= !MapGuide RFC 174 - Remove GD Renderer =

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||13 Jun 2019||
||Last Modified||17 Jun 2019||
||Author||Jackie Ng||
||RFC Status||implemented||
||Implementation Status||complete||
||Proposed Milestone||4.0||
||Assigned PSC guide(s)||(when determined)||
||'''Voting History'''||(vote date)||
||+1||Jackie,Gordon,Martin||
||+0||||
||-0||||
||-1||||
||no vote|| ||

== Overview ==

This RFC proposes to remove the GD image renderer support from MapGuide.

== Motivation ==

MapGuide current has 2 image-based map renderers:

 * One using the GD library
 * One using Anti-Grain Geometry (AGG) library

Since MapGuide Open Source 2.0, the AGG renderer has been the designated default image-based map renderer.

Although a {{{serverconfig.ini}}} setting exists to change this over to GD, it is unlikely that many users are actually aware of this setting (and would be using the GD renderer as a result).

To simplify the burden of maintenance and future image rendering enhancement work, we should focus on only a single image renderer going forward: The AGG renderer.

== Proposed Solution ==

Remove the GD renderer from the {{{Renderers}}} project.

Where renderer names were being checked in the rendering service to determine GD/AGG renderer, remove such code paths and always assume the AGG renderer.

Remove the {{{Renderer}}} property from {{{serverconfig.ini}}}

This RFC does not remove our use of the GD library altogether. We will still retain the use of the GD library for image format conversions where needed.

== Implications ==

The renderer name on any render profiling result will now always be "AGG"

== Test Plan ==

Ensure all existing rendering tests still pass after GD renderer removal.

== Funding / Resources ==

Community