[mapserver-users] Java Applet Development

[Kieran J. Ames]

Are there any users/developers who have played with a Java interface to
MapServer data, other than the wonderful mapimage applet?
I'm thinking of a measuring tool that could be used to make a
rudimentary ruler, where a user could click from
point-to-point-to-point, drawing a line and getting an indication of the
length of the line that was drawn.
The maps I render are typically only in the "town/neighborhood" range,
and I can't speak to great-circles, projections vs decimal degrees, etc.
But I would think that a map that has a given extent would have some
sort of distance per pixel value that could be calculated and applied to
a line drawing tool. Specifically, I'd like to be able to offer the user
the ability to get an Ad-Hoc distance estimate when viewing a
neighborhood by "tracing" a line over the streets they're viewing and
figure out how many linear feet (meters/yards) were traveled: as opposed
to "as the crow flies" straight line distances.
Any Java-wise users out there that have explored this kind of
functionality?
Thanks,
Kieran