_element-gn.gml
You may take this as a starting point and edit/extend it with your own data.

What most of us do is transforming local (national) source data into
INSPIRE GML and loading this into deegree, called ETL. This work is under
http://code.google.com/p/inspire-foss/source/browse/#svn/trunk/etl
It would be benificial to the project if you could place some of your
data and transformations there as well. We are trying to share
knowledge/tools for the ETL from local source data to INSPIRE GML among
NMCAs. we are just starting.

When you use the inspire-foss deegree demo you don't need WFS-T, you can
place a spatial data set GML file like the GN example above in the
directory WEB-INF/data. Later on you may want to use the more
professional deegree3 web application under
http://code.google.com/p/inspire-foss/source/browse/#svn/trunk/webapps/deegree3
and setup PostGIS to store your data.

Hope this helps somewhat. best,

Just

[Frans Knibbe]

To add to Just's reply:

If you use Deegree to set up your WFS, there are a couple of options:

1) Use the current version of Deegree (2.3 or 2.4). Using the
documentation you can configure the WFS to create GML 3.1.1. Then you
need to create a XSL filter to transform the WFS ourtput to INSPIRE
GML 3.2.1
2) Use Deegree3, which is in development. That is what is being done
in this project currently. We transform our source data to INSPIRE GML
3.2.1. This can be used as a direct data source for the WFS, or it can
be put in a database that can also be used (as Just explained).
3) Wait until Deegree3 is ready. In another thread in this group
Markus explains that XLS transformations won't be necessary anymore.
Deegree will create empty database tables based on the INSPIRE
specifications. Then the trick becomes filling those tables based on
the source data. It will also be a bit of ETL, but with more degrees
of freedom.

Of course there are other FOSS options for the WFS. GeoServer is
another project capable of creating a WFS. As far as I know there are
no experiences with GeoServer within this project. It would be nice to
have them, though. INSPIRE does have some specific requirements for
WFSes: they must support GML 3.2.1 output, the must support complex
features and they must support the INSPIRE application schemas.

I don't know if Geographical Names really is the easiest theme to
begin with. The problem with that theme is that a NamedPlace can
contain any kind of geometry. In my opinion, that makes it very hard
to create a XSL transformation, unless you know exactly what kind of
input geometry you will have. On the other hand, the GN feature type
GeographicalName occurs in many other themes (including TN), so you
need to have that covered anyway.

Unfortunately, there are no TN examples in this project yet. If you
need to create valid INSPIRE GML it would be helpful if you have an
example of valid TN XML. Then it is easier to create the XSLT file
that you need to transform your source data to INSPIRE GML. It is a
pity the INSPIRE data specifications don't come with some sample
files!

On the bright side, there are a lot of XSLT files already in this
project and Just has been doing a lot of work in making reusable XSL
components. If you want to go along with current activities in this
project, you could first try to transform your source data to GML. You
could use ogr2ogr to do that (it creates GML 2). Using ogr2ogr is in
line with the project's objective of using FOSS. I used FME, because
it produces GML 3.1.1 (going from GML 3.1.1 to GML 3.2.1 takes less
steps then getting there from GML 2) and also does a correct
projection to the epsg:4258 system. But of course you need an FME
licence for that.

The next step is to create valid INSPIRE XML from your GML file. I use
XMLSpy to do that. It can be used to create and edit a XSL
transformation, to apply it to the source file and to validate the
result of the transformation. I have noticed that XMLSpy gives nice
validation errors. The downside is that XMLSpy isn't FOSS either so
you will need a licence. Or you can evaluate it for 30 days..

Good luck,
Frans

On Oct 20, 2:04 pm, Just van den Broecke <j...@justobjects.nl> wrote:
> Hi Lily,
>
> Yes, the INSPIRE XML/GML schemas can be intimidating at first ! I am not
> familiar with visual tools, but have heard of XMLSpy.
>
> I would recommend starting with a less complex INSPIRE Annex I theme.
> Most will take GN, GeographicalNames.xsd and within there the NamedPlace
> Point feature. The other reason is that there are already some examples

> of GN spatial data sets like:http://code.google.com/p/inspire-foss/source/browse/trunk/etl/NL.Kada...

> You may take this as a starting point and edit/extend it with your own data.
>
> What most of us do is transforming local (national) source data into

> INSPIRE GML and loading this into deegree, called ETL. This work is underhttp://code.google.com/p/inspire-foss/source/browse/#svn/trunk/etl

> It would be benificial to the project if you could place some of your
> data and transformations there as well. We are trying to share
> knowledge/tools for the ETL from local source data to INSPIRE GML among
> NMCAs. we are just starting.
>
> When you use the inspire-foss deegree demo you don't need WFS-T, you can
> place a spatial data set GML file like the GN example above in the
> directory WEB-INF/data. Later on you may want to use the more

> professional deegree3 web application underhttp://code.google.com/p/inspire-foss/source/browse/#svn/trunk/webapp...

[lb]

At first I 'd like to thank you both for your instant reply and help.

I decided to use deegree3 and unfortunately I have to work with road
data (this is the subject of my master thesis). I wish there were
samples of valid TN XML. Creating valid INSPIRE TN XML is so
confusing. I will keep on trying to follow your advice and I would be
proud to contribute to this project soon.

Best regards,
lb

[Just van den Broecke]

Keep following the work within the etl:
like
http://code.google.com/p/inspire-foss/source/browse/#svn/trunk/etl/NL.Kadaster
Within /test subdirs there are samples of valid INSPIRE XML. like
http://code.google.com/p/inspire-foss/source/browse/#svn/trunk/etl/NL.Kadaster/Hydrography/test/
(filenames: eg-*.gml)

Coming weeks for TN as well. best,

Just

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