HostGIS+OpenLayers WMS requests to mapserver problems

[Gregor Mosheh]

Bradley McLain wrote:
> So I have been using a lax enforcement of WMS for a while then lol.

Well, your WMS server, perhaps. Just saying, the requirement of size and 
bbox, and the presence of an empty styles param, are entirely typical.


> So if I have understood correctly then if I correctly specify these 
> details in the mapfile itself then if a parameter is blank it should 
> default to that? Thereby avoiding any errors?

No, the WMS client should be presenting these in the request. If the WMS 
server tries to guess them, it's misbehaving. :)

I don't see your cross-post to the OpenLayers mailing list. Debugging it 
from a OL perspective, I'd ask whether your browser is in fact able to 
contact the WMS server to make a WMS request at all -- firewalls and 
DMZs are culprits in that regard, as are "localhost" or private IPs. If 
it can do that, then you'd want to "tail -f" your webserver's access log 
and hit reload on your browser's map, and see whether the browser is 
even trying and what it's trying to do.

But hey, let's take that to the OL list. :)


> Where can I access the webserver's access_log?

If it's HostGIS Linux (there's a mailing list for that, too) then it's 
/var/log/apache/access_log

I find it invaluable, to be able to find the exact request being made 
and to copy it into a browser.

-- 
Gregor Mosheh / Greg Allensworth
System Administrator, HostGIS cartographic development & hosting services
http://www.HostGIS.com/

"Remember that no one cares if you can back up,
  only if you can restore." - AMANDA