Mapserver use in Australia

[John Hockaday]

Hi Lyndon,

We have used Mapserv as one of the backends for the Australian Atlas
(AA).  You can see it working at the Queenland node,
http://acaweb.dpi.qld.gov.au/atlas/atlaspage.html .  You could also try
the Department of Natural Resources at URL:
http://www.dnr.qld.gov.au/resourcenet/land/lris/webgis/burnett/maps/mapdisplay.html
This one uses an applet that is sometimes a bit flaky on Netscape
browsers.

There are two reasons why we use Mapserv it as a backend and not the
full front end:

	1. We have designed the AA so that it can use Mapserv or
	Spatial Database Engine API as the backend (At the time mapserv
	didn't connect to SDE but now it does).  This meant that we had
	to have code that could be translated to both GIS servers.  We
	also wanted the front end to look the same no matter what GIS
	server was being used.

	2. (The main reason.)  We wanted to allow the users to change
	the colours and order of the layers as well as choose which
	layers they wanted to query.  To do this we created a temporary
	XML file that in turn dynamically created a .map file for each
	user.

The problem with using this method is that we don't use all the
funtionality of the mapserv software as we were limited with the SDE
API.  We couldn't allow funtionality in one and not the other.

I have been looking at MapXtreme, ArcIMS and Mapserv for our National
River Health Database.  It appears to me that Mapserv is much easier to
configure the front end HTML interface, because it uses a template, as
well as the layers that are displayed, because of the .map files.  It
is fast for a cgi-bin script. (I think that java servlets may be
quicker after the initial download but maybe that can be in the future
of Mapserv.)

I have also found that this list is more helpful than the software
support for the other two products.  I get responses within two working
days and solutions within a week.  Others seem to get answers within a
day or so. (I seem to ask questions that need a lot of thinking.) ;-)

The only limitation that I can see with Mapserv is that the web users
can't change the colours and symbols of the layers.  This can be easily
overcome by dynamically generating the .map files (as we do with the
AA) or maybe using the PERL package, mapscript.  (Hopefully someone who
knows about mapsrcipt can answer this.)

As for your CD product, I can't answer that but I do know that you can
call indivudual c scripts that allow you to get an image, shp2imag, and
query the information, (I can't remember what this one is called.). You
may have problems with the "C" code working on different platforms and
operating systems.  Maybe someone else can answer that question.

In summary I would suggest that Mapserv is a excellent product that is
constantly being improved.  It allows single and multiple feature
querying, layers to switch on and off at different scales, annotation,
true type fonts, symbology, different line types and many options for
displaying the map.  I would thoroughly suggest that you have a good
look at this product for WWW-GIS mapping.  I've been in that game since
1994 and I think that this is very good.


Johnh

> Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 15:53:04 +0930
> From: Lyndon Zimmermann <lyndon.zimmermann at adelaide.edu.au>

> Greetings,
> 
> BRS in Canberra suggested Mapserver for the "Biomass Energy Atlas for
> Australia" project we're jointly undertaking. We are to develop a server
> side web delivered and CD delivered version, and I'm hoping this can be
> one and the same.  I'm trying to assess its suitability,  extent of use,
> and preferred scripting language(s).
> 
> Who is using it downunder?  Please provide URLs of projects.
> 
> How suitable is it for development of free distribution browsers?  Oz
> and Non-Oz responses would be appreciated for this one.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Lyndon Zimmermann
> 
> --
> Lyndon Zimmermann
> BE (Mech Adelaide) Grad Dip Bus Admin (UniSA)
> 
> Biomass Energy Atlas for Australia Co-ordinator
> University of Adelaide Agronomy and Farming Systems
> Dir (GISCA) +61-8-8303 3975 Switch (GISCA) 8303 3900 Mob 0414 91 4577
> Fax (GISCA) +61-8-8303 3498 email lyndon.zimmermann at adelaide.edu.au
> Website:
> http://www.gisca.adelaide.edu.au/~lzimmerm/uofabioenergy/bioenergy_atlas.html
> 
> 
>