Questions & Answers script from the introduction webinars

[Melissa.Burns]

Product and Features

Q: What is the difference between Community Edition and the GO Publisher Desktop?

A: Community Edition does contain the full schema translation capability of GO Publisher, but there are two differences between Community Edition and Desktop. 1) The size of file you can create with community edition is limited to 10Mb. Desktop has no cap on the output file size? 2) GO Publisher Desktop can be used to deploy GO Publisher WFS and GO Publisher Agent. In community edition those controls are greyed out.

Q: Are Community Edition project files compatible with the other GO Publisher products?

A: Yes, if you create a project file in Community Edition you can use that project in GO Publisher Desktop as well. So, for example, if you created a project in Community Edition and then wanted to use the translation you defined in WFS you could load the project file into Desktop, configure the WFS settings, then deploy it as a WFS without having to re-do the translations.

Q: Can I deploy a Web Feature Service with Community Edition?

A: No, the WFS interface is only available in GO Publisher WFS.

Q: Can community Edition be run in batch mode?

A: No, with Community Edition you can only run translations from the user interface. Batch processing and bulk data creation are available in GO Publisher Agent.

Q: What databases can Community Edition connect to?

A: Community Edition has the same database connection options as all other GO Publisher editions i.e. it can connect to any JDBC compliant database for standard relational types. It can read geometry values from Oracle Locator/Spatial.

Q: What output formats does Community Edition support?

A: Community Edition has the same output formats as the other GO Publisher Editions i.e. it can create any XML format defined by an XML Schema. It has specific support for generating GML and KML geometries.

Q: What happens if my data file will be larger than 10Mb?

A: When GO Publisher Community Edition reaches the 10Mb limit it closes the file at the end of the feature it is processing at the time. This means that you will still get a valid output file but some data will be missing. GO Publisher will give you a warning message when this happens so that you will know if the data is incomplete.

Q: Is Community Edition open source?

A: No. It is free to use but is closed source. What we are offering is an easy to use tool that gets you up and running quickly - not a software engineering project.

Q: What do I do if I think I've found a bug in CE?

A: Please log any bugs in the support section of our Community Edition Forum.

Q: Are the INSPIRE xml schemas currently available?

A: Yes. The jrc INSPIRE team have released the INSPIRE application schema for Annex1 themes. You can find them and more information about further drafts here: http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/2.

Q: Can GO Publisher be used for CSW as well as WFS?

A: Not explicitly. GO Publisher allows you to convert from any relational database model to any xml model, so you could use it to create metadata into an open standard like ISO19019. The metadata open standard. What you won't get is query support. Infact, GO Publisher Community Edition has no web service functionality. That comes in our commercial product where we have a Web Feature Service version: http://www.snowflakesoftware.co.uk/products/gopublisher/wfs/index.htm.

Forum and Community

Q: Is there any documentation?

A: Yes. The technical and support teams have uploaded a huge amount of documentation and resources onto this forum under the 'Technical Resources' section. There you will find quick start guides, user guides and FAQs aswell as more complex and technical instructions about working with Projects.


Q: What is on the forum?

A: The forum contains useful information and demonstrations about GO Publisher Community Edition, particularly getting started and setting up. The support team have also published technical documents that you may find useful.

Company and Motivation

Q: Why is Snowflake giving away software for free?

A: We recognise that many organisations are facing new demands to share their data through open standards. Learning about the the array of standards and technologies involved can be an intimidating prospect and we know that customers of GO Publisher have found its ease of use very helpful in getting up and running without facing such a steep learning curve. We hope that releasing Community Edition will accelerate the creation of spatial data infrastructure by providing an easy, low risk way to get started. Of course, it will also make many more people familiar with Snowflake and our products and we hope that will lead to more interest in our commercial products too.

Q: Are there any hidden catches with this free software?

A: No. Although we would encourage users who find Community Edition useful and helpful to contribute the Community Forum and tell us how you are using it. Additionally, if you're a user who is finding it doesn't quite meet your expectations, please tell us in the Community Forum. Using the forum is not mandated, but in support of developing knowledge within the industry we encourage users to contribute.