Journal of Geographic Information System, 2010, 2, 100-105
doi:10.4236/jgis.2010.22015 Published Online April 2010 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jgis)
Design and Key Technology of Gardening Information
Management System Based on Data Center
Xiguang Wang1, Weihua Lin1,2, Wen Zeng1,2
1Faculty of Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
2Wuhan Zondy Cyber T
＆ S. Co. Ltd, Wuhan, China
Abstract
To provide scientific management basis for the garden planning, project construction, maintenance, social
service, this paper prompted that the urban gardening administration sectors need to construct gardening in-
formation management system. On the basis of fully requirements analysis of gardening sectors, this paper
discussed the key technology for system construction. It also proposed to flexibly and smartly build up the
system by using the secondary development design environment and running environment based on data
center integration development platform. This system greatly helps the daily management and plays very
important role in improving urban ecological environment and investment environment.
Keywords: Geographic Information System (GIS), Data Center Integrated Development Platform, Gardening,
Workflow
1. Introduction
With economy rapidly development, gardening has been
one of the most important parts of urban infrastructure
construction which decorate the city more and more b eau -
tiful. More attention is paid to urban construction rather
than urban management, which results in low informa-
tionized development. This problem has impacted the gar-
dening construction and development. It mainly refle ct s in
the following aspects:
1) Landscaping classification complexity result in dif-
ficult management, 2) due to the rapid development of
urban construction, information is very difficult to up-
date, 3) traditional management methods can’t accurately
statistic various landscaping, such as, old trees, parks, sc e-
nic spots, etc, 4) planning and evaluation are mainly bas e d
on practical experience.
Based on the above reasons, the key technology and
construction methods of urban gardening need to be
studied and gardening information management system
will be studied. By operating this syste m, the operational
level and management efficiency will be improved. Ca-
rry out co mpre he nsive ev aluation of u rban gard en ing and
set urban development strategies for gardening develop-
ment.
2. Objective of Urban Gardening
Information Management System
Urban gardening information management system is to
study gardening classification encoding and manage-
ment, data source sharing, data status, gardening 3D
modeling, etc. All the landscapes, parks and scenic spots
will be expressed in data and the urban basic spatial
database, RS image data and gardening information
base will be integrated. It will greatly help daily man-
agement, improve urban ecological environment, and
play an important role in improving the investment en-
vironment.
1) Establish an integrated geograph ic information plat-
form to achieve urban gardening and related data sharing,
permanent preservation, real-time queries and dynamic
management.
2) Establish administrative license handling platform.
Integrate administrative licensing approval process and
GIS to achieve digital approval process.
3) Establish decision-making support platform to help
planning and designing, data query, simulated demolition,
program optimization, etc.
4) Establish social service platform to release public
urban gardening information.

X. G. WANG ET AL.101
3. System Structure Design
Gardening information management system is based on
MapGIS data center integrated development platform
(data center for short) [1] to build and design on three-
layer architecture, (shown in Figure 1). The first layer is
hardware and software-based layer, which is base for
management operation platform. Hardware part includes
network equipment, servers, storage, backup devices, ne-
twork including government special network, Internet,
GPRS network, etc. Software part includes operating
systems, database management systems, mirror and ba-
ckup tools, GIS platforms and security software. The
second layer is an integrated development platform for
data center which is the running environment for gar-
dening information system building and configuration.
The third layer is the applications and services layer
which provides business applications and service to us-
ers.
Integrated development platform for data center is
based on the gardening information management re-
quirements, which prov ides common needs and capabili-
ties. It adopts service-oriented architecture conceptions.
It designs and develops corresponding abstraction func-
tion module which constituted by several basic function
composition. It can be divided into three layers, (shown
in Figure 1). The first layer is to provide basic and com-
mon features, such as basic heterogeneous data view,
GIS capabilities, remote sensing capabilities, 3D func-
tions, data processing work space, data security rights
management module, etc. The second layer is to provide
basic and general landscape features, such as data models
management, basic function management, gardening ba-
sic method management functions, etc. The third layer is
to provide gardening professional functions, such as lan-
dscaping assisted analysis, removal and analysis, etc.
In addition, as for specific business needs, it provides
a standard function module expansion interface, which
supports particular business logic integration, specific
business function development completion. It can also be
incorporated into functional warehouse to be an integral
part of a functional warehouse. In addition, data center
integrated development module and function module ad-
opts “Loosely coupled” connection approach. This app-
roach which is flexible in structure and powerful expan-
sibility is the best connection method which has minimal
environmental impact. Operation adopts “service” app-
roach which converts “data access operation” to “data
access service request service”. “Data access service” is
an example, which fully embodies the latest “service-
oriented” design ideas.
Figure 1. Gardening information management system layer structure.

X. G. WANG ET AL. 102
4. System Function Design
Urban gardening information management system mainly
includes the following aspects:
4.1. Establish Gardening Data Classification
Dictionary
Green classification corresponds to urban land can be
divided into three layers, which has 29 categories, in-
cluding parks green, production green, protection green
land, subsidiary green land and other green space, trees,
old trees, plant resource protection base, etc. According
to urban greening classification standards, establishing
data dictionary is the basis for gardening effective man-
agement, data sharing and dynamic updating. The classi-
fication coding should have the following characteristics,
scientific, systematic, stable, integral, compatible, scala-
ble, adaptable and flexible [2].
4.2. Unified to Manage Various Data and
Materials
Gardening includes all kinds of thematic data. Business
layer includes community green space, trees, old and
valuable trees, etc. Engineering class includes green
space system planning, detailed planning, project plan-
ning and design programs, urban gardening, long-term
development plans and annual plans and other docu-
ments. In addition to basic spatial data and urban RS
image information, there are lots of other spatial data,
such as, water resources, meteorology, ecology, pests and
diseases.
Figure 2. Gardening data center manager.
The data manager provided by data center can classify,
store, manage, query, index and statistic the heterogene-
ous spatial data and non-spatial data by different region,
different time era and different category.
4.3. Gardening Plan Assisted Analysis
By spatial overlay analysis of landscape planning and re-
sidents feature, the gardening green engineer involved in
demolition and resident resettlement assignments will be
obtained. Then according to the cost checking database
attribute, the related fees can be got. Comprehensively an-
alyze gardening planning of landscaping construction
costs and adjust the green structure and layou t in order to
minimize risk and maximize efficiency.
4.4. Establish Gardening 3D View
By using 3D view model evaluation to display gardening
design planning aesthetics. Dynamically generate 3D
modeling by the combination of DEM, RS image, texture,
planning graphs and digital topographic graph. User can
observe different perspectives and gardening design ef-
fects which will help them to make appropriate adjust-
ment.
4.5. Dynamic Approval Process Update
Through workflow, the administrative approval licensing
process and GIS are closely integrated, which achieves
seamless integration of GIS, MIS (Management Infor-
mation System) and OA (Office Automation). According
to approval licensing information, user can dynamically
modify gardening information in related areas to ensure
real time data [3].
4.6. WEB Publishing Gardening Information
and Public Services
It provides information publishing and query of parks,
green area, place of interest, etc. All the parks distribu-
tion and park activities are published on the internet.
Citizen can plant and safeguard the greening by the pub-
lished information.
5. System Key Technology
5.1. Data Center
Data center architecture is based on a new generation of
GIS technology and new development model, which
integrates “basic” and “application”.
Data center is both a “resource manager” and also a

X. G. WANG ET AL.103
“system developer”. “Resource manager” manages data
resource and function resource. Data resource is man-
aged by data warehouse and function resource is man-
aged by function warehouse [4,5]. “System developer”
adopts flexible design concept which can build up the
function very fast and adjust the function module ac-
cording to the requirements. It has realized “zero-progra-
mming, smart combination and easy building-up” visual
development.
5.2. Landscaping Modeling
Digital Elevation Model (DEM for short) is an entity
ground model which uses an array of values to describe
ground elevation. It’s one of branches of Digital Terrain
Model (DTM for short). The other digital model uses
matrix form to express various non-terrain features, in-
cluding the natural and geographical factors as well as
the ground-related socio-economic and cultural factors,
such as soil type, land use types, rock depth, land, com-
mercial advantages district, etc. By using DEM, 3D vis-
ual reality technology, establish 3D view model of gar-
dening planning area, such as urban green space system
planning models, landscaping professional planning and
green space system detailed planning model, landscape
greening proportion and distribution models, urban green
space and scenic spots of the planning model.
5.3. Spatial Data Management
Base state with amendments is one of spatial data man-
agement method which doesn’t store all the status of
resear ched area, but on ly the state of some point and also
change to relative basic state. Base state with amend-
ments can greatly reduce temporal data amount.
Gardening historical data management is based on tu-
ple level which is based on base state with amendments.
Generally, the status after construction of urban garden-
ing is taken as “base state”. User most concerned “cur-
rent state” is the latest update data state. All the “current
state” gardening information will be effectively managed
which can fully reflect the change and development of
gardening, and reduce historical data of the redundant
and facilitate historical data management.
5.4. Workflow Technology
The workflow model based on network control realizes
flexible operation adjustment and customization, which
achieves seamless integration of GIS and office automa-
tion. The topological relations can realize automatically
conditional judgment, loop, and countersigned, etc.
In this model, the “node” represents the workflow unit
of the landscaping business departments. “Net line” r epr e-
sents the workflow between different departments, such
as, the connection between Secretary’s Office and Com-
prehensive Sectors, that is, the workflow transformation
has converted to network resource flow. Workflow con-
trol also becomes a network control which makes the
business logic of different sectors visualized, the logic
control easier, faster and more accurate.
6. System Building-up P ro ce ss
6.1. Professional Base and Industry Professional
Function Building
Urban gardening information management system pro-
fessional basic function includes, greening data model,
metadata management, gardening basic function ware-
house, gardening basic method warehouse, data exchange
components, etc. (Shown in Figure 3). The basic func-
tion library includes data management basic function li-
brary, data update basic function library, data analysis
basic function library, 3D model, encoding engine, etc.
System application function construction includes ap-
plication function library, business process library, etc.
The application function library includes analysis func-
tion library, business function library, thematic map
Fiugre 3. Professional basic function components.

X. G. WANG ET AL. 104
function, etc. Analysis function libraries includes land-
scaping demolition cost accounting, green analysis, gr een-
ing comparative analysis, index analysis, etc. Gardening
business functions includes gardening project manage-
ment, landscape planning and management, garden main-
tenance, etc.
Both professional basic and industry function support
Visual Studio2005. All the plug-ins development is ac-
cording to the relative interface stand ards. After complet-
ing plug-in functions, find appropriate registration docu-
ments (*. rgs) and start editing plug-ins register in accor-
dance with registration standards.
6.2. Application System Building
6.2.1. Syste m Building Pr o cess
Building and configuration development model uses f lex i-
ble design concept, which provides fast building-up and
adjustment according to requirements. First all the con-
figuration tools should in accordance with gardening busi-
ness requirements, such as, data center designer, wo r kf l ow
designer and the user permissions designer, then design
the system and form system solution in XML file format.
When the system is running, the solution will be loaded
in the scalable framework by the running environment,
and thus to building up the gardening information man-
agement system, as shown in Figure 4.
6.2.2. System Function Bui l di n g
Using integrated designer to complete system interface
design (such as, system’s right-click menu, system menu,
tool bar, status bar, hot key, interactivity, etc) and hier-
archical data catalog configuration. Workflow designer
supports flexible administrative examination and approval
process customization. User permission configuration tools
can define system user, user role, user permission, user
department, region, facility type. Add related permission
menu and toolbar according to role, thus to provide per-
mission distribution for user building system and realize
combination of permission and business. Finally building
up system main interface through data center, as shown
in Figure 5.
Figure 4. Urban gardening information system c onstruction process.
Figure 5. Gardening information management system main interface.

X. G. WANG ET AL. 105
7. Conclusions
Gardening information management system integrates ur-
ban basic spatial databases, gardening professional data-
base and non-spatial database which help to fully grasp
urban gardening status, and monitor and evaluate urban
greening information. By integration of administrative
examination and approval process and GIS, and in sup-
port of network technology, the gardening unit can carry
out administrative and op erational work in unified work-
flow framework. It improves information management
level and realizes “digital gardening”.
8. References
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[4] X. C. Wu and L. Wu, “Service-Oriented Distributed Spa-
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