Mashup is a mixing of different data from different places all into one place. Everyone has seen one of these before but might not have recognized it as such. A good example of this idea – mashup – is to place a map, generated by google, onto a website that you own. RCI’s contact page here is an example. Many sites now use google maps as a great source of mapping information that they can access easily and reliably.
Mashups can add a variety of information to a page. RCI has a client that has a need to see a collection of information all in one place. Here is a partial list of their requirements:
- Map of the different regions in their system.
- Location of their suppliers, in the region of interest, on the map.
- Location of their vehicles in the region.
- Location of their open trouble tickets in the region.
- The ability to zoom in and out and move around the map.
To provide this mashup I collect information from the clients GPS provider from their web interface. I then collect the suppliers geo-information in the requested region from the data base. Then collect the open trouble tickets in the region from the data base. At this time I am ready to create a page that will display all of this different information. On the page I use google maps to create the map that the client will be able to zoom in and out and move around as required. I then add the geo-data onto the map thus creating the mashup.
Map showing Mashup
You can see from the image to the left that there is all the information showing up in a map that you can use to change the look and be able to see all the required information at a glance. The client is able to click on an icon to get more information about that particular item. They can also click on the icons above the map to just see those icons on the map. This gives my client the ability to handle dispatch duties based on their current view of where their vehicles are and the priority of the trouble ticket. It is a very versatile item in their tool box for the dispatchers.
Another mashup is to add a google calendar into a clients web page. This is also a very simple thing to do and provides my clients with a great calendar that is then viewable on their web site keeping their sites look, feel and navigation. Google calendar is very easy to use and has a powerful set of features. Anyone who has a gmail account with google has the calendar function available to them. They can then add/modify/delete events and add other information that they want to share with others into the calendar. I then add the calendar into a page on their web site creating the mashup.
Calendar Mashup
You can see that all the information on the calendar is available and viewable by the client on their site. This mashup provides a great calendar that is integrated directly on the clients site. This mashup is a great solution for a client that is looking for a powerful calendar at a low cost to them (free). All the data for the calendar is located on the servers at google and the display integrates this information into their look and feel. The calendar has all the features of calendar programs and is modified by the user from their gmail account. The changes are immediately available on their site. Links, details and maps can all be added easily and quickly from the google site.
Mashups can be fun and are able to provide a variety of information into a consolidated page that has your sites look and feel. This is the power of mashups — your site looks like it contains all the information — even if it comes from a variety of places. Mashups are a great information consolidation tool.