[Mapserver-users] Using mapserv to return map extents

[bogus at does.not.exist.com]

Hi,

I was wondering if it's possible to use Mapserv as an application that can
be used to return the map extents of a layer and/or shapefile(s). I have a
drop down box that contains the layers that are defined in the .map file.
When a user selects a layer, i want to generate a map that is zoomed to
that layer. Alternatively I could also query the shapefile to return the
extents and then generate the zoomed map image.

Currently i've hard coded the map extents for each layer, but this is not
desirable.

Perhaps there is some other application out there that can do this can of
query. I'm not very knowledgable on GIS and apologise if i've used the
wrong termonology or misunderstood something about Mapserver. It's a great
application that is working 100% for everything else.

Much thanks,
Alasdair.