New Post: Trunk notes, bugs, fixes

I had a chance recently to take a look at DotSpatial trunk for the first time since last summer. Here's a list of notes and mostly minor bugs and fixes that I came up with. Looking pretty good!

Thanks.
-Phil

1. If you don't have Visual Studio installed, you can build DotSpatial.sln with MSBuild on Windows (eg, to build DemoMap.exe and plugins for testing):
   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe /p:TargetFrameworkSDKToolsDirectory="C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools" DotSpatial.sln
   (Note property override is needed so it can find SDK's al.exe program.)
   To build DotSpatial.WebControls.sln with MSBuild on Windows:
   C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe DotSpatial.WebControls.sln
   
2. When compiled with MSBuild, copies 20+ copies of mscorlib.dll into bin\Debug. Are these duplicates necessary? DemoMap.exe seems to work okay without it.
   
3. In SplashScreenHelper.cs, asm is Null in an ASP.NET app, causing crash in next line when getting list of directories. Affects both .NET and Mono.
   
4. In ASP.NET app, pops up "A IDockManager extension must be included because a UI plugin was found." error message, plus two more, when DotSpatial.Data.Rasters.GdalExtension is found. This plugin works fine in ASP.NET apps and does not have a conventional UI the way other plugins do. Need a way to eliminate these messages. Affects both .NET and Mono.
   
5. DotSpatial.Data.Rasters.GdalExtension works with Mono (tested on Mac), so probably should not be in "Windows Extensions". Problem is that its GDAL libs are Windows native. Perhaps separate the GDAL native libs from the plugin. This might be useful for, say, another plugin that also needs to use GDAL.
   
6. To compile GdalExtension on Mac, two changes are needed:
   
   • In DotSpatial.Data.Rasters.GdalExtension.csproj, comment out the PostBuildEvent, since this runs a Windows batch file.
   • In packages.config, comment out the 3 packages.
     
7. One problem noted with GdalExtension on Mac is that cells with NODATA_VALUE are painted white instead of left transparent. Note this is not a problem on Mac with an ASP.NET app, only a desktop app (both MonoMac and WinForms). Perhaps a difference (Mono bug?) in how the grid is painted.
   
8. Any reason why downloading such an old version of GDAL (1.9.2 from 2012)? Testing of 1.11.1 on Mac appears to work okay.
   
9. Can any of the other plugins in "Windows Extensions" be moved to Plugins? Presumably even the ones with native libs could be adapted ala GdalExtension.
   
10. In ASP.NET app (Windows only), crashes with error about user scope. Fix is to change "User" to "Application" in DotSpatial.Controls\Properties files Settings.settings and Settings.Designer.cs.
    
11. DemoMap saves absolute path in .dspx for, eg, .jpg and .asc files. And crashes when loading .dspx if can't find path. Use relative paths like with .shp files? And fix crash.
    
12. How to prevent DemoMap from adding a path TWICE to the system path. It added this to mine (twice):
    C:\TOOLS\SVN_CO\DOTSPATIAL\BIN\DEBUG\PLUGINS\DOTSPATIAL.PLUGINS.SPATIALITE
    Programs that do things like this might be considered rogue software.