Technology
PostGIS: How can it be improved?
PostGIS is notoriously hard to install and use. What specific changes can be made to create a friendlier interface for the powerful tool? More permissive on topology when topology enforcement hasn't enabled for your dataset? Easier data import and export, reload? Easier to install in the 1st place?
- What is your top 3 list to improve PostGIS?
@kelsosCorner @madmanwoo shapely/Fiona or rgeos are both better, still have pain points, get killed in simple etl by commercial tools- @kelsosCorner @madmanwoo upfront cost to postgis to fly are worth it when you're trying to build a data store but not for manipulation tasks
@kelsosCorner @madmanwoo @zacmcc @mweisman @jatorre @tmcw Sounds like a clean topology operation would fix your problem
@kelsosCorner @mweisman The way a Map Display "Just Works" is because you have told it by how you are viewing which proj to use.- @kelsosCorner @madmanwoo Yes. And PostGIS is a Spatial DATABASE. Usability outside of SQL is for the tools that build on top of it.
- @kelsosCorner Being able to wrap different things around the same SQL statement makes that simple.
- @kelsosCorner My real world GIS need is to make the same analyses available on the web, in printed reports, and in automated processing.
@kelsosCorner I'd love to read a longer essay (blog?) about what a friendlier PostGIS would be.
@kelsosCorner @mweisman @wonderchook @jatorre PostGIS is a spatial DB with SQL GIS like functions not a desktop GIS Can't compare with Qgis
@migurski @kelsoscorner to truly despise PostGIS, you must first attempt to build it from source. On 64-bit PowerPC. My head hurts.
@kelsosCorner sure, saying ignore errors might but good, might not be. Can you share the dataset you are having issues importing.- @kelsosCorner you know that PostGIS 2.0 has better Topo support right? postgis.refractions.net/docs/Topology.…
- @kelsosCorner that is strange. I have never had a issue with importing all sorts of crap into PostGIS, I just clean it after.
@madmanwoo I have data that OGR will happily read and write, as well as QGIS, ArcMap, etc. But PostGIS refuses to even import it.- @madmanwoo We're talking about topology that you have to be zoomed in 1:1 to see, way beyond the built and use scale.
- @madmanwoo Their "shape builder" will with input geoms who's topology doesn't match OGC's Simple Geom spec. Tolerance 4 gaps and overshoots.
@madmanwoo @kelsoscorner @mweisman @spara @jatorre @tmcw "invalid polygon, g'luck!" I've personally spent time fixing. It's very technical.
