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This is the GeoMOOSE FAQ. Feel free to suggest addtions on the email list.
The pink tiles are displayed by OpenLayers since invalid data is provided to OpenLayers. This is rarely if ever a GeoMOOSE error. It is almost always a mapfile error. There are several ways to troubleshoot this. One is to directly load the pink image tile (firefox: Tools–>Page Info–>Media–>copy address and put into new tab or use firebug or other debugging tools) a mapfile error is often returned by MapServer (if your browser returns mapserv.exe, save it and open it in a text editor, it is really an error message written in xml that your browser is misinterpreting.). This is typically a typo, syntax error, wrong path to the data, or something else in the mapfile. You will need to troubleshoot your mapfile until it works. If you want to remove GeoMOOSE from the troubleshooting equation, you can use shp2img or other excellent troubleshooting tools in MapServer.
If you are working with a point or line layer, you will need to set some appropriate TOLERANCE in the mapfile.
LAYER
NAME "control"
DATA './data/control'
STATUS ON
TYPE point
TOLERANCE 50
TOLERANCEUNITS FEET
See also several past email list threads and others. See also the MapServer documentation.
GeoMOOSE users come from all over the world and speak many languages. One aspect that many of these users have in common is that they are system implementers (GIS Professionals), not professional web developers. Many of these users like that GeoMOOSE delivers a complete application. More advanced users may also like the rich, highly customizable API and web-services architecture. At least a handful of GeoMOOSE users are making use of the distributed data maintenance tasks, in fact, much of GeoMOOSE’s flexibility with respect to adding, managing and maintaining data behind the scenes, as well as it service integration aspects comes from the historical origins in exactly this use case. In short, GeoMOOSE users are mostly GIS Professionals looking for a complete application.
Changing to GeoMOOSE 2.6 breaks the <layer name=”all”/> usage in mapbook.xml and gives me this error:
<ServiceException code="LayerNotDefined">
msWMSLoadGetMapParams(): WMS server error. Invalid layer(s) given in the LAYERS parameter.
</ServiceException>
This is due to changing the default type to WMS rather than MapServer. The same thing can still be achieved, the .map files just need a little revision. This is covered some in this thread and referenced ticket. For the record, here is what bobb wrote: Johan, I don’t think that “layers=all” is a valid WMS call parameter . . . A work around is mentioned in here related to GROUPS in the mapfile. http://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/ticket/1603 -bobb
This is not well documented. If you know IIS7, we are looking for documentaiton help on this. For now, the best option is this email thread.
Not all material is directly obvious. Try searching, it works really well and helps prevent the website from getting cluttered by putting everything at the front top.
The current release is always available at geomoose.org. Some older versions have documentation available at http://geomoose.org/M(ajor).m(inor)/. For instance, version 2.4 (while supported) is available at geomoose.org/2.4/. Trunk documenation is available at geomoose.org/trunk/.
GeoMOOSE has many files and a good handful of folders. Here is a guide to understand it, GeoMOOSE Structure
Technically, almost nothing; a webserver and javascript supporting client webbrowsers. More practically, the dependencies are MapServer, PHP, OpenLayers and DoJo ( both conveniently bundled), and some other supporting libraries. You can see a little more detail here Installation UNIX
Read the website, tutorials, and documentation, install the demo and look at how it works, try using it, read the source code, search the email list., post to the email list, take a training class, attend a conference with GeoMOOSE presentations, talk to an existing GeoMOOSE user, hire Commercial Support, etc. There are many options, probably most GeoMOOSE users become familiar with the software by installing MS4W and the MS4W GeoMOOSE add-on.
See Mailing Lists
Hopefully it is easy, however, that assumes a certain background of the user, namely, it is from the perspective of a GIS technician or Analyst. If you don’t know what a projection is, it will probably be somewhat difficult. If you have no knowledge of html, MapServer, xml or similar technologies, it will be slightly harder but you should be able to make your way through by careful examination and copying of the demo (and probably some help from the email list).
Sometime you may get identify or other display results like 2.1000000000000e-02. Perhaps you want it displayed like a ‘normal’ number instead of scientific notation. Here are some past threads that address that 2009, 2010, and 2012.
For example, to change the demo from Real (with 2 decimal places) to 1 decimal place, in your HTML file (i.e: /maps/demo/parcels/templates/identify_taxlot.html) change the following:
...
<tr>
<td><b>Acres:</b></td>
<td>[ACRES_POLY]</td>
</tr>
...
to:
...
<tr>
<td><b>Acres:</b></td>
<td>[item name=ACRES_POLY precision=1]</td>
</tr>
...
The GeoMOOSE 2.4 Feature Editor does work, however, there are a lot of configurations to get exactly correct or it doesn’t work. Slight errors can lead to PostGIS or MapServer errors which may not be immediately transparent. Different spatial reference systems (SRID) is a common error. If you recently went through making the feature editor work for you, consider writing it up on the wiki or suggesting changes to the existing documentation. The email list has some (Feature editor, error missing required field ) threads worth reading too, You can also search the mailing list archive or post to the list.
First make sure that there is not an existing ticket for that problem. Second, search the email list to see if it has come up before and if it has a resolution or work around. Make sure that you are using the most recent version of the software if it might have already been fixed. Email the list clearly explaining the problem in specific detail. Ideally, you can boil it down to a very simple small self contained example that other can easily replicate or possibly demostrate it on a publically accessible website like the demo. Once you have confirmed that it is a bug, open a ticket. Opening a ticket requires logging in with your OSGeo userid, you can sign up for an OSGeo userid if you don’t already have one. See also, the detailed How to Test, Report, and Ticket (in detail)
Bring up a discussion on the email list. If it is very popular and feasible then an effort can be made to raise funds or otherwise develop the enhancement. Requested enhancements can also be tracked in the ticket system. See also, the detailed How to Test, Report, and Ticket (in detail)
Your support means the the GeoMOOSE project can keep improving and keeping up with the changes in the webmapping sphere. Your support is important and appreciated. Please consider the great value you receive from GeoMOOSE and try to contribute or become a sponsor. Funding enhacements that benefit your project is one of the main ways that the project improves.
Review Contributing to GeoMOOSE for specifics. Then either start a discussion on the email list or open a ticket and attach a patch. Please make your contribution with the same GeoMOOSE License included.
Participate in the email list and community, file articulate tickets, attach patches to tickets that apply cleanly, demostrate an understanding of GeoMOOSE. Once this has gone on for a while, someone will get tired of reviewing and applying your patches and make a motion to extend you commit access. Feel free to nudge if needed.
There are many ways to contribute to the GeoMOOSE project. Here are some of the ways: contributing code, funding development or enhancements, assisting other users, promoting GeoMOOSE to similar users, writing documentation, or presenting GeoMOOSE at a conference. Improving the project will help your project. If you do a bunch of customization you might have to redo that when the next version comes out. If you contribute your work in such a way that it becomes incorporated into the project, then it will be there waiting for you in the next version along with other additional and improved functionality that you will want.
Technically it is GeoMOOSE. Some people prefer the look of GeoMoose and it is certainly easier to type. You can use either and be ‘correct’.
See GeoMOOSE License