Slashdot Mirror

I use Inkscape extensively for making maps, and it does pretty much everything I need. I export map layers as PDFs from Qgis and import them into Inkscape one by one, then save them as SVG for further processing.

Since Qgis' export to PDF and SVG sucks, it does require quite a bit of editing of the SVG file to reduce the size and get rid of invisible artifacts. But then one of the best things of working with SVG is being able to edit your graphics file with a text editor and doing, say, find and replace on symbols (to replace those nasty Qgis bitmap symbols for SVG ones) or text. Try that with Illustrator files!

Inkscape does not take advantage of multiple cores (yet), but opening a new instance creates a completely separate process so while one Inkscape window is busy thinking you can keep working on the other at full speed.

The sad part is that i haven't been able to find a free, fully-featured XML editor to do more advanced editing of the SVG file. Eventually I had to settle for oXygen, which is not free and kind of taints my workflow.

Your applications may be different from those I've worked with (being that I am a geographer, not a programmer). When you mention geodatabases the first thing that popped into my head was GIS ( http://www.gis.com/ ). And my first solution was to recommend taking a night class twice a week and get your company to reimburse you upon succesful completion of the course. If GIS is what you are interested in interfacing with there should be a university in your area that will cover what you need to know. If not, look into http://www.opengeospatial.org/ Assuming it is GIS that you are working with. Good luck.

I never used a GPS system but working for the government I helped them to digitize sections of the US, in the amount of 6 million sections. The software we used was Archview, its a great peice of GIS software. Just look up some stuff on GIS (Geographic information systems)http://www.gis.com/ to get a start. Im sure that some GPS hardware would integrate well with GIS software on a laptop. at least marking stuff on Lat and lon scales, road layouts can be inserted by hand, and some sattlite maps could help.

You need to look at some GIS ( geographic information systems) http://www.gis.com/whatisgis/index.html/ software to construct maps, measure distances, and do analysis of the data collected. There are some free versions, as well as one or two good commercial platforms. If you are doing this for charitable or scientific reasons, the companies will generally help you with free licenses.

I'm not sure if you're joking, but Geographic Information System

He is probably using some kind of GIS (Geographical Information System). Used by a lot of industries (water & power distribution networks, zoning boards come to mind). Data is entered in layers (e.g. one for the water distribution system, one for the streets etc). Pretty nifty stuff.

I take about two classes from the CIS department each semester, for a total of 16.00 credits (one class is 0.5 credits)

A total of 5 math courses, including Calculus, Matrix Algebra, Numerical methods..

Finally, I must complete 4.00 credits (8 classes) in an "Area of Application".

Basically, I take computer science, and then pick a field that I am interested in to fill out my schedule. Should I chose, I can take 2.00 more credits and recieve a Minor in my area of application.

Personally, I have chosen to take Geography as my area of application because I would like to put my computer skills towards a geographical initiative of some kind.

More info about this program can be found at the University of Guelph (Ontario) Website.