[GRASS-user] [Fwd: [OSGeo-Discuss] Can I do the same GIS tasks with OS (as with ESRI)?]

[Hamish]

Wolf:
> > Arc is perhaps a bit stronger on the cartography side of things, but 
> > with a bit of patience you can produce nice maps with GRASS.

John wrote:
> Where GRASS fails relative to ESRI products is in cartographic map  
> output. Others may differ with my view, but creating high-quality map  
> outputs in GRASS is non-trivial.

Yes, you are right, it is non-trivial -- but is possible! :) We had hoped
to fund a student to write a wxPython GUI frontend for ps.map as part of
this year's Google Summer of Code, but were only given 3 slots to work
with (and very grateful we are to have those 3). Competition for those
slots was very tight and we had to say no to some very nice proposals.
It's an important component that I hope is ready for GRASS 6.4.  For
GRASS 7 we will be less constrained by the old code to improve the
PostScript, PNG, and Cairo drivers for a more integrated hardcopy output
approach.

http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/GRASS_SoC_Ideas#Cartography
http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/WxPython-based_GUI_for_GRASS#GUI_for_ps.map

I find that by sitting down with a hand calculator (1"=72pt) and keeping
the ps.map reference guide handy you can get publish-quality results.
Maybe that still takes longer than it should, and the jumping between %
and inches is a bit awkward, but the results make the trouble worth it
IMO. If you have many maps to produce from a single template or in an
automated way, then ps.map is very hard to beat.


> I have started using Mapserver to create my cartographic maps.

some ideas here; additional hints are always welcome:
  http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/GRASS_and_MapServer

> Generic Mapping Tools is another option, but one that I have found to
> be more challenging than using a Mapserver mapfile.

ditto:
  http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/GRASS_and_GMT

GMT will be similar to ps.map in that it is based on scripts and text
file configurations. Perhaps it is just my exposure level, but personally
I find ps.map to be less cryptic. (shrug)


Jennifer wrote:
> > I have been a long-time user of ESRI products, but I want to start my
> > own contract business and will not be able to afford the license for
> > ArcGIS/ArcInfo. So I recently set up a Linux box with GRASS
> > installed, but it has been over 10 years since I have used GRASS
> > (it has probably changed since then too!)

A nice thing about this stuff is since it didn't cost you anything it
doesn't have to be a one or the other approach- you can evaluate to see
if it suits your needs without risk. Once you are past that stage you can
use the best tool for the job as needed. But with us the toolboxes come
standard, provide similar functionality, and are free. :) Meaning you can
put more cash towards salaries.

> > Does GRASS have the same analysis and display capabilities as  
> > ArcGIS?

That is hard to answer, they are both huge & complicated bits of
software, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Some tasks will
be more clunky (but generally possible), and other parts of it you won't
know how you lived without.

I'll leave it to others more qualified than myself to answer that more
clearly, but these pages may help:

http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/GRASS_migration_hints
http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/Tips_for_Arc_users
http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/GIS_to_GRASS_command_translation



Hamish





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