[GRASS5] Proposal for GRASS UI roadmap

[Glynn Clements]

Michael Barton wrote:

> ***2D and 3D visualization:
> 2D and nD visualization should be seamlessly integrated. The "normal" view
> would be 2D like current x displays and standard GIS. Clicking a 3D (nviz)
> button would open a floating window with 3D controls (like in nviz now) but
> not a new display window. This would allow user to tilt, rotate, change z,
> visually separate layers, etc. It would work with the same layers shown in
> 2D mode, but would simply display them in 2.5D or 3D. Nviz would not be a
> separate module, opening a separate display window and separate layer
> control panel; it would simply display any active layers in 3D "mode".

Making OpenGL a mandatory requirement could be problematic, i.e. it
could result in a significant proportion of potential users being
unable to use GRASS.

> DISPLAY CONTROL GUI AKA GIS MANAGER
> 
> We should keep single display control (like current GIS Manager). distinct
> from the  display window(s). This allows for multiple display windows to be
> controlled from single interface. Display "commands" should be integrated
> into display control interface; there would be no separate d.* command
> modules. That is, the display control system should be able to directly draw
> graphics to a display window, without going through intermediate, stand
> alone programs. We need to rethink how these would best be implemented
> (e.g., should we combine thematic vector and chart display functions?)
> Display functions should still be scriptable as in nviz and d.m, just not
> independent "commands". It should be possible to run a display script from
> the command line to automate mapping.

The main problems with monolithic applications are reliability and
memory leaks. Having d.rast crash is less serious than having your
monolithic application crash.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn at gclements.plus.com>