[AG-TECH] Programmatic access to AG node database

[Brian Corrie]

Hey Tom,

That is cool... I have been playing with Google Earth to generate some 
stats to show how IRMACS has collaborated with other institutes (see the 
following link for details). It might be interesting to explore how this 
might be combined, possibly with AGSchedule, to represent the scope of 
collaborations carried out using AG...

http://www.irmacs.sfu.ca/collaborations/global-research

An interesting possibility... The above is best viewed in GoogleEarth as 
opposed to the static image on the page above. For the KMZ file click on 
the KMZ link in the above page (you will need google earth of course).

Brian



Thomas D. Uram wrote:
> 
> Some time ago, I began to expose the AG Node Listings from 
> www.accessgrid.org via a programmatic interface, after this arose in 
> discussions I'd had with several people.  I've now finished a first, 
> very simple version of such an interface. Using it, one can retrieve 
> node information from accessgrid.org as XML, for inclusion in websites 
> or other documentation, and as KML, for use with Google Maps, Google 
> Earth, or anything else that consumes KML.
> 
> I'll write up a document about this interface eventually, but would like 
> to include feedback on how the interface might be improved first, so 
> please do send feedback.  If you use it, I'd be interested to know how.
> 
> 
> Retrieving this information is done using URLs as follows:
> 
>     http://www.accessgrid.org/nodeinfo.php?format=xml
>     http://www.accessgrid.org/nodeinfo.php?format=kml
> 
> One method of query is currently possible, using the country keyword:
> 
>     http://www.accessgrid.org/nodeinfo.php?format=xml&country=es
>     http://www.accessgrid.org/nodeinfo.php?format=kml&country=es
> 
> The latter will return KML formatted data for all nodes in Spain.  Note 
> that the value for 'country' is the abbreviation used for internet 
> domains (TLDs). Lists of these abound on the web.
> 
> One useful thing enabled by this interface is generation of 
> country-specific maps of AG nodes. To this end, one would go to 
> maps.google.com, select MyMaps, create a new map, and give the URL above 
> (with the appropriate country code). From the resulting map, choose the 
> Link option.  An example image from GoogleMaps is below (clearly one of 
> the nodes has wandered outside of Spain and needs its lat/long 
> updated).  Also, there's an image from GoogleEarth of all AG nodes.
> 
> Tom
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