Map file from a URI instead of a filesystem!?

[Dirk Tilger]

--- Jeroen Ticheler <Jeroen.Ticheler at FAO.ORG> wrote:
> A question that came up while discussing integration of MapServer  
> with a catalog application (GeoNetwork opensource) was if mapserver  
> in CGI mode could use a map file coming from another server; a URL  
> (used for OGC-WMS services) would look like this:
> 
> http://localhost/cgi-bin/mapserv?map=http://remotehost/mapfile.map

Not directly. On a UNIX/Linux system you can easily do it by yourself:

- Create a shell script that grabs the 'map' parameter from the
paramter line. 
- Have wget, curl or a similar tool downloading the map file from the
remote site and storing it into a local directory. 
- Have 'sed' or a similar tool replacing the mapfile link in the
argument list
- execute the real mapserver with the modified parameters

Have fun,
Dirk.