[mapserver-users] Interactive Select/Query

[Stephen Lime]

Assuming features have a key field, and you're not talking about managing
100's of features this way, you can probably get by with using just javascript
and regular query or nquery. For example, a user could click "add" and then
to a regular query. Clicking "add" needs to do 2 things set the mode and set
another non-mapserver parameter to "add". Then after the query the resulting
template could look at that non-mapserver parameter to decide what to do
with the query results. I would suggest managing the results as simply a delimited
string that is passed from page to page. In "add" mode you tag the newly
selected ids to the string, in remove mode you remove them. What's cool is
that you can turn that delimited string into an expression that can be passed
to mapserver to show only those selected features. This would be done using
a map constructed *after* the query is processed (i.e. using mode=map in
the <input type=image src=/cgi-bin/mapserv?...> form element). At any time 
you could click a mail button that ideally would call another script to handle
the mailing. Just an idea, but very doable.

Steve

Stephen Lime
Internet Applications Analyst

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

>>> "David W Bitner" <bitner at gyttja.org> 08/06/01 02:40PM >>>
I am looking to modify our mapserver application so that we can select a
number of features and then email the list of selected features back to us.
The email part of the problem could be taken care of fairly readily through
Javascript using the clients email program.  The issue that remains is
trying to select out just the features that the user wants to be sent back
to us.  I am sure that something is going to be have to be done using
savequery.  If at all possible, it would be great if things could be added
to/ taken away from the selection by toggling on the feature either one by
one or with a drag box with some sort of visual cue as to what has been
selected.  Does anyone have any examples or advice on this type of
application?

Thanks,
David


*********************************************************************
David William Bitner -- GIS/ Remote Sensing Specialist
National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center
National Weather Service, Chanhassen, MN 55317
work: bitner at nws.gov, http://www.nohrsc.nws.gov 
*********************************************************************