FW: Info on MapServer

[Frank Warmerdam]

Raj writes:
>    1. Is this a complete web based engine where we could offer a web
>       based solution on the same with around 200-300 users accessing the
>       application simultaneously for map viewing.

Raj,

MapServer will support 200-300 users with an appropriately configured
application, though I'd consider that a high load for a single machine
serving maps and you would likely need to be quite careful about how
your application is setup.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "complete web based engine".  MapServer
is not a GIS and does not endevour to have a complete set of GIS
functionality.  You may also find you need a variety of related projects
to achieve some ends.  In particular there are many layered software
packages that can be used with mapserver to make building web applications
easier.  Packages such as CartoWeb, Chameleon, Mapbender, MapBuilder,
and ka-Map (as a few examples).  You will want to review some of these
higher level packages as part of your review of mapserver.

>    2. Do you have any benchmarks on the map rendering speed on the web
>       with the above load? If so kindly furnish us the same.

I do not, perhaps others do.  Generally speaking you are best off
doing some benchmarking yourself, and understanding that performance can
be very sensitive to a variety of issues (data organization, machine
memory, etc).

>    3. Does the map engine support the following features.
>          1. Map navigating tools zoom in, zoom out, distance,  info
>             tool, auto pan, centering

yes

>          2. Does it support both vector and rastor map data set?

yes

>          3. Does it support MS-SQL and Oracle as backend database for
>             the attributes?

Yes, though the normal MapServer model is for the attributes to be
conceptually stored with the spatial geometry.  Trying to do joins on the
fly can be problematic, especially in performance sensitive situations.

Note that there is good Oracle Spatial support built in.  Access to
MS-SQL is via the OGR ODBC driver and can be considered weaker.

>          4. Does it support animation layer? i.e. creating point objects
>             on the fly over web ?for eg. Vehicle tracking.

I believe you would need to use a client side toolkit such as MapBuilder
to have AJAX style client side animation.  Or perhaps you just mean
rendering from dynamic datasets?  This is quite possible.

>          5. Does it support radial distance / search?

yes

>          6. Does it support buffering for line and point objects?

yes, though this is a new feature, I think accessible only in mapscript.

>          7. Does it support editing the layers on the web – like
>             creating points, drawing lines etc.

Generally speaking no, MapServer does not support feature editing well.
There are some environments (Mapbender?) that address this sort of need,
but I think they post changes back to transactional WFS'es like GeoServer.
Use of GeoServer as a WFS and MapServer as a WMS is a fairly common
configuration for such requirements.

>          8. Does it have a distance calculator?

I am not aware of one built in, though environments like Chameleon may
include this.

>          9. Which is map data format supported? Does it support both
>             shape files (ESRI), MapInfo format as well Oracle spatial or
>             any other geo-database format. 

The "native" format is shapefiles (in the sense this is the original and
in many ways best optimized format), but Oracle Spatial is also well
supported.  Via OGR a variety of formats are supported including mapinfo
(mid/mif and tab), etc.

   http://www.gdal.org/ogr/

>    4. Does the map server have a licensing cost and does it have any
>       restrictions with respect to number of simultaneous users?

No, sorry.  We are missing this feature.

>    5. What is the level of support and documentation provided for a
>       serious user like us?

I'd suggest you visit the mapserver website to judge the available
documentation.  If you want support you can call on the mapserver
mailing lists but for serious support you may consider contracting
with experienced mapserver consultants including firms like DM Solutions,
or MapGears, and individuals such as Steve Lime, or Howard Butler.

I personally think that MapServer and related projects is a great solution
for consultants and integrators willing to spend some time learning MapServer
and who have the experience and knowledge to customize and extend things
when required.  This gives great flexibility in providing exactly the solution
a client needs, and ensures you aren't trapped into the licensing/pricing
scheme of a vendor who may be insensitive to your needs or the needs of
some of your clients.

Best regards,
-- 
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org