= !MapGuide RFC 41 - .NET boilerplatte and samples for building web services (MgServerExtensions) =

This page contains an 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||(Date/Time submitted)||
||Last Modified||Maksim Sestic [[Timestamp]]||
||Author||Maksim Sestic||
||RFC Status||draft||
||Implementation Status||under development)||
||Proposed Milestone||(2.1)||
||Assigned PSC guide(s)||(when determined)||
||'''Voting History'''||(vote date)||
||+1||Bob, Andy, Haris||
||+0||Paul||
||-0||Tom, Bruce||
||-1||Jason (troublemaker)||
 
== Overview ==

Simple .NET wrapper over existing managed MapGuide API. Enables easier access to resources and repositories, also including some additional functionality. Includes samples for building and consuming web services.

== Motivation ==

Present managed wrapper doesn't help much when it comes to accessing MG's resources and repositories - up to the point where developers need to parse XML files manually, since there's no way of managed serialization/deserialization of underlying unmanaged types. Except for that, proposed managed API (dubbed "MgServerExtensions") offers some additional functionaliy not originally found within MG API: tile cache management, creating PDF documents from ready-made templates, samples of exposing and consuming custom web services, etc.

I also need a feedback on usability of proposed API when it comes to .NET developers.

== Proposed Solution ==

This solution doesn't target any specific segment of MG, although it may become one. It's rather both pointer and helper for .NET developers developing custom client/server solutions based on MG (using ASP.NET and/or AJAX.NET). MgServerExtensions may serve as a separate component to MG, similar to MGE's "Web Server Extensions". Installer part still TBD, but this is a lesser problem.

See attached MgServerExtensions API help.

== Implications ==

There are no backwards compatibility issues. 

== Test Plan ==

MapGuide Server: MGE 2008 - passed / MG Open Source - TBD

Server: Windows (IIS, .NET) - passed / Linux (Apache, Mono) - TBD

Client: ASP.NET - passed / PHP - passed / Java - TBD

== Funding/Resources ==

TBD