Computing, GIS and Archaeology in the UK

I don’t often (ever?) ask for help on my blog but I’ve hit a snag with my continuing investigations into installing mapguide open source on ubuntu. My questions on the mailing list haven’t been answered, so I’m hoping that some kind blog reader will help me out.

The problem:

I can only use arbitrary x-y coordinate systems. This is officially recognised as bug 582, where categories.txt is in the wrong place, and a fix has been suggested.

The fix:

Move/copy (not sure which) categories.txt into the correct folder, and you should see all the coordinate system options.

But, there’s the rub- I can’t. I have moved, copied, reinstalled, changed makefiles, restarted, ran as root or non-root, checked environmental variables, and nothing changes. I still can’t see any other coordinate systems.

I think one of two things has happened:

1: Something went awry in my install that I didn’t notice.

2: The fix is actually more complex but no one will tell me what it is.

If the answer is 1) I would love it if someone could show me how to debug it, and where it might have gone wrong so I can try and fix it. If 2) I would be equally grateful if someone could tell me in very simple but precise terms how they fixed the problem.

Either way, I can offer eternal gratitude, good karma, complimentary blog-posting, and if I’m anywhere near your area I’ll buy you a pint/bar of chocolate/reasonably-priced indulgence of your choice.

Seriously guys, this is my last ditch attempt to persevere with what I think is the best web mapping application around at the moment, and I really, really want to make it work…

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Edit (Jan 2008): Since Mapguide is being continually developed, these instructions are now a little out of date. For the most up to date instructions you should see the wiki pages on the osgeo site that I and others have been working on.

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As promised, here are my instructions for installing the svn version of mapguide open source on Ubuntu 6.06 server. Standard disclaimer- I did this with a lot of help from the Autodesk team (thanks Trevor). Any improvements, or problems, let me know in the comments. Now, buckle up and get comfy because it’s a long ride…
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Whew, it’s been a busy and eventful week or so. More detailed posts to follow, but here’s a brief roundup of all that’s new in the world of Archaeogeek.

• Finally got Mapguide Open Source compiled and working on Ubuntu
• My presentation on Portable GIS has been accepted for FOSS4G 2007
• My southern counterpart is off to do his PhD

On that last point, we will be advertising soon to fill Leif’s post (more about it on his blog) and are always on the lookout for archaeological computing types at both offices, so if you’re interested then get in touch and let’s talk!

Archaeogeek is now back in the saddle/desk-chair after a few weeks break- firstly entertaining visiting parents and most recently scuba-diving in the Sound of Mull (Scotland)

In the mean time I have a few projects coming to fruition, and have been catching up on a few things that I wanted to learn more about (hello google maps and database integration). Firstly, we at Oxford Archaeology have been fortunate to have the services of a very skilled and enthusiastic work-placement student called Matt Jones from the University of Southampton for the last few weeks and he has been helping up get our basic web-based mapping sorted. This collaboration was the first to be arranged via the Antiquist Skills Exchange, where people can post about work they have available, or skills they can offer. It’s still a work in progress to some extent but Matt has done sterling work getting it looking good. Thanks also to Bill Woodall from the OpenLayers mailing list who helped immensely with the ajax code for getting the popups to work nicely.

Secondly, I have been fortunate to have some communication with the MapGuide Open Source development team in terms of getting MGOS working on Ubuntu. This is a long process, made slightly more difficult because of the difference in time zones, but we are making progress, and I am just amazed at them for assigning someone to spend time working with me to get the programme working. I can’t honestly imagine many large companies doing this, and it’s a great credit to the new open mindset at Autodesk. We are currently working through the compilation errors as they occur in the code, and I am taking copious notes so I’ll keep people posted.

Thirdly, Oxford Archaeology’s decision to release our data via wms/wfs is still a matter of debate. Unfortunately for every post or comment that approves of our decision, there is another that tries to figure out what we are gaining financially from the decision. I find this sad, as it’s indicative of a mindset in British Archaeology that we are trying to change. I’m not being naive- we might make some fuzzy and indirect gains from this, and certainly our internal efficiency will improve, but it’s really not the main point- we are making a commitment to the free exchange of data.