FDO Report 2008

= FDO (Feature Data Objects) =
 * Period covered by report: Jan-Dec 2008
 * Contact name: Greg Boone

Key Accomplishments
The following releases of FDO were made available in 2008:
 * FDO Open Source 3.3.0 Released - March 2008
 * Bug fixes from 3.2.3 release
 * Addition of the FDO Expression Engine
 * Addition of the PostGIS Provider
 * Continued development and release of the KingOracle Provider
 * Alpha Release of the SQL Server Spatial Provider
 * The complete roadmap and features of FDO 3.3.0 can be found at: http://trac.osgeo.org/fdo/milestone/3.3.0.


 * FDO Open Source 3.3.1 Released - April 2008
 * Bug fixes from 3.3.0 release
 * The complete roadmap and features of FDO 3.3.0 can be found at: http://trac.osgeo.org/fdo/milestone/3.3.1.


 * FDO Open Source 3.3.2 RC1 Released - October 2008
 * Bug fixes from 3.3.1 release
 * The complete roadmap and features of FDO 3.3.0 can be found at: http://trac.osgeo.org/fdo/milestone/3.3.2.

Development of FDO 3.4.0

 * Major development efforts were undertaken in 2008 towards the release of FDO 3.4.0, which was released in beta form in January 2009.
 * Bug fixes from 3.3.2 release
 * Implement Support for a SQLServer Spatial FDO Provider. FDO RFC:12
 * Implement Support for a SQLite FDO Provider. FDO RFC:16
 * Migrate FDO to support Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. FDO RFC:18
 * New GetSchemaNames, GetClassNames commands, and DescribeSchema Hint. FDO RFC:23
 * New ExtendedSelect command and Scrollable Reader. FDO RFC:26
 * Add X,Y,Z and M Expression Functions. FDO RFC:28
 * Redefining Expression Function EXTRACT. FDO RFC:29
 * Enhanced 64-bit support. The FDO API and many of its providers where modified to be fully compilable/executable in a 64 bit runtime environment. We have still do not officially release a 64 bit Open Source build, but this should be addressed in 2009.

Areas for Improvement

 * A public build system for FDO would provide the community information on the state of trunk and access to daily builds of trunk.
 * Linux based builds of FDO remain more difficult than they should be. Additional work is required to the build system of FDO to make it fully FGS viable.
 * The generation and release of an official 64 bit build would be of great benefit to our user community.

Opportunities to Help
All contributions and help is welcome, but in particular:


 * Develop a new FDO provider for your currently unsupported format
 * Refine the website navigation and site structure.
 * Develop and refine help and documentation, in particular a getting started tutorial.
 * Enhance the Linux build system and complete the FGS package work.
 * Testing and quality bug reports.

Outlook for 2009
FDO 3.4.0 will be released early 2009 and development of 3.5.0 will start in parallel. The scope of 3.5.0 has not yet been decided.

Expected Major 2008 Milestones:


 * Final Release of FDO 3.4.0: March 2008
 * Continued testing and enhancements to the PostGIS Provider
 * Continued development towards a service pack release of FDO 3.4.0 and beyond
 * Continued development of new Data Providers for FDO