[mapserver-users] PostGIS function calls in query template?

[Paul Ramsey]

Hi Michael,
The short answer, is 'no' you cannot do this. When mapserver is pulling
attributes from the database, it is checking the system tables to find
the attribute names, then pulling just those values. It might be
possible to make some changes to the postgis access code to allow users
to specify additional attributes as 'x(geometry) as xcoord' additions to
the SQL statement. 
A more expedient workaround is to use PHP/Mapscript as your programming
base, get the geometry ID's from a given query and then use the direct
PHP->pgsql connection to do whatever additional queries you want to do.
Probably less hacky in the long run.
Paul

Michael Scharber wrote:
> 
> How can I use a derived field in a Mapserver query template .html file?
> I mean, can I wrap an attribute from a relation with a PostGIS geometry
> field (used as a layer in Mapserver) with a function call?
> 
> ex. [x(shape)] to present the user with the x (Longitude in my case) of a
> tuples' shape (geometry) attribute.
> 
> TIA
> 
> Michael Scharber
> 
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>         Michael Scharber
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>         Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
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