It is possible to ask GeoServer to render features in a style that does not exist within its own catalog. This ability to do per-request styling is also referred to as external styles.
Note
Per-request styling of map features is part of the OGC WMS standard. Any web mapping software that conforms to the standard will contain a similar capability. As this is a book on GeoServer, we will explore GeoServer's implementation of the WMS standard.
There are three different ways in which an external style can be provided to GeoServer:
The mode in which GeoServer works to apply the styling depends on whether or not the LAYERS
parameter is included in the GetMap
request. When the LAYERS
parameter is not...