[GRASS-dev] startup

[Michael Barton]

I think tooltips, info buttons, and popup message dialogs are a good idea.
The problem is that the TclTk code for the startup screen is perhaps a
decade old and very primitive (at least from my perspective). It doesn't
permit tooltips and new buttons are hard to add, especially formatted to
look nice, be in the right place (next to or below titles, for example), and
not take up an inordinate amount of room.

The intro needs to be rewritten from scratch, with bwidgets added so that
tooltips can be done and the code updated to make it look and function
better. I've started messing with it a couple of times and realized what a
chore it is and dropped it because of other more pressing concerns. After
repeatedly having to explain what was needed to just start GRASS, however, I
finally settled for spiffing up the existing screen as much as possible. But
I'm starting to run short on time as the summer comes to a close, and don't
know whether it's worth the investment to rewrite it from the ground up.

However, if someone wants to take a crack at it...

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

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


> From: Helena Mitasova <hmitaso at unity.ncsu.edu>
> Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 13:09:32 -0400
> To: GRASS developers list <grass-dev at grass.itc.it>
> Subject: Re: [GRASS-dev] startup
> 
> Paul,
> 
> you are right - I forgot about that text - it is a pretty good, brief
> description
> polished by years of use. Maybe it could be added like this
> 
> Project Location
> button ( named e.g. "info", "what it is", or something like that)
> 
> and when you click on it - the text from the old interface could pop up
> in a separate
> window if it is possible to do in TclTK, it can even be a more detailed
> description
> if needed.
> I too find the new wording somewhat confusing, that is why I asked Markus
> to post it for more feedback (it may be just me).
> 
> But there may be new users who have a completely different opinion so it
> would be good
> to hear from them.
> 
> Helena
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Paul Kelly wrote:
>> Hello everyone
>> To be honest I think the wording still confuses things a little.
>> Simply because it takes more than 2 or 3 words to explain the concepts
>> of location, mapset, region, co-ordinate system and GIS database.
>> Perhaps better to have minimal wording in the start-up screen and a
>> more detailed explanation in tool-tip help?
>> 
>> When I started using GRASS I hated how complicated it all was and how
>> much
>> it made me think about my data and co-ordinate systems but now I
>> really appreciate that---because a thorough understanding of
>> locations, regions etc. is essential to ensuring you get meaningful
>> results out of your GIS analyses.
>> 
>> FWIW I don't think the text in the text-based start-up screen is too
>> bad. Here is my slightly improved version of it:
>> 
>> LOCATION: This is the name of a geographic location. It is defined by a
>> co-ordinate system and a rectangular boundary. -spearfish- is
>> the sample LOCATION provided with GRASS.
>> 
>> MAPSET: Every GRASS session runs under a particular MAPSET. Associated
>> with each MAPSET is a rectangular REGION and a set of maps.
>> 
>> DATABASE: This is the unix directory containing all the GRASS locations.
>> 
>> The REGION defaults to the entire area of the chosen LOCATION.
>> You may change it later with the command: g.region
>> 
>> 
>> Paul
>> 
>> On Mon, 31 Jul 2006, Markus Neteler wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> Michael has made updates to the startup screen.
>>> The current state of the entrance screen can be seen
>>> here:
>>> http://mpa.itc.it/markus/tmp/new_grass61_startup_2.jpg
>>> (also valid for the release branch).
>>> 
>>> Please comment on further modifications.
>>> 
>>> Markus
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> grass-dev mailing list
>>> grass-dev at grass.itc.it
>>> http://grass.itc.it/mailman/listinfo/grass-dev
>>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> grass-dev mailing list
>> grass-dev at grass.itc.it
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Helena Mitasova
> Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
> North Carolina State University
> 1125 Jordan Hall
> NCSU Box 8208
> Raleigh, NC 27695-8208
> http://skagit.meas.ncsu.edu/~helena/
> 
> email: hmitaso at unity.ncsu.edu
> ph: 919-513-1327 (no voicemail)
> fax 919 515-7802
> 
>