from mapscript import mapObj,layerObj wkt = '''PROJCS["NAD_1983_HARN_StatePlane_Delaware_FIPS_0700",GEOGCS["GCS_North_American_1983_HARN",DATUM["NAD83_High_Accuracy_Regional_Network",SPHEROID["GRS_1980",6378137,298.257222101]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],UNIT["Degree",0.017453292519943295]],PROJECTION["Transverse_Mercator"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",200000],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",-75.41666666666667],PARAMETER["Scale_Factor",0.999995],PARAMETER["Latitude_Of_Origin",38],UNIT["Meter",1],AUTHORITY["EPSG","102257"]]''' m = mapObj('') m.setWKTProjection(wkt) lyr = layerObj(m) lyr.setWKTProjection(wkt)