[Chameleon] Chameleon the answer?

[Paul Spencer]

Eric,

Chameleon is a pretty flexible framework for deploying mapserver- 
based applications.  The good news is that everything you want to do  
is possible and has been done by various folks.  The bad news is  
there isn't really a formula for what you want.  It is likely you  
will need to get your hands dirty and develop some new widgets that  
do what you want.  This involves knowing something about PHP,  
Chameleon architecture, and quite a bit about how to use PHP  
mapscript to dynamically create and modify a map file on-the-fly.

The steps to accomplish what you want are:

1. create a widget that displays the necessary control(s) to the  
user, for instance select boxes that allow them to choose the data/ 
year/aggregation parameters

2. when the user clicks 'go' in your widget, create a new layer or  
modify an existing layer dynamically to make the necessary changes

3. save the map state in the session (using the Chameleon framework,  
this is done automagically for you)

Obviously there's a lot that goes into step 1 and 2.

Your ms4w configuration is perfect for doing all this, there really  
isn't a better way to set it up.

Cheers

Paul

On 1-Jun-06, at 3:34 PM, Eric.Keefauver at altarum.org wrote:

>
>
> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chameleon mailing list
> Chameleon at lists.maptools.org
> http://lists.maptools.org/mailman/listinfo/chameleon

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|Paul Spencer                           pspencer at dmsolutions.ca   |
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|Applications & Software Development                              |
|DM Solutions Group Inc                 http://www.dmsolutions.ca/|
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