Mapstraction, OpenLayers, LeafLet, etc? - asp.net

I've been looking through a few different sites and places about geocoding. I currently have a module with Google Maps that I'd like to switch out to a free alternative, like OpenStreetMaps.
However, I've been hearing that these API's are now abstracted away even further, and services like Mapstraction exist that are API-swappable.
However, I haven't been able to find out what OpenLayers really is, same with Leaflet. What are they? Can you swap API's? Do they default to a specfic API?

This article could prove helpful: "A Process for Keeping Pace with Evolving
Web Mapping Technologies. Roth et al 2014" (http://cartographicperspectives.org/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/cp78-roth-et-al/1347)
Especially the table on page 34 (page 10 of pdf) gives you a great overview of the different APIs and their capabilities.

I've made a small extension (plugin) to OpenLayers 3 which can use one of the following nominatim provider:
OSM
Mapquest
Photon
It is called OpenLayers 3 Control Geocoder Nominatim
You can see a demo here.

Related

How to create HERE maps

HERE maps for certain city like Chennai, India is very limited. I understand that lot of information can be added so that it will benefit end-user.
My question, can I create a new map using HERE and allow my version of maps to be downloaded? If yes? How can I do this
HERE Maps is a proprietary software so you can not try to recreate your own version of it. Trying to recreate a Map API by yourself is a cool idea, but it is also a good idea to build something on top of a technology or an application that is already existing. There are other Map API's out there like OpenStreetMap and Google Maps that allows user to create and add data about POIs (Point of Interests) and/or locations. The data on these apps are also open source, that is why the community are encouraged to contribute data of their own on top of the Application.
TIP: If you are really onto it here is a page that documents the stuffs the happened behind the scenes in developing the HERE Maps: http://360.here.com/2014/12/11/video-craft-science-behind-maps/

Creating an indoor map

I wonder if someone here can help here ,in my web application I'm trying to create map section:
In my map section the objective is to show an indoor search like in the attached picture from Yahoo Maps does someone know how they Created the tenants names and level of the floor on the maps it self?
http://s30.postimg.org/4dh7mlpfl/Yahoo_Maps.png
I think the best answer for this one is going to depend on which mapping framework you were interested in using.
If you're using Yahoo maps: Yahoo got that indoor map data from Nokia's here platform. As far as I know, they don't offer an editor for the indoor mapping data. The major mapping platforms often have some self-service mechanism to add or correct mapping data. If you were set on having this available and you were using Yahoo's maps, you might want to try to contact someone at Nokia's "here" and see how you might be able to get that to happen.
With that being said, you can do something like that with Google Maps as well. They have information and a way to add the interior layout of a building here. I haven't used it...I just know that it exists, so I can't speak to it in much detail.
There is also some support for this kind of thing in OpenStreetMap. I would post a link to an example of it, but stackoverflow says I can't post more than 2 links unless I have more than 10 reputation. (Sorry...I'm still relatively new to posting on here.)

asp.net controls for MAP based Applications

I am new to stackoverflow, I am creating an .net web map applications similar to google maps.
But my 1st requirement is to create my own map. please suggest tools to create shapefiles,index files and dbfiles.
2nd requirement is that i need to know controls in asp.net for implementing it.
I have a jpg image of my map can i use that image as my map or do i need to create the shape files for this. I want to include all the features shown in google map in my application.
Note .net 3.5 framework is where i have to implement this application. And also i can not use any existing map such as bing, google maps.
Look into ESRI's ArcInfo and Spacial Analyst tools. We used to do generate our own maps, but it was fairly time consuming (but this was some 10+ yrs ago). They have probably made it faster these days. It sounds like you may have some knowledge of arcview (shapefiles, db, indx), but that will not do what you need.

Google Maps API: Directions Service on Custom Maps

I am in need of importing custom roads into Google Maps, (ie: new roads that may not yet be visible in Google Maps) and I would like them to be included in the Directions Service API. The approach I was thinking about first, was to use Google Maps Engine to import a shapefile containing the road data of what I need and create a map based on that. Then I would use the Directions Service on the data in that Custom Map. I am very wary as to if this will work, and as far as I can tell there isn't a trial version of Google Maps Engine that I can use to test this out. And I really don't want to purchase it if it isn't going to work anyway.
Does anyone know if this way will work, or if there is a similar service that Google provides that will work for what I require?
I assume I will need to implement my own directions service if I want to do this, but I want to see if there already is a service out there that will instead.
Thanks!
EDIT:
To try and clarify:
I want to import a set of custom roads obtained by an alternate source. These roads are in a shapefile format and are more up-to-date than some of the roads on Google. What my goal is, is to use the existing google roads, and "merge" the data that I have where necessary. Say in the far north of Alberta Canada a company has put some roads in for getting to their oil site. I want to import those roads and be able to tell our drivers how to get there. They would take a main highway that google already has, and then turn onto a road that doesn't show up on google because it is too new. This is where the alternate data set of roads would come in.
I want to find the best way to do this, while obtaining directions that incorporate those new roads. I understand that this may not be possible using google services, but I am asking in case someone else has come across this problem.
I guess I should update this to my solution, in case anyone else was wondering the same thing. The answer is NO, currently there is no way to import custom data like roads into Google Maps and have them be included in the directions service. I have talked to a Google representative on the phone, and they have let me know this.
I had to implement my own routing engine, which I did using PostgreSQL, PostGIS, and PgRouting.

mapping API: Google earth, Worldwind or OpenStreet MAP

I would like to include MAP in an application which will update the route I travel.
I have studied various map sources and listed Google Earth, Worldwind and Openstreet map.
Can someone help me in choosing the right one.
I might need offline use also.
I may advice you to choose Google earth: it is quicker and has better texture quality, in my opinion. It is also quite used so you can find a lot of information and examples about how to do things, whereas Worlwind is not so used (448 vs 38 tags in stackoverflow).

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