The platform harmonizes all the different input streams into a unified format modeled after GeoRSS. Instead of XML, it is usually delivered as JSON. In addition to the GeoRSS fields, the following optional fields can also be integrated:
- dist: distance to the queried location [meters]. If it is missing, the distances will be calculated client-side.
- eventfrom / eventto: timestamp for the validity, e.g. an expiration date. For events (e.g. earthquakes) both are set to the same value.
- short: string as text at the favorite display, if it should differ from the title
- weight: for sorting items that are geolocated in the exact same location (e.g. for the “Notable People” channel).
The main work is certainly to transfer the very heterogeneous existing source data into this GeoRSS structure. The main points are the creation of the „title” attribute (possibly with a meaningful link to some original entry) and the filling of the „description” tag. HTML is possible there, so e.g. tables can be displayed.
Proxy
Ideally (if a source already offered the data in the correct format), the platform would only work as a proxy.