[OGC Press Release] The OGC Announces Styled Layer Descriptor & Symbol Encoding Specifications

[OGC Press Release]

PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For information about this announcement, contact:

Sam Bacharach
Executive Director, Outreach and Community Adoption
Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc
tel: +1-703-352-3938
sbacharach at opengeospatial.org

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August 15, 2007. Wayland, MA. The members of the Open Geospatial
Consortium, Inc. (OGC) have approved the OpenGIS® Styled Layer
Descriptor (SLD) Implementation Specification (a profile of the Web
Map Service) and the related OpenGIS Symbology Encoding Implementation
Specification.

The OpenGIS® Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD) profile of the Web Map
Service Implementation Specification defines an encoding that extends
the Web Map Service specification to allow user-defined symbolization
of feature and coverage data. It allows users to determine which
features or layers are rendered with which colors or symbols.

SLD addresses the important need for users (and software) to be able
to control the visual portrayal of the geospatial data. The ability to
define styling rules requires a styling language that the client and
server can both understand. Symbology Encoding provides this language,
while the SLD profile of WMS enables application of Symbology Encoding
to WMS layers using extensions of WMS operations. Additionally, SLD
defines an operation for standardized access to legend symbols.

The OpenGIS Symbology Encoding Implementation Specification defines
Symbology Encoding, an XML language for styling information that can
be applied to digital Feature and Coverage data.

The OpenGIS® Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD) profile of the Web Map
Service is, together with the OpenGIS Symbology Encoding
Implementation Specification, the direct follow-up of Styled Layer
Descriptor Implementation Specification 1.0.0. The old specification
document was split into two documents to allow parts that are not
specific to WMS to be reused by other service specifications.
Symbology Encoding is independent of any service descriptions and
could therefore also be used to describe styling information of
systems not connected to any kind of service (e.g. desktop geographic
information systems), while the SLD profile of WMS describes how
Symbology Encoding can be applied to WMS layers.

The OGC® is an international industry consortium of more than 340
companies, government agencies, research organizations, and
universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly
available interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications
support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web,
wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The
specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial
information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of
applications. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org.