This page contains an change request (RFC) for the MapGuide Open Source project. More MapGuide RFCs can be found on the RFCs page.

Status

RFC Template Version	(1.0)
Submission Date	(Date/Time submitted)
Last Modified	Walt Welton-Lair Timestamp
Author	Many
RFC Status	draft
Implementation Status	pending
Proposed Milestone	1.2
Assigned PSC guide(s)	(when determined)
Voting History	(vote date)
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Overview

This document describes a proposal for adding a cartographic styling engine to MapGuide. The main goal is to be able to handle point, line, and fill styles as sophisticated as AutoCAD as well as being able to represent all symbols described in

​http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/fgdc_gds/geolsymstd/fgdc-geolsym-allnoplates.pdf

We are aware that this is a high standard we want to live up to and it is currently beyond our ability to fully test against this standard. At this point though we still believe that we can create all symbols with the proposed solution represented by these two major requirements. Note: the FGDC standard goes beyond line styles, fill styles, and point styles – we are ignoring anything else in that document.

Motivation

Most GIS applications are in need of very sophisticated symbolization. In many countries published maps must adhere to high standards that are often even written into law. This RFC introduces a high quality symbolization engine for MapGuide.

The new engine will also support using point symbols as labels. This addresses a long standing MapGuide request for being able to create maps that use highway symbolization as part of labeling.

Proposed Solution

This is a more detailed description of the actual changes desired. The contents of this section will vary based on the target of the RFC, be it a technical change, website change, or process change. For example, for a technical change, items such as files, XML schema changes, and API chances would be identified. For a process change, the new process would be laid out in detail. For a website change, the files affected would be listed.

Implications

This section allows discussion of the repercussions of the change, such as whether there will be any breakage in backwards compatibility, if documentation will need to be updated, etc.

Test Plan

How the proposed change will be tested, if applicable. New unit tests should be detailed here???

Funding/Resources

This section will confirm that the proposed feature has enough support to proceed. This would typically mean that the entity making the changes would put forward the RFC, but a non-developer could act as an RFC author if they are sure they have the funding to cover the change.