<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Announcing test version of GIS Manger 2</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN DEFANGED_STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>IR17;ve completed a major rewrite of the GRASS 6+ GIS Manager in TclTk. This is the beginning phase of the development of a new and more up-to-date user interface for GRASS, and comes out of a couple months of discussions on interface design for GRASS and GIS.<BR>
<BR>
I committed it to the CVS (It is currently in grass6/display/gis.m, but its location and/or designation in the source tree may change. See subsequent post to the developers list) and posted it to my website at <a href="http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_gismgr/gism20060117.tgz"><http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_gismgr/gism20060117.tgz></a><BR>
<BR>
For many years (I don’t know how many), GRASS has depended on X11 for displaying maps and related visualization. In order for GRASS to move to a new user interface, it has become apparent that one important step is to eliminate the requirement (though perhaps not the option) of x11 displays for visualization in GRASS. However, there is no incentive for modifying GRASS C-modules to no longer require x11 displays if there is no alternative way to visualize GIS data in GRASS.<BR>
<BR>
To that end, I’ve created a new GIS Manager 2 that no longer requires x11 for displays. Following advice of Glynn Clements, it uses the PNG driver and TclTk canvases. This opens up many new possibilities for the GUI, while providing an incentive to modify GRASS modules as needed for a GUI that goes beyond x11. Trevor Wiens has completed the first of these: v.what can query vectors based on xy coordinates, rather than requiring user interaction with an x11 display. This also opens more options for scripting. v.what is required for vector querying in the new GIS Manager 2. <BR>
<BR>
I’ve not been able to implement all of the draft UI specifications (currently posted at <a href="http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_ui"><http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_ui></a>, but soon to move to a new WIKI page created by Hamish Bowman). But, I’ve tried to implement some of them to improve the GRASS user experience. Here is a brief summary of some of the changes.<BR>
<BR>
-There is no limit to the number of map displays (i.e., TclTk canvases) that can be opened. So you can make your screen as cluttered as you like. <BR>
<BR>
-Each map display has its own layer tree (i.e., list of GIS layers to overlay and display) and region settings. So each map display will not affect other map displays.<BR>
<BR>
-Display controls—like zoom, pan, and mouse query—are conveniently located on a toolbar at the top of each map display.<BR>
<BR>
-Display controls are updated and (IMHO) easier to use.<BR>
<BR>
-There is still a single GIS Manager window so that you don’t need to have a complete layer tree, option pane, and menu for each display open. The GIS Manager window will change dynamically when you click on each map display to show the layers and options for that display.<BR>
<BR>
-The output pane has been split into a command console and output display. The command console pane only displays GRASS commands issued by the GUI. In a subsequent update, I hope that it will be possible to edit and highlight a command, press run, and have the command issued to GRASS. The output window has a save button that doesn’t work yet, but I hope to implement this soon.<BR>
<BR>
-Display output to file is now a button on the map display toolbar.<BR>
<BR>
-With TclTk canvases, you can print the display to postscript. Right now, I’ve only made a button that does a simple output to a *.eps file. However, the existing print.tcl dialog could be rewritten to provide a variety of postscript output options.<BR>
<BR>
I was not able to implement a number of other discussed GUI design features—like tightly integrated 2D/3D visualization, tearoff toolbars, docked and undocked map displays. These may be doable in TclTk or may require a more robust GUI development platform like Qt or GTK+. Nevertheless, I hope that this shows that GRASS can have a better interface for the user, while maintaining its powerful command line and scripting ability.<BR>
<BR>
I and a few other people have tested this, but it is a significant enough rewrite that I’m sure that there are still bugs. Please report them to the GRASS bug tracker and note that they are for GIS Manager 2 (or gism2 if you prefer). Thanks especially to Glynn Clements, Trevor Wiens, Crischan Wygoda, and Martin Wegmann for their help in getting this off the ground, and to Radim Blazek who created the GRASS Display Manager, the first version of what has become the GIS Manager for GRASS 6+. <BR>
<BR>
Enjoy<BR>
Michael<BR>
______________________________<BR>
Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology<BR>
School of Human Evolution and Social Change<BR>
Arizona State University<BR>
Tempe, AZ 85287-2402<BR>
USA<BR>
<BR>
voice: 480-965-6262; fax: 480-965-7671<BR>
www: <a href="http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton">http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton</a><BR>
</SPAN></FONT>
</BODY>
</HTML>