I'm using Mapserver + tilecache + openlayers for my web map application.
I'm using Mapserver as a WMS Server.
Now, I want to perform an attribute search, i.e. type something and the application searches for the text in the database (which is postgresql + postgis). The result should be shown in a table and also on the map with markers.
I have created a control for that, but I'm not sure how to perform the search and retrieve the results.
The solutions I'm currently thinking on:
1. Use GetFeatureInfo on Tilecache (although I'm not sure whether tilecache supports it)
2. Use GetFeatureInfo on Mapserver WMS
3. Write a Python application that performs the query and passes the answers to OpenLayers and I make the required adjustments to show it how I want.
Any idea will be greatly appreciated.