[GRASS-dev] GRASS & QGIS: the future

[Radim Blazek]

On Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 10:09 AM, Paolo Cavallini <cavallini at faunalia.it> wrote:
>> The Processing plugin may substitute "GRASS Tools" part of the plugin
>> (i.e. modules GUI), it cannot help  with:
>>   - mapset creation
>>   - vector/raster maps visualization
>>   - vector digitizing
>>   - region visualization and editing
>> The Processing plugin is good for users who don't want to use GRASS
>> data format at all. The GRASS plugin is GRASS GUI alternative for true
>> GRASS users.
>
> Yes, got it. The question is: what is the real advantage to use grass
> alone, instead of jointly with other tols in Processing?

I am not even trying to ask that question. As long as there are GRASS
users using the QGIS plugin, it should not be thrown away.

> I see two major ones:
> * Processing is blocking the main QGIS canvas, which for very long
> analyses is unacceptable
> * import-export overhead is a serious issue for complex vectors.

There is the GRASS Direct lib which allows GRASS raster modules to
read/write data through QGIS providers. I is currently disabled, needs
some fixes but it was mostly working. If fixed, it can be easily used
in Processing, I think.

Radim