RES: [Mapserver-users] Shapefile question

[Murilo Lacerda Yoshida]

  Martin,
  To create the shapefile I want to create, with a path in it, and using
ms_shp_arc, I have to define a line with my whole path and then add it
to the shapefile?
  I don't know if you understood what I'm trying to ask. If I have to
draw the path of one man, one man only, I will have only one shape in
the shapefile?
  Thanks for the help,
     Murilo

-----Mensagem original-----
De: Martin Weinelt [mailto:mweinelt at planiglobe.com] 
Enviada em: quinta-feira, 1 de abril de 2004 07:55
Para: murilo.yoshida at agx.com.br
Cc: Murilo Lacerda Yoshida
Assunto: Re: [Mapserver-users] Shapefile question

On Wednesday 31 March 2004 22:12, Murilo Lacerda Yoshida wrote:
>   Hi all,
>   I need to create a map that represents the path that someone walked.
> For example, a guy started walking at 9:00 am at his house, and
stopped
> walking at 11:00 am at his office. During this time he walked, he was
> using a gps device that was monitoring the points he passed trough.
>   So I need to create this map. Question is what type of shapefile I
> need to create to store this data. I guess it should be MS_SHP_ARC,
but
> I'm not sure. Until now I have used only MS_SHP_POLYGON shapes, and it
> would be nice if I could still use this kind of shape. And if I
continue
> using MS_SHP_POLYGON shapes to draw the path the guy walked, will the
> map show all the corners, turns and other small elements of the path
> that are important?
>   I am using PHP/MapScript.
>   Thanks in advance,
>      Murilo

Murilo, 

yes you would want to create a shapefile of the type  'MS_SHP_ARC', or
with a 
more generic term, a polyline shapefile. Frank Warmerdams shapelib comes
with 
utility programs that let you generate such a file and add data. If you
feel 
like you can also use the perl bindings to shapelib provided by Ari
Jolma. I 
can imagine to represent the path by a polygon but that would be a bit
rough 
and do not see why you would want to.

The details visualized are only dependent on your input data and the 
resolution/scale of you map.

Cheers, Martin