"includes" in mapfiles?

[Bill Binko]

On Fri, 3 Jun 2005, uli mueller [geOps] wrote:

> I also wished to have something like an #include in mapfiles. Usually 
> you have one or only few more optimal ways to represent a set of geodata 
> in MapServer. I would like to be able to keep these representations (the 
> MapServer layer object) separate from the mapfiles, possibly in the same 
> location as the geodata itself.
> This would ease the creation of mapfiles. Updates of a layer definition 
> could be done in one place instead of in all mapfiles that use the data.
> 
> WMS as an alternative is fine, but I don't need it if I only combine 
> layers from a single server. And I am not sure, if WMS layers aren't 
> slower than directly accessing my data (Can anyone comment on this?).
> 
> Could this go into bugzilla as an enhancement bug? Or does MapLab 
> already provide a similar feature (never tested)?

There is an existing bug (279) for this.  It looks a bit dead.  

I could be convinced to work on this after the 4.6 drop.

> 
> So far my thoughts for a Friday night (it's Europe here)

It was Europe here last week: God, I'm glad that's over!

Bill