<div>Thank you all,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I was really feeling a bit let down earlier. I am sure with the guidance I have received I would soon come back with something of my own to share with all of you. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>I have spent nearly a week now with GRASS and I surely found the experience useful. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thanks for the information on mapserver. I had a quick view of it and I would be devoting some time on it too. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thanks again</div>
<div> </div>
<div>with best regards,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Abhinav<br><br> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/31/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Sampson, David</b> <<a href="mailto:dsampson@nrcan.gc.ca">dsampson@nrcan.gc.ca</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left">Abhinav<span>,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">Welcome to the woderfull and exciting world of open source GIS, Linux and all the related brain activity.</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">First I'd like to say congratulations for your attempt to explore GRASS and linux (or Cygwin if you're going the windows route). The learning curve is steep but rewarding. And if you are a small of medium sized company then you'll notice some unique benifits of open source technology.
</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">As was previously noted in one of the responses, you have found some GREAT groups for users. Your challenge, as also previously noted is learning how to use it. If you are new the user list type community support then here are some tips, and maybe a quasi process..
</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">The GRASS resources are stored in a sort of library. Lots of good resources in bite sized books. No one source will provide ALL the answers. So lets take a little tour.
</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">1. get the software (<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://grass.itc.it/download/index.php" target="_blank">http://grass.itc.it/download/index.php
</a>)</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">2. Learn the install process. This link is an old one and for a past version, but hopefully it will bee a good intro.... <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://grass.itc.it//gdp/tutorial/abs_beginners.pdf" target="_blank">
http://grass.itc.it//gdp/tutorial/abs_beginners.pdf</a></font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">note there is a difference between a MANUAL, a TUTORIAL, and MAILING list... In our world a manual holds content and information. A tutorial is our source of process, and finaly the mailing list covers special issues or undocumented processes.
</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">3. Refer to the manual <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://grass.itc.it/grass63/manuals/html63_user/index.html" target="_blank">
http://grass.itc.it/grass63/manuals/html63_user/index.html</a></font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">4. grab a link to a tutorial and follow the process. HINT: KEEP IT SIMPLE, the learning curve is steep and deep <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://grass.itc.it/gdp/tutorials.php" target="_blank">
http://grass.itc.it/gdp/tutorials.php</a></font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">5. Now you will inevitably have a question. So you start your search</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span> <font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">A. Search the manual by keywords or key command <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://grass.itc.it/gdp/manuals.php" target="_blank">
http://grass.itc.it/gdp/manuals.php</a></font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span> <font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">B. Search the archived mailing lists. Note that there are some specialty lists. <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://grass.itc.it/community/support.php" target="_blank">
http://grass.itc.it/community/support.php</a></font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span> <font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">C. GOOGLE is your friend... eg <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.google.ca/search?q=GRASS+GIS+first+time&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official" target="_blank">
http://www.google.ca/search?q=GRASS+GIS+first+time&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official</a></font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span> <font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">D. Read the Tabe of Contents (TOC) of the "How to ask a smart question" <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html" target="_blank">
http://catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html</a> (not to belittle, just to bring you up to speed)</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span> <font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">E. Pick your forum and ask your question and wait for the onslaught of answers. The better the question, the more response, and broader response you'll get
</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">6. Next build a self guided tutorial.</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">You have choosen GIS as a tool to answer a question. GRASS is great tool. So take your question and break it down to it's simplest term (generic GIS workflow). Find the comman to do each small task. Build them in order and voila you have your own Tutorial. Now share that information back to the community and the process continues.
</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">Did you find something that you wanted more info on as a new user. Then help future new users get up to speed even quicker.</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">Hope this helped,</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">keep your head up and have fun</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">Cheers</font></span></div><br>
<div lang="en-us" dir="ltr" align="left">
<hr>
<font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>From:</b> <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:grassuser-bounces@grass.itc.it" target="_blank">grassuser-bounces@grass.itc.it</a> [mailto:<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:grassuser-bounces@grass.itc.it" target="_blank">
grassuser-bounces@grass.itc.it</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>gotnidea! Business Development Centre<br><b>Sent:</b> October 31, 2006 05:04<br><b>To:</b> <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:grassuser@grass.itc.it" target="_blank">
grassuser@grass.itc.it</a>; <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:wingrass@grass.itc.it" target="_blank">wingrass@grass.itc.it</a><br><b>Subject:</b> [GRASS-user] Which is the best forum/resource for GRASS starters?
<br></font><br> </div>
<div></div>
<div>Dear All,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I think I have gotten into group of developers rather than mere users. Or may be my questions are a bit trivial or out of context for most of you.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Well, while I certainly thank you all for your patience and quick response, I think I am really a novice in an area for experts.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>So, my first question is which is the forum of GRASS users particularly for the starters and persons with little knowledge about GIS but do have a desire to learn it. May be one could even guide me to a book? My problem is that I am new to both GRASS as well as Linux world, and as I happened to notice that GRASS can run on Windows, I went ahead to work on it.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Secondly I reiterate what I had asked in my last email:</div>
<div><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2"></font> </div>
<div>I want to have a display like:
<div> </div>
<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.eicinformation.org/data/sampledata.asp?id=2" target="_blank">http://www.eicinformation.org/data/sampledata.asp?id=2</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Is it possible on GRASS?? If at all it is not possible on a web page, can I reproduce a similar map on my desktop, linking the data with SQL or even by using the existing postgreSQL?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thanks for all your help and patience once again.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>regards</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Abhinav</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div></div></div></blockquote></div><br>