[mapserver-dev] Proposal to add built-in OpenLayers map viewer

Dan Little danlittle at yahoo.com
Mon Sep 27 16:17:39 EDT 2010


I sorta like the idea of "mode=browse" and then "template=[template]"

Then have a "$prefix/share" directory that contains the "openlayers.html" 
template. So, "mapserv?..stuff..&mode=browse&template=openlayers", would then 
read form the share directory and regurgitate openlayers.html with any parsing 
freebies we could pore into it.



----- Original Message ----
> From: "Lime, Steve D (DNR)" <Steve.Lime at state.mn.us>
> To: Daniel Morissette <dmorissette at mapgears.com>; MapServer Dev List 
><mapserver-dev at lists.osgeo.org>
> Sent: Mon, September 27, 2010 1:45:37 PM
> Subject: RE: [mapserver-dev] Proposal to add built-in OpenLayers map viewer
> 
> Makes sense and would not prohibit other built in templates down the line.  So
> I'd be cool with mode=openlayers or even just mode=browse returning a  basic
> OL template if nothing else is  defined.
> 
> Steve
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mapserver-dev-bounces at lists.osgeo.org 
>[mailto:mapserver-dev-bounces at lists.osgeo.org]  On Behalf Of Daniel Morissette
> Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 1:11  PM
> To: MapServer Dev List
> Subject: Re: [mapserver-dev] Proposal to add  built-in OpenLayers map viewer
> 
> The need I'm trying to address is the  ability for mapfile developers to
> quickly test a mapfile just by typing a  simple URL in their web browser.
> While I can appreciate that admin tools and  generic templates for all
> sorts of viewers and frameworks would be nice to  have, that is out of
> scope for what I am currently proposing.
> 
> What I  propose is to add a simple function to mapserv.c (just a few
> lines, really)  that will spit out a few lines of HTML/JavaScript to
> instantiate a very  simple OpenLayers based viewer for a given mapfile
> in response to a mapserv  CGI request with mode=openlayers or a WMS
> GetMap request with  format=application/openlayers. I do not envision the
> use of external or  configurable templates for this since that would
> imply dependencies on  external files an I would ideally like something
> really simple aimed at  mapfile developers that works out of the box with
> just the standalone mapserv  executable and a regular mapfile without any
> special  configuration.
> 
> Does my explanation make sense? Is this not considered  useful enough by
> itself to justify adding to the mapserv CGI? If there are no  objections
> to this little addition then I will write a RFC for  it.
> 
> Daniel
> 
> 
> Lime, Steve D (DNR) wrote:
> > So where are we  at? I do like the idea. The technical solution, IMHO,
> > will probably  point to how this might work operationally. For example,
> > if the plan  were to simply embed a HTML/OL template in code then a
> > mode=openlayers  would make sense. However, if the template were stored
> > externally and a  basic one shipped with MapServer then I'd opt for
> >  mode=browse&template=openlayers. The advantage of the external  templates
> > is extensibility and users could edit the one(s) provided or  add their
> > own. They could also disable the functionality altogether by  removing
> > all templates. The downside is setting up access and then  security. If
> > external templates used the templating code and magic  strings that would
> > mitigate many issues...
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Steve
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > *From:* mapserver-dev-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
> >  [mailto:mapserver-dev-bounces at lists.osgeo.org]  *On Behalf Of *Tamas 
>Szekeres
> > *Sent:* Friday, September 24, 2010 4:46  PM
> > *To:* Daniel Morissette
> > *Cc:* MapServer Dev List
> >  *Subject:* Re: [mapserver-dev] Proposal to add built-in OpenLayers map
> >  viewer
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Daniel,
> > 
> > Adding  a viewer with zoom and pan capabilities is a good idea which is
> > better  then having a single image in some cases. I foresee a reasonable
> > Web  administration interface to mapserver could also be established by
> > such  additions which would be a requirement too.
> > However embedding code from  a separate project seems to be a hassle,
> > though the technical solution  hasn't yet been mentioned in the ticket.
> > 
> > I would be in favour  of doing either:
> > 
> > 1. Create a simple  (mapserver specific)  .js to provide the required
> > functionality (which could be extended later  with further options)
> > 2. Provide a (pluggable) interface for use by the  potential viewers in
> > mapserver, and  create a separate support  package for at least one (like
> > openlayers for instance) and include the  external code to this package.
> > 
> > 
> > (Just to put my 2 cents  in)
> > 
> > Best regards,
> > 
> > Tamas
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 2010/9/24 Daniel Morissette <dmorissette at mapgears.com
> >  <mailto:dmorissette at mapgears.com>>
> > 
> > This was discussed at the code sprint in Barcelona, and I just created  a
> > ticket for it. We'd like to add this to 6.0... but I am realizing  just
> > now that maybe I should start with a RFC...
> > 
> >  Anyway, here is what I wrote in the ticket, please feel free to comment,
> >  keeping in mind this has to remain __simple__:
> > 
> >  http://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/ticket/3549
> > 
> > Every once in a  while we get requests for a simple way to test a
> > mapfile. One way to  handle this could be to do as GeoServer does and
> > provide a built-in  OpenLayers based map viewer. In the GeoServer case,
> > this viewer is  returned when one issues a WMS GetMap request with
> >  format=application/openlayers in it.
> > 
> > I propose that we provide  a similar functionality in MapServer, which
> > would be triggered in one of  two ways:
> > 
> > 1- Using  mapserv?map=/path/to/my.map&'''mode=openlayers''' ... in this
> > case  the viewer would be initialized based on the mapfile defaults, and
> > some  of the traditional mapserv CGI params may also work (such as map
> > size,  layer selection, etc.)
> > 
> > 2- Using  '''format=application/openlayers''' in a WMS GetMap request as
> > GeoServer  does. Note that in this case the rest of the GetMap parameters
> > would be  used to configure the map to view (BBOX, WIDTH, HEIGHT, LAYERS,
> >  etc.)
> > 
> > Both cases would call the same function internally to  produce a simple
> > OpenLayeres viewer with one singletile layer for the  whole map with the
> > selected layers.
> > 
> > 
> > --
> >  Daniel Morissette
> > http://www.mapgears.com/
> >  _______________________________________________
> > mapserver-dev mailing  list
> > mapserver-dev at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:mapserver-dev at lists.osgeo.org>
> >  http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapserver-dev
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> >  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Daniel Morissette
> http://www.mapgears.com/
> _______________________________________________
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> mapserver-dev at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapserver-dev
> 
> 
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