Shapefile field problem

[Abe Gillespie]

Attached is the problematic shapefile.  I don't create it, I get it
from a customer.  However, if the need arises, I should be able to get
detailed information on how the shapefile comes to be.  Using the
following PHP script should reveal the problem.  I have not tried
DBFDUMP; I don't know where to get it.

                for ($i = 0; $i < $map->numlayers; $i++)
                {
                        $l = $map->getLayer($i);
                        putBrLine($l->name.", type: ".$l->type);
                        if ($l->data != null)  // Shape files with data.
                        {
                                $l->open();
                                $s = $l->getShape(-1, 0);
                                $vals = $s->values;
                                putBrLine("field count: ".count($vals));
                                while ($fld = current($vals))
                                {
                                        putBrLine("&nbsp;&nbsp;".key($vals));
                                        next($vals);
                                }
                                $s->free();
                                $l->close();
                        }
                }

Thanks.
-Abe

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On Dec 6, 2004, at 9:13 PM, Ed McNierney wrote:

> Abe -
>
> Can you post the shapefile somewhere we can look at it?
>
> The field definitions for a shapefile (DBF) are stored in a separate
> header, describing each field; you can't get the field definitions from
> the first record.  In fact, you can't read the first record properly
> until *after* you've figured out the field definitions.
>
> Are you creating this shapefile yourself?  Could you be creating a
> defective file?  Have you tried running DBFDUMP on it?
>
>         - Ed
>
> Ed McNierney
> President and Chief Mapmaker
> TopoZone.com / Maps a la carte, Inc.
> 73 Princeton Street, Suite 305
> North Chelmsford, MA  01863
> Phone: +1 978 251-4242   Fax: +1 978 251-1396
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: UMN MapServer Users List [mailto:MAPSERVER-USERS at LISTS.UMN.EDU]
> On
> Behalf Of Abe Gillespie
> Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 8:14 PM
> To: MAPSERVER-USERS at LISTS.UMN.EDU
> Subject: Re: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] Shapefile field problem
>
> It's a regular shapefile.  I think I've mostly narrowed it down.  It
> seems to me (though I may be completely off) that MapServer loads the
> first record of the DBF in order to get the field definitions.  If the
> first record has a string field and the value is zero length it won't
> give me the field (though the field count is always correct).  In
> addition, it won't give me any fields after that either.  If, however,
> I
> make sure that field has some value (a dash, an "x", whatever) then the
> field definition will come in correctly.  I still haven't narrowed down
> a problematic number field though.  Mind you, this is all done in
> MapServer PHP v. 4.2.0.
>
> -Abe
>
> On Dec 6, 2004, at 6:15 PM, Daniel Morissette wrote:
>
>> Abe Gillespie wrote:
>>> A good amount of fields aren't showing up in MapServer for me.  I use
>
>>> the following PHP script to dump out all layers and their fields for
>>> debugging.  Does MapServer have problems with certain data types or
>>> certain values in a row?
>>>
>>
>> Are you using a tiled shapefile layer or is this a regular shapefile
>> layer?
>>
>> --
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  Daniel Morissette               dmorissette at dmsolutions.ca
>>  DM Solutions Group              http://www.dmsolutions.ca/
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>