Summary
MapServer is an Open Source development environment for building spatially-enabled internet applications. MapServer is not a full-featured GIS system, nor does it aspire to be. Instead, MapServer excels at rendering spatial data (maps, images, and vector data) for the web.

Beyond browsing GIS data, MapServer allows you create "geographic image maps", that is, maps that can ... direct users to content. For example, the Minnesota DNR Recreation Compass provides users with more than 10,000 web pages, reports and maps via a single application. The same application serves as a "map engine" for other portions of the site, providing spatial context where needed.

MapServer was originally developed by the University of Minnesota (UMN) ForNet project in cooperation with NASA, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR). Later it was hosted by the TerraSIP project, a NASA sponsored project between the UMN and a consortium of land management interests.

MapServer is now a project of OSGeo, and is maintained by a growing number of developers (nearing 20) from around the world. It is supported by a diverse group of organizations that fund enhancements and maintenance, and administered within OSGeo by the MapServer Project Steering Committee made up of developers and other contributors.

Features:

-Advanced cartographic output
-Scale dependent feature drawing and application execution
-Feature labeling including label collision mediation
-Fully customizable, template driven output
-TrueType fonts
-Map element automation (scalebar, reference map, and legend)
-Thematic mapping using logical- or regular expression-based classes
-Support for popular scripting and development environments
-PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, Java, and C#
-Cross-platform support
-Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, and more
-A multitude of raster and vector data formats
-TIFF/GeoTIFF, EPPL7, and many others via GDAL
-ESRI shapfiles, PostGIS, ESRI ArcSDE, Oracle Spatial, MySQL and many others via OGR
-Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web specifications
-WMS (client/server), non-transactional WFS (client/server), WMC, WCS, Filter Encoding, SLD, GML, SOS
-Map projection support
-On-the-fly map projection with 1000s of projections through the Proj.4 library


(Summary adapted from the University of Minnesota.)

Service Citation

Title: MapServer - A Tool For Building Geo-Spatially Enabled Internet Applications Provider: Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota Edition: 5.2 URL: http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu

Service Keywords

DATA ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION >GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS >WEB-BASED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS DATA ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION >GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS >DESKTOP GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Science Keywords

LAND SURFACE >GEOMORPHOLOGY >COASTAL LANDFORMS/PROCESSES LAND SURFACE >GEOMORPHOLOGY >EOLIAN LANDFORMS/PROCESSES LAND SURFACE >GEOMORPHOLOGY >FLUVIAL LANDFORMS/PROCESSES LAND SURFACE >GEOMORPHOLOGY >GLACIAL LANDFORMS/PROCESSES LAND SURFACE >GEOMORPHOLOGY >KARST LANDFORMS/PROCESSES LAND SURFACE >LAND USE/LAND COVER >LAND COVER LAND SURFACE >LANDSCAPE >LANDSCAPE PATTERNS LAND SURFACE >LANDSCAPE >RECLAMATION/REVEGETATION/RESTORATION LAND SURFACE >LANDSCAPE >REFORESTATION LAND SURFACE >TOPOGRAPHY >CONTOURS LAND SURFACE >TOPOGRAPHY >LANDFORMS LAND SURFACE >TOPOGRAPHY >TOPOGRAPHICAL RELIEF LAND SURFACE >TOPOGRAPHY >SURFACE ROUGHNESS LAND SURFACE >TOPOGRAPHY >TERRAIN ELEVATION LAND SURFACE >TOPOGRAPHY >TOPOGRAPHIC EFFECTS TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE >SURFACE WATER >LAKES TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE >SURFACE WATER >RIVERS/STREAMS HUMAN DIMENSIONS >BOUNDARIES >BOUNDARY SURVEYS HUMAN DIMENSIONS >INFRASTRUCTURE >BUILDINGS HUMAN DIMENSIONS >INFRASTRUCTURE >COMMUNICATIONS HUMAN DIMENSIONS >INFRASTRUCTURE >CULTURAL FEATURES HUMAN DIMENSIONS >INFRASTRUCTURE >ELECTRICITY HUMAN DIMENSIONS >INFRASTRUCTURE >PIPELINES HUMAN DIMENSIONS >INFRASTRUCTURE >TRANSPORTATION HUMAN DIMENSIONS >LAND USE/LAND COVER BIOSPHERE >VEGETATION >VEGETATION COVER BIOSPHERE >TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS >WETLANDS BIOSPHERE >AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS >WETLANDS

ISO Topic Category

BIOTA INLAND WATERS BOUNDARIES STRUCTURE UTILITIES/COMMUNICATIONS SOCIETY TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENT IMAGERY/BASE MAPS/EARTH COVER PLANNING CADASTRE GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION ELEVATION

Project

ESIP >Earth Science Information Partners Program OGC/WFS >Open Geospatial Consortium/Web Feature Server OGC/WMS >Open Geospatial Consortium/Web Map Service

Use Constraints
The following is the MapServer License Agreement:
LICENSE

Copyright 1996-1999 Regents of the University of Minnesota.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without
... restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following
conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies of this Software or works derived from
this Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS
OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR
OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Ancillary Keywords

GIS Geographic Information Systems Remote Sensing Internet WWW Geospatial

Service Provider

UMN/DFR/TERRASIP > TerraSIP, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota Service Organization URL: http://terrasip.gis.umn.edu/ Service Provider Personnel Name: THOMAS E. BURK Phone: 612-624-6741 Fax: 612-625-5212 Email: tburk at umn.edu Contact Address: Department of Forest Resources University of Minnesota 115 Green Hall 1530 North Cleveland Avenue City: Saint Paul Province or State: Minnesota Postal Code: 55108 Country: USA

Distribution Media

Distribution_Media: FTP Distribution_Size: 550KB Distribution_Format: C source code Fees: Free

Personnel

JAMIE L. SMEDSMO Role: SERF AUTHOR Phone: 612-624-8172 Fax: 612-625-5212 Email: jsmedsmo at gis.umn.edu Contact Address: University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources 1530 N. Cleveland Avenue 115 Green Hall City: ST. PAUL Province or State: MN Postal Code: 55108 Country: USA

Related URL

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE Description: Mapserver homepage. Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE Description: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation has been created to support and build the highest-quality open source geospatial software. The foundation's goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led projects. This website serves as a portal for users and developers to share their ideas and contribute to project development. As the Open Source Geospatial Foundation grows and changes, so will this website. Link: GET SERVICE > GET SOFTWARE PACKAGE Description: Download Mapserver. Link: GET SERVICE > GET SOFTWARE PACKAGE Description: FreeType 1.2: TrueType font engine. Link: GET SERVICE > GET SOFTWARE PACKAGE Description: libTIFF: TIFF/GeoTIFF support. Please note that not all aspects of the GeoTIFF spec are supported so libGeoTIFF is not,required. Link: GET SERVICE > GET SOFTWARE PACKAGE Description: libJPEG from the International JPEG Group. Link: GET SERVICE > GET SOFTWARE PACKAGE Description: gd: a graphics library for fast image creation. Version 1.2 with GIF support is included in the MapServer source distribution.

Creation and Review Dates

SERF Creation Date: SERF Last Revision Date: 2008-07-22

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