An OGC Web Map Service (WMS) returns static maps, rendered as images. The WMS specification defines a standard web service interface for the retrieval of maps of geographical data over the Internet. In general, a WMS is accessed by a client application that provides the user with interactive controls.
The LuciadLightspeed WMS client API provides an easy framework to connect with a WMS service and use the available data in an application. You can build programs that access all information published inside the WMS capabilities, choose the desired layers and visualize the resulting data in a 2D and 3D view.
The client supports automatic re-projection of the retrieved maps, when the geographical reference of the client application is not supported by the WMS. In addition, you can choose to retrieve the data using a tiled approach, next to the classic map approach. The styling of a layer can optionally be configured through an OGC Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD), if supported by the server.
Next to the ability to retrieve map data, the LuciadLightspeed WMS Client API supports various other requests defined by the WMS specification. This includes support for GetFeatureInfo requests to retrieve more information about a particular point on a map, GetLegendGraphic requests to acquire legend symbols and DescribeLayer requests to obtain feature/coverage-type information for a layer. Vendor specific requests are also supported and can be easily integrated in the API.