[OpenLayers-Users] First project for Openlayers newbie: HELP!

[Mapmaker]

Robert,

Welcome to OpenLayers!  You have several options for getting your GIS data
into OL.  The size of your shapefile and the number of features you are
managing will most likely drive what format will work best in your
situation.  If you are working with tens or even hundreds of points, you may
be able to get away with converting the shapefile to a KML or text file and
loading it directly in OL.  If you've got several hundred or thousands of
points, you will probably want to involve some server side processes for
managing what gets thrown at the browser.  You could easily use a shapefile
data store in GeoServer to render the points as a WMS layer.  The benefit of
this approach is that your GIS users will also be able to tap into the WMS
feed within their GIS software for real-time access to your data.  If
GeoServer is not an option, you could load the shapefile data into a PostGIS
or MySQL database and use PHP to generate only the relevant bits of JSON or
KML on the fly.

Let me know if you need any help or further clarification and best of luck!

BRYAN

-----
Bryan R. McBride, GISP
http://www.bryanmcbride.com bryanmcbride.com 
-- 
View this message in context: http://osgeo-org.1803224.n2.nabble.com/First-project-for-Openlayers-newbie-HELP-tp5097592p5098619.html
Sent from the OpenLayers Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.