[GRASS-user] File formats in r.in.gdal

[Tim Bowden]

On Tue, 2008-04-22 at 00:43 -0700, Hamish wrote:
> Richard Chirgwin wrote:
> > In Grass 6.2, Ubuntu build (yes, there's a more recent version but not 
> > yet for the right build), when importing ECWs in r.in.gdal, I receive 
> > the "not a supported file format" error. Any ideas?
> > 
> > The same error occurs with Globe DEM files (although Globe DEM has been
> > reorganised and I'm not sure I have found the right header files).
> 
> 
> Your copy of GDAL has to be built with support for those formats. Once it
> is, r.in.gdal should be able to read it.
> 
> check with:
>  gdalinfo --formats
> 
> if ECW is not there you will need to rebuild GDAL with support for those.
> 
> I am pretty sure that ECW support is not built by default.
>  see http://www.gdal.org/frmt_ecw.html
> 
> Now that ERmapper has been bought by Leica (apparently erdas has too),
> obtaining the SDK has changed as they have a much different view of open
> source:
> "Product enhancements, including:
>   * no more restrictions on the distribution of 'Server Software' under
> the GPL-style Public Use License Agreement"
> 
> .... but what has that been replaced by? Moved to BSD-like or proprietary?
> The binary SDK is only available for Windows, so you may be forced to use
> GDAL for Windows to export to GeoTiff.   ? Hopefully the new license is
> usable for Linux, I don't know. They still offer the source, which is
> encouraging.
> 
> 
> 
> good luck,
> Hamish

The ecw lib has never been offered under a true open source license.
The old license allowed "open source GPL style" use for non commercial
use only.  The new license is much more restrictive in some ways.
Certainly gdal can be compiled against the old ecw code.  I'm not sure
about the latest ecw lib releases.  Either way it's up to you to
determine your licence rights.  Beware the old license is inconsistent,
vague, internally contradictory and generally doesn't parse well.  FWIW,
I believe it's worth trying to avoid depending on ecw if this is an
issue for you.  Having said that, avoiding ecw may well not be a viable
option, in which case you may have to look at a commercial license for
it.

HTH,
Tim Bowden