Announcements
Sample image from MNDNR "recreation compass"

Welcome to the home of MapServer. MapServer is an OpenSource development environment for constructing spatially enabled Internet-web applications. The software builds upon other popular OpenSource or freeware systems including Shapelib, FreeType, Proj.4, GDAL/OGR. MapServer will run where most commercial systems won't or can't, on Linux/Apache platforms. MapServer is known to compile on most versions of UNIX/Linux, Microsoft Windows and even MacOS.

The basic MapServer CGI application provides a significant number of "out-of-the-box" features. Here's a sampling:

MapServer supports several Open Geospatial Consortium web specifications: WMS (client/server), non-transactional WFS (client/server), WCS (server only), WMC, SLD, GML and Filter Encoding.

The MapServer system includes MapScript that allows popular scripting languages such as PHP, Perl, Python, and Java to access the MapServer C API. MapScript provides a rich environment for developing applications that integrate disparate data. If your data have a spatial component, and you can get to the data via your favorite scripting environment, then you can map it with MapScript. For example, using Perl's DBI module it is possible to integrate data from just about any database vendor (e.g. Oracle, Sybase, MySQL) with traditional GIS data in a single map graphic or web page.

MapServer is not a full-featured GIS system, nor does it aspire to be. However, MapServer does provide the core functionality to support a wide variety of web applications. Beyond browsing GIS data, MapServer allows you create "geographic image maps", that is, maps that can direct users to content. For example, the Minnesota DNR " Recreation Compass" web site provides users access to more than 10,000 web pages, reports and maps via a single application. The same MapServer application serves as a "map engine" for other portions of the site, providing spatial context were needed.

MapServer was originally developed at the University of Minnesota (UMN) through the NASA-sponsored ForNet project, a cooperative effort with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Continued support has been provided through the NASA TerraSIP project, involving UMN and a consortium of land management interests. The software is grown and maintained by an increasing number of developers (nearing 20) from around the world and is supported by a diverse group of organizations funding enhancements.