variable layer...

[Ed McNierney]

Mark -

Take a look at the MapServer CGI documentation on variable substitution.
You can have a standard mapfile and easily override the file specified
in the DATA statement for any layer by passing a querystring variable
that's specific to the user.

See

http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/doc44/cgi-reference.html#mapfileURL

And the DATAPATTERN statement at

http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/doc44/mapfile-reference.html#map

        - Ed

Ed McNierney
President and Chief Mapmaker
TopoZone.com / Maps a la carte, Inc.
73 Princeton Street, Suite 305
North Chelmsford, MA  01863
Phone: +1 (978) 251-4242
Fax: +1 (978) 251-1396
ed at topozone.com

-----Original Message-----
From: UMN MapServer Users List [mailto:MAPSERVER-USERS at LISTS.UMN.EDU] On
Behalf Of Mark Dieterich
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 11:19 AM
To: MAPSERVER-USERS at LISTS.UMN.EDU
Subject: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] variable layer...

Hi all,

I'm hoping that some of you more experienced mapserver users can point
me in the right direction.  I'm working on an app where the underlying
map structure will be the same for all users, however, each user will
end up with a different overlay(s), a shapefile(s) with individual
information on it.  I have no problem generating the mapfile for the
underlying maps, but what do I do about the variable layer?  At present,
I've been just working with the mapserver cgi, but I forsee using
php/mapscript before too long.  Any pointers about how to deal with this
variable layer would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark