[GRASS5] g51 v.digit

[Radim Blazek]

On Thursday 10 October 2002 11:32 pm, Glynn Clements wrote:
> A monolithic application would be much more usable, but also more
> limited (and potentially much more fragile). So, we're basically
> looking for a UI with plug-ins. However, that's easier said than done;
> designing a decent interface for interactive modules is *much* harder
> than for "fire-and-forget" commands.

> The last thing that anyone should be doing in that area is coding.
> That's how we got into this mess in the first place; too much of
> GRASS' code was written without any consideration as to how it fits
> into the whole.

But without coding we will never move forward. For years, reading
grass mailing list, I can see from time to time long discussions
about GUI for grass. Problem is that nobody started coding. 

> A large part of the problem is that this isn't just a matter of
> getting enough manpower. The problem is that the result needs to be
> suitable for the purposes to which it will be put, and that requires
> input from the people who are likely to make use of it.

> And that takes time; the design will likely need to go through many
> iterations of putting ideas on the table, getting feedback and
> refining the ideas.

Do you believe we can go through this without coding? Are user here GRASS 
users or programmers of UI plugins?

> In the meantime, we are likely to be stuck with a situation where
> highly interactive tasks (e.g. digitising) require dedicated
> applications. Given that,, I'm asking that people (in this instance,
> Radim) choose a better UI framework than R_get_location_with_*().

OK, what is that better framework? And, I cannot call some theoretical
framework functions. Currently nothing better than R_get_location_with_* 
exists in GRASS, until somebody can give me something I have to use it.

But BTW, I don't think that most of code in v.digit will be related to UI.
If I want to break a line for example, I need to get one point from UI, but 
then I have to rewrite lines, update topology status (not topology) of lines 
and appropriately display. That is much more code and that is what I am 
working on. I added GUI just because old text based interface is terribly 
uneffective even for debugging.

BTW2, I need v.digit because it will be the best way to test/debug 
level2 update in vector library. New GUI for GRASS (or v.digit) is not my 
primal aim. That I left for others.

Radim