What does it mean to license data from TomTom?
Licensing map data from TomTom means you are getting access to uncompiled maps via our flagship product Multinet-R. “Uncompiled maps” can be thought of as all the comprehensive ingredients for the perfect map, unmixed – a means to an end.
Multinet-R represents a way of modeling these mapping ingredients – that is, the map data. When the data files are loaded into a supported relational database (RDBMS) using our data model, the customer can then create views that join multiple tables from our data model to create representations that work for their specific use cases.
Essentially, this means that these “mapping ingredients” are delivered in a format where the customer can do the final mixing themselves.
How is using an API different from licensing data?
Contrasting with uncompiled maps, our Maps APIs are an online, managed service. If Multinet-R represents unmixed ingredients, REST APIs represent placing an online order for the finished product.
While Multinet-R allows for the customization of how a large amount of data is queried, structured and used for a tailored solution, it requires all of that heavy lifting before an application runs with that desired outcome. To shortcut this, behind the APIs are existing data models optimized for search queries, and predetermined parameters to help aid developers in queries.
When you interact with the Maps APIs, TomTom is managing cloud deployment, scaling, infrastructure, uptime, etc. – no behind the scenes looking necessary. Online queries return the map information indicated in the documentation, and return a map display, route, traffic layer, search results and the like.
Is it the same data?
We use the same uncompiled map; simply, data used within the is APIs optimized for those calls. Behind the APIs are data models, which organize the data so that all of those mapping details already have structure and representation which is predefined and quickly accessible online. This predefined setup allows for parameters, which are how developers can customize queries to return the exact kind of information they are looking to represent in the final product.
How is my application’s relationship to the map different with each?
Very simply put, both formats use the same data sources, but the access style and level of depth are different. Multinet-R leverages the bulk of all available mapping details in a database-accessible format, but requires a team to transform the data in a way specific to the needs of the application being built and maintain a data pipeline to process map updates at the desired frequency – including infrastructure considerations. Essentially, this requires the building of a mapping solution around the mapping data itself.
API’s leverage existing structures and data to provide mapping with a simple API call. This means that a Map Display, Routing, Traffic, and Search all only require interactions with online queries to be integrated into an application. In doing so, most setup work in regard to maps accessed via the APIs and SDKs would be done in terms of frontend setup: aka, the visual orientation for user on a website, mobile app, etc.
What’s next
In the next article, I’ll go one step deeper into some technical terminology to further describe how Multinet-R’s practical setup differs from the APIs, including exchange formats. This will be an opportunity to understand more about why certain solutions might benefit from each style of mapping, and what those setups look like in more exact terms.
