[mapserver-users] MapServer, ArcIMS, or SVG??

[Ed McNierney]

Steve -

Here are a few thoughts, and I'm sure you'll get more responses.

First, you say that it has to be done QUICKLY, but yet you also say
MapXtreme is too expensive.  So speed isn't the only concern, and cost
is a factor, too.  It's very hard to give you detailed guidance without
knowing a lot about your MapBasic application.

Can MapServer be used with Java or ASP?  Yes.  I have developed an
application for a customer that uses a lot of both.  I also posted a
note on the list a while ago about some techniques for using MapServer
effectively in an ASP environment.

I'm not sure what defines a "more natural fit" for ArcIMS, but you
cannot run ArcIMS without a Java servlet engine, which is not a standard
part of the Windows server environment.  There are certainly servlet
engines available, but you should realize that you're going to need to
add one more product to the mix to make things work.

SVG is an apples-and-oranges comparison.  The description you mention
gets at the core of the distinction - SVG is not a GIS or map-making
technology.  It's an information storage, delivery, and display
technology.  It's a little like asking if you should use GIF for your
solution - perhaps you should, but you still haven't figured out how to
MAKE the GIFs.

MapServer has the obvious advantage of being customizable, so you can
bend it to fit your application.  There is certainly a bit of a learning
curve before you dare fiddle with anything, but I have found it very
easy to tweak and change.  I do all my MapServer development on Windows
2000.

The best way for us to help with your evaluation is to have you describe
your application in as much detail as you can.  There may be things in
that application that are especially hard or easy for MapServer to do.
For starters, what file formats are your GIS data layers in?  Are they
vector or raster layers?  How many are there and how big are they? etc.,
etc..

	- Ed

Ed McNierney
Chief Mapmaker
TopoZone.com
ed at topozone.com
(978) 251-4242


-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Simpson [mailto:steve at sitesusa.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 7:39 PM
To: mapserver-users at lists.gis.umn.edu
Subject: [mapserver-users] MapServer, ArcIMS, or SVG??


Hello listers,

This mailing list seems to be great and MapServer looks like a great
technology.  I hope you can help me.  Here's my situation:

I just started a job working for a mapping demographics company and
I am in charge of putting a complex app written in MapBasic online.  I
don't
have any previous gis experience but have lots of enterprise java and
some
Microsoft experience.  I've had to quickly become familiar with the
multiude
of technologies in gis.  The natural fit for our solution is MapXtreme,
but it's
to expensive.  There seems to me to be three options:
--ArcIMS
--MapServer
--SVG
I know that you all will say, use MapServer, but try to be objective.
We want
to do this QUICKLY, even if it means doing it in a quick and dirty way.
The only two
development choices are Java and Microsoft.  Sorry, based on the
experience of the
others who will be working on it and the speed we want to get this done,
that is what we're 
looking at.  And, I'm leaning towards Microsoft being the better option.
(I am very experienced
in Java, but Microsoft is all the others know.)  Some questions:
--Can MapServer be used with Java or Microsoft (Active Server Pages)?
--Would ArcIMS be more of a natural fit for Java or Microsoft?
--SVG seems to be a cool technology.  However, on some websites, it
mentions
how with it, you can take the maps created in MapInfo or ESRI's desktop
products
and put them online to make them interactive.  But, we need more than
that.  I need
SVG to be able to actually do the part that the desktop product does of
creating the map.
Pardon my ignorance, but I assume SVG can't do that?

Well, that's about it.  I would really appreciate any tips here.  I have
scoured this and the MapInfo
mailing list, but am still not certain what direction to take.

Regards,
Steve Simpson
steve at sitesusa.com