MapServer Map Editor

In Studio click on the Map Source icon for the Map Source whose .map file you wish to edit and select the Map Editor tab.

In Studio, Layer names should only contain letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens and underscores.

In MapServer, it is recommended that the name not contain spaces, special characters, or begin with a number (which could cause problems through interfaces such as OGC services)

From version 5.4 you will be able to access the Map Editor by clicking the Edit button for an individual layer e.g.

There are three panes for the editor the Editing pane, Information pane and Help pane.

Editing pane

This is the actual code Editing pane and shows the code for the map file. Any errors are underlined by a red squiggle whereas warnings are underlined with a blue squiggle. Any changes that you make can be seen immediately using the Map Viewer but will update the live configuration file until you click Save.

Editing Values

If you select an entry in the Editing pane it will be

highlighted in yellow

. If it is also underlined then you will be able to right click on the entry and select Edit. A pop-up dialog will appear which will allow you to edit it’s values. Differnt types of dialog will be displayed depending upon the type of value you are editing. Here are some examples:

On / Off or True / False	Colour	Values	Selection

You can also change them by either typing directly over them in the Editing pane.

Finding Values

If you wish to find a specific word in the .map file you may use Ctrl F to display a Find & Replace dialog.

Using the Toolbar

There is a Toolbar at the top of the Editing pane for common functions:

Reload map - from disk
Save map - to disk
Undo - the last action
Redo - the last action
Cut - the selected data
Copy - the selected data to the clipboard
Paste - from the clipboard into the cursor position
Insert a snippet in the map file - please see the topic Inserting Snippets for details.
Comment out the selection - comments out the selected lines in the .map file
Uncomment out the selection - reinstates the selected, previously commented lines in the .map file
Format the map file - Formats all the entries in the .map file e.g. indents according to hierarchy

Information pane

This is underneath the Editing pane and has three tabs. If you double click on an entry the Editing pane will be positioned to that line and it will be highlighted.

Layers

Selecting this tab will display the list of Layers in your selected map file. The tab will also display a total count of the number of layers.

Errors

Selecting this tab will display the list of Errors in your map file together with the relevant line number in the Map Editor for you to fix the error. The tab will also display a total count of the number of errors.

Warnings

Selecting this tab will display the list of Warnings in your map file together with the relevant line number in the Map Editor. The tab will also display a total count of the number of warnings.

Help pane

When you click on an entry in the Editing pane a description will appear in this pane for the highlighted entry. If the line contains an error or warning, then that will be shown as well.

You may also wish to refer to the topic Creating your MapServer .map file.