Symbols within an area

[Matthew Perry]

James,

  {slightly off-topic} In the example gif,  How did you generate the
labels to curve with the road? I wasn't aware of any mapfile
configuration that would allow you to spline text labels like this. Did you
accomplish this with mapserver proper or a custom mapscript solution?

Thanks,
--
Matt Perry
Humboldt State University
perrygeo at gmail.com

On 4/18/05, James Sohr <jms4 at po.cwru.edu> wrote:
> 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.
>