[IDV #VOD-576406]: WMS support

Hi Jim-

> Full Name: Jim George
> Email Address: address@hidden
> Organization: Colorado State University - CHILL Radar
> Package Version: 2.8 build date:2010-01-15 20:48 UTC
> Operating System: Windows XP
> Hardware: Java: home: C:\Program Files\IDV_2.8\jre version: 1.6.0_17 
> j3d:1.5.2 fcs (build4)
> Description of problem: I was trying to get our wms server to display within 
> IDV. First, I tried using the Data Choosers->General->URLs window to enter 
> the following URL:
> 
> http://wms.chill.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mapserv?map=/var/www/html/maps/test.map&SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.1.1&REQUEST=GetCapabilities
> 
> IDV popped up a window saying it doesn't recognize the format, please choose 
> one, so I picked "WMS Image" from the list, it gave me a bunch of Java 
> "constructor not found" messages.

WMS capabilities URLs should be in the Catalog Chooser.  That chooser knows how 
to interpret the response.  Since it's a capabilities XML file that is 
returned, I would expect the error when trying to open it as a WMS Image.

> So I cheated, and went to Catalogs, picked a known working WMS server, but 
> manually edited the URL to the one above. This time, IDV was happy, and 
> showed me a list of layers available. However, I only seem to be able to show 
> one layer at a time, meaning if I select several layers and click "Add 
> Source", the display only shows the last one I selected. Also, even though 
> the server is set up to output 24-bit PNGs with transparency, IDV seems to 
> request 8-bit PNG, which omits the transparency. This means I can't stack 
> multiple layers within the map, since the background pixels of the top-most 
> layer obscure everything else.

If you check the "Merge Layers" checkbox, it will ask for all the layers.  I 
was able to create an image of radar reflectivity, urban areas and shaded 
relief using that option.

> Finally, some of the layers in my map have a limited bounding box. It seems 
> like IDV pops up an error box if I enable one of those layers, but zoom such 
> that the layer is completely outside the display area. Let me know if I can 
> reconfigure my WMS server to make it more friendly to IDV. The server used is 
> UMN's 'mapserv'.

Is it more that you are zoomed in so far that you are going through the earth?  
In that case, you
need to reset the projection to better cover the area of view.  You can use the 
Projections->Use Displayed Area menu to adjust to the displayed area.

Don Murray

Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: VOD-576406
Department: Support IDV
Priority: Normal
Status: Open