The Open GIS Consortium has announced its first Interoperability Experiment involving the Geography Markup Language (GML) Version 3.1 and LandXML Version 1.0.

OGC Interoperability Experiments are "brief, inexpensive, low-overhead initiatives led and executed by OGC members to achieve specific technical objectives that further the OGC Technical Baseline; three or more OGC members launch and run an initiative without the more substantial sponsorship that supports OGC's traditional testbeds and pilot projects. These initatives can be for specification development, refinement, or testing or for other purposes."

LandXML Version 1.0 is "an industry-driven, open XML data exchange standard that provides interoperability in more than 40 software applications serving the civil engineering, survey and transportation industries. The LandXML.org Industry Consortium, initiated by Autodesk and now comprised of 190 companies, government agencies and universities, developed the standard. LandXML is now broadly supported in online cadastral applications, GIS applications, Survey field instruments, Civil Engineering desktop and CAD-based applications, instant 3D viewers and high end 3D visualization rendering applications." LandXML XML Schema root nodes include Alignments, Application, CgPoints, CoordinateSystem, GradeModel, Monuments, Parcels, PipeNetworks, PlanFeatures, Project, Roadways, Surfaces, Survey, and Units.

OGC's Geography Markup Language (GML) is a "widely supported open specification for representation of geographic (spatial and location) information. It defines XML encoding for the transport and storage of geographic information, including both the geometry and properties of geographic features."

The LandGML IE initiated by US Army Corps of Engineers ERDC, Autodesk and Galdos Systems "will test a GML 3.0 application schema for encoding LandXML 1.0 documents (LandGML) and will provide a tool to transform LandXML 1.0 documents into LandGML documents. In a second phase, a tool will be developed to transform LandGML documents to LandXML 1.0 documents."

Galdos Inc. developed the LandGML application schema and the XSLT translator from LandXML to LandGML.

Overview of the LandGML Interoperability Experiment

"The LandGML Interoperability Experiment is initiated by Autodesk, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Development Center, and Galdos Systems. It is a two-phase Interoperability Experiment intended to test a GML 3.0 application schema for encoding LandXML 1.0 documents (LandGML), a tool that is being developed to actually transform LandXML 1.0 documents into LandGML documents, and a tool that is being developed to transform LandGML documents into LandXML 1.0..."

Phase 1 Activity Plan, Technical Approach: "Under this IE, the primary focus is Testing and Integration of an existing transformation tool. The initial LandGML application schema and transformation tool will be supplied by the Initiator organizations to all project participants. The Testing and Integration task will be to apply the provided transformation tool to instance documents and to report the results of this transformation in terms of success or failure and reasons for any failure. The IE will iterate over the Testing and Integration event and Specification Development (Refinement) tasks until the results from the Testing and Integration task yield no significant issues. It is intended that this process take less than three cycles..."

Each participant will be expected to bring sample LandXML 1.0 documents that they have generated and to transform the documents using the transformation tool. Participants are expected to report their issues and bugs to the other participants via a Testing and Integration Experiment (TIE) Report. The TIE Report allows suggestions to be made for improvement to the LandGML schema. The Initiator organizations will refine the LandGML schema and transformation tool based on the feedback received during a Testing and Integration task. The Initiators will provide final documentation in terms of the LandGML application schema and the transformation tools once the cycles of testing and refinement have been completed.. These will be considered the Deliverables for the project..."

This IE Phase 1 will result in specific IE Reports, including the LandGML Application Schema, Transformation Tool user documentation, LandXML and LandGML documents used in the IE, and all TIE Reports..."

"Phase II LandGML To LandXML Transformation Tool Validation. Under this IE, the primary focus is Testing and Integration the developed transformation tool. The initial LandGML application schema and transformation tool will be supplied by the Initiator organizations during Phase I to all project participants. The Testing and Integration task will be to apply the provided LandGML to LandXML transformation tool to instance documents and to report the results of this transformation in terms of success or failure and reasons for any failure. The IE will iterate over the Testing and Integration event and Specification Development (Refinement) tasks until the results from the Testing and Integration task yield no significant issues. It is intended that this process take less than three cycles..."

Land Information Initative Phase 1 (LII-1)

"The LandXML schema facilitates the exchange of data created during the Land Planning, Civil Engineering and Land Survey process. More information concerning LandXML can be obtained from www.landxml.org Geography Markup Language is an XML grammar written in XML Schema for the modelling, transport, and storage of geographic information. More information concerning GML can be found at www.opengis.org The task of this work effort is to develop a transformation between LandXML 1.0 and GML 3.0, so that systems that can consume GML will be able to read data supplied in LandXML. This will be accomplished by first creating a GML Spplication Schema that will be able to model everything found in the LandXML schema, call it 'LandGML' and by creating an XSL Stylesheet that can transform LandXML 1.0 instance documents into instance documents that confrom to the LandGML GML Application Schema..." [adapted from source]

About OGC Interoperability Experiments

An OGC document on "Interoperability Experiment Policies and Procedures" [03-091r1] describes the IE as "a new kind of OGC Interoperability Initiative; IEs are brief, inexpensive, low-overhead initiatives led and executed by OGC members to achieve specific technical objectives that further the OGC Technical Baseline. They provide an opportunity for three or more OGC members to launch and run an initiative without the more substantial sponsorship that supports OGC's traditional testbeds and pilot projects. These initatives can be for specification development, refinement, or testing or for other purposes approved by the OGC Review Board. To begin an Interoperability Experiment, interested members submit to the OGC Review Board an Activity Plan and letters of support from at least three voting members of the Open GIS Consortium. If the Review Board approves the Interoperability Experiment, the board designates an OGC Staff member to oversee the experiment. Before the Interoperability Experiment begins, the OGC issues a press release announcing the IE so that organizations have an opportunity to participate or observe. Upon completion of the Interoperability Experiment, the technical deliverables, draft specifications, are documented as 'IE Reports'. These may be introduced into the Specification Program for review, possible revision, and possible adoption by the OGC Technical and Planning Committees as Adopted OpenGIS Implementation Specifications..." [excerpted]

From the Announcement

The Open GIS Consortium Inc. (OGC) announced that its first Interoperability Experiment (IE) will test a GML 3.0 application schema for encoding LandXML 1.0 documents (LandGML) and will provide a tool to transform LandXML 1.0 documents into LandGML documents. In a second phase, a tool will be developed to transform LandGML documents to LandXML 1.0 documents.

LandXML is an industry-driven, open XML data exchange standard that provides interoperability in more than 40 software applications serving the civil engineering, survey and transportation industries. The LandXML.org Industry Consortium, initiated by Autodesk and now comprised of 190 companies, government agencies and universities, developed the standard. The OpenGIS Geography Markup Language (GML) is an XML encoding for geospatial data developed by OGC members. It's currently an approved specification at release 3.1.

This effort is the first of a new type of activity within OGC. An Interoperability Experiment is primarily led and executed by OGC members, and is intended to achieve a technical objective that furthers OGC goals for standards and interoperability. Interoperability Experiments are focused efforts, allowing interested members to address a small part of a larger goal.

The LandGML IE was initiated by US Army Corps of Engineers ERDC, Autodesk and Galdos Systems. The project is expected to kick off in June. Organizations interested in participating in this experiment should refer to details [on the web site].

OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 250 companies, government agencies 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.