[mapserver-users] best practice: map data structure

[Dan Little]

It is very dependent on your needs.  For example, if you have departments responsible for various layers you may want to divide the structure by that, if there is only one administrator then that isn't necessary.

Typically, if there is only one administrator I tend to do something like this...

[root]/ -- make this whatever you want and that makes sense from a permissions and storage stand point for your new server.

for a simple shapefile layer...
[root]/layer_a/layer_a.map
[root]/layer_a/layer_a.[shp|dbf|shx]

for a tree'd shapfile
[root]/layer_b/layer_b.map
[root]/layer_b/layer_b.[shp|dbf|shx]
[root]/layer_b/data/[... quad tree goes here ...]

for a raster...
[root]/layer_c/layer_c.map
[root]/layer_c/raster/[... raster data ...]

Then you can use mapserver includes to include the proper mapfile fragments into an applications various mapfiles.

----- Original Message ----
> From: Frank Broniewski <liste at geo-dienstleistung.de>
> To: mapserver-users at lists.osgeo.org
> Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 8:43:05 AM
> Subject: [mapserver-users] best practice: map data structure
> 
> Hello List,
> 
> I want to migrate our old server to a new one, and I want to replace the 
> somewhat grown map data folder and file mess into something more structured. 
> Therefore I am looking for some advice on how to organize the Filesystem 
> Hierarchy. Sure somehow its always a matter of taste and need, but maybe you 
> have some comments on my proposed structure.
> 
> I browsed already the mailing list archives and the documentation on the 
> mapserver site but did not find any related infos, but I am willing to 
> summarize this thread into a howto document if something useful comes up.
> 
> I will be using a linux server, so the structure will reflect the unix 
> filesystem hierarchy to a certain degree.
> 
> A good starting point seems to be /usr/local/ to me.
> 
> /usr/local/mapdata/ for storing raster and vector files
> /usr/local/mapfiles/ for mapfiles and other config files
> 
> You would have /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENTDIR/vector and  
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENTDIR/raster for client specific map data
> similar to
> /usr/local/mapdata/PROJECTDIR/... for project data
> 
> and /usr/local/mapdata/share/vector & /usr/local/mapdata/share/raster for 
> shared map data (srtm topo maps e.g.)
> 
> A good structure for mapfiles & co would be:
> /mapfile.map
> /fonts/ - font config and font files (ttf)
> /icons/ - icon files (png, ...)
> /symbols/ - symbol.map
> /templates/ - template files
> 
> This structure could be mapped to 
> /usr/local/mapfiles/share/...
> or
> /usr/local/mapfiles/CLIENTDIR/...
> 
> I would really appreciate any comments and shared experience on this ...
> 
> Listing:
> 
> /usr/local/mapdata/
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/raster/
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/raster/topo20/
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/raster/topo20/01.tif
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/raster/topo20/...
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/raster/topo20/99.tif
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/raster/topo20/tileindex.shp
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/vector/
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/vector/streetnetwork/
> /usr/local/mapdata/share/vector/streetnetwork/streets.shp
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENT/raster/
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENT/raster/ortho/
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENT/raster/ortho/01.tif
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENT/raster/ortho/...
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENT/raster/ortho/99.tif
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENT/raster/ortho/tileindex.shp
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENT/vector/
> /usr/local/mapdata/CLIENT/vector/cad/contours.shp
> /usr/local/mapdata/PROJECT/raster/
> /usr/local/mapdata/PROJECT/raster/climate/
> /usr/local/mapdata/PROJECT/raster/climate/precipitation.tif
> /usr/local/mapdata/PROJECT/vector/
> /usr/local/mapdata/PROJECT/vector/archeology-sites.shp
> 
> /usr/local/mapfiles/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/share/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/share/mapfile.map
> /usr/local/mapfiles/share/fonts/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/share/icons/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/share/symbols/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/share/templates/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/CLIENT/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/CLIENT/mapfile.map
> /usr/local/mapfiles/CLIENT/fonts/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/CLIENT/icons/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/CLIENT/symbols/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/CLIENT/templates/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/PROJECT/mapfile.map
> /usr/local/mapfiles/PROJECT/fonts/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/PROJECT/icons/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/PROJECT/symbols/
> /usr/local/mapfiles/PROJECT/templates/
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