Running the Examples
You can read all examples from this User's Guide.
All program texts will open in a separate window, and the
bullet will run the example in a third window.
However,
the best way of studying them is putting them in a program editor and
running them from your own WebServer with MapServer and Mapclient installed.
That way you can read the explanation and
at the same time experiment with your own small changes. Please do the
examples in the order they appear here; you won't understand much of the
later pages if you haven't grasped what happens in the preceding ones.
You are advised to use Mozilla 1.3 or up. It has a very good JavaScript
console (under Tools/Web Development), which should be always open when
you are creating MapClient applications.
The Javascript debugger is also quite good,
although event driven programs like MapClient are notoriously difficult
to debug. Finally, future developments, e.g. multi-server
approach and standalone applications, will be done for Mozilla only.
There are lots of security issues involved here that simply cannot be tackled
by Internet Explorer. At the moment however, MapClient is fully IE compatible.
MapClient should be extremely easy to use for basic usage. The shortest
applications only take a few dozen lines, and yet the full
functionality of MapServer
can be accessed from them. It can be used for advanced
windowing applications, but also to create legacy web pages like those
generated by FrontPage or DreamWeaver.
A good working knowledge of JavaScript is required, especially of its object
oriented features. Practical experience with the Document Object Model is
also a must.
The essential JavaScript reference
is "David Flanagan: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, O'Reilly 1998", IMO one
of the best computer books in existence. Just read it through carefully and
then put it next to your computer. The other "Definitive Guides" from O'Reilly
on Apache, CSS, HTTP and Web Security, are also always within my reach. The
essential DOM reference can be found at
..
Finally, everyone should switch to Mozilla and install the sidebars
from
.
They offer complete documentation
for HTML, JavaScript and the DOM. I would be lost without them.