How to zoom to place names

[Stephen Lime]

I'd use an external database to hold my points, query it and use the
results to initialize MapServer sessions. That's what we do here with
the GNIS database for Minnesota. You can use the point and then 
either a scale value or a buffer (i.e. 5 miles) to initialize an interface.

Unless you have a relatively small set of points of interest, pull down
lists get bulky. I suppose you could regionalize them so the list changes
as you zoom or pan, but that seems like an awful lot of work.

Steve

Stephen Lime
Internet Applications Analyst

Minnesota DNR
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-297-2937

>>> Doug Nebert <ddnebert at usgs.gov> 05/10/00 12:08PM >>>
I have a need to use my map interface in two ways: 1) for the 
geographically literate, let them zoom in by dragging a rectangle and 2) 
for the spatially-challenged have a picklist of places that they can 
click on and have the map zoom to that location upon request.

How should I package and translate such place names (they have envelope 
bounding rectangles associated with them) so that a refresh_map event 
would request a new map to be drawn for that area?

How should I structure the names service? The biggest trick is that I 
have a large number of place names I could bring to use from an online 
gazetteer of 700,000 placenames! But I think I will start small with 
political subdivisions and big cities that only number in the thousands.

Any hints or examples of code as to how I might structure this would be 
most helpful, and the kind of thing I would think many would like to see 
in a demo FAQ.

--
Douglas D. Nebert
Clearinghouse Coordinator
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