4

I am looking for a service (Free or Premium) that allows offline access to maps and also gives the functionality to search map using an address or Latitude / Longitude. I want to embed it into a Web Application. I am particularly interested in Maps. Please tell me if any one know of any such service. Thanks.

Note: Offline means the map's data will not reside on the Internet but on a private (intranet) server.

Improve this question

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
2

There is ArcGIS Online which is free but online and it's offline counterpart, the ArcGIS Data Appliance which should be purchased. I doubt there are any free offline service content available out there.

N.B.: This will be more helpful if you are an existing user of the ArcGIS Server product since the 'ArcGIS Data Application' functions as an add-on to ArcGIS Server.

Addendum: You probably already know this but if you need a GIS Service to gain access to maps offline for searching functionality, you will have to setup your own GIS Server and serve related services. Free solutions like MapServer and GeoServer do exist. But implementing them is still not short of a cruize missile.

Improve this answer
11
  • This is a pretty big system. All I am looking for is a simple road map which allows searching based on Co-Ordinates or address. The problem is that my application will not be online when being used so I can't used Google Maps etc. Commented Jun 30, 2011 at 9:14
  • Yeah, I guess if you already don't have ArcGIS Server, it'll be a really huge system to implement. It's all I know off though. Hope someone else has a better solution for you. Commented Jun 30, 2011 at 9:47
  • 2
    Not going to use ArcGIS .. it would be like killing an ant with a cruise missile. Commented Jun 30, 2011 at 11:25
  • 1
    As mentioned in the ArcGIS Data Appliance link, the data is 'cached and ready-to-use with ArcGIS Server on your internal network.' Which means, an internet connection is not required. Just a network of computers with one machine that has ArcGIS Server+Data Applicance; then other machines on the network can get access to the service, including your internal web application. Commented Jul 4, 2011 at 8:17
  • 1
    The link tells you where you can download the API from for offline use. help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/javascript/arcgis/help/jshelp/… Commented Jul 4, 2011 at 11:56
2

You might have to consider setting up your own OSM server containing data of your region of interest. Of course, address data might not be available in OSM for your region - then you'd have to go buy (most likely quite expensive) data from local authorities.

Improve this answer
2
  • Setting up an OSM server is most probably the only solution. Please guide me in this regard i.e. how to setup an OSM server. Thanks. Commented Jul 4, 2011 at 4:25
  • 1
    gis.stackexchange.com/questions/10162/… Commented Jul 4, 2011 at 7:12
1

Have you looked at GMapCatcher.

GMapCatcher is an offline maps viewer. It downloads tiles automatically from many providers such as: CloudMade, OpenStreetMap, Yahoo Maps

GMapCatcher

Improve this answer
1
  • I looked into it. It does give me the tiles but I need to use offline maps in a Web Browser (local intranet - no internet connection available). Commented Jun 30, 2011 at 11:31
1

I'm not really sure what exactly you are looking for, but I guess the closest to your description is something like this:

  1. You generate bitmap tiles from OSM data and put them on your private Web server (offline on intranet, as you say).
  2. You then create a HTML page with OpenLayers library to show the map in a browser.

There are several ways to generate bitmap tiles, one of them is Maperitive (I'm the author, BTW). It very much depends on what kind of map content you want to show and the coverage area (whole world vs. a country vs. a city).

Improve this answer
3
  • Thanks for the input. We are developing an application that requires map inside a web browser. The problem is we cannot access internet otherwise Google Map would have been helpful. Our application must be able to input Address and/or co-ordinates and the map shall display the appropriate location on it. The map shall also allow us to set markers on the map (to highlight buildings etc). The area of interest, at a given time, is a particular city/town or at most a state in US or a country in Europe (that is as big as it can get). The Map app must have ability to mark address on the map. Commented Jul 4, 2011 at 4:23
  • You should be able to achieve almost everything you listed using the OSM infrastructure. The only thing missing is the full address database (because OSM mapping is still in progress), so you would probably have to buy one for geocoding purposes. Commented Jul 4, 2011 at 6:26
  • Thanks for the input. This can be useful but I believe I'll be using the other approach. Commented Jul 4, 2011 at 9:46
0

If you're offline, you have to have local maps. It really is that simple. So unless you can get hold of some free maps to download and then access, you really don't have many options.

Improve this answer
3
  • Perhaps that is what I am looking for. A local Free Map / MapApp (with searching facility). Can you guide me to it? Commented Jun 30, 2011 at 11:24
  • There aren't any free desktop utils that offer free maps; mapping is the expensive part of GIS! Commented Jun 30, 2011 at 12:48
  • Currently, the money is not an issue. Do let me know of any such premium service. Commented Jul 4, 2011 at 4:29

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.