Creating your MapServer .MAP file

In MapServer the .MAP file is a workspace or project of layers that will be available. This is the base that iShare then performs queries against via the MapSource (XML) file.

This is a brief overview of how to create a .map file and also to test it to ensure that it is correctly configured.

The .MAP file is a text file that describes a variety of items or objects. Each object has a keyword to open it and a corresponding END to close it.

Comments are used with a #.

Object	Description	Mandatory
MAP	This is the all encompassing object.	Yes
QUERYMAP	This is required if you wish to perform a Zoom to Polygon for My Area.	Yes
OUTPUTFORMAT	Defines the output image type. This is optional UNLESS you are using ANTIALIASING / TRANSPARENCY – also for image quality we normally suggest this is implemented. It will increase the size of the output image but there is a trade off between quality and size. More information can be found at the MapServer website: http://www.mapserver.org/mapfile/outputformat.html.	No
WEB	Defines output paths required by iShare.	Yes
LAYER	Most common object iShare use defining what data to show.	Yes
LAYER -> CLASS	Allow classifications against datasets.	Yes
LAYER -> CLASS -> STYLE	Define styles for features.	No
LAYER -> CLASS -> LABEL	The Label class can allow for multiple columns to form an Expression for the label.	No
LAYER -> CLASS -> EXPRESSION	If you wish to use more complicated styles for say OS MasterMap layers then you can use the following which will colour according to the value of a field name using EXPRESSION.	No
LAYER -> FILTER	The Filter class allows you to split out data from your source map files.	No

From version 5.2.0 you can edit your .map file directly from within Studio using the Map Editor .

For details of on how to configure your MapServer .MAP file please refer to the MapServer Mapfile documentation.