GLOBALBASE GUIDEBOOK

Author: Hirohisa Mori / joshua [at] globalbase.org + [Transrate]Reiko Inoue Bendtsen c/o Suzaku Translations / (http://www.suzaku-translations.com/) +

* Abstract and Goal
* Human Requirements
* System Requirements
* New Users Wishing to View GLOBALBASE
* Starting and Browsing Dedicated GLOBALBASE Browser COSMOS
* Publishing Your Own Maps on GLOBALBASE
* Publishing Your Own Maps on WWW
* Troubleshooting
* Joining the GLOBALBASE Development Project
* Existing Manuals
* History

Abstract and Goal

  1. We are currently working on creating a manual in order to meet various requests, in particular the specific requests listed below. This manual is intended to provide guidance to users, both regarding certain common issues and regarding how to obtain further information if needed.
  2. When a new user wants to start using GLOBALBASE and browsing through existing contents
  3. When a user wishes to start up a GLOBALBASE server and publish contents
  4. When a user wishes to join and participate in the GLOBALBASE development project


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Human Requirements

If you simply want to browse existing GLOBALBASE contents, you will have no trouble in doing so as far as you have experience of starting up your computer and browser to surf the World Wide Web, as well as downloading and installing applications. Please refer to the individual manual pages for descriptions of the specific skills and software required for the relevant tasks at hand.

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System Requirements

The GLOBALBASE browsing software operates under the most common operating systems, including Windows, MacOS and Linux. The server software operates under MacOS, Linux and other POSIX-compliant operating systems; a Windows version is still under development. Please read the front page of each manual for the details of operating system-specific operations.

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New Users Wishing to View GLOBALBASE

If you have no experience of downloading applications from networks and installing them on your machine, but wish to browse existing GLOBALBASE contents, we recommend you to look for WWW contents that utilize GLOBALBASE-GATEWAY ( LOCALBASE); this software automatically converts GLOBALBASE contents into WWW contents, which you can then browse in the same way as any other webpages. In this case, as in other cases, you must be able to use a web browser. For example, you can visit the following sites at this moment.

  1. Heian jinbutsu-shi map page
    International Research Center for Japanese Studies
  2. Urban Research Plaza, Osaka City University
  3. Kyoto Shimbun Orikomi Service Center
If we find other new and interesting gateway servers, we will introduce them on GLOBALBASE Website as required.

These sites may seem like simple web servers at first glance. However, the GLOBALBASE algorithm is running in the background and providing the actual map displays. It overlays appropriate maps to be displayed while browsing by searching through the infinite number of GLOBALBASE maps of the world. Some of the pages not only allow viewing just a single map, but also use various features that are characteristic of GLOBALBASE, such as changing the base map and overlapping maps.

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Starting and Browsing Dedicated GLOBALBASE Browser COSMOS



If you think GLOBALBASE looks almost the same as Google Earth or similar WWW maps and you wish to be able to have greater control over how you select and view various types of maps by yourself, then all you need to do is to download and utilize the dedicated browser COSMOS. Knowing how to browse maps in COSMOS is essential, not only for beginners but also those who wish to start up and manage their own servers, create contents, and/or start up GLOBALBASE-GATEWAY ( LOCALBASE) gateway servers explained in the previous chapter by yourself, because COSMOS provides the primary means of confirming the correct map setup in details. Document "COSMOS Users Manuals"explains how to install and use COSMOS. Please make use of Document "COSMOS Reference Manual", which explains each window and function in details, as well.

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Publishing Your Own Maps on GLOBALBASE



In order to publish your own maps, you need a GLOBALBASE server on which to place them. However, even if you do not have access to such a server or the knowledge to manage the server, there are still ways to publish your own maps. For instance, you can collaborate with other people who have server administration capabilities and/or have already started GLOBALBASE servers and ask them to place your contents on their servers.

This approach is nowhere near as difficult as it sounds, in fact. There are many different kinds of people out there with the abilities to administer servers, just like there are many kinds of people with knowledge about contents. Obviously, both sides are eager to get in touch with each other, and the formation of such alliances is clearly very important to the expansion of the services.

For example, a certain museum started up a number of editable LOCALBASE servers, to which several operators have uploaded plot information. On these servers, the operators are able to create contents in any way they wish; all that is required of them is basic knowledge about LOCALBASE editing windows. For the editing functions of LOCALBASE, please refer to the section "Installation of Plot Data Edit Function".

However, if you have both the basic knowledge of GLOBALBASE and experience of managing servers, starting your own GLOBALBASE server is the most powerful option. The procedure is as simple as the following.

The first step, installation and administration of the server, requires basic knowledge about your operating system and corresponding network tools as prerequisites. You also must have some knowledge about networks, including DNS and TCP/IP, as well as knowledge on OS administration, such as user administration and NFS.

This knowledge is similar to the knowledge required to start a WWW server. Thus, if you are already able to manage your own WWW server, you only need to acquire a bit of knowledge about the GLOBALBASE server, LANDSCAPE, to start your own GLOBALBASE server. Document "LANDSCAPE Startup Manual"explains the operations of LANDSCAPE, from installation to management. In addition to this manual, we also provide a manual on various functions included in LANDSCAPE ( agent). So far we provide the manual as a separate set of web pages, but we intend to eventually integrate it into Document "LANDSCAPE Startup Manual"to make it a single LANDSCAPE manual.

Next, how to acquire the skills to create map contents is explained in [UNDEF REF (gb-data-structure)]. [UNDEF REF (gb-data-structure)]handles a wide range of operations, from how to create simple data using predefined templates to how to create advanced data by applying various tools. All the tools you need for data creation are included in the LANDSCAPE package.

We recommend that you use Document "LANDSCAPE Startup Manual"as reference.

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Publishing Your Own Maps on WWW



We believe that many people wish to publish their own GLOBALBASE contents on WWW. In order to do so, it is fundamental to use GLOBALBASE-HTTP GATEWAY or LOCALBASE.

Document "LOCALBASE Setup Manual"explains various methods of publishing your own contents on WWW. LOCALBASE does not operate with WWW only, however; it must be connected with the GLOBALBASE LANDSCAPE server to be used. For this reason, you will need knowledge on LANDSCAPE, in particular the points explained in [UNDEF REF (xlsv)][UNDEF REF (gbview)]. Please refer to these two manuals as necessary

We expect the number of links between WWW and GLOBALBASE to increase dramatically. We therefore expect various tools for coodination between these two technologies to be developed in the near future.

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Troubleshooting

If any problems occur and you cannot use GLOBALBASE according to your desires, please refer to the troubleshooting section of each manual. Alternatively, please refer to Document "ver.B.Release Report", which provides a list of currently reported bugs and bug fix information for each version.

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Joining the GLOBALBASE Development Project

You can join the GLOBALBASE development project in various ways, including:
  1. Submitting proposals for various functions
  2. Finding and reporting bugs in COSMOS and LANDSCAPE
  3. Writing or translating manuals
  4. Writing software and/or modules
Anyone can assist the GLOBALBASE development project by submitting function proposals and bug reports. We are thus currently preparing a Website that you can use for these purposes. We intend to release information on the status of processing currently discovered bugs and the conditions of implementation of proposed functions on our Website. Moreover, bug reports will be summarized in Document "ver.B.Release Report"; we will construct a framework for publishing the current bug fixing status for each version in an easy-to-understand manner.

Next, writing and translating manuals may be relatively easy for anyone that wish to participate in the project. We are looking for people who are willing to translate our manuals written in Japanese into English, in particular. We have set up a set of rules to be observed in order to write consistent manuals. All GLOBALBASE manuals are written as XML documents, using simple XML tags that reflect these rules.

From these XML documents, we are able to generate PDF and HTML manuals and publish them on our Website in an efficient manner. The rules are summarized in [UNDEF REF (gb-manuals-writing-method)]. We hope that you read this manual first, but we wholeheartedly appreciate any translation works you send us via email even if you do not wish to read the manual itself.

If you wish to contribute to the project by developing new applications using the GLOBALBASE source code or adding new functions to the GLOBALBASE source tree, you definitely need knowledge on the internal functions of GLOBALBASE. If you intend to contribute at the script level, all you need to know is written in Document "LANDSCAPE Startup Manual". If, on the other hand, you wish to write functions using C/C++ language and so on, you will need to examine [UNDEF REF (sourcecode-reference)].

You are very welcomed to send us any source code you develop, which may contribute to the development of GLOBALBASE. If you wish to collaborate with us more closely, please join our project at sourceforge.jp and participate in the joint development. In this case, we kindly ask you to understand as well as stay up-to-date on the following issues, in addition to obtaining insight into the functions of GLOBALBASE:
  1. General development policies
  2. How to handle the different development tools, as well as how to stay up-to-date
  3. Information and knowledge related to the open source libraries we use
Information related to these subjects is written in [UNDEF REF (gb-development)].

Lastly, you may need various function references for the souce code when you actually engage in the development. You will find these in [UNDEF REF (sourcecode-reference)].

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Existing Manuals

  1. Migration-related Documents
The manuals used in the framework before we created this manual are listed on the web page linked to by the URL above. Please refer to those manuals as archive information.

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History

Date:2008-10-23
Generate the Manual (Edition 2008-10-23)
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Date: 2006-07-14
Author: Hirohisa Mori / TargetVersion: ver.B.b11
Created this manual
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Date: 2006-07-29
Author: Hirohisa Mori / TargetVersion: ver.B.b11.01
Added the troubleshooting section
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Date: 2006-08-02
Author: Hirohisa Mori / TargetVersion: ver.B.b11.02
Added [UNDEF REF (xl)]
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Date: 2006-10-15
Author: Hirohisa Mori / TargetVersion: ver.B.b13
Corrected some mistakes in the manual
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Date: 2006-12-07
Author: Hirohisa Mori / TargetVersion: ver.B.b14
Added information on the COSMOS Reference Manual
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Date: 2007-07-22
Author: Hirohisa Mori / TargetVersion: ver.B.b16.10
Corrected errorneous links
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Date: 2008-06-15
Author: Reiko Inoue Bendtsen / TargetVersion: ver.B.b17.04
Transrated this manual into English
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