using METADATA in Mapfile for storing labels

[Kenton Williams]

Hello,

I am trying to work out how to include labels for features in the METADATA
for any given layer in a Mapfile.  The output formats I wish to use do not
support labels in the output files (SWF and SVG).  I have been told that the
labels can be specified in the Mapfile METADATA, but I do not know how one
goes about telling Mapserver to put the label data there.  Furthermore, I do
not know how I would access it once it's there, nor do I know how to specify
in METADATA where specific labels should be placed and what rotation angle
to use.  Is any of this possible?  If so, does anyone have information
(sample Mapfile for example) that they would be willing to provide?  Once I
know how to instruct Mapserver to put the labels in the METADATA, I can go
about figuring out how to pull it back out in my client side application.

Thanks very much for any assistance you can provide.

Kenton Williams
Graduate Research Assistant
Maine Image Analysis Lab
University of Maine