= FDO RFC 27 - Add FDO Toolbox to the main FDO project =

This page contains a request for comments document (RFC) for the FDO Open Source project.  
More FDO RFCs can be found on the [wiki:FDORfcs RFCs] page.

== Status == 
 
||RFC Template Version||1.0|| 
||Submission Date||October 17, 2008||
||Last Modified||Jason Birch - Nov 05, 2008||
||Author||Jackie Ng||
||RFC Status||Withdrawn||
||Implementation Status||pending||
||Proposed Milestone||3.4.0.0||
||Assigned PSC guide(s)||Jason Birch||
||'''Voting History'''||||
||+1||Greg, Haris, Jason, Frank, Orest||
||+0||||
||-0||||
||-1||||
 
== Overview ==

This proposal is to make the [http://fdotoolbox.googlecode.com FDO Toolbox] project an official part of the FDO Project, using the FDO SVN repository, issue tracker and download site.

== Motivation ==

FDO Toolbox is a .net application to create and administer spatial data. It is written in C# and uses the FDO API. FDO Toolbox is being actively developed/maintained by Jackie Ng and is currently hosted on google code (http://fdotoolbox.googlecode.com)

Having FDO Toolbox as part of the main FDO project will have the following benefits.

 * Greater publicity for all affected parties involved
 * Provides a useful reference implementation to using the FDO API in .net
 * Ability to possiblity leverage the OSGeo project sponsorship mechanism to fund large improvements if necessary
 * Provide a "well-known" home for FDO Toolbox, that will hopefully encourage others to contribute to its development (and indirectly, FDO as well)

== Proposed Solution ==

 * Migrate the FDO Toolbox repository from Google Code to FDO SVN
 * Set up a new component in FDO Trac for FDO Toolbox
 * Port wiki documentation from Google Code to FDO Trac wiki
 * Migrate existing tickets in Google Code to FDO Trac
 * Give Jackie commit access to the proposed subdirectory of the FDO SVN where FDO Toolbox will be migrated to
 * Give Jackie access to download.osgeo.org so that he can make new releases

The initial proposal is to import the subfolders of this SVN repository.

http://fdotoolbox.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/

Into the following location

http://svn.osgeo.org/fdo/trunk/Tools/FDOToolbox

 * Extension module sub-projects will be omitted from the migrated repository, and remain on Google Code.
 * The Google Code project site will be re-purposed for the development of FDO Toolbox extension modules.
 * Update the FDO/OSGeo site to reflect the status of the FDO Toolbox application as an official part of the FDO project

With regards to extension modules, see implications for more information.

== Implications ==

This will require that Jackie sign a contributor agreement, and certify that all of the work is owned by him ([http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Contributor_Agreements_Received already done])

The FDO Toolbox source tree currently references FDO binaries under its Thirdparty\FDO subdirectory (the current binary release used is 3.3.1). If we want FDO Toolbox to be somewhat in sync with the FDO project, some re-configuration will be required so that it can reference FDO binaries built from the FDO source tree. Alternatively, we can retain the existing source tree structure and simply have the user drop the compiled FDO binaries into this directory, and have this stated in the build instructions.

It would be desirable for someone to do a provenance review on the code. 

This application uses .net Framework 2.0. It has not been tested under Mono, and it is assumed that the application won't (may never) run or build on Mono as the managed FDO wrappers are mixed-mode assemblies that are not (won't ever be) supported in Mono. 

It is intended that FDO Toolbox remain as a separate application from FDO, with its own download packages and release cycles. 

FDO Toolbox also has the concept of extension modules. For example, there is currently an experimental extension module that allows FDO Toolbox integration with MapGuide Open Source. 

While within the scope of the original FDO Toolbox project, this is beyond the scope of the main FDO project. As a result, it is proposed that main development of FDO Toolbox be on the FDO SVN, and that the current Google Code site be re-purposed for the development of extension modules for FDO Toolbox.

== Test Plan ==

This is a code import. No test plan is required.

== Funding/Resources ==

Jackie Ng, Jason Birch (where possible)