Is the LP_XMLConverter source code public?

[Anonymous]

I would like to tweak and improve LP_XMLConverter. Is the source code available? I couldn't find it in the Library SDK. It seems to me that the perl scripts just wrap the LP_XMLConverter binary. Should I be using the perl scripts instead of LP_XMLConverter directly?

[Karl Ottenstein]

No Graphisoft source code is available to my knowledge. Were the XML Converter tool available, it would be on the developer SDK site with the API and library kits, but it isn't.

While you can't change the conversion from XML back to GDL... you can certainly run any code/scripts on the XML itself prior to conversion. Is that not sufficient to achieve your goals?

[runxel]

What's your plan, James?

What do you want to achieve?

[Anonymous]

I want to make changes ranging from basic things like prettier output and more verbose errors to more advanced functionality such as concurrency or integration with tools such as a GDL linter or preprocessor. I don't understand why Graphisoft would want to keep the source from the public. I don't see it hurting the company at all and it would be better for the community as a whole if we could contribute to the tools. We all have our different needs and use-cases, and could benefit from the work of other users.

Right now, I've just been "wrapping" LP_XMLConverter in a Python script for my build process, but if Graphisoft doesn't want to open-source it, I may resort to reversing the GSM format myself and writing my own converter, which would be a pain.

[runxel]

James wrote:
integration with tools such as a GDL linter or preprocessor

Wait, did you built a GDL linter? That would be awesome.

But yeah, more open source would definitely be great...

[Ralph Wessel]

Couldn't you do everything you want using the source XML? If it's part of a build toolchain, then you could simply call the LP_XMLConverter tool as a step in your overall process.