Symbols within an area

[James Sohr]

Well, as far as I know it's not possible directly within MapServer.

You have three options:

1) Generate a large raster image with randomly placed trees, and use this
as your symbol.  This is what MSN Maps use, and it's rather easy to
implement in MapServer.  Here's a sample using MapServer:

http://img95.echo.cx/img95/4484/a14mm.gif


2) Use MapScript to randomly select a bunch of points.  Then, check each
point to see if it is withing a woodlands shape.  If so, use MapScript to
draw your tree symbol there.

3)  Similar to the solution above, but doesn't need MapScript.  Choose a
bunch of random points , and  draw your tree symbols there using a new
layer.  These points can even be the same from map to map, so you can
hardcode these values into a new shapefile or right into your map file.
Finally, overlay this with a layer that only fills in color where your
woodlands AREN'T-- in other words, you'll need a shapefile that can
identify areas that are not woodlands.