hi Prestige,
some answers to your questions :
GeoNetwork uses JDBC to store metadata in an RDBMS; with the default installer an in-memory database is used (McKoi) but it is very much advisable to use a separate database, such as MySQL or any other one, so you will retain your data when the GeoNetwork application is restarted.
So you cannot simply use an XML database without making changes to the way GeoNetwork stores things. Also, some other information that has nothing to do with XML (such as users and groups, for example) are stored by GeoNetwork in the RDBS.
Yes you can customize the way GeoNetwork looks; there are many examples where the layout is changed in a minor way, which is very easy to do by changing CSS. An example is http://www.fao.org/geonetwork. For an example of a dramatically different layout see for example http://nationaalgeoregister.nl. This involves more than just CSS changes; also Javascript and XSLTs (that generate the HTML) were changed here. Note that GeoNetwork is Open Source you can not only change the way it looks but also the way it works, or do anything with it.
You can limit access to metadata by using GeoNetwork’s users and groups system; see the manual for more information on that.
Kind regards,
Heikki Doeleman
On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 10:02 PM, Prestige Makanga <ptmakanga@anonymised.com> wrote:
Greetings,
I hope that you are well, I am fine. I am a researcher at the university of Cape Town and I am in the Process of exploring possible softwares that I can use to establish an SDI which will be at the heart of the Cape Province Urban Observatory. The deliverables of the project are basically a Geoportal and a clearing house. The Questions that I have for you are
Do I need a seperate RDBMS to store the metadata records that will be published through Geonetwork
Can I use XML instead and what are the benefits over an RDMS
Can I customize the way that geonetwork looks
Can I limit access to the metedata
Maybe you can assit by making reference to similar projects that have made use of Geonetwork if there are there or your thoughts on how we can create a clearinghouse.
Regards
–
Prestige T Makanga
Geomatics Postgraduate Research
University Of Cape Town
Tel: 021 650 3183
Cel: 0836861952
Alt email: mknpre005@anonymised.com
This SF.Net email is sponsored by the Moblin Your Move Developer’s challenge
Build the coolest Linux based applications with Moblin SDK & win great prizes
Grand prize is a trip for two to an Open Source event anywhere in the world
http://moblin-contest.org/redirect.php?banner_id=100&url=/
GeoNetwork-devel mailing list
GeoNetwork-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/geonetwork-devel
GeoNetwork OpenSource is maintained at http://sourceforge.net/projects/geonetwork