| Developed by | OGC |
|---|---|
| Type of format | Container format |
| Container for | XML, JPEG, PNG, others |
| Open format? | Yes, with Copyright[1] |
A Web Map Service (WMS) is a standard protocol for serving georeferenced map images over the Internet that are generated by a map server using data from a GIS database.[2] The specification was developed and first published by the Open Geospatial Consortium in 1999.[3]
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The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) became involved in developing standards for web mapping after a paper was published in 1997 by Allan Doyle, outlining a "WWW Mapping Framework".[4] The OGC established a task force to come up with a strategy,[5] and organized the "Web Mapping Testbed" initiative, inviting pilot web mapping projects that built upon ideas by Doyle and the OGC task force. Results of the pilot projects were demonstrated in September 1999, and a second phase of pilot projects ended in April 2000.[6]
The Open Geospatial Consortium released WMS version 1.0.0 in April 2000,[7] followed by version 1.1.0 in June 2001,[8] and version 1.1.1 in January 2002.[9] The OGC released WMS version 1.3.0 in January 2004.[10]
WMS specifies a number of different request types, two of which are required by any WMS server:[11]
Request types that WMS providers may optionally support include:
Open source software that provide web map services capability include GeoServer, MapServer, Geozilla, World Wind Server and MapGuide Open Source. Proprietary server software that allow providing web map services include ObjectFX Web Mapping Tools, ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS, Envinsa from Pitney Bowes Business Insights, GeoWebPublisher from Bentley Systems, GeognoSIS from Cadcorp, GeoMedia, Oracle MapViewer, LizardTech's Express Server, and SIAS (Smallworld Internet Application Server) from GE Energy, Autodesk's Infrastructure Map Server, ERDAS, Inc's APOLLO Suite of products, and CARIS's suite of products.
WMS is a widely supported format for maps and GIS data accessed via the Internet and loaded into client side GIS software. Major commercial GIS and mapping software that support WMS include MATLAB and Mapping Toolbox, Netwin, Autodesk's Map 3D and Civil 3D products, Bentley Systems's GIS products, ESRI's ArcGIS products, Cadcorp SIS product suite, MapInfo Professional, GeoMedia, Global Mapper, Manifold System, PYXIS WorldView[12], and Google Earth. Open source software that supports WMS include Quantum GIS, uDig, OpenJUMP, MapGuide Open Source, NASA World Wind, GRASS GIS, and gvSIG. OpenLayers, GE Energy's SIAS, an Ajax library, supports WMS for integrating WMS maps into web pages, as does Mapbender.[13]
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