[GRASSLIST:12] Re: New GIS Manager adds transparency to layers

Sat Mar 11 11:44:23 EST 2006

Something similar has just been reported on some lab computers running GRASS
under Cygwin. Maybe it's a different issue, though because it only happened
with a version of init.sh that automatically runs gism2. It seems to run OK
if launched manually.

Your GRASS in a non-standard location might be an issue. I'm not sure where
the working directory error comes from. Is it a TclTk error (buttons run,
cancel, details) or another kind of error (xwindows, bash, etc..)?

The GIS Manager display works by creating PPM files in a temp directory
within your working GRASS mapset--set by g.tempfile. If you don't have
access to such a .tmp directory, you will have problems.

Let me know if any of these gives you a clue to what is wrong.

Michael

On 3/10/06 7:22 PM, "Thomas Adams" <Thomas.Adams at noaa.gov> wrote:

> Michael,
> 
> I have installed the GRASS 6.1 CVS release dated 2006_03_04
> 
> and followed your instructions in the README in
> _http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_gismgr/
> <http://www.public.asu.edu/%7Ecmbarton/files/grass_gismgr/>_gism_rc4_20060307.
> tgz.
> 
> First off, the installation using the old d.m works fine ‹ no errors.
> When I try the new gis.m, the interface tries to come up, but it stalls
> with an error Dialog that reads "Error getting working directory name:
> no such file or directory". If I select the Error Dialog 'OK' button,
> the GIS manager completes its startup. However, if I select a raster map
> to display and click on the refresh button (labeled: "Display active
> layers in the current region") in the "Map Display 1" window, I get the
> same Error Dialog as I got when I first started up the new GIS Manager
> (gis.m). Also, from the time of the startup of the GIS Manager, the
> 'status indicator' in the lower left of the "Map Display 1" window
> shows: "please wait..." ‹ this never goes away.
> 
> Interestingly, if I select the NVIZ button, there is no problem
> displaying the raster I selected; so, NVIZ seems OK, but the raster map
> will never display in 2-D in the "Map Display 1" windowŠ
> 
> Also, when I try to use the Init.sh file from gism_rc4_20060307.tgz, I
> get shared library problems: "libgrass_gis.so cannot open shared object
> file: No such file or directory" ‹ even though the library is in the
> GRASS lib directory. I should mention that due to system constraints,
> the entire GRASS distribution and other libraries (GDAL, PROJ, etc.) are
> in a non-standard location.
> 
> A final question: should I be using the gis.m file from
> gism_rc4_20060307.tgz? I have tried both with and withoutŠ
> 
> I'm running on a Redhat Linux system, FWIWŠ
> 
> Tom
> 
> Michael Barton wrote:
>> I¹ve just finished phase 2 of the GIS Manager update and it¹s pretty
>> exciting. At first glance, it looks a lot like the one I¹ve been
>> working on and have in the CVS now, but with a couple of important
>> exceptions. One is that transparency is now supported for all GRASS
>> layers.
>> 
>> The second will probably generate the most discussion, so I¹m ready to
>> duck and run for cover. Now GRASS is consistent with other GIS
>> programs and more intuitive (as much as I am skeptical about that
>> term) in that the uppermost layer in the layer tree is also the top
>> map in the display. Related to this, new layers insert directly above
>> the currently selected layer instead of at the bottom of the layer tree.
>> 
>> The main changes come Œunder the hood¹ of this version of the GIS
>> Manager. It uses g.pnmcomp to composite a set of maps (each rendered
>> as *.PPM files) into a visual display. One of the results is that now
>> GRASS is significantly faster in adding new layers, turning layers on
>> and off, and changing layer attributes‹only the new or changed layer
>> needs to be rendered; the others will just be re-composited into a
>> display from existing PPM files. This all happens in a GRASS .tmp
>> directory, so that it doesn¹t clutter up your home directories. The
>> other important thing about this new architecture is that it makes
>> GRASS even less dependent on the xdriver and PNGdriver for
>> visualization. GRASS can become more easily portable to different OS¹s
>> and GUI frameworks. It is also more scriptable. You can write a script
>> that will create a complete, multilayered map, and output it to a
>> graphics file.
>> 
>> One consequencer of this new architecture is that the GIS Manager does
>> not currently support display output to PNG files. With GDAL (required
>> for many GRASS features) and ghostscript installed, it does support
>> output to PPM/PNM, TIF, JPG, BMP, EPS, and PDF.
>> 
>> Command line usage is still supported in several ways‹the old
>> xterminal is still there, there is the new command console, and you
>> can add command layers to the layer tree and display them.
>> 
>> You can see a screen shot of semi-transparent soil vector areas
>> overlaying a raster shaded relief map at
>> 
>> _http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_screenshots/gism2-2.jpg
>> <http://www.public.asu.edu/%7Ecmbarton/files/grass_screenshots/gism2-2.jpg>
>> _
>> I¹ve committed all changes to the CVS. For those of you with binary
>> versions of GRASS who would like to try it, I¹ve posted packages you
>> can use to replace your current GIS Manager on my website. For full
>> functionality, you need a version of grass that is dated
>> 21-February-2006 or later. For those of you with a slightly earlier
>> version, I made a second package with all functionality minus
>> transparency. Here are the links.
>> 
>> New GIS Manager files
>> 
>> <_http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_gismgr/
>> <http://www.public.asu.edu/%7Ecmbarton/files/grass_gismgr/>_gism_rc4_20060307
>> .tgz>
>> 
>> New GIS Manager files for people with recent, but pre-21 February 2006
>> binaries.
>> 
>> <_http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton/files/grass_gismgr/
>> <http://www.public.asu.edu/%7Ecmbarton/files/grass_gismgr/>_gism_rc4_20060307
>> pre_02-21.tgz>
>> 
>> Enjoy
>> Michael
>> 
>> ______________________________
>> Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology
>> School of Human Evolution and Social Change
>> Arizona State University
>> Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
>> USA
>> 
>> voice: 480-965-6262; fax: 480-965-7671
>> www: http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton
>> <http://www.public.asu.edu/%7Ecmbarton>
> 

___________________________
Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology
School of Human Evolution & Social Change
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ  85287

WWW - http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton
Phone: 480-965-6262
Fax: 480-965-7671