= !MapGuide RFC 105 - Enhance feature service !GetCapabilities API =

This page contains a change request (RFC) for the !MapGuide Open Source project.  
More !MapGuide RFCs can be found on the [wiki:MapGuideRfcs RFCs] page.


== Status == 
 
||RFC Template Version||(1.0)|| 
||Submission Date||July 20, 2010||
||Last Modified||Bruce Dechant July 20, 2010||
||Author||Bruce Dechant||
||RFC Status||draft||
||Implementation Status||incomplete||
||Proposed Milestone||2.3||
||Assigned PSC guide(s)||Bruce Dechant||
||'''Voting History'''||||
||+1||||
||+0||||
||-0||||
||-1||||
||Abstained||||
 
== Overview ==

This RFC proposes to update the feature service !GetCapabilites() API by adding an additional connection string parameter.

== Motivation ==

The existing Feature service !GetCapabilties() API works correctly for most providers, but fails to return the true capabilities of the server connected to by a WFS/WMS provider because there is no way to specify the connection string containing the server.

== Proposed Solution ==

 * The new connection string parameter will be added to the !GetCapabilities() API. This NEW parameter will cause the API to behave exactly as before if it is an empty string.

Existing API:
{{{
    MgByteReader* GetCapabilities(CREFSTRING providerName);
}}} 

Proposed API:
{{{
    MgByteReader* GetCapabilities(CREFSTRING providerName, CREFSTRING connectionString);
}}} 

== Implications ==

This change will break existing API compatibility if we replace the existing API with the proposed NEW API.

Note: We could add the NEW API without changing the existing API. My concern with this approach is that it could cause confusion on which one to use and when.
 
== Test Plan ==

!Build/Run on !Windows/Linux.

== !Funding/Resources ==

Supplied by Autodesk.