Hi my name is Robert. I am an intern at Linfiniti Consulting. I am having a great time at the company, exploring different Open Source GIS technologies. I would like to take a moment to discuss one of the projects i have been working on. I created a simple mapserver project using a mapfile that I exported from qgis. I used data that covers Mbizana municipality. MapServer is an open source development environment for building spatially-enabled internet applications. The following is a step-by-step explanation of how I did it:
1.Install a maperver export plugin on qgis (if not installed)
Click Plugins => Manage plugins
This will take you to the Qgis plugin manager window
Click on the checkbox next to Mapserver Export(Version 0.4.3)
Then click OK
2.Add some layers to your qgis
I added two layers (roads layer and mbizana_munic layer) using the data of Mbizana municipality
3.Exporting mapfile
I first saved my qgis project in /home/robert/mapserver
Then you click Plugins => Mapserver export => Mapserver export (will open the mapserver export window)
Click the “save as” and give the name to the mapfile.
I saved mine as mbizana.map in the mapserver folder (/home/robert/mapserver/).
Then click OK.
5.Edit the mapfile
In the mapfile just comment the lines that point to the symbology file and font file, to look like this:
#SYMBOLSET “./symbols/symbols.sym”
#FONTSET “./fonts/fonts.list”
6.Test your mapserver with your mapfile
I put this /localhost/cgi-bin/mapserv?map=/home/robert/mapserver/mbizana.map&mode=map
Now i can access the mapserver using Openlayers. Happy mapping !!!!!!!!!!!!
