[Mapserver-users] time support

[Kralidis,Tom [Burlington]]

Thanks for the info.  This sounds like a good workaround.

Initially, we will preprocess our data such that the time attributes are
ISO8601, so that any OGC:WMS client can query through this mechanism, so
that when MapServer updates with time functionality, existing bindings will
not break via the interface.

Thanks!

..Tom


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dean Gadoury [mailto:gadoury at dmsolutions.ca] 
> Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 3:19 PM
> To: Kralidis,Tom [Burlington]
> Cc: mapserver-users at lists.gis.umn.edu
> Subject: Re: [Mapserver-users] time support
> 
> 
> Tom,
> Here is a simple case in which we could request data by time. 
> We add a 
> time parameter on the WMS URL, for example:
> http://server/cgi-bin/servicename?version=1.1.0&request=getmap
> &time=2003-12-01%2012:00:00
>  
> In the map file on the server we would have an expression in 
> a FILTER in 
> a layer, but this could also work with an expression in a class. For 
> example for a shapefile we could have something like:
> 
>   FILTERITEM "TIME"  # where time is the name of the time 
> column in the 
> shapefile's dbf
>   FILTER "%time%"       # this substitutes the value that is given on 
> the query string, in this case 2003-12-01 12:00:00  (the %20 
> in the URL 
> is a space)
>  
> I used the simplest case for my expression, but any valid expression 
> should work. The result would be that only records matching the time 
> passed on the URL would be shown.
> 
> Using this method the time format doesn't really matter. In 
> this example 
> its yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss. Real time support in WMS should use the time 
> format specified in the WMS spec: ISO 8601 "extended" format. 
> It would 
> probably be a good idea to start using that now so that when 
> real time 
> support is built into MapServer you won't need to change it.
> 
> I hope that helps
> Dean
> 
> 
> 
> Kralidis,Tom [Burlington] wrote:
> 
> >>-----Original Message-----
> >>From: Dean Gadoury [mailto:gadoury at dmsolutions.ca] 
> >>Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 1:22 PM
> >>To: Kralidis,Tom [Burlington]
> >>Cc: mapserver-users at lists.gis.umn.edu
> >>Subject: Re: [Mapserver-users] time support
> >>
> >>
> >>Here's a quick response, and others can fill in details that I miss.
> >>
> >>MapServer does not currently support the time parameter in its WMS 
> >>interface, but it is in the plans for a future release. 
> >>Someone else can 
> >>give more detail on that.
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >This would be appreciated, as this is a valued feature. 
> >
> >  
> >
> >>We have come up with a work around for a project we are currently 
> >>working on though. We use the variable substitution function in 
> >>MapServer 4.0. We add 'time=value' to the URL of our WMS 
> >>request, and in 
> >>the mapfile on the server side we use the variable %time% in 
> >>a layer's 
> >>FILTER object. This method does not allow us to select a 
> >>range of times, 
> >>but perhaps you can do the same thing with two variables like 
> >>'starttime' and 'endtime' or something similar.
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >Do you have an exmaple snippet of how this works?  
> Basically, time values
> >would be in an attribute field in our data.  Also, how 
> should time values be
> >formatted?
> >
> >..Tom
> >
> >
> >  
> >
> >>Dean
> >>
> >>
> >>Kralidis,Tom [Burlington] wrote:
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >>>Hi,
> >>>
> >>>We have an activity which requires interfacing with a WMS 
> >>>      
> >>>
> >>supporting the
> >>    
> >>
> >>>TIME construct, as per ISO8601, for OGC:WMS communication 
> >>>      
> >>>
> >>with point-based
> >>    
> >>
> >>>temporal observation data.
> >>>
> >>>Does MapServer support this in its WMS face?  If no, are 
> >>>      
> >>>
> >>there any plans to
> >>    
> >>
> >>>do so, and ETA?  Are there any workaround / interim 
> >>>      
> >>>
> >>solutions to do this?
> >>    
> >>
> >>>Basically looking for a state of affairs w.r.t. this issue.
> >>>
> >>>Thanks
> >>>
> >>>..Tom
> >>>=========================
> >>>Tom Kralidis
> >>>Systems Scientist
> >>>Environment Canada
> >>>Tel: +01-905-336-4409
> >>>http://www.ec.gc.ca/cise/
> >>>========================= 
> >>>_______________________________________________
> >>>Mapserver-users mailing list
> >>>Mapserver-users at lists.gis.umn.edu
> >>>http://lists.gis.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mapserver-users
> >>>
> >>> 
> >>>
> >>>      
> >>>
> >>-- 
> >>___________________________
> >>
> >>Dean Gadoury
> >>
> >>DM Solutions Group
> >>72 Chamberlain Ave. Third Floor
> >>Ottawa, Ontario. K1S 1V9
> >>613 565-5056 ext. 24
> >>
> >>gadoury at dmsolutions.ca
> >>www.dmsolutions.ca
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> -- 
> ___________________________
> 
> Dean Gadoury
> 
> DM Solutions Group
> 72 Chamberlain Ave. Third Floor
> Ottawa, Ontario. K1S 1V9
> 613 565-5056 ext. 24
> 
> gadoury at dmsolutions.ca
> www.dmsolutions.ca
> 
> 
>