sample dataset including plug-ins (=> was: Re: [Qgis-user] Announcing "Time Manager" Plugin v 0.1)

Tue Oct 5 13:26:45 PDT 2010

Hello!

This sounds very interesting, but the devil is in the details, I suppose. For 
example, you can't just "deliver" a PostGIS database. This needs further 
explaination and this explaination may vary for different platforms. So the 
experience will definitly not be like what you described.

As far as I know, there is some kind of demonstrational show for R modules. 
Maybe you can script something like that. This would bear an advantage, as it 
could serve as an example for users interested in scripting.

I also think it burdens the plugin developers, since they have to take care of 
an up-to-date demonstrational dataset as well. You might have to inform the 
user to download new versions of the sample-datasets, as the functionality of 
a plugin changes or develops. I therefore think it won't work as a package on 
most Linux distributions, since most maintainers wouldn't update it as often 
as necessary.

Volker

Am Dienstag 05 Oktober 2010, 04:34:43 schrieb Noli Sicad:
> Hi Pierre,
> 
> This is very good idea.
> 
> I myself don't deal with raster data at this moment, hence, all those
> plugins dealing with raster is no use to me at this moment.
> 
> (Cross posted to Qgis developer)
> 
> Let see the developers feedbacks on your suggestions.
> 
> Noli
> 
> On 10/5/10, Pierre Chevalier Géologue <pierrechevaliergeol at free.fr> wrote:
> > Hello,
> > 
> > I start another thread, based on the discussion about time manager
> > dataset.
> > 
> > Noli Sicad claviota:
> >> Very good point. Probably you can have 2 versions with data and
> >> without data. I suggest that probably you can put a link, a button to
> >> get the sample data in one of the plugin widgets. These are all
> >> suggestions to improve usabilities of the qgis plugins in general.
> > 
> > Yes, I plussoie beaucoup. I agree, in a more proper language.
> > 
> >> Some of QGIS plugins are hard to figure out if you don't have a properly
> >> data to work on. And most of the users, have no real use of the plugin
> >> at the time the plugin is announced and just like to see how it works.
> > 
> > Yes. And this is particularly true in GIS software.
> > If you look at R, for instance, they provide datasets that can be
> > accessed so simply. It is excellent, because you are able to *really*
> > play with data in a matter of seconds, literally.
> > 
> > For instance, in R, all you have to do is:
> >     contour(10 * (1:nrow(2 * volcano)), 10 * (1:ncol(2 * volcano)), 1.5
> > 
> > * volcano, pretty(range(volcano)))
> > 
> > To get, in ONE line, a contour map from a volcano in New Zealand.
> > 
> > Similarly, to get a perspective view of the same data:
> >     persp(10 * (1:nrow(2 * volcano)), 10 * (1:ncol(2 * volcano)), 1.5 *
> > 
> > volcano, theta = 140, phi = 30, scale = FALSE, axes = FALSE, shade =
> > 0.5, border = NA)
> > 
> > 
> > In fact, the variable 'volcano' seems to directly contain a whole
> > dataset. No need to do any file/open or anything.
> > 
> > Another example with another dataset provided with R, 'iris':
> >     pairs(iris[1:4], main="Edgar Anderson's Iris Data", pch=21,bg =
> > 
> > c("red", "green3", "blue")[unclass(iris$Species)])
> > 
> > 
> > In my humble opinion, this solution is extremely effective, from the
> > end-user-beginner point of view.
> > Now, back to qgis: there is already the Alaska dataset, also the grass
> > spearfish dataset.
> > 
> > 
> > I would be in favour of compiling a "state-of-the-art" complete dataset,
> > so that users can play immediately with it, and get a good feeling about
> > softwares. Not only plug-ins, but the whole thing. This could be a sort
> > of standard, a base on which any GIS newbie could rely on to make his
> > own dataset: just erase all example data, and fill with your own, and
> > you're up and running.
> > 
> > Such a dataset has, of course, to be free (freedom), it may have data
> > 
> > such as:
> >     - an srtm dem,
> >     - a topo map,
> >     - gpx data,
> >     - satellite imagery
> >     - a scanned geological map (sorry, "je prêche pour ma paroisse"
> >     
> >                                                            => if someone
> > 
> > knows the English
> > 
> > translation, go on and translate ;)
> > 
> >                                                ),
> >     
> >     - a scanned pedological map,
> >     - a set of pictures taken from the ground, geotagged,
> >     - buildings as vectors,
> >     - roads as vectors,
> >     - "field occupation" (occupation du sol, in French: not sure about
> > 
> > translation) as vectors,
> > 
> >     - a postgis database,
> >     - an sqlite database,
> >     - a mysql (forgot about postgis equivalent, sorry) database,
> >     - a whole grass dataset,
> >     - etc, etc. (unlimited)
> > 
> > Then, any plug-in developer should add to this dataset some sample data.
> > 
> > I think such a sample dataset should be:
> >     - well-structured (state of the art => so that the GIS newbies can
> > 
> > inherit from the experience/errors from senior users),
> > 
> >     - small, in terms of size: this way, when a user tries some features,
> >     
> >        it doesn't run for hours or colonize the whole user's RAM,
> >     
> >     - available separately from the software itself (regarding issues
> > 
> > mentioned during the initial discussion); if it was for instance a linux
> > package, it could be something like qgis-sample-data.
> > 
> > 
> > The "spearfish" dataset could well be a base for such an exercise. Or
> > Alaska.
> > Or anything else. There was a "Doncaster" totally fake dataset, provided
> > with GDM (geological package): it was invented, by mixing different data
> > from various places, mangling data.
> > 
> >> I hope if it will be in python plugin repository soon. I just like to
> >> try it.
> > 
> > If such a solution was adopted, then every plugin developer should add
> > relevant data in the sample data set. Or, maybe, publish on the
> > repository a small dataset, which would make the complement of the
> > existing whole dataset?
> > 
> > Your opinions? Silly ideas? Utopia?...
> > 
> > A+
> > Pierre
> > 
> > --
> > _________________________________________________________________________
> > ___ Pierre Chevalier Géologue EI
> > 
> >      Mesté Duran
> >      32100 Condom
> >    
> >    Tél+fax  :    09 75 27 45 62
> >    
> >                  05 62 28 06 83
> > 		
> > 		06 37 80 33 64
> > 		
> >    Émail  :   pierrechevaliergeolCHEZfree.fr
> >    icq#   :   10432285
> >    skype  :   pierre.chevalier1967
> >    http://pierremariechevalier.free.fr/pierre_chevalier_geologue
> > 
> > _________________________________________________________________________
> > ___
> 
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