Indeed, there are plenty of existing tools that could maybe be made more MapServer friendly, notably by having features such as export to mapfile.
I think what Bart was talking about originally was a purpose built visual tool for authoring mapserver maps, and not necessarily a full fledged GIS system. This is a big missing component when working with mapserver ... MapFiles as text files work if the mapfiles are simple enough, but it can get unwieldy quickly. Batch processing of mapfiles comes to mind, as well as re-use of certain map components (akin to an "INCLUDE"). Some client/server functionality would be cool too (i.e. "Publish to server" type functionality). Bascially, an enterprise tool around the existing mapserver. I think the current mapserver can be made "enterprise" class as it is, since the kind of functionality needed to make mapserver "enterprise" isn't really mapping related, but revolves more around how one works with mapfiles, data, etc ... I very much see myself as representing an "enterprise" user type, and am therefore very much interested in this stuff ... Not to mention this could make mapserver more appealing to a wider audience, which is always nice (again, without sacrificing mapserver's core values/benefits). J.F. -----Original Message----- From: UMN MapServer Users List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeff McKenna Sent: December 14, 2005 1:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] Foundation and Mapserver MAP file manag e tool good point...which reminds me of QGIS, which also has preliminary 'Export as MapServer mapfile' support (also needs community support). jeff Jody Garnett wrote: > We do have uDig based on Eclipse, and there is already talk of an > "Export to Geosever" plugin. -- Jeff McKenna DM Solutions Group Inc. http://www.dmsolutions.ca
