Written by:Steve White
Friday, September 01, 2006

Here's the first result:
http://www.online-archaeology.co.uk/GoogleMap/pages/wms_test.htm

Click on the 'Military Roads' button in the top right of the map. To return to the map just click on the 'Map' button.

What does it mean?
I sent Stuart a SHAPEFILE with some data in it of Military Roads. These types of files are used by ESRI for their software. He then put the file on his server. When the layer is active in my map I make a JavaScript call to his MapServer and ask it to send me data from the SHP file for a given area that I send over. I just overlay the images onto Google Maps. The implications are that we'll be able to add more layers over the main Google Map. What Stuart is doing is called a Web Mapping Service (WMS).

What's next?
A flat image is OK for some kinds of data, but what if I want to click on things? In order to do that we need to use a Web Feature Service (WFS). Luckily MapServer can provide both. So the next plan is to try using the same test data with a WFS.

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