A Novel Model-driven Framework for the Development of Web-based Geographical Information Systems

Web-based Geographical Information Systems (Web-GIS) aim to store, analyze, and disseminate geospatial information, enabling effective decision-making. However, their development requires professional expertise and incurs high development costs, resulting in resource limitations for many organizations in developing their own GIS. To address these challenges, we propose a Geo-Location System (GLS) Framework with a Model-driven approach that will ease the developers to automatically develop their customized Web-GIS using Google Maps API. The framework incorporates a GLS meta-model encompassing essential concepts for Web-GIS development and proposes two novel features using OCL constraints to enhance the framework’s capabilities. The framework also includes a customized tree editor and a graphical modeling tool that allows the easy modeling and visualization of any complex Web-GIS. Moreover, the framework provides an Acceleo transformation engine that automatically transforms models into executable Web code. The resulting source code is browser-ready without manual modifications. The proposed framework is validated with a real-world case study which demonstrates its effectiveness in reducing the overall development complexity, cost, and time.