Mapfile creation including PostGIS layer with changing table (view) name?

[Ei Fujioka]

Hi Jan,

Here is another possibility.

You may want to try parameters in mapfiles.

For example, if you want to parameterize the view name, add to the query 
string a key and value pair something like:
   view=view_name
where view is the key and view_name is the actual name of the view.

The layer definition in the mapfile should look like:
(Essential part only)

LAYER
   NAME "yourlayer"
   METADATA
    ...
   END
   CONNECTION "..."
   CONNECTIONTYPE POSTGIS		
   DATA "_geom from (SELECT your_columns FROM %view%) USING UNIQUE
   oid   USING SRID=-1"
END	

Note that the parameter is referred to as %view% in the mapfile.
Also you can use parameters in WHERE clause.

If you need a session id that is given by PHP or something, you can 
create a small code that just gets the session id and redirects to 
Mapserver with the session id in the query string.


Hope this helps.

Ei


Jan Peters-Anders wrote:
> Hello list,
> 
> I have a question concerning the following problem:
> 
> I have a webapplication that creates (via an SQL query) a view in my PostGres database. Then I display this view via mapserver. Mapfile code looks as follows:
> 
> -----8<-----------------------
> LAYER
>    NAME firmen_psql
>    TYPE POINT
>    STATUS ON
>    CONNECTION "user=blabla password=bla dbname=foo host=localhost port=5432"
>    CONNECTIONTYPE postgis
>    DATA "the_geom from v_iis_over"
> -----8<-----------------------
> 
> That works perfectly. Now I want to have multiple users query the database, creating views according to e.g. a session id, e.g:
> 
> "v_iis_over_[sessionId]"
> 
> Now my problem is, that I would need different mapfiles containing the different table (view) names to accomplish a correct display of the query results for each user. Is it e.g. possible to hand over the new (view) id via an http request? Or do I have to create a new mapfile each time a new session is created?
> 
> Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you very much in advance again
> 
> Jan Peters-Anders
> 
> 

-- 
======================
   Ei Fujioka
   Research Associate
   Duke University

   (919) 613-8021
   efujioka at duke.edu
======================