Can mapfiles be generated dynamically?

[Tom Kazimiers]

Hi,

I am relatively new to mapserver and am currently playing around to find 
out what is possible and what is not.
Currently I develop an application which should be run on a mobile 
device like a PDA. One aim is that there is something like a 
"MapServer-Layer" which gives the opportunity to
1. get information which shapefiles and rasterdata is available on the 
server
2. one should be able to choose one or more layers out of 1. which then 
should be displayed according to position, zoom level, etc.

So in my opinion this implies that the mapfiles which hold information 
about what layers can be displayed, in which order and so on could be 
generated dynamically (which must also be possible if I want to change 
the order). Is there already a way in mapserver (or an application) to 
accomplish this?

If not the way to got would possibly be writing an application which 
does the generation, right?
Maybe I have misunderstood something, but mapfiles are not available for 
all the applications or the whole mapserver, but are available to the 
belongig application? Therefore it is unlikely to find something like 
this already in mapserver, but maybe in an available application.

Thanks for your time,
Tom