[Mapserver-users] Intro & Questions

[Frank Warmerdam]

Ben Minton wrote:
> Hi All.
> 
> I'm Ben, Darwin, NT, AU. Just subscribed to the list.
> 
> Read the online docs but have some questions about MapServer and what it can do.
> 
> Can MapServer handle other formats ie MapInfo or ArcInfo Export?

Ben,

Via OGR MapServer supports Mapinfo .mid/mif and .tab format.
Arc/Info Export (aka E00) format is not supported directly,
though you can easily turn these into Arc/Info binary coverages
and work from that or convert to shapefile.

> What minimum hardware requirements are there? ie can I run an older gen 486 
 > as a MapServer?

MapServer is a demanding application.  While folks have run MapServer on 486's
before, that would only support fairly simple mapping applications.

> Are all ShapeFile formats the same? As my GIS data is in ArcView Shapefile 
 > format can it be used as is or does it need to be converted to ESRI ShapeFile
 > format? If so, is there a good converter app for this?

ESRI Shapefile and ArcView Shapefile are all the same thing.  ESRI is the
company, and ArcView is one of their software packages that works with
shapefiles.

> Should I install Apache first then MapServer?

You will need to get a web server working to use MapServer to serve
maps on the internet.  Apache is certainly the mostly widely used webserver
folks are using.  It would likely be prudent to get it working smoothly
before trying to get mapserver working.

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | Geospatial Programmer for Rent