Dynamic map annotation in animated GIF file

[Julien-Samuel Lacroix]

Hi,
You are right. PHP/MapScript doesn't provide the TEXT portion of an 
annotation feature. It's because it's easier to add directly a point on 
the top of the map. Instead of adding a FEATURE object to the layer, 
simply create a point object and draw it on the map image.
(Following code not tested)

// Outside the loop create a pointObj
$oPoint = ms_newPointObj();
$oPoint->setXY(1,1);

[...snipp...]

// Inside the foreach, draw your map without the copyright layer
$thislayer->set("status",MS_OFF);
$image[$i]     = $amap->map->draw();

// Then draw the point on the top of it
// Don't forget to remove the FEATURE object in the mapfile
// Also you should give a name to your class in the copyright layer
// For now, I'll use "CLASSNAME"
$thislayer->set("status",MS_ON);
$oPoint->draw($amap->map, $thislayer, $image[$i], "CLASSNAME",
               $filter);

$image_url[$i] = $image[$i]->saveWebImage(MS_GIF,1,1,0);

[...snip...]


The code is not tested, but it should give you a good idea.

Julien



Burgholzer,Robert wrote:
> I am trying to produce a time series animated GIF, with an annotation at 
> the bottom of the map that shows the time.  Thanks to an example from 
> Charlton Purvis found by a search of previous postings on making an 
> animated GIF (modified to use a single layer, changing the filter to 
> select for the data that is in my current time step):
> 
> http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/data2/wilma/mapserver-users/0304/msg00482.html
> 
>  
> 
> And a Wiki entry from Jeff McKenna about making a copyright notation:
> 
> http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/docs/faq/copyright-layer
> 
>  
> 
> I have the basics, that is, an animated time series, with a statically 
> placed text entry at the bottom (at a map-specific point, rather than a 
> lat lon).  However, the annotation layer can only display a single 
> entry, not one that is updated with the time step.  I am wondering how 
> to do this, if I can modify the property of the annotation layer, or if 
> I need to create a point of some sort from a dynamic postgis call.  I 
> can’t seem to set the TEXT portion of the feature via php mapscript.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyone have any ideas? (code and mapfile follow)
> 
>  
> 
> foreach ($gifmaps as $thismap) {
> 
>    $thislayer = $amap->map->getLayerByName('stream_stat');
> 
>    $filter = " projectid = $projectid and thismetric = '$thismap' ";
> 
>    $listobject->querystring = " select count(*) as numrecs from 
> proj_group_stat ";
> 
>    $listobject->querystring .= " where $filter ";
> 
>    $listobject->performQuery();
> 
>    $numrecs = $listobject->getRecordValue(1,'numrecs');
> 
>    #$annotlayer = $amap->map->getLayerByName('copyright');
> 
>    #$annotation = $annotlayer->getFeature(1,-1);
> 
>    if ($numrecs > 0) {
> 
>       $thislayer->setFilter($filter);
> 
>       $thislayer->set("status",MS_ON);
> 
>       #$annotation->set("TEXT", $filter);
> 
>       $image[$i]     = $amap->map->draw();
> 
>       $image_url[$i] = $image[$i]->saveWebImage(MS_GIF,1,1,0);
> 
>       $file_path[$i] = $amap->map->web->imagepath
> 
>                        . substr(strrchr($image_url[$i], "/"),1);
> 
>       $anim_files   = $anim_files . '"' . $file_path[$i] . '"' . " ";
> 
>       $i++;
> 
>       print(" Adding <i>$filter</i>, $image_url[$i] <br>");
> 
>    }
> 
>  }
> 
>  
> 
> // Create a unique filename and URL for the animated GIF output
> 
>  $anim_name = "anim".substr(strrchr($image_url[1], '/'),1);
> 
>  $anim_path = '"' . $amap->map->web->imagepath . $anim_name .'"';
> 
>  $anim_url = $amap->map->web->imageurl . $anim_name;
> 
>  
> 
>  print("Creating $anim_path <br>");
> 
>  $cmd = $anim_gif_cmd . " -o " . $anim_path . " " .  $anim_files;
> 
>  print("Using: $cmd <br>");
> 
>  
> 
>  system($cmd);
> 
>  
> 
> # annotation layer
> 
> LAYER
> 
>   NAME copyright
> 
>   STATUS ON
> 
>   TYPE annotation
> 
>   TRANSFORM false
> 
>   FEATURE
> 
>     POINTS
> 
>       150 180 #this is the position of the text in image coordinates 
> (pixels)
> 
>     END
> 
>     TEXT “From 2007/01/01 to 2007/06/30" #this is your displaying text
> 
>   END  
> 
>   CLASS
> 
>     LABEL #defines the font, colors etc. of the text
> 
>       FONT "arial"
> 
>       TYPE TRUETYPE
> 
>       SIZE 10
> 
>       BUFFER 1
> 
>       COLOR 0 0 0
> 
>       BACKGROUNDCOLOR 255 255 255
> 
>       FORCE TRUE
> 
>     END
> 
>   END
> 
> END
> 
> Robert W. Burgholzer
> 
> Surface Water Modeler
> 
> Office of Water Supply and Planning
> 
> Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
> 
> rwburgholzer at deq.virginia.gov <mailto:rwburgholzer at deq.virginia.gov>
> 
> 804-698-4405
> 
> Open Source Modeling Tools:
> 
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/npsource/
> 
>  
> 

-- 
Julien-Samuel Lacroix
Mapgears
http://www.mapgears.com/