PDA version of MapServer

[Roberto Micarelli]

imap at chesapeake.net wrote:
> 
> TO: MAPSERVER List
> 
> I am curious to know if anyone is doing anything with mapserver
> generating images for the PalmPilot or WinCE.  I am hoping to
> find time to do something soon if there is some interest, please
> contact me.  The wireless market seems to be really moving right
> along ;)
> 
> Another area of interest is data compression.  These shapefile
> datasets (Tiger/GDT/DMTI) are overly massive.  I have found a
> company who will build a proprietary format and API for reading
> compressed indexes and map data, but it has 2 major problems
> (1) It will be expensive to develop and deploy and (2) It is
> proprietary.
> 
> I am hoping that some developer types might be interested in
> building and testing new apps for ASPs and end-users.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Chris Stuber (mapsurfer)
> Silicon Mapping Solutions Inc
> (410)257-3187

I'm working on a my project very similar to what you mention.
I'm doing some efforts to join together the best from GRASS and
Mapserver. There is the lack of a network analyzer and I've
developed a module for that. I'm going to release it for GRASS,
it's enought flexible to support Mapserver too.
Also I've worked on 'high end' navigation map data, and I've
designed/developed a way to use PostgreSQL to store topology and to
automatically generate graphs for navigation.
There is commercial software already available (ie. Oracle, Arc/Info,...),
but my idea is to let free-source based systems do the same.
One secondary aim would also be to corba/com-wrap the system, and let
it live into larger application servers.
I'm alone and so far in Itay I've failed to find people available
to join me in the development - Italy is a BUY country :(
One Mapserver limit I found, is the lack of an abstraction to access
map data in a format other than shape file.
I was two days navigating the source and finding 'SHP' calls
spread everywhere.
There's SDE interface but - at least with my version - no query support.
For me would be useful to let Mapserver interface an abstract db
layer (both for geometry and topology).

My idea for now, is to develop a network library, that can be
integrated both in Mapserver and GRASS. As like as Proj.4 or Shapelib
have gone. 

Regards.

Roberto