[GRASS5] The status of 5.0

[rgrmill at rt66.com]

Glynn wrote:

> But I don't see how this helps scripts.

It doesn't, but apparently I haven't used any of the scripts that need 
help.  As you say, perhaps the best solution is to rewrite the scripts 
to evaluate the output from g.gisenv.

> For C programs, switching mapsets/locations should just be a matter 
of
> modifying the appropriate variable in $GISRC.

Yes you can do that if you want to; if you want to remember the settings 
each time you change locations and if you only want to use one gis 
environment at a time.  I prefer to give the user easier access.  The 
manager allows users to maintain different gis environments associated 
with different monitors at the same time and to switch back and forth 
between them, to add new ones and to remove old ones.  It also allows 
users to display multiple geographic windows within each gis 
environment.  

I expect that as GRASS evolves it will be desirable to expand the number 
of resources stored in $GISRC or elsewhere.  In particular, I'd love to 
see the default vector color and default screen background stored in 
$GISRC. As the amount of information expands the task of switching 
environments becomes more difficult.


Roger Miller