mapserver, gis questions

[Jacolin Yves]

Hello,
MapServer needs gdal-ogr to manage several files format, proj4 for projection, 
an other mandatory tools: GEOS, postgis, mysql, ...
It needs a web server (eg Apache) as well ;-).

You have two ways to use it. The first one is the cgi mode. The other one, as 
you noted it, is mapscript. MapScript allow you to use the power of MapServer 
with some script langage as PHP, java, C, Ruby, Python, ...

Mapserver can use a lot of file format to manage spatial data : shapefile, 
PostGIS, MySQL (although the spatial support in MySQL is not as much powerful 
as PostGIS), and a lot of other one, here a liste for raster format 
http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/formats_list.html and for vector format 
http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/ogr/ogr_formats.html.

You can use mapserver with some framework, wrote in PHP/mapscript, to avoid to 
write again all the interface : MapBender, MapLab, Cartoweb, ... which allow 
user to edit (create, modify, ...) features.

About hardware, I am using 1Go of ram, and 32b installation on a 64b system, 
P4 3 GHz- 64b. My distribution is a mandriva 2006. And it works fine.

Y.
Le Lundi 14 Août 2006 10:59, smithveg a écrit :
> Dear,
>
> I'm new to GIS (geographical information systems). I have to some research
> on it. I found that the mapserver is the nicer one.
> I'm happy to use, but i'm not understand how to start it.
>
> Let me explain to you what i want to do:
> I want to have a GIS support system, that could show the malaysia map. Then
> it will allows the admin to add/edit the new location/information into the
> map. I understand the PostgreSQL is the most suitable to support GIS. But
> he database i gonna use is mysql because my hosting site never suppot
> PostgreSQL. Is that possible to run in MySQL.
>
> I have actually download the 'mapserver-4.8.4.tar' that's c++. I noticed
> the main feature of mapserver could support php?
>
> Before i start, can anyone answer me some question:
> - what the programming language use in mapserver?
> - what should i need if i'm using mapserver (any software or hardware)?
>
> Your reply would be appreciated.

-- 
Yves Jacolin
http://yjacolin.gloobe.org
----
Stagiaire Conservatoire Régional des Espaces Naturels de la région Centre
http://cahiersnaturalistes.free.fr/cpnrc/
----
- Qu'est-ce que cela peut faire que je lutte pour la mauvaise cause 
puisque je suis de bonne foi?
- Et qu'est-ce que ça peut faire que je sois de mauvaise foi
puisque c'est pour la bonne cause. (Jacques Prévert)