Just a few tips for wannabe FDO developers on Map's managed libraries (Map 2007/2008):
1) If you are planning to mix open source (OSGeo) FDO libraries and Map's managed libraries - better quit now
Even Autodesk/external FDO providers can't get mixed, and that's the basic idea behind FDO interoperability. Solution is to either: a) use vanilla AutoCAD and OSGeo open source libraries, or b) stick to present Autodesk libraries and suffer. Since I'm Map OEM developer I can't simply switch to plain ACAD, and it's driving me nuts.
2) Providers can't get mixed due to Autodesk's rebranding of OSGeo libraries. I really have no clue on possible OSGeo/Autodesk deals on joint FDO development and licensing, but present solution simply sucks. See previous and next paragraphs. I'd suggest Map devteam to either fully fork to their own solution, or simply stick to OSGeo one. Map already has enough quirks as it is, please don't introduce new ones
3) One of Map 2007 service packs upgrades FDO version from 3.0 to 3.1. And you can't use 3.0 anymore, so bye-bye to existing provider initialization. So instead of setting a full provider name (e.g. "OSGeo.SDF.3.1", as in providers.xml), I'd suggest browsing down for the substring (e.g. "OSGeo.SDF"). Of course they couldn't keep backward compatilibility - see paragraph 2).
Etc, etc.
Regards,
Maksim Sestic
