[Mapserver-dev] WMS and LAYERS= vs. STATUS Behaviour

[Paul Ramsey]

Daniel Morissette wrote:

>> I would have hoped MapServer would have:
>>  o returned only the requested layers if there is a LAYERS= parameter
>>    in the WMS GetMap request.
> 
> 
> I think that's what we used to do in very early versions of MapServer, 
> but we changed at some point (way back when, in v3.5 or so) to handle 
> the STATUS DEFAULT the same way in WMS as in the mapserv CGI.
> 
> This also allows things like putting a copyright notice or a watermark 
> which cannot be removed by the caller (I'm not saying it's a good idea 
> to do so because it breaks WMS-based apps, but the software allows it 
> inthe WMS interface the same way as with the traditional CGI)

The issue for WMS client interfaces is that the DEFAULT layers show up 
in the Capabilities file, and there is no indication that these layers 
are "special" in any way. The interface thinks you can turn them on or 
off, so it will give the user buttons to do so. Buttons that will not 
work. If the DEFAULT layers are considered "backdrop" information, not 
an alterable layer, maybe they should not be in the capabilities?


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      | Paul Ramsey
      | Refractions Research
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