Sharing maps via link

[m-lmi]

I wanted to suggest to add the possibility to create permalinks or temporary links to share maps, so that maps composed in geonetwork don't need to be downloaded and uploaded, but can simply be shared via a link.
Most of the modern map allow such feature of sharing the active layers, zoom and so on, so this could be an integral feature for making geonetwork more popular and shareable.

Examples can be found in:

• Google maps --> https://support.google.com/maps/answer/7101463?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
• OpenLayers --> https://openlayers.org/en/latest/examples/link.html?x=0&y=0&z=2.87575&r=0&l=1
• OpenStreetMaps --> https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=7/65.012/-19.017

[fxprunayre]

One option is to have a metadata about your map like in https://www.aquacoope.org/cat_eecca/srv/fre/catalog.search#/search?query_string=%7B%22resourceType%22:%7B%22map-interactive%22:true%7D%7D and the a direct link to the map can be created like https://www.aquacoope.org/cat_eecca/srv/fre/catalog.search#/map?map=https://www.aquacoope.org/cat_eecca/srv/api/records/b3379e3c-de52-4ea0-9547-46feafe0e681/attachments/map-z7-c3272727.8030581065-5926621.425119426.ows using the saved map.

This corresponds to the map you can download/upload using context

Putting all the context information in the URL is probably difficult due to the number of information to provide.

[m-lmi]

Thank you for the answer. I think I still do not understand fully.
So, if I understand this correctly for sharing the map as you suggested I need to be logged in, right?
Or how am I supposed now to share this map where I added the rivers of Armenia with someone on the internet without downloading the map itself?

The downloaded XML does not contain a link to the map itself.

<ows-context:OWSContext xmlns:ows-context="http://www.opengis.net/ows-context" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:ows="http://www.opengis.net/ows" version="0.3.1" id="ows-context-ex-1-v3"><ows-context:General><ows:BoundingBox crs="EPSG:3857"><ows:LowerCorner>2099053.6303220997 4383099.798190106</ows:LowerCorner><ows:UpperCorner>6795344.648163329 6442318.122488581</ows:UpperCorner></ows:BoundingBox></ows-context:General><ows-context:ResourceList><ows-context:Layer name="{type=osm}" group="Background layers" hidden="true" opacity="1"><ows:Title>OpenStreetMap</ows:Title></ows-context:Layer><ows-context:Layer name="{type=bing_aerial}" group="Background layers" hidden="false" opacity="1"><ows:Title>Bing Aerial</ows:Title></ows-context:Layer><ows-context:Layer name="districte_bazine_hidrografice" hidden="false" opacity="0.8"><ows:Title>MD_SW_districte_bazine_hidrografice</ows:Title><ows-context:Server service="urn:ogc:serviceType:WMS" version="1.3.0"><ows-context:OnlineResource xlink:href="https://www.aquacoope.org/geoserver/c_md/ows?SERVICE=WMS&amp;"/></ows-context:Server><ows-context:Extension>{}</ows-context:Extension></ows-context:Layer><ows-context:Layer name="MD_t_mostation" hidden="false" opacity="1"><ows:Title>MD_MO_Monitoring stations</ows:Title><ows-context:Server service="urn:ogc:serviceType:WMS" version="1.3.0"><ows-context:OnlineResource xlink:href="https://www.aquacoope.org/geoserver/c_md/ows?SERVICE=WMS&amp;"/></ows-context:Server><ows-context:Extension>{}</ows-context:Extension></ows-context:Layer><ows-context:Layer name="Main_rivers" hidden="false" opacity="1"><ows-context:Server service="urn:ogc:serviceType:WMS" version="1.3.0"><ows-context:OnlineResource xlink:href="https://www.aquacoope.org/geoserver/c_am/ows?SERVICE=WMS&amp;"/></ows-context:Server><ows-context:Extension>{"uuid":"4e40793d-2de4-4387-9b62-b131a5d0dc1e","label":"AM_SW_Main rivers in Armenia"}</ows-context:Extension></ows-context:Layer></ows-context:ResourceList></ows-context:OWSContext>

[fxprunayre]

In this example, it is a catalogue of maps, so each maps also have a corresponding metadata record with the map context attached. But you probably want to directly share your current map state without creating a record and without sign in. This is not available for now.

[m-lmi]

Exactly. I think it should be useful to let the users combine the data in a way that is useful to them and then share it on social media or other platforms, which would give more visibility to the datasets and data itself.

I think very few share a XML file of a map online that needs to be uploaded to a specific page in order to be used by the other person...

Anyway thank you for the options given by you.
I guess it does not fully fulfill the need but I appreciate the effort. Thank you :)