CARIS, the world's leading marine GIS organization, has released its first open source API. CARIS OSCAR-js, a JavaScript Map API, allows you to create and embed custom web maps on your website.

The API was created to help shape CARIS Spatial Fusion Enterprise and includes tools for navigation, measurement, and download, as well as providing a means for developers to create their own custom tools and extensions. OSCAR-js extends the very popular OpenLayers library and utilizes jQueryUI and YUI to help create a feature rich mapping experience.

The API is designed around the creation of map themes. Map themes consist of thematic maps along with optional functionality such as selection, data download or more. OSCAR-js supports the use of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web services including Web Map Service (WMS), Web Map Tile Service (WMTS), Web Feature Service (WFS) and Web Coverage Service (WCS) for creating these map themes.

In addition to supporting OGC web services, OSCAR-js can connect to CARIS Spatial Fusion Viewer to load map configurations. This allows for centralized site management for your web map infrastructure.

The source code for the API is available on GitHub under the Apache License 2.0. This will enable the development community to make their own development branches for customization or as a way to contribute code to the project. Building your own distribution is done easily using Maven 3.

To get started, visit the OSCAR-js website. Users will find helpful API documentation, code examples, as well as a blog to hear the latest information about OSCAR-js.