[GRASS-dev] Network Analysis

[Daniel Bundala]

Hello everyone,

during the past few months I worked on a Google Summer of Code project
to extend GRASS network functionality. I sent a final summary report
to OSGeo GSoC mailing list. Since there are people not subscribed to
that mailing list who might be interested in the project, I was asked
to sent the report to this list and stress the paragraph on inclusion
into the main GRASS....




The goal of my project, which I have successfully accomplished, was to
implement modules for network analysis. This includes basic methods
such as: strongly and weakly connected components, minimum spanning
trees, bridges and articulation points as well as more complicated and
advanced tools for calculating maximum flow, minimum cut or
k-connectivity in a network. There is also a bunch of modules finding
shortest paths in a network. One module computes all-pairs shortest
paths, another finds the shortest paths between nodes and a given set
of features and, finally, there is a module that finds fastest paths
using timetables.
All module follow standard GRASS conventions. This holds both for the
code and user interface. I also tried to make the modules as flexible
as possible -- each of them accepts a wide range of parameters, which
can alter the behaviour. Moreover, the algorithms are separated from
the modules and stored in a library. An effect of this is that the
modules are mostly straightforward (only exception is v.net.timetable)
and consist only of reading the input, calling a few library functions
and writing an appropriate output. Another advantage of this approach
is that the “core functionality” can be reused in other modules. Much
more about the modules (a lot of pictures and link to code) can be
found at mi wiki: http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/GSoC_Network_Analysis.

I have learnt a lot about GRASS and its vector architecture however
this was my second summer working on vector modules. This was the
first time I really had to work with attributes data and so I have
learnt a lot about the data management. At the beginning, I found the
system with many layers and multiple categories a bit complicated but
in the process of developing the modules I have discovered its
expressiveness and enormous power.

At the moment, my code is stored in add-ons repository. I already know
about several people using the modules for their work and I hope that
the modules will eventually be integrated into the main distribution
and bring eternal joy to all GRASS users.

Finally, I want to thank my mentor (Wolf Bergenheim), OSGEO project
coordinator (Wolf Bergenheim) and the whole GRASS, OSGeo and Google
Summer of Code community for support, T-shirts and for doing a
wonderful job! Thanks!
Daniel