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

[Jan Hartmann]

  I've been thinking of an OL version of the Itasca demo for some time 
now, and I can't say how profitable  Daniel's proposal would be for new 
users. The simpler the better and the benefits for this group really 
would be immense.

Just my 2 EURcent

Jan

On 09/27/10 20:45, Lime, Steve D (DNR) wrote:
> 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/
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>>
>>
>>
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