[osgeo4w-dev] JGrass in the OSGeo4W

[andrea antonello]

Hi Frank,

[...]
>  This would be great, though as our first step in the Java direction I'm
>  sure there will be some packaging challenges with regard to Java.
>
>  I think it is sufficient to add this to the wiki and start discussions
>  of how the packaging will work.
>
>  In particular I wonder if we provide our own Java, or try to work with the
>  system Java, or perhaps we try to bridge these options?
>
>  My inclination (as always) is to provide our own Java so we can ensure it
>  is the right version for our needs, and includes all the required packages
>  (ie. getting JAI has always been a hassle for me!).

Yes, that is the same I would/want/must do, jai and java3d (and any
other extention) really need to be in the proper versions.
I'm not sure, but this could be a problem for different products using
java, since for example the uDig derivates take the jre if it is
inside the install folder, else they search for the JAVA_HOME, which
can be any installation on the system (usually jai-less) or none.
Not sure if it would be possible to place a version of java somewhere
and create links in the needed places.

>  Are you familiar with how Java installs should work on windows?   Can we
>  just install Java under OSGeo4W somewhere, and put the java interpreter
>  in C:\OSGeo4W\bin?

The jre has to keep its structure in order to have the libs in the
right place. For windows this will mean a bin at same level as the lib
folder. I will have to try that out however. I will in any case have
to read through all the docu here to see how things were already done.

>  I will suggest that a uDig/JGRass package will likely be a sort of
>  culmination of steps.  First we need to package Java, then perhaps geotools
>  and uDig.  Then JGrass.  I'd add I'm interested in offering Java bindings
>  for MapServer and GDAL.

What would the purpose of geotools be in that case? A library ship?
Udig already ships with a geotools pack inside its libraries, even if
that is never the most advanced.
JGrass is basically an extention of uDig, but I'm not sure how this
later packaging should be done. Anyways, JGrass is pretty unstable
these days, so I agree with your proposal. I will have to talk to the
Refractions guys however, since they are the real lead of uDig, so
probably they would want to do this.

Regards,
Andrea





>
>  Best regards,
>  --
>  ---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
>  I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
>  light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
>  and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org
>
>