The fourth GML relay, organized by Geo-Information Netherlands (GIN), will be the first time in the Relay's history when GML 3.1.1 (as supported by both OGC and ISO TC211) will be used. It is also the first time that the event will use production, rather than prototype, GML data.

The purpose behind the relay is to prove that GML really is the effective way to share information between people using different systems and software applications and a wide range of software vendors have been invited to demonstrate their ability to handle a GML data file

Each participant is required to

a) Read a GML file
b) Display and edit the data
c) Export the data back to GML
d) Pass it on to the next participant in the chain

And all this is done - live - in front of an audience.

Snowflake Software will be demonstrating its ability to manage GML data within an Oracle database, using the GO Loader and GO Publisher products to respectively import and export GML data (in this instance Top10NL). "Built on our unique schema technology, GO Loader and GO Publisher are general purpose tools that work with a wide variety of GML data," explains Eddie Curtis, CTO of Snowflake Software. "The ease of importing and exporting Top10NL is proof of our generic approach. This provides our customers with a future proofed solution not just for Top10NL but for any future NEN3610 GML schema"

Snowflake will be demonstrating its software solutions using MapInfo Professional ® to visualize the data. MapInfo Professional is one of the world's leading solutions for mapping and geographic analysis due to its ease of use, straightforward data analysis and clear visualization. MapInfo Corporation, a principle member of the OGC, has long embraced open geospatial as well as industry and database standards.  To this end, many of its offerings, including MapInfo Professional, offer direct connectivity to a wide array of data sources and formats including OGC web services and GML. MapInfo Professional integrates with Snowflake Software's product suite and Oracle to provide superior data loading, management and querying capabilities.

Snowflake Software and MapInfo have long enjoyed a working relationship that was consolidated last year through the signing of a pan-European Channel Sales Agreement. "We have been working closely with MapInfo for quite some time now and we're delighted to see the relationship expanding and moving forward on a European level. In the UK we have many joint customers that are successfully deploying MapInfo technology with our tools. I'm certain we will repeat this success in the Netherlands by providing a complete solution for Top10NL and NEN3610 datasets," explained Ian Painter, Managing Director Snowflake Software.

About Top10NL

The data used for this 4 th Relay will be the new topographic base data for the Netherlands - Top10NL. Top10NL is a re-engineering of the national 1:10000 scale topographic data for the Netherlands . Top10NL moves the data from a cartographic model divided into map sheets to a seamless national cover in an object-oriented data model. Unlike its predecessors, which were designed around the needs of map production, Top10NL supports a wide range of uses, including data analysis within GIS. It also forms the basis of a national system of geographic referencing, where information can be linked to the objects in the Top10NL database.

Top10NL builds on the data model defined in the nationally agreed NEN3610. It does this by adding information specific to the 1:10000 scale topography to the feature types and attributes of NEN3610. Top10NL is therefore the first of a family of GML data sets for the Netherlands that will extend the NEN3610 base model.

For further details on the 4 th GML Relay, please visit http://www.gdmc.nl/events/relay4/}