[mapserver-users] The right tool for the job

[Colin Wetherbee]

Greetings.

I'm new to using GIS data, and I have a project for which I think GIS 
and MapServer would work well.  I'd like to run the basic idea by this 
list and get your input as to whether I'm choosing the right tool for 
the job.

I have a PostgreSQL 8.2 database with PostGIS extensions installed, 
which stores, in GIS form, coordinates for airports around the world.

I also have a rather large Perl web application that accesses other 
things in this database.  This is the application to which I would like 
to add some fancy maps.

Essentially, I'd like a map of the world, and I'd like to be able to 
highlight certain airports and draw different types of lines between 
them, based on dynamic input from the user through the Perl application. 
  Each web page could potentially include a different sort of map with 
different locations highlighted.  At peak usage, I suspect at least 75 
maps would need to be generated per second, with an average of 30-40 
data points and various amounts of connecting lines between them per map.

Is this the sort of thing MapServer is good at doing?  I've read some of 
the web site, and really, I can't make heads or tails of quite a bit of 
it, especially with respect to Perl.

Thanks.

Colin