tutorial

[Matt.Wilkie]

> more about the 'big picture.' For instance, what is a 
> shapefile and how do I create one? 

Shapefiles are the file format created by ESRI for use by
their desktop GIS product ArcView. Since they decided to
publish the specifications of the file format a number of
third party programs and utilities (like Mapserver) have 
sprung up which are able to read the files directly.

In a more general sense, a shapefile is a collection of a
particular datatype or theme, roads, buildings and rivers
for example. Multiple themes (shapefiles) are displayed
on top of each like layers of transparencies.

To create shapefiles you will probably need a commercial 
program like ArcView or MapInfo. Mapserver is focussed on
the internet delivery of pre-existing datasets and doesn't 
have much for tools to build those datasets in the first 
place.

I'm sure there are programs besides ArcView and MapInfo
I'm not aware of which an inexperienced person can use to
generate data. A good place to start looking is 
http://freegis.org/ and
http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Social_Sciences/Geography/Geographic
_Information_Systems/Software/


> What are mapfiles, views, templates, etc.?  I 
> know there is a tutorial off the mapserver homepage, but 
> it is very  bare-bones and seems to assume a degree of 
> familiarity with basic map generation concepts that I
> don't have yet.
> 
> Any ideas on where I can go to learn about this topic?

A good starting point is http://gis.about.com/.

cheers,

-matt

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Matt Wilkie * Yukon Renewable Resources GIS
http://renres.gov.yk.ca/pubs/rrgis/
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