Framework for Mapserver GIS APP

I'm trying to display on the web (read as create a GIS Web app) topo data layers stored in a POSTGIS/POSTGRES spatial database using mapserver. My problem is, although i happened to come across different gis frameworks that I could use, my lack of experience on using mapserver in the first place makes me indecisive of which framework to use. So what is the easiest framework out there to use? I'm using a MS4W pre-packaged mapserver binaries, and i've installed almost all of the additional packages (frameworks开发者_高级运维) from their site.

Thanks for the help!:) I

• Mapfish (I think python and C based and ideal with mapserver)
• GeoServer (java based)
• Featureserver (RESTful, light and effective)

Other interesting links:

• GEOEXT provides an excellent extension for openlayers
• Boston GIS provides excellent tutorials so does Paul Ramsey and Chris Schmidt
• The mother GIS - Free Open Source Software OSGEO
• FreeGIS - Continually updated list of free and related GIS software

I've used Geoserver and Feature server on multiple occasions, and never got deep into mapserver. I know that Mapserver has a big community and they love helping out, check them out on IRC and their mailing list.

We have developed an interface called OWGIS for displaying GIS data.

Website: http://www.owgis.org

Description: The OWGIS (Open WebGIS) is an OpenSource Java Servlets web application that creates WebGIS sites by automatically writing HTML and JavaScript code. The WebGIS sites are configured by XML files that define which layers will be displayed on the maps as well as the texts to be used on the interface. OWGIS's most notable features include animations, veritcal profiles and vertical transects, various color palettes, dynamic maps, downloadable data, and multilingual interfaces. All these features are created automatically without any additional web programming.

Since you already got MS4W installed. The easiest way to publish a map service from Postgres is from MapServer which is component of the ms4w.

To start publish wms from MapServer,

1) Read thru the documentation of Mapfile which is the service definition file of how the WMS configured. 2) Read the ogr postgis connection documentation. You would be able to write the database connection follow the instruction pretty easily. 3) Once you got the valid Mapfile with correct postgis connection string info, you are able to publish the WMS for your topos.

MapServer is very powerful and easy to use. The file based service provide a lot of flexibility which is critical when you need publish something dynamically. GeoServer is very popular too and has a gui which is extremely easy to use, by several click and your services are ready to go. Other solutions are also available as well. But consider the community user base and tech support. I would recommend using MapServer or Geoserver for your case. We had our Mapserver holding USGS topo services as well, which is very stable,flexible and salable so just some FYI.

Hope it is helpful.