.. _migration:

*****************************************************************************
MapServer Migration Guide
*****************************************************************************

:Last Updated: 2011-05-04

.. contents:: Table of Contents
    :depth: 2
    :backlinks: top
    
    
MapServer 5.6 to 6.0 Migration
==============================
    
This section documents the changes that must be made to MapServer 
applications when migrating from version 5.6.x (or earlier versions) 
to 6.0 (i.e. backwards incompatibilities), as well as information
on some of the new features.

------------------------------------
Mapfile Changes - Expression Parsing
------------------------------------

Version 6.0 features an extensive reworking of the expression parsing capabilities.
While this adds functionality it also introduces a couple of regressions:

Logical Expressions

* a regex is now deliniated as a string (e.g. '^a' rather than /^a/)
* the regex operator is ~ for case sensitive comparisons and ~* for case insensitive
* case insensitive string comparison operator is =*

Class text expressions are true expressions in 6.0. This allows for fancy formatting
of numeric data but also means string operators must be used to concatenate attribute
values and string literals.

* Old/bad: TEXT ([area] acres)
* New (option 1)/good: TEXT ([area] + ' acres')
* New (option 2)/good: TEXT '[area] acres'

On the plus side you can now control the number of decimal places, round and even commify
the area value for annotion.

See http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-64.html and http://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/ticket/3736
for more information.

------------------------------
Mapfile Changes	- Label Styles
------------------------------

As the need for more and more control of label drawing increased it became apparent that
we couldn't extend labelObj's endlessly. In 6.0 we introduce the idea of label styles, that
is, a styleObj inside a labelObj. The styles can be used to add accompanying markers or 
bounding box elements to a label- kinda like annotation layers. The big benefit is that 
it's done in one pass. So you can draw complex roadwork and shields all at the same time.
Pretty neat huh? Plus you can do attribute binding for any of the styleObj attributes that
support it.

As a result the parameters BACKGROUNDCOLOR, BACKGROUNDSHADOWCOLOR, BACKGROUNDSHADOWSIZE
are no more. To draw a label "box" in 6.0 you'd do:

::

  LABEL
    ...
    STYLE # a shadow
      GEOMTRANSFORM 'labelpoly'
      COLOR 222 222 222
      OFFSET 2 2
    END
    STYLE # bbox
      GEOMTRANSFORM 'labelpoly'
      COLOR 255 255 255
      OUTLINECOLOR 0 0 0
    END
  END

More verbose but *much* more flexible in the long run.

---------------------------------------
Mapfile Changes - Label MAXOVERLAPANGLE
---------------------------------------

:ref:`RFC60` introduced a new MAXOVERLAPANGLE keyword to filter out ANGLE 
FOLLOW labels in which characters overlap. This new option is enabled by 
default in 6.0 with a default value for MAXOVERLAPANGLE of 22.5 degrees. 

As per :ref:`RFC60`, it is possible to set MAXOVERLAPANGLE to 0 to fall back 
on pre-6.0 behavior which was to use hardcoded maxoverlapangle = 0.4*MS_PI 
(40% of 180 degrees = 72 degrees).

---------------------------------
Core Changes - Rendering Overhaul
---------------------------------

The rendering backends for MapServer have been refactored for version 6 to
allow us to support all features across all rendering drivers (GD,AGG,PDF,SVG, etc...).

* PDF support is output through the cairo library. The dependency on the non-free
  pdflib library has been removed. 
* SVG support is output through the cairo library. The native mapserver SVG driver
  has been removed.
* AGG support is compiled in by default (no external dependency) and is the
  default renderer for png and jpeg outputs.
* GD support is limited to PC256 imagemodes, i.e. png or gif. It is the default
  renderer for gif output.
* SWF (flash) support has been dropped.
* Header files for libpng, libjpeg and giflib are now required for building MapServer.
  Install the -devel packages of these libraries.
* All symbols now rotated anticlockwise following the ANGLE parameter. Previous versions
  rotated vector symbols clockwise.
* Polygon fills with vector symbols will not cleanly join at tile boundaries. For hatching
  type symbology, use the HATCH symbol instead of a diagonal vector symbol.
* Some inconsistencies between renderers have been ironed out. People relying on precise
  symbol placement should check those, as there may have been some subtle changes in symbol
  sizes and widths, or spacing between symbols on lines.
* Style blocks with no associated symbol on point layers will produce no output, as opposed
  to a single pixel in previous versions. Use an ellipse symbol instead.

------------------------------
Mapfile Changes - line styling
------------------------------

All line styling must now be specified in layer STYLEs.

The following parameters/keywords have been moved from SYMBOL
to STYLE:

PATTERN POSITION GAP LINECAP LINEJOIN LINEJOINMAXSIZE

The SYMBOL STYLE parameter/keyword was renamed to PATTERN in
version 5.

The SYMBOL TYPE cartoline has been removed.

LINECAP triangle is not supported by AGG or Cairo, and is no longer
available.  The triangle line end effect can be achieved using
GEOMTRANSFORM start and end with a (filled) vector triangle symbol and
ANGLE AUTO.  This will only work for the line ends, and not for
dashes.

-----------
CGI Changes
-----------

Runtime subsitution now *requires* a validation pattern be present before the
substitution will take place (this had been optional). This can be done via
a layer metadata tag as before or within layer or web VALIDATION blocks. See
ticket #3522 for more information.

All of the query map related modes (e.g. NQUERYMAP, ITEMQUERYMAP, etc...) have 
been removed in favor of using the "qformat" parameter. That parameter takes 
an output format name or mime/type as a value and uses that to process a set
of query results. For example:

  ...&mode=nquerymap&... would become ...&mode=nquery&qformat=png24&...

-----------------
OGC Web Services
-----------------

All OGC Web Services are now disabled by default. If you want to enable them as 
they were in MapServer 5.6 and older releases, add the following metadata in the 
MAP::WEB section::

 "ows_enable_request"   "*"

See also: http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-67.html

------------------------------
Mapfile Changes - WCS Metadata
------------------------------

To avoid confusion only "wcs_*" and "ows_*" prefixed metadata entries
are evaluated in OGC WCS services. Previous versions used "wms_*"
prefixed entries as fallback which is dropped in version 6.0 in favor of
forcing explicit decisions.

---------------------
PHP MapScript Changes
---------------------

* PHP 5.2.0 or more recent is required.
* PHP/MapScript now uses exceptions for error report. All errors are catchable.
* Object properties can be set like all other php object. ie. myObj->myProperty = 10;
  
  NOTE: The set/setProperty methods are still available. 

* All object constructors throw an exception on failure
* Objects can be created with the php "new" operator. ie.
  $myShape = ms_newShapeObj(MS_SHAPE_LINE); // or
  $myShape = new shapeObj(MS_SHAPE_LINE);

  NOTE: "ms_newSymbolObj()" and "new symbolObj" are different:
        - ms_newSymbolObj() returns the id of the new/existing symbol.
        - new symbolObj() returns the symbolObj. You don't need to 
                          get it with getSymbolObjectById().

* Cloneable objects should be cloned with the PHP clone keyword. There is no more clone methods.

* Class properties that have been removed

  - mapObj: imagetype, imagequality, interlace, scale, transparent
  - classObj: maxscale, minscale
  - layerObj: labelsizeitem, labelangleitem, labelmaxscale, labelminscale, 
              maxscale, minscale, symbolscale, transparency
  - legendObj: interlace, transparent
  - scalebarObj: interlace, transparent
  - symbolObj: gap, stylelength
  - webObj: minscale, maxscale
  
* Class methods that have been removed

  - projectionObj: free
  - lineObj: free
  - pointObj: free
  - rectObj: free
  - shapeObj: free, union_geos
  - symbolObj: free, getstylearray
  - imageObj: free
  - outputFormatObj: getformatoption, setformatoption
  - shapefileObj: free
  - layerObj: getFilter, getShape

* referenceMapObj has new properties: marker, markername, markersize, maxboxsize, minboxsize
* shapeFileObj is automatically closed/writed on destroy. (At the end of the script or with an explicit unset())
* layerObj->clearProcessing() method now returns void.
* mapObj->queryByIndex(): default behavior for the addToQuery parameter was not ok, now it is.

* Methods that now return MS_SUCCESS/MS_FAILURE:
  
  - symbolObj: setPoints, setPattern
  - scalebarObj: setImageColor
  - outputFormatObj: validate
  - layerObj: setProcessing, addFeature, draw
  - mapObj: moveLayerUp, moveLayerDown, zoomRectangle, zoomScale, setProjection,
            setWKTProjection, setLayersDrawingOrder

* Methods that now return NULL on failure:

  - classObj: clone
  - styleObj: clone  
  - layerObj: nextShape, getExtent
  - mapObj: clone, draw, drawQuery getLayerByName, getProjection, 

* Methods that now return an empty array 

  - symbolObj: getPatternArray
  - layerObj: getItems, getProcessing, getGridIntersectionCoordinates
  - mapObj: getLayersIndexByGroup, getAllGroupNames, getLayersDrawingOrder, getAllLayerNames

-----------------------
MapScript (All Flavors)
-----------------------

The layer query result handing has been re-worked (again) to address some issues introduced in
the 5.4/5.6 versions. Gone are resultsGetShape and getFeature methods. You should now use a 
refactored getShape method to access layer shapes. That method takes a resultObj and returns
a shapeObj. Typical use would be (in Perl):

::

  $layer->queryByRect($map, $map->{extent}); # layer is still open                                                                             

  for($i=0; $i<$layer->getNumResults(); $i++) {
    $shape = $layer->getShape($layer->getResult($i));
    print "$i: ". $shape->getValue(1) ."\n";
  }

  $layer->close();


A resultObj encapsulates the data used to manage a result set.

To access shapes independently of a query use the new resultObj class:

  $layer->open();
  $shape = $layer->getShape(new mapscript::resultObj(1));  
  $layer->close();

See http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-65.html for more information.

------------
OUTPUTFORMAT
------------

The OUTPUTFORMAT parameter validation when reading from the mapfile 
will now trigger an error on some problems that in the past were 
silently fixed up.  For instance using RGBA IMAGEMODE with JPEG format 
now triggers an error instead of switching to IMAGEMODE RGB silently.

The default outputformats names, drivers and mimetypes have been significantly
reorganized:

* png : AGG/PNG (image/png)
* jpeg : AGG/JPEG (image/jpeg)
* gif : GD/GIF (image/gif)
* png8 : AGG/PNG8 (same as AGG/PNG, but with 256 color quantization applied)
  (image/png; mode=8bit)
* png24 : AGG/PNG (for backwards compatibility) (image/png; mode=24bit)
* pdf : CAIRO/PDF (application/x-pdf)
* svg : CAIRO/SVG (image/svg+xml)
* GTiff : GDAL/GTiff (image/tiff)
* kml : KML (application/vnd.google-earth.kml++xml)
* kmz : KMZ (application/vnd.google-earth.kmz)
                              

-------
Rasters
-------

* The support for rendering rasters without GDAL has been removed.  Now 
  RASTER layers (or WMS layers) require that MapServer be built against 
  the GDAL library.  
* The above change also means there is no longer support for EPPL raster layers.

-------------------
Deprecated features
-------------------

- Support for Flash/SWF output has been removed as part of the rendering overhaul
  because it was no longer compatible with the new architecture. 
  Support for Flash/SWF could be reintroduced but would require a non trivial
  amount of work (i.e. would require funding).

- Support for "CONNECTIONTYPE MyGIS" has been dropped since it was no longer 
  being maintained and there are better ways to use MySQL data sources theses 
  days, going through OGR for instance.

MapServer 5.4 to 5.6 Migration
==============================

This section documents the changes that must be made to MapServer 
applications when migrating from version 5.4.x (or earlier versions) 
to 5.6 (i.e. backwards incompatibilities), as well as information
on some of the new features.

----------------------------------------------------
MapScript changes related to single pass queries
----------------------------------------------------

In RFC-52, MapServer was modified to perform queries using a single pass
on the data instead of two passes. This is transparent for CGI applications,
but MapScript scripts must be modified to use the layer.resultsGetShape()
method instead of layer.getShape().

See also: http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-52.html

(Note: the new resultsGetShape() method is not yet available for PHP MapScript 
in 5.6.0-beta1)


------------------------
WFS 1.1 axis orientation
------------------------

The axis order in previous versions of the WFS specifications was to always use 
easting (x or lon ) and northing (y or lat).  WFS 1.1 specifies that, depending 
on the particular SRS, the x axis may or may not be oriented West-to-East, and 
the y axis may or may not be oriented South-to-North. The WFS portrayal operation 
shall account for axis order. This affects some of the EPSG codes that were commonly 
used such as ESPG:4326.  The current implementation makes sure that coordinates 
returned to the server for the GetFeature request reflect the inverse axis orders 
for EPSG codes between 4000 and 5000.

-------------------------------------------------
Change of mime-type for the imagemap outputformat
-------------------------------------------------

RFC 36 added support for templated outptformats, but this new feature
was not available for WMS GetFeatureInfo ouptut (see ticket #3024). 
In MapServer 5.6 this has been resolved by implementing lookup of output 
formats for query templates by mime-type. However this caused a conflict 
for the text/html mime-type between the actual text/html query 
templates and the preconfigured imagemap outputformat which also used the
text/html mime-type.

In order to resolve this conflict, the mime-type of the imagemap outputformat
has been changed to "text/html; driver=imagemap". This is unlikely to cause
much side-effects to existing applications, but the change is documented here
just in case.


MapServer 5.2 to 5.4 Migration
==============================

This section documents the changes that must be made to MapServer 
applications when migrating from version 5.2. (or earlier versions) 
to 5.4 (i.e. backwards incompatibilities), as well as information
on some of the new features.

--------------------------------------------------------
New requirements for mapfiles, symbolsets and templates
--------------------------------------------------------

Due to some potential security vulnerabilities that were uncovered in previous
versions of MapServer, RFC-56 introduced a number of changes to tighten 
access control on mapfiles and templates and limit the risk of leaking 
arbitrary file contents. These changes were introduced in version 5.4.0,
and were also backported to v5.2.2 and 4.10.4.

The new requirements are as follows:

* The MAP and SYMBOLSET keywords must be added to any mapfile and symbolset
  that did not contain them already.

* All MapServer templates must be updated to contain the "MapServer Template"
  magic string on the first line. This string can be embedded
  in a commment depending on the template formet and the whole line will
  be skipped in the output generation. e.g.

  * In HTML: <!-- MapServer Template --> 

  * In JavaScript: // MapServer Template

See also: http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-56.html


MapServer 4.10 to 5.0 Migration
===============================

This section documents the changes that must be made to MapServer 
applications when migrating from version 4.10.x (or earlier versions) 
to 5.x (i.e. backwards incompatibilities), as well as information
on some of the new features.

----------------------------------------------------
Mapfile changes
----------------------------------------------------

Attribute Bindings: In an effort to stem the tide of keyword overload
and add functionality MapServer 5.0 supports a new method of binding 
feature attributes to STYLE and LABEL properties. In the past keywords
like ANGLEITEM or LABELSIZEITEM were used, now you denote the attribute
in the context of the property being bound. For example, to bind an 
attribute to a label size you'd do:

::

  LABEL
    ...
    SIZE [mySizeItem]
  END

The []'s denote a binding (as with logical expressions). The following
keywords are no longer supported and their presence will throw an error:

* Layer: LABELANGLEITEM, LABELSIZEITEM
* Style: ANGLEITEM, SIZEITEM

The following properties can accept bindings:

* Style: angle, color, outlinecolor, size, symbol
* Label: angle, color, outlinecolor, size, font, priority

Colors may be given as a hex value (e.g. #FFFFFF) or an RGB triplet 
(e.g. 255 255 255).


Layer Transparency: The values for the TRANSPARENCY parameter have always
been backwards and in an effort to resolve that the parameter has been
renamed OPACITY. TRANSPARENCY is still recognized by the mapfile parser
but is depricated and should be avoided. 

Scale Parameters: MapServer's handling of scale has long been a source
for confusion. The values use in a layer MINSCALE are really the denominators
from a representative fraction (e.g. 1:24000). To help clarify this all
scale parameters are now end with DENOM. So MINSCALE => MINSCALEDENOM,
SYMBOLSCALE => SYMBOLSCALEDENOM, and so on. The mapfile parser still
recognizes the older keywords but they are depricated and should be avoided. 

----------------------
Symbol file changes
----------------------

Symbol Style: STYLEs are used within a symbol definition to store dash
patterns for line symbolization. However, there is potential confusion
with the style object that is used within class definitions. To resolve
that confusion the symbol STYLE parameter has been renamed PATTERN. The
symbol file parser will still recognize the STYLE keyword but it is 
depricated and should be avoided.

----------------------------------------------------
Styling/Symbolgy changes
----------------------------------------------------
Prior to MapsServer 5.0, if a pixmap symbol was used in style on a Line
Layer, the symbol was used as a brush to draw the line. In MapServer 5.0, 
it is possible to draw the pixmap symbol along the line (Note that this 
was available using a true type symbol). To achieve  this, the user needs 
to use the parameter GAP with it's pixmap symbol definition in the symbol
file. The GAP represents the distance between the symbols. If the GAP is not
given, the pixmap symbol will be used as a brush.

----------------------------------------------------
AGG rendering changes   
----------------------------------------------------
see `the AGG rendering specifics`_ for the changes relating to the addition
of the `Antigrain Geometry`_ rendering engine.

.. _`the AGG rendering specifics`: http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/docs/howto/agg-rendering-specifics
.. _`Antigrain Geometry`: http://www.antigrain.com

---------------------------------------------------
URL configuration changes
---------------------------------------------------

Previous versions of the MapServer CGI program allowed certain parameters
to be changed via a URL using a cumbersome syntax such as 
map_layer_0_class_0_color=255+0+0 which changes the color in one classObj.
Not only was this cumbersome for users but also from a code maintenance
perspective since we had to maintain seperate loaders for URL-based config
and file-based config. RFC-31 attempts to streamline both by migrating to
a single object loading function that can be used with strings (either in
MapScript or via URL) or with files.

So, in the past you have to change parameters one-at-a-time. Now you can
pass chunks of mapfiles (with security restrictions) to the CGI interface.
The map_object notation is still necessary to identify which object you
want to modify but you can change multiple properties at one time. Note 
that you can use either a '_' or a '.' to seperate identifiers.

Example 1, changing a scalebar object:

::

  ...&map.scalebar=UNITS+MILES+COLOR+121+121+121+SIZE+300+2&...

Example 2, changing a presentation style:

::

 ...&map.layer[lakes].class[0].style[0]=SYMBOL+crosshatch+COLOR+151+51+151+SIZE+15&...

Example 3, creating a new feature

::

  ...&map_layer[3]=FEATURE+POINTS+500000+1000000+END+TEXT+'A+test+point'+END&...

The variable identifies an object uniquely (by name or index in the case of
layerObj's and classObj's). The value is a snippet of a mapfile. You
cannot create new objects other than inline features at this point.

-------------------------------------------------
Validation patterns for mapserv attribute queries
-------------------------------------------------

Attribute queries (qstring) done via the mapserv CGI could theoretically 
be used for SQL injection.

No exploit has been reported, but in order to mitigate the risk, a new
validation pattern mechanism has been added in 5.0.

In the case of qstring attribute queries, the qstring_validation_pattern
layer-level metadata is required for qstring queries to work. The metadata
value is a regular expression that the qstring value must match otherwise
mapserv produces a fatal error. A fatal error is also produced if qstring
is used but qstring_validation_pattern is not provided.

Note that similar validation pattern mechanism has been available for 
%variable% substitutions since version 4.10, but in this case it is optional. 
The  pattern for %myvar% is provided via a metadata called 
myvar_validation_pattern.

----------------------------------------------------
SWIG MapScript (Python, Perl, CSharp, Java) changes
----------------------------------------------------

Layer Transparency: The layerObj transparency parameter is now called
opacity. Scripts setting that value in code must be updated.

Symbol Style: the symbolObj style parameter is now called pattern. MapScript
does not allow direct modification of that parameter. In Swig-based languages
the symbolObj method setStyle is now called setPattern. In PHP/MapScript, the
methods setStyle and getStyle are now called setPattern and getPattern.

A new msGetVersionInt() function returning the current MapServer version in
integer format has been added to facilitate version checks in the future.
Given version x.y.z, it returns (x*0x10000 + y*0x100 + z). For instance, for
v5.0.0 it will return 0x050000 (note the hexadecimal notation).

-----------------------
CSharp related changes
-----------------------

The MapScript C# classes are now placed into the OSGeo.MapServer namespace
The scripts should use the fully qualified names of the classes or apply 
the 

::

  using OSGeo.MapServer;
  
or the corresponding language equivalent. 

----------------------------------------------------
PHP/MapScript changes
----------------------------------------------------

Layer Transparency: The layerObj transparency parameter is now called
opacity. The old "transparency" name is deprecated and will be removed in
a future release. Scripts getting/setting that value in code must be updated.

All occurences of scale, minscale, maxscale, etc... parameters have been
deprecated and renamed with a "denom" suffix (e.g. minscale becomes 
minscaledenom, etc.). The deprecated parameters will be removed in a
future release. Scripts getting/setting them must be updated.

SymbolObj style has been renamed pattern. The old "stylelength" parameter
and setStyle() and getStyleArray() methods have been deprecated and 
"patternlength", setPattern() and getPatternArray() should be used 
instead. They will be removed in a future release.

layer.getShape(int tileindex, int shapeindex)) has been deprecated and 
renamed to layer.getFeature(int shapeindex [, int tileindex = -1]) to
match the SWIG MapScript equivalent. Note that the order of the arguments
is reversed since tileindex is optional in getFeature().

class.getExpression() and layer.getFilter() have been deprecated and 
renamed to class.getExpressionString() and layer.getFilterString() to 
match what we have in SWIG MapScript. The String suffix in the function
name also more clearly indicates that the return value is not an object
but a string representation of it.

A new ms_GetVersionInt() function returning the current MapServer version in
integer format has been added to facilitate version checks in the future.
Given version x.y.z, it returns (x*0x10000 + y*0x100 + z). For instance, for
v5.0.0 it will return 0x050000 (note the hexadecimal notation).

----------------------------------------------------
OGC Web Map Service (WMS)
----------------------------------------------------

Required Parameters for GetMap and GetFeatureInfo: previously, MapServer
did not check for the following parameters when responding to an OGC:WMS
GetMap or GetFeatureInfo request:

 - SRS
 - FORMAT
 - WIDTH
 - HEIGHT
 - STYLES or SLD / SLD_BODY
 - BBOX

That is, a GetMap request would process without error if these were not 
passed by the WMS client.

A compliant OGC:WMS 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 REQUIRES these parameters.  This may
affect OGC:WMS client requests who were not passing these values. Ticket
1088 fully documents this issue.  In addition to WMS compliance, this was also 
decided that by adding this constraint, if an OGC client request (as described
earlier) breaks something, people should fix their client anyway since
if they change WMS vendor, they will have problems as well.

----------------------------------------------------
OGC Web Feature Service (WFS)
----------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------
OGC Sensor Observation Service (SOS)
----------------------------------------------------
- The format of MAP/LAYER/METADATA/sos_describesensor_url
  has been changed such that users now must format the value
  per:

"sos_describesensor_url" "http://example.org/sml/%procedure%.xml"

  This change has been made to clarify and unify the meaning of procedure
  within SOS Server's context of a DescribeSensor request.

- Metadata associated with an observedProperty element's
  swe:component value have been changed to support a URN
  scheme, instead of the previous "sos_componenturl" metadata.  The
  "sos_componenturl" metadata is no longer supported.  Instead,
  "sos_observedproperty_authority" and "sos_observedproperty_version"
  should be used to format the swe:component value.


----------------------------------------------------
Build Changes
----------------------------------------------------

MapServer's main include file has been renamed from "map.h" to "mapserver.h".

A new mapserver-config script has been created with the following options:

::

  Usage: mapserver-config [OPTIONS]
  Options:
   [--libs]
   [--dep-libs]
   [--cflags]
   [--defines]
   [--includes]
   [--version]

The shared and static link libraries for MapSserver have been renamed
libmapserver.x.y.so and libmapserver.a respectively.


The --enable-coverage configure option has been renamed to --enable-gcov
since the former name led users to think it might be related to enabling 
support for WCS or Arc/Info coverages:

::

  --enable-gcov           Enable source code coverage testing using gcov
  
  
-----------------------------------------------------
Features Heading for Deprecation
-----------------------------------------------------

Some features present in MapServer are likely to be removed in a future
release. Features might be headed for deprecation because:

 - they have been replaced by a superior or more capable solution
 - they have stopped being maintained

Users of these features should be prepared for these upcoming changes
and start adapting their mapfiles in consequence. If you have strong 
and motivated objections as to the removal of one or more of these
features please open a discussion in the usual Mapserver communication
channels. 
 
Cartoline symbols: these were a hack to overcome GD weaknesses, and their
functionality is now supported by the AGG renderer. They have become poorly
supported in current MapServer versions. Keywords allowing for setting the
style of line joins and caps will be moved to the STYLE block.

RGB/RGBA output with GD: support for RGB and RGBA image types will likely not
be maintained anymore. PC256 will continue to be supported with GD, while RGB
and RGBA will liekly only be supported with AGG
