[mapserver-users] MapServer Limitations

[woodbri at swoodbridge.com]

Pradeep,

I know this was probably addressed to Steve Lime, but I will toss my 
2 cents in also.

In general, is it hard to say what the limitations of anything are 
without knowing what you expect to do with it. For example it would 
be safe to say it probably can not do the dishes, etc :) but when you 
get closer to the domain of expertise it is not possible to say it 
does this well or not, because "well" is very subjective and without 
some specific details of the task involved it is not possible to 
accurately define its fitness for purpose.

Another problem is the skill of the user in knowing how to make it do 
what you want. As someone recently said on the list, It is easy to 
setup mapserver in such a way the its performance really sucks. This 
does not mean the mapserver sucks, just that specific configuration.

On the flip side, it is easier to make a check list of all the things 
that mapserver CAN do. We also have many testimonial from people that 
have tried other solutions like ESRI and have found that mapserver 
was a much better solution - just check the list archives or post a 
request to the list.

That said, I think it would be safe to say that Mapserver's specific 
domain of expertise is in serving maps and ...

It is NOT a GIS system.
It is NOT a general purpose geocoding system.
It is NOT a network analysis and routing system.
It is NOT designed to edit spatial data files, not that you can do 
this in a limited sort of way.
It is NOT a desktop GUI application.

I hope this helps.
  -Steve Woodbridge
   http://iMapTools.com

On 25 Sep 2002 at 17:19, Pradeep wrote:

> 
> Hello Steve and all
>  I am working towards the goal of evaluating MapServer wrt to many of
> the other similar technologies available in-house, Can I know from you
> what MapServer cannot do?(its limitations) or a general guideline
> where we can use MapServer and Where we cannot use it.
> 
> Regards and Best wishes
> Pradeep
>