The CAVOR Frequently Asked Questions list
(now with answers!)
Disclaimer
Actually at this stage of the project there have been very few (read, "none") asked questions, so the following is basically the same few questions/answers as appear on our home page. This will be updated as needed.What is Cavor.org?
Our purpose is to further the development of cavor, which serves as the basis for applications that combine spatial or graphic information with an attribute database, including GIS, CAD, and CASE tools.
What is CAVOR?
CAVOR is (or will be, when completed) an engine for building applications that involve modeling and retrieving graphical and textual data. Examples of such applications include GIS (geographic information systems), mapping programs, CAD (computer aided design/drafting), as well as less-obvious applications as project management (consider PERT charts, etc), CASE (computer aided software engineering) tools (UML diagrams, plus DFDs, ERDs, etc.), and probably others that haven't even occurred to me.
Some info about Cavor can be found in this introductory document.
What does it run on?
The development platform is (x86) Linux, with PostgreSQL and Oracle as example databases. We also have Solaris-x86 and a Linux-PPC platform for testing. It should easily port to any UNIX(-like) platform with X11 and a relational database, although porting to some RDBMSs may be more problematic than others. (In particular, we rely on embedded-SQL for some of the database access code.) The GUIs are currently either Tcl/Tk or Motif (or Lesstif), depending the particular component.
Can I download it, or the source?
Yes, at least what's written so far. Check the SourceForge link, the code is available on CVS there and occasionally as downloadable interim releases. Since the design is modular, there are components that can be used even if the whole thing isn't complete.
So, what is done?
Most of the components have had at least some development done. A lot of the basic design work (see documents elsewhere on this site). Most of the Display List Manager (see documentation and screenshots on this site), although there are still a few bugs in that. The database schema and some database interface. A partial implementation of CSL (Cavor Scripting Language) and a yacc/lex (actually bison/flex) grammar for it. I've thought about building some of this on top of, say, Tcl/Tk or Python, but although superficially that seems like a good idea, in practise there are some underlying design concepts that make it easier to just rewrite from scratch, even if I am reinventing the wheel in a couple of places. (There's already a Tcl interface to the Cavor code, perhaps we'll add a Python interface too.)
Can I help? How?
Please do. SourceForge is hosting the CVS repository at the moment, and there's also an online forum and mailing list. Not much activity there recently, I'm afraid. There's also email (cavor (a) ajwm.net).
As to how, there are any number of possibilities, even if you're not a programmer. There's documentation to be written, testing and bug reporting, creating libraries of symbols for different uses, designing a spiffy Cavor logo... you get the idea.
But I need something now!
Er, could you phrase that as a question? :-)
Seriously, take a look at the Links page for some applications that might help. And stay tuned here, too.