[GRASS5] Next generation GRASS UI discussion summary

[Michael Barton]

I put together the many posts from the recent discussion about the direction
GRASS should go with respect to its user interface. I¹ve posted the details
on my website at <http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_ui>. I
tried to summarize the feature discussion (separate from the platform
discussion) in the file named distillation. Here is an Œexecutive summary¹
of that distillation. Happy holidays.

Michael

Windows and Monitors: Multiple monitors are preferred. User should be able
to hide/dock unused monitors. Layer settings should be linked with monitor
(i.e., each monitor can have its own layers and settings). One idea is to
have pages and frames. Frames would contain maps or other information and
could be arranged on pages. This like layouts in other GIS's.

3D: Integrated, seamless 3D has very strong support. OpenGL seems to be the
most likely platform. VTK libraries mentioned. OpenGL is not without issues,
however. It still may have problems on some platforms. But some question
whether this is this really still an issue now? There is some sentiment for
making OpenGL optional if possible (But can GRASS be compiled without it
today?)

Controls/Tools: Basic, interactive display functions (zooming, panning,
mouse query, etc.) should be integrated into GUI. Check Thuban for example.
Controls should be efficient (e.g., single button for zoom in and out like
in graphics programs). Drop-down tools might be necessary for some
functions. But output modules like d.rast should still have CLI equivalents.

Layers: Keep layer tree. New layer should go above selected layer. Should be
able to cut/copy/paste multiple layers and groups. No comments on
auto-redraw. Make it an option?

Menus: Separate help menu. Menus should not display too much at one time.
May want to rethink organization.

Functionality: Better thematic cartography. Better digitizing and
georeferencing. Many want  GUI for attribute table management. SQLite OK if
it helps with this. WYSIWYG output wanted, but may not need as many formats
as suggested. Customization desirable for GUI.

CLI: We must keep the CLI. The CLI should integrate with GUI so that it's
easy to go from one to the other (e.g., GUI produces commands in a CLI
window that can be edited and run from the same window). The GUI should help
people learn the CLI if they want to do so. Scripting remains essential.

__________________________________________
Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology
School of Human Evolution and Social Change
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-2402

phone: 480-965-6213
fax: 480-965-7671
www: http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton


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