THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL VIEWS OF GIS SYSTEM INTEGRATION
GIS系统集成的理论与实践

With the development of GIS applications.GIS system integration has been the most active field in system software development.However, specialized process models have been developed,which are independent of GIS technology, and they are as complicated as GISs. Moreover.the data model of GIS still lacks spatial-temporal component needed for environmental simulation. Although it is very clear that integration is the key to GIS applications.the obstacles in integration still exist.This paper deals with some theoretical problems in system integration: concepts, problems, architecture. and methods and steps for integration.The author also introduces the contents of system integration and the considerations for engineering projects by combining the achievements obtained from two key projects (Study on Flood Damage Monitoring and Assessment Techniques and Integrated Information System for Major Disasters Monitoring and Assessment), and puts forward a new method, namely, dynamic linking, for GIS integration. Compared with the peer-to-peer or embedded architecture, dynamic linking is more flexible, more open, and more efficient in operation, However, Import/Export capability, the core of peer-to-peer architecture,is still one of the most important component of an open and dynamic integrated system because of the greatest differences between the data structures of process models and GISs.It is better for us to use open concept and object model to improve the Import/Export as an embedded function of GISs.