MapScript in Delphi

[Daniel Morissette]

We've had a request to make MapScript available in Delphi. Unfortunately 
SWIG doesn't support Delphi directly, but my relatively short experience 
with Delphi (with the MITAB library's C API) tells me that it should be 
a matter of defining a clean C API for MapScript, building that into a 
DLL, and then building a corresponding .pas header file. Sounds too 
simple to be true when presented this way, I'm sure there will be 
issues, for instance I don't know if we could run into problems in 
dealing with members of complex C structures (e.g. mapObj) from Delphi 
since I don't know how far Delphi can go in modifying values inside C 
structs.

I have also heard comments here and there about working on a clean C API 
for the MapServer core, so perhaps this could be a good time to start 
cleanining up the core as well, instead of just building another 
MapScript wrapper.

If this moves ahead then I'll come up with a formal TSC proposal. For 
now I'm sending this to find out if anyone has any advice to offer, or 
comments/suggestions on the way they would prefer to see things being done.

Daniel
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  Daniel Morissette               dmorissette at dmsolutions.ca
  DM Solutions Group              http://www.dmsolutions.ca/
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