ScaleDependentRenderer bug in ArcGIS Server 9.2 SP2 & SP3

Even though the documentation for ArcGIS 9.2 SP2 suggested that the “ScaleDependentRenderer” class in the “ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.Web.Display.Renderer” namespace should be usable, aparently it was not. When I checked the “ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.Web” DLL delivered with ArcGIS Server 9.2 SP2, the class was marked internal. Most probably because ESRI did not get around to completing its implementation before the release. 

On further inquiry with ESRI support, it was confirmed to be a bug and ESRI had issued me an incident number (NIM008391).

Nothing new or shocking about bugs in ESRI software right? The most interesting part about this whole thing is how ESRI has handled it. Instead of fixing the bug by getting the “ScaleDependentRenderer” to work right, ESRI fixed it by removing the “ScaleDependentRenderer” from the documentation for ArcGIS 9.2 SP3. The class still remains marked internal in the DLLs delivered with 9.2 SP3 but just not in the documentation. How convenient?

When I search the newly released Bugs Online feature in the ESRI support site, the incident number does not show up in the search.