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Product Description
Beginning MapServer: Open Source GIS Development is the first book of its kind. It offers a comprehensive introduction to MapServer, the development platform for integrating mapping technology into Internet applications. You’ll learn how to build and extend dynamic applications using popular languages like PHP, Perl, and Python.
After a thorough introduction to installation and configuration, you'll uncover basic MapServer topics and examples. You’ll also learn about advanced MapServer features, and how to query and incorporate dynamic data into your application. The book culminates with the creation of an actual mapping application.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is good if, like myself, you are trying to get to grips with web mapping via opensource software. It's reasonably clear what is going on but does assume some knowledge in areas outside of Mapserver (e.g. command line usage), provided you aren't scared of that there should be no problems in that area.
I'd love to give it 5 stars but can't. This book was published in 2005 (so written in 2004?). Mapserver has moved on and changes in the way it is coded have occurred. This leads to the examples and exercises in the book simply not working. As the only real option around I recommend it BUT, only if you are prepared for a learning curve that could be described as overhanging since you'll have to alter the stated code to make it work. To give a hand in this here's 1 for free; in the hello.html (the first exercise) remove line 7 (or comment it out), then it will work
I'd love to give it 5 stars but can't. This book was published in 2005 (so written in 2004?). Mapserver has moved on and changes in the way it is coded have occurred. This leads to the examples and exercises in the book simply not working. As the only real option around I recommend it BUT, only if you are prepared for a learning curve that could be described as overhanging since you'll have to alter the stated code to make it work. To give a hand in this here's 1 for free; in the hello.html (the first exercise) remove line 7 (or comment it out), then it will work
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a basic starting point to web mapping, but nothing more. MapServer is an application that is best suited to being used with other technologies including (but not limited to) OpenLayers and Web Map Service (WMS), neither of which are covered. This book details the use of MapServer on it's own to produce very basic HTML layouts. The command reference at the back of the book can be useful, and the book does a good job of detailing MapServer 'map' files. If you are completely new to MapServer, or you are searching for a step-by-step guide to creating a simple HTML web page with a dynamic map then this book may provide a useful foundation in one of the core web mapping technologies. Still, in the absence of any stronger texts that detail MapServer together with other open source technologies this book warrants a relatively high rating.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Problematic if you are working on a Windows platform
8 Nov 2007
Format:Paperback
I purchased this book to help with developing a simple map-enabled web page running on a Windows computer. The book proved very difficult to use in that context. If you are planning on working on a windows computer, you should be aware of some potential shortcomings.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have considerable GIS experience, but little experience with web development.
The book assumes that you are operating not only on a UNIX-based platform, but also that you will operate in a particular "development environment". The author does provide full instructions for building that development environment on a Unix machine, so if you are starting from scratch, everything will work as described.
However....
You can not readily build the same "development environment" on a Windows computer. I installed a version of MS4W ("Mapserver 4 Windows" on my computer. MS4W is a labor saving package that rapidly sets up a web server and installs most of the other open source software one would like to have available for using Mapsource effectively. Unfortunately, the installation differs from the "development environment" assumed by the book.
As a result, there are MANY small but significant differences that crop up in developing the example applications given in the book. Many of these are simply differences in the way files are named or in the structure of the directory tree, but they are annoying and difficult to track down. it took me several DAYS of work and repeated searches for help on on-line MAPSERVER forums to figure things out and get the first several example applications running. I still have not managed to get about half of the examples up and running.
That said, the book offers a nice introduction to many of the central concepts used in Mapserver. It has a good reference section that allows you to look up Mapserver commands, etc.
Ultimately, I was able to develop the simple web-based applications I was after. This book contributed to that, but only after considerable frustration. Several Mapserver tutorials are available on-line. Some are specifically geared to Windows-based systems. They certainly offer a less tortuous, if sometimes less complete, path to getting Mapserver working on a Windows-based system.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have considerable GIS experience, but little experience with web development.
The book assumes that you are operating not only on a UNIX-based platform, but also that you will operate in a particular "development environment". The author does provide full instructions for building that development environment on a Unix machine, so if you are starting from scratch, everything will work as described.
However....
You can not readily build the same "development environment" on a Windows computer. I installed a version of MS4W ("Mapserver 4 Windows" on my computer. MS4W is a labor saving package that rapidly sets up a web server and installs most of the other open source software one would like to have available for using Mapsource effectively. Unfortunately, the installation differs from the "development environment" assumed by the book.
As a result, there are MANY small but significant differences that crop up in developing the example applications given in the book. Many of these are simply differences in the way files are named or in the structure of the directory tree, but they are annoying and difficult to track down. it took me several DAYS of work and repeated searches for help on on-line MAPSERVER forums to figure things out and get the first several example applications running. I still have not managed to get about half of the examples up and running.
That said, the book offers a nice introduction to many of the central concepts used in Mapserver. It has a good reference section that allows you to look up Mapserver commands, etc.
Ultimately, I was able to develop the simple web-based applications I was after. This book contributed to that, but only after considerable frustration. Several Mapserver tutorials are available on-line. Some are specifically geared to Windows-based systems. They certainly offer a less tortuous, if sometimes less complete, path to getting Mapserver working on a Windows-based system.
12 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Very good practical guide for mapserver
24 Feb 2006
Format:Paperback
The book is written in a very clear way and goes to the point explaining mapserver thru examples, it should be a reference book for those, that are starting with mapserver, but it lacks a proper cover of raster layers and WCS. Interresting is that the prefered database used, is not PosGIS but MySQL (normally MySQL is pushed aside by PostGIS in spatial databases projects) this was a pleasent surprise, since I normally use MySQL. Conclusion: get the book
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Well written, but deprecated.
1 Aug 2010
Format:Paperback
I've had this book for about a week, and so far my experience has been that not a single example works out of the box with the current version of mapscript.
The worse news, is that most of the documentation on the mapscript website is totally out of date as well.
If revised, then this book would be great, but it isn't just the book.
The are some incongruities between mapscript itself and the API libs in other languages that suggest that the current development environment for mapserver is sufficiently busted, to invite taking a hard look at much more complex map engines.
In a nutshell, I went with mapserver, because it support GDAL, Perl, and appeared to be well documented.
It isn't well documented, the Perl API isn't servicable in the current version, and I haven't tested GDAL yet.
Good Luck
The worse news, is that most of the documentation on the mapscript website is totally out of date as well.
If revised, then this book would be great, but it isn't just the book.
The are some incongruities between mapscript itself and the API libs in other languages that suggest that the current development environment for mapserver is sufficiently busted, to invite taking a hard look at much more complex map engines.
In a nutshell, I went with mapserver, because it support GDAL, Perl, and appeared to be well documented.
It isn't well documented, the Perl API isn't servicable in the current version, and I haven't tested GDAL yet.
Good Luck
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