[Mapserver-users] Basic questions

[Lowell Filak]

Your bound to get many responses to this so I'll try to keep my comments short.
1) & 2) Converting these to coordinates is the tricky part.
3) Doing a geographic query of a layer based on a given point including a buffer distance around that point is built into mapserver/mapscript.
4) Plotting dynamically created points on a map can be done using mapscript.
Example: http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?PerlMapScriptExamples35ex2
5) There is a distanceToPoint method in mapscript.
6) Creating a base map that is "clickable" and allowing the user to pick a point is actually the easiest way to get coordinates for further processing.
HTH
Lowell F.

The following message was sent by "Mick Ruthven" <mruthven at impact-consult.com> on Thu, 20 Feb 2003 07:57:46 -0800.

> Hello GIS people,
> 
> We're experienced application developers with no experience in GIS. We > have
> a new client project and are trying to determine just which parts of > this
> project will require GIS tools and expertise and which parts will not, > and if MapServer would work for us. It's
> a web-based application that requires some geo-based material. The > following
> is my understanding of what we need to accomplish.
> 
> 1. Website user enters a street address or 9-digit zip code into a form.
> 
> 2. That address or 9-digit zip is converted to lat/long coordinates.
> 
> 3. Our application contains a database of locations, each with lat/long
> coordinates. The application determines which if any of those locations > are
> "near enough" to the user-entered address. We intend to accomplish this > by
> assigning a lat/long tolerance of some fraction of a degree to those
> locations, creating in effect a rectangle for each location, then > comparing
> the user's lat/long to the lat/long corners of the rectangle.
> 
> 4. The site displays a map containing a symbol for the user-entered > location
> and sequential numbers for the "matched' locations from our database.
> 
> 5. We display information about each of the matched locations, including > the
> distance from it to the user-entered location.
> 
> 6. We'd also like to allow the user enter the desired location by > clicking
> on a mapquest-type map, and the lat/long of that location would be > available
> to our application.
> 
> As you might suspect, we're looking for the simplest, fastest, and least
> expensive way to accomplish this. We know the database and web stuff. > What
> can you tell me about what we would need in the GIS realm and if > MapServer would work for this application.
> 
> Thanks so much,
> 
> Mick Ruthven
> 
>