[GRASS-dev] [bug #4960] (grass) gis.m has menu entries for nonexisting modules

[Michael Barton]

Maciek,

What goes into the menu at the moment is what is a standard, complete (not
minimal) GRASS installation, AFAICT. I try to leave out things that are not
normally compiled and modules that require the installation of a separate
program that does not come with GRASS (I used to leave out r.out.gdal, for
example, but GDAL is now a required dependency and it is on the menu).
However, this does not account for someone who compiles GRASS and decides
not to include some module. Nor can it easily do so. Also, other people
besides me also add to the menu occasionally, and I may miss what is a
standard, complete install--especially given the rapidly changing state of
the program. 

A new program to autogenerate a menu based on what a user decides to compile
is a new feature; its lack is not a bug. In fact, it is more accurate to
treat the missing feature as a bug than the non-functional menu item for it.
Unless someone else writes a program to automatically generate a
menu--probably requiring significant reorganization of the menu system--it
is not going to happen anytime soon. In the long run, it's worthwhile to
have such a system to better keep up with GRASS development. But probably it
won't really be feasible to consider such a system until the switch to a new
GUI development platform, like wxPython, where GUI descriptors and menus can
be stored in XML format. I also agree with the sentiment of Glynn's
comments. There should be a standard GUI for a standard GRASS installation.
I menu item that doesn't do anything signals that the program is not
complete, not that the menu is faulty.

I appreciate your perspective on this. However, there are more than enough
bugs of things that are actually broken to keep us all busy. But that
doesn't mean that we should keep open to ways to improve the program too.

Cheers
Michael 
__________________________________________
Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology
School of Human Evolution & Social Change
Center for Social Dynamics & Complexity
Arizona State University

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



> From: Maciej Sieczka <tutey at o2.pl>
> Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 22:23:26 +0200
> To: Michael Barton <michael.barton at asu.edu>
> Cc: <grass-bugs at intevation.de>, <grass-dev at grass.itc.it>
> Subject: Re: [GRASS-dev] [bug #4960] (grass) gis.m has menu entries for
> nonexisting modules
> 
> Michael Barton napisa?(a):
>> This should be a wish, not a bug.
> 
> No, it shouldn't be a wish only because we don't know how to fix it
> currently.
> 
> All the user knows is that he selects an entry in the gis.m or d.m and
> he gets "command not found" or whatever other error. It is a bug for
> him. For me too.
> 
>> Nice idea to have autogenerated menus. I've floated it a time or two and
>> others have mentioned it too. Maybe someone knows how to do it.
> 
> I'm not trying to be wise ass or whatever. I don't know too. Just let's
> not pretend bugs are not bugs.
> 
> Maciek
> 
>