To Add a New FDO Provider

Often, developers make the providers they develop available for free. They can be integrated into AutoCAD Map 3D toolset and then used to access additional data formats not included in the box.

To download a third party or open source FDO Provider

• Go to https://fdo.osgeo.org to see the providers available for download.

To integrate a new FDO Provider into AutoCAD Map 3D toolset

1. Close AutoCAD Map 3D toolset if it is running.
2. In File Explorer, navigate to \AutoCAD Map 3D 2025\FDO\bin.
3. Make a backup copy of providers.xml. Give the back up a new name such as providers_backup.xml.
4. In WordPad, open \AutoCAD Map 3D 2025\FDO\bin\providers.xml.
   Note: Do not use Notepad.
5. Copy a section for an existing provider, for example the section OSGEO WMS, and paste it to a new location in the XML file.

   Be sure that you copy the entire section, from <Feature Provider> to </FeatureProvider>.

6. Modify the following elements in the new section as needed:
   • Name – Name of your new provider.
   • Display Name – Name that will be displayed in the Data Connect window in AutoCAD Map 3D toolset
   • Description – Description that will be displayed in the Data Connect window
   • IsManaged – False if the provider was developed using unmanaged code like C++; True if uses managed code.
   • Version – The DLL version number. The version number must match the version number of the DLLs.
   • FeatureDataObjectsVersion – FDO version number
   • LibraryPath - Path to the DLLs for the new provider
7. Save and close providers.xml.
8. Start AutoCAD Map 3D toolset.
9. In Display Manager, click DataConnect to Data.

   The provider you added should appear under Data Connections By Provider.

10. In the Data Connect window, under Data Connections By Provider, select the new provider. For example, select “Add OGR Connection”.
11. Enter the connection information.
    Note: For the OGR provider, you need to enter the complete path to the geodatabase for Data Source.
12. The ReadOnly field indicates whether you can edit the data. TRUE means the data is read-only. FALSE means it will be read / write.
13. Click Login.
14. Click Connect to bring the data into your map.

To develop a new FDO Provider

• Go to http://fdo.osgeo.org to download the API and access the documentation needed to develop a provider.