[ckan-discuss] Examples of including map and apps in CKAN?

[Ian Ward]

Hi Alison,

On Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 9:24 AM, Slaats, Alison (MNIT)
<Alison.Slaats at state.mn.us> wrote:
> Our idea was that a user’s search results would include not only datasets,
> but also any hardcopy, or online maps or apps that met their search
> parameters.
>
> 1.       How is about how best to present “non-data” resources? I’ve noticed
> that some CKAN sites have a separate page for applications (like data.gov),
> but others include apps as a dataset. Similarly, some sites include
> printable (pdf) maps and reports as just another resource.

I don't think anyone has found a perfect solution for this problem
yet. The core developers have discussed dropping the current related
items feature, which some people use for apps. We've discussed
replacing it with an extension with a customized group type. This
approach has the benefit of already having the ability to upload an
image and to associate an app with with one or more datasets (just add
them to the group). This approach also has similar permissions as
related items: you don't need permission to edit a dataset to
associate it with an app. Howerver, this approach won't give you
unified search across apps and datasets.

For a site I'm working on we're going to use different dataset types
for apps and datasets (and other types), with each type having a
different set of fields, validation and facets. We're going to build a
unified search across the different types (we get per-type search for
free with different dataset types) but work on that code hasn't
started yet.

> 2.       What is the best way to flag non-data resources? With the “format”
> element, with Tags, or both?

If you're not using custom dataset types then using either format or
tags will work. Format would be at the resource level and Tags at the
dataset level, so if you want a dataset that is both an app and a
dataset go with Format.

Ian