[mapserver-users] Multilingual map files

[Peter Hopfgartner]

Kralidis,Tom [Ontario] wrote:
>  
>
>   
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: mapserver-users-bounces at lists.osgeo.org 
>> [mailto:mapserver-users-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of 
>> Peter Hopfgartner
>> Sent: Wednesday, 04 February 2009 08:47
>> To: mapserver-users at lists.osgeo.org
>> Cc: Paolo Viskanic
>> Subject: [mapserver-users] Multilingual map files
>>
>> Dear list members
>>
>> I would like ask how map files for multilingual applications 
>> are handled by mapserver users.
>>
>> Multilingual information may impact the map in various ways. 
>> As by now, those come to mind:
>>
>> * Fix strings in the map file, (NAME, DESCRIPTION etc)
>> * Database borne data, changing column for different 
>> languages as for LABELITEM
>> * Queries changing with language, so that DATA/FILTER 
>> statements must be adapted to the current language (e.g. 
>> WHERE lang_id='en').
>>
>> What we are currently doing is to write the mapfiles like:
>>
>>     CLASS
>>         NAME "IT:Progetti linee|DE:Projekte Linien"
>>         SYMBOL 'circle'
>>         SIZE 3
>>         COLOR 0 0 255
>>     END
>>
>>     METADATA
>>         "DESCRIPTION" "IT:Progetti|DE:Projekte"
>>     END
>>
>>     LABELITEM "IT:gemi|DE:gemd"
>>
>> and modify the labels through Mapscript before rendering the 
>> map. This works if the map file is processed by Mapscript, 
>> whereas it would not work for CGI and W*S services. We would 
>> need a map file for each language for those services.
>>
>>     
>
> For WxS, the specs themselves don't handle this, but it would be nice to
> handle multilingual metadata in one document, i.e.:
>
> <Name xml:lang="en-CA">road</Name>
> <Name xml:lang="fr-CA">rue</Name>
>
>   
I remember Arnulf Christel mentioning some work on multilingual WxS by 
OGC. Do you know anything about this?
> In our environment, we've created one mapfile / language.  One thing you
> could do is use MapScript WxS to intercept an incoming request (say with
> an extended lang parameter), then, once you have the lang, set the
> values in the mapfile accordingly.
>
> ..Tom
>
>
>   
Thanks,

Peter
>> How do you handle i18n in MapServer?
>>
>>     
>
>   


-- 
 
Dott. Peter Hopfgartner
 
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