Feature-level transparency...in 5.0?

[Mike Leahy]

Hello list,

As far as I can tell, transparency in MapServer is currently only
available at the layer level.  I'm working on some data that would
benefit from being able to view overlapping features (within a single
and/or multiple layers) using transparency to reveal density of coverage
of certain features (i.e., the more shapes that overlap a given area,
the darker the colour).  This works great in some tools (e.g., QGis),
but it doesn't work so well in mapserver, as overlapping shapes within a
single layer end up looking like a single polygon.  It seems that at the
moment the only workaround would be to have a separate for each
individual shape...or use varying hatched styles to fill the polygons.

I saw on this page
(http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/development/release_plans/mapserver_5_0)
that class or style-level transparency is proposed for 5.0.  Out of
interest, will this be equivalent to feature-level, or would I have to
add individual classes for every feature in a given layer?  I suspect
the latter, but I'm curious to know if feature-level transparency is on
the radar for future development.

Thanks for any info...

Mike