Géoclip has opted for modularity. It must be able to fit into any type of server, Internet or CD-ROM environment.

On the Internet:
While the PHP/mySql combination is the simplest and least expensive to implement, other database formats and languages can be used.
Databases: SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, MySql, PostGreSql...
Languages: ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, JSP, ColdFusion...

We work every day to optimise our solutions in each of these environments. It is quite simple to extract data from any DBMS and to send it to the browser in text or XML format. But this format soon becomes a handicap when mapping several hundreds of objects, because it takes up a lot of bandwidth. This is why SVG applications are so bulky. It is better to transfer data using a compact, optimised format such as swf. PHP is best to do so, because it can write in swf and can be installed in any server environment. There are free Java libraries that can be used to generate swf dynamically. With ASP, you have to pay to use specific components.

On a CD-ROM:
The Géoclip interface is provided as an executable file (.exe) and can be combined with an Access database that it queries using sql and the Windows jet engine. The application provided on the CD-ROM can therefore be updated simply by replacing the database. If the application is copied on a workstation, the user can also store selections and preferences in the database for later use.