[Chameleon] Chameleon the answer?

[Eric.Keefauver at altarum.org]

Hello Chameleon users,

I have a question regarding the Chameleon/MapServer relationship and a
project that I have been tasked to look into. I have been a ArcIMS
user/developer and have been interested in the open source realm of mapping
tools and as such I am new to all of this. I recently read an article by,
and had an e-mail conversation with, Tyler Mitchell, author of "Web Mapping
Illustrated", about Chameleon and it's ease of use and deployment. I am
curious to know if it is possible to do the following using Chameleon:

Set up a mapping site using the Chameleon interface to display geo-spatial
data dynamically based on what the user selects, for example, from drop
down menus. Say I wanted to display the dollar amount subsidy for farms in
the state by county but I want the user be able to select which data-year
they want to see and for serious kicks: maybe have the ability to normalize
the data ($subsidy/1000acres or $subsidy/200acres) from another drop-down
or input form ???????? I would guess this would be logic behind the scenes
tied to the database; manipulating the data and sending it back to
Chameleon for display. Assuming this is correct and do-able, then this
leads me to another important question: Being an ArcIMS user, working with
static .axl files that dictate how specific data are displayed, I am
curious how a mapfile within Mapserver is any different; how it can be
"altered" on-the-fly (based on user defined inputs like I described above)
and served to Chameleon for visualization (the whole dynamic display
thing)???? I am showing my "newbie-ness" to it all now! - -- -- -- Is this
possible within the Chameleon/Mapserver realm?

If all of this is possible, what would I need working behind the scenes to
pull this off other than Chameleon/Mapserver? I apologize if there is a
straight-forward answer to all of this that I am missing but I am finding
all of this rather daunting and am trying to tackle this question/task one
small step at a time.

Currently, I have Chameleon that is configured with MS4W and I am "toying"
with widgets and my own data. I have a sneaky suspicion that I will not be
able to use this configuration to accomplish the task I mentioned above.

Thank you for your assistance

Regards,

Eric

Eric Keefauver
GIS Analyst
Altarum Institute
3520 Green Court, Suite 300
Ann Arbor, MI 48105

Phone: 734-302-4724
Fax: 734-302-4992
eric.keefauver at altarum.org
http://www.altarum.org