[GRASS5] GRASS and GPS

[Greg Sepesi]

Greetings,

I'm a new GRASS user.  I looked through the GRASS wish list at

	http://intevation.de/rt/webrt?q_sort=area&q_reverse=1&q_queue=grass

and found that it does not have any wishes pertaining to GPS.  Also in
the GRASS documentation, which I've been reading for the last couple
days, I've seen no reference to GPS.  I'm wondering why.

I've found that inexpensive GPS receivers are very helpful in augmenting
local map data from sources such as USGS.  It seems they could also play
a part in digitizing maps.  To assist in the acquisition of map data in
the field, last year I wrote a Palm application that integrates custom
HTML forms and NMEA data from a GPS receiver so that filling out and
submitting a form saves the contents of the form's fields as well as
several optional fields (i.e., location, datum, user name, time, date,
direction, signal strength, DOP) to a Palm database.  The application
optionally performs field validation on type (i.e., text, integer,
float) and limits (i.e., length, min, max).  Back at a PC, an
application converts the Palm database into delimited text suitable for
input into a spreadheet, which I use to create map data.  This approach
of custom HTML forms is efficient for field data entry because the form
is easily customized/simplified for each data acquisition task.  

For example, performing a campus tree survey, the form could be designed
to have a drop down list of only the tree species known to be present on
campus, along with an "other" text field.  For most of the trees, the
acquisition task consists of standing by the tree, selecting the tree
from the drop down list, and tapping the form's "submit" button.  For
the case of an unexpected species, the acquisition task would require
the extra keystrokes of entering the name of the species.  Hidden fields
in the custom HTML form specify which of the optional fields are
automatically filled and acquired.

Are general acquisition tools like this considered beyond the scope of
GRASS?

Regards,
Greg Sepesi