[Gdal-dev] Re: [UMN_MAPSERVER-DEV] MapServer and ECW

[Bill Binko]

On Tue, 28 Jun 2005, Frank Warmerdam wrote:

> On 6/28/05, Daniel Morissette <dmorissette at dmsolutions.ca> wrote:
> > This question is probably more for Frank, but I am interested in
> > feedback from anyone else who has played with MapServer and ECW on Linux
> > already...
> > 

I have seemed to taken on this yoke recently :)  (I got 16GB of compressed 
ECW DOQQs for $40, and suddenly, I cared about making it work.)

> > Now that ER-Mapper has modified its license to allow use of the ECW SDK
> > with open source server software such as MapServer, we need to get
> > Mapserver working with ECW on one of our client's servers. However,
> > before we go through the same experience as for MrSid, I'd like to know
> > if anyone else has tested/used MapServer with ECW files on Linux? Are
> > there specific requirements (GDAL version, DSDK version, etc.)? Anything
> > else we should know about?

If you have the option, I would wait until the next release of the SDK 
from ERMapper -- even the next Beta.  Tom Lynch (who has been a very good 
resource) says that the next version should have my fixes and may (MAY) 
have a autoconf-based (or at least better) build.

If you want to get started right away, I have had luck with GDAL 1.2.6 and 
the 3.1 release of the SDK -- if you apply my patch.  My patch is fairly 
simple: there is an uninitialized boolean member on one of their classes.  
If it's built with -g, it gets zeroed and works, if it's compiled with -O, 
it doesn't and it's random as to whether or not the program (or mapscript 
call) will ever return.

Here's a forum at ERMapper that is worth following (it also has my patch):

http://forums.ermapper.com/viewtopic.php?t=486&highlight=

Frank has made 3.2beta work with GDAL CVS Head (as he mentioned).  Here's 
a note on ermapper.com that helps there;

http://forums.ermapper.com/viewtopic.php?t=680&highlight=