overview.rst 1.2 KB

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  1. .. _google_earth_overview:
  2. Overview
  3. ========
  4. Why use GeoServer with Google Earth?
  5. ------------------------------------
  6. GeoServer is useful when one wants to put a lot of data on to Google Earth. GeoServer automatically generates KML that can be easily and quickly served and visualized in Google Earth. GeoServer operates entirely through a `Network Link <http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/kml_tut.html#network_links>`_, which allows it to selectively return information for the area being viewed. With GeoServer as a robust and powerful server and Google Earth providing rich visualizations, they are a perfect match for sharing your data.
  7. Standards-based implementation
  8. ------------------------------
  9. GeoServer supports Google Earth by providing KML as a `Web Map Service <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Map_Service>`_ (WMS) output format. This means that adding data published by GeoServer is as simple as constructing a standard WMS request and specifying
  10. "**application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml**" as the ``outputFormat``. Since generating KML is just a WMS request, it fully supports :ref:`styling` via SLD.
  11. See the next section (:ref:`google_earth_quickstart`) to view GeoServer and Google
  12. Earth in action.