[mapserver-users] mapserver-dev list? (was: XML mapfile?)

[Richard Greenwood]

Daniel Morissette wrote:

>How about a mapserver-dev list where all new development questions are
>discussed without disturbing regular users?

Sounds like a good idea, but not being a developer,  my vote shouldn't 
carry a lot of weight.

Regarding all the hoopla over XML; I've got some questions, or maybe 
reservations. I'm pretty ignorant of XML, but sometimes a little ignorance 
enhances ones objectivity, so here goes. It seems generally accepted that 
XML is probably slower than the current map file format and that you need 
to serialize the DOM. A CGI program can't hold this serialized object in 
memory, so you're going to have to write it out as a new map file, or 
abandon CGI in favor of JSP or a similar technology, no?

In either case the disadvantages would seem to out weight the advantages: 
if you write out a new map file, then all you done is written a 
preprocessor for XML. Why not write one for French, too? <g> If you abandon 
CGI in favor of JSP, then you end up with A**IMS, which you can already buy 
off the shelf.

And for all of that, what have you really gained in terms of functionality? 
The existing CGI mapserver is fast, flexible, portable and easy to 
configure. Before someone suggests that it be remolded in the image of 
A**IMS, they should take time to get to know mapserver. If it still doesn't 
meet their needs, or if CGI is just entirely too retro, then go with 
mapscript, where, as was stated previously, "the sky is the limit".

Of all the arguments in favor of XML that have been throw out in the last 
couple days, the only one that hold any water in my bucket is the 
possibility of enhanced WMS compatibility. The rest of it sounds like a 
desire to push a stolid work horse into a trendy new wrapper.

Rich


Richard W. Greenwood, PLS
Greenwood Mapping, Inc.
Rich at GreenwoodMap.com
(307) 733-0203
http://www.GreenwoodMap.com