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https://github.com/pjcozzi/cesium-starter-app

A starter JavaScript app for Cesium. Just fork it and start coding...
https://github.com/pjcozzi/cesium-starter-app

Last synced: 12 days ago
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A starter JavaScript app for Cesium. Just fork it and start coding...

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README 

        











A simple JavaScript starter app for creating apps with [Cesium](http://cesium.agi.com/), the open-source WebGL virtual globe and map engine.  Just fork this repo and start coding.



**Cesium version**: [1.8](http://cesiumjs.org/downloads.html).



**License**: Apache 2.0.  Free for commercial and non-commercial use.  See [LICENSE.md](LICENSE.md).



My primary use for this is to quickly start coding at hackathons without having to setup a repo with a server, Eclipse project, third-party includes, .gitignore, etc.  Feel free to overwrite this README.md in your repo with info on your project.



Once you are up and running, copy and paste code examples from [Cesium Sandcastle](http://cesiumjs.org/Cesium/Apps/Sandcastle/index.html).



Local server

------------



A local HTTP server is required to run the app.



Have python installed?  If so, from the `cesium-starter-app` root directory run

```

python -m SimpleHTTPServer

```

(Starting with Python 3, use `python -m http.server 8000`).



Browse to `http://localhost:8000/`



No python?  Use Cesium's node.js server.



* Install [node.js](http://nodejs.org/)

* From the `cesium-starter-app` root directory, run

   * `npm install`

   * `node server.js`



Browse to `http://localhost:8000/`



What's here?

------------



* [index.html](index.html) - A simple HTML page based on Cesium's Hello World example.  Run a local web server, and browse to index.html to run your app, which will show a 3D globe.

* [Source](Source/) - Contains [App.js](Source/App.js) which is referenced from index.html.  This is where your app's code goes.

* [ThirdParty](ThirdParty/) - A directory for third-party libraries, which initially includes just Cesium.  See the **Updating Cesium** section for how to use the latest version from the Cesium repo.

* [server.js](server.js) - A simple node.js server for serving your Cesium app.  See the **Local server** section.

* [package.json](package.json) - Dependencies for the node.js server.

* [LICENSE.md](LICENSE.md) - A license file already referencing Cesium as a third-party.  This starter app is licensed with [Apache 2.0](http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html) (free for commercial and non-commercial use).  You can, of course, license your code however you want.

* [.project](.project) - An [Eclipse](http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/) project with [JSHint](http://www.jshint.com/) enabled.

* [.settings](.settings/) - Directory with settings for the Eclipse project.

* [.gitignore](.gitignore) - A small list of files not to include in the git repo.  Add to this as needed.



Importing into Eclipse

----------------------



If you use Eclipse as your JavaScript IDE, it is easy to important the `cesium-starter-app` Eclipse project into a new workspace.  In Eclipse:

* `File -> Switch Workspace -> Other`

* Select a directory for the workspace and click `OK`

* In `Package Explorer`, right click and select `Import`

* Under `General`, select `Existing Projects into Workspace` and click `Next`

* Next to `Select root directory`, click `Browse`

* Browse to the `cesium-starter-app` root directory and click `Open`

* Click `Finish`



Hosting your app on GitHub Pages

--------------------------------



If your app only requires static file serving (i.e. no proxying etc) it can be hosted using [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/).

* Push your app to a gh-pages branch on github.  If you want to push from master you can use this command:

  `git push origin master:gh-pages`

* After about 10 mins or so you can view your app with a URL like [http:/**my-github-username**.github.io/**my-awesome-cesium-starter-app**/](http://my-github-username.github.io/my-awesome-cesium-starter-app/)



Hosting your app on Heroku

--------------------------



It is simple to get an app up and running on a public server hosted by [Heroku](http://heroku.com/).  This will use the node server in this repo.  Depending on your app requirements this can often be done at no cost.



* Make sure you have the [heroku toolbelt](https://toolbelt.heroku.com/) installed

* `heroku create my-awesome-cesium-starter-app`

* `git push heroku master`

* If that succeeds you should be able to view your app with a URL like [https://**my-awesome-cesium-starter-app**.herokuapp.com](https://my-awesome-cesium-starter-app.herokuapp.com)



Updating Cesium

---------------



The built Cesium source is in [ThirdParty/Cesium/](ThirdParty/Cesium/).  I sync this up with the master branch in the [Cesium repo](https://github.com/AnalyticalGraphicsInc/cesium) once in a while.  With `cesium` and `cesium-starter-app` repo directories in the same parent directory, here's up to update (replace `b25` with the tag/commit to update to):

```

cd cesium

git pull

git checkout -b 1.0-starter 1.0



./Tools/apache-ant-1.8.2/bin/ant clean combine

rm -rf ../cesium-starter-app/ThirdParty/Cesium/*

cp -R Build/Cesium/* ../cesium-starter-app/ThirdParty/Cesium/

git checkout master

git branch -d 1.0-starter

```

Then update the version in [package.json](package.json) and at the top of this README.md.



Test the starter app in case any changes are needed to [index.html](index.html) or [App.js](Source/App.js).



This uses the unminified version of Cesium.js, which is great for debugging but is quite large for production deployments.  To use the minified version, run `ant` with `minify` instead of `combine` before updating `cesium-starter-app`:

```

./Tools/apache-ant-1.8.2/bin/ant clean minify

```

The [Cesium Contributor's Guide](https://github.com/AnalyticalGraphicsInc/cesium/wiki/Contributor's-Guide) has more info on Cesium build options.



Cesium resources

----------------



* [Forum](http://cesium.agi.com/forum.html)

* [Tutorials](http://cesium.agi.com/tutorials.html)

* [Sandcastle](http://cesium.agi.com/Cesium/Apps/Sandcastle/index.html) - lots of examples to copy and paste.

* [Reference Documentation](http://cesium.agi.com/refdoc.html)