With the CGI you are passing arguments to the URL. The Mapfile has templates that it parses to create different views. With MapScript you are manipulating the map through code. In your case you would be using .NET MapScript API calls. Using MapScript, as far as I know, the templates are not used. Instead you'll have to write your own views.
<br><br>Steve's mapserv.js manipulates the CGI argument string. Look at the code for that, it has a wealth of starting point knowledge. <a href="http://maps.dnr.state.mn.us/tools/dbox/">http://maps.dnr.state.mn.us/tools/dbox/
</a><br><br>In my opinion, the MapScript API is easier to work with because if you already know a web-programming language, you only need to learn the API; you don't need to figure out how to setup templates or how to manipulate the CGI argument string.
<br><br>Also, read this post:<br><a href="http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/data2/wilma/mapserver-users/0311/msg00147.html">http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/data2/wilma/mapserver-users/0311/msg00147.html</a><br><br>To answer the unanswered question from that post:
<br>>>Why would I want to use Mapscript?<br>You have favorite a web-programming language you like to write applications with.<br><br>>>Which benefits does it give me?<br>More flexible application development. A smaller learning curve (for me anyway).
<br><pre style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font size="2">>>Simply better control?<br>Yes. IMHO.<br></font></pre>Hope that helps,<br>Brant<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Nov 21, 2007 12:18 AM, Saka Royban <
<a href="mailto:srph124@yahoo.com" target="_blank">srph124@yahoo.com</a>
> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif;">Hi</div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif;">can i ask a basic question?</div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif;">what's the difference between using Mapscript and CGI?</div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif;">i'm a bit familiar with <a href="http://Asp.net" target="_blank">Asp.net</a> and its architecture of web programming but i'm confused about the different ways of prgramming UMN mapserver.
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<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif;">THX<br><br></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif;">----- Original Message ----<br>From: Brant Anderson <<a href="mailto:rabrant@GMAIL.COM" target="_blank">rabrant@GMAIL.COM</a>><br>To:
<a href="mailto:MAPSERVER-USERS@LISTS.UMN.EDU" target="_blank">MAPSERVER-USERS@LISTS.UMN.EDU</a><br>Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 5:14:42 PM<br>Subject: Re: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] NEW Mapserver Application<br><br>>> Question 1 Can somebody suggest which is the best option to develop my
<br>>> application CGI or Mapscript..<br>I agree with Marcos. The CGI is a good starting point to get your feet wet. That's where I began. Until one day I decided to take the leap. I'd recommend using MapScript with a language that you're comfortable with.
<br><br>I tried MapScript using Python. I found that I could develop an app easier using MapScript than with the CGI.<br><br>Eventually, I started developing Ruby on Rails apps. So I thought I'd give Ruby/MapScript a try. I'm not sure what has changed in Ruby/MapScript since the
5.0.0 release. But I
found that my application was buggy when I switched from 4 to 5. If you're going to try Ruby/MapScript, I'd recommend using version 4.10 of MapServer.<br><br>>> Question 2 Which is the best software available for developing user
<br>>> interface. (Cartography). Is their a basic version available as a start<br>>> point. like mapserver itasca demo.<br>You stated that you're using Linux. You might want to look into Quantum GIS. I think there is a MapServer Mapfile Export feature. I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure how it works.
<br><br>Best Regards,<br>Brant<br></div><div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif;"><br></div></div></div><div><br>
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