Mapping product

[Bart van den Eijnden]

Hi Kevin,

> 1.  Is mapserver a good way to create an interactive map?

Depends on what you consider an interactive map. You can do all sorts of
navigation, querying, highlighting etc. so that's pretty interactive in my
opinion. But keep in mind that webmapping cannot always be compared with a
standalone GIS like Mapinfo.

> 2.  Is it difficult to use?

That depends on a lot of things, including your familiarity with
webmapping and GIS in general. In my opinion it is not difficult to use,
but I am not a newbie so it's difficult for me to judge on this point.

> 3.  What do I need to start creating maps?  I have been to the set up
> section and see I need Apache(Got) do I need anything else to get started?

You need a webserver which can serve cgi. Normally you create a MAP file
to define your data, which classification to use etc. The most simple
visualization is through a HTML template (like the Itasca demo), but you
can also use the WMS protocol.

> 4.  Anyone got any spare examples for me to butcher and change so I can
> learn how it all

Check out the proceedings from the Mapserver User Meeting 2, there are
lots of tutorials over there:

http://www.omsug.ca/osgis2004/proceedings.html

Best regards,
Bart

> Hello all.
>
> I am currently trying to find a mapping application to create a web based
> dynamic map of the university I am studying at.  Obviously I can't afford
> a
> full GIS development tool like MapInfo (Anyone got one for free?) so I
> have
> been looking around for a good substitute and have been pointed to
> Mapserver.
>
> Is there anyone able to answer the following....
>
> 1.  Is mapserver a good way to create an interactive map?
> 2.  Is it difficult to use?
> 3.  What do I need to start creating maps?  I have been to the set up
> section and see I
>     need Apache(Got) do I need anything else to get started?
> 4.  Anyone got any spare examples for me to butcher and change so I can
> learn how it all
>     Works?
>
> I know I am asking a lot of questions but their must be someone who can
> answer them.  You can E-mail at kevin.sweeney at unn.ac.uk if you want to.
>
> Please help.
>
> Many thanks.
>
> Kevin.
>