[PROJ] PROJ 6.0.0RC1

[Kristian Evers]

All,

I have prepared a release candidate of PROJ 6.0.0. See the release notes below.

Download it here:

https://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-6.0.0RC1.tar.gz (https://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-6.0.0RC1.tar.gz.md5)
https://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-6.0.0RC1.zip (https://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-6.0.0RC1.zip.md5)


In addition to the new PROJ release we are also updating the regional datumgrid
packages covering Europe and North America. Download the release candidates here:

Europe:
https://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-datumgrid-europe-1.2RC1.tar.gz
https://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-datumgrid-europe-1.2RC1.zip

Changes include: Grids covering the UK, France and Sweden.

North America:
https://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-datumgrid-north-america-1.1RC1.zip
https://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-datumgrid-north-america-1.2RC1.tar.gz

Changes include: NAD83 -> NAD83(HPGN) grids and GEOIDB12 grids.


I am aiming for a March 1st final release for both the PROJ source distribution
and the two datumgrid packages. Please test the release candidates
where ever you depend on them and report back your findings.

/Kristian


6.0.0 Release Notes
-------------------

PROJ 6 has undergone extensive changes to increase its functional scope from a
cartographic projection engine with so-called "early-binding" geodetic datum
transformation capabilities to a more complete library supporting coordinate
transformations and coordinate reference systems.

As a foundation for other enhancements, PROJ now includes a C++ implementation
of the modelisation propopsed by the ISO-19111:2019 standard / OGC Abstract
Specification Topic 2: "Referencing By Coordinates", for geodetic reference
frames (datums), coordinate reference systems and coordinate operations.
Construction and query of those geodetic objects is available through a new C++
API, and also accessible for the most part from bindings in the C API.

Those geodetic objects can be imported and exported from and into the OGC
Well-Known Text format (WKT) in its different variants: ESRI WKT, GDAL WKT 1,
WKT2:2015 (ISO 19162:2015) and WKT2:2018 (ISO 19162:2018). Import and export of
CRS objects from and into PROJ strings is also supported. This functionality
was previously available in the GDAL software library (except WKT2 support
which is a new feature), and is now an integral part of PROJ.

A unified database of geodetic objects, coordinate reference systems and their
metadata, and coordinate operations between those CRS is now available in a
SQLite3 database file, proj.db. This includes definitions imported from the
IOGP EPSG dataset (v9.5.5 release), the IGNF (French national mapping agency)
geodetic registry and the ESRI projection engine database. PROJ is now the
reference software in the "OSGeo C stack" for this CRS and coordinate operation
database, whereas previously this functionality was spread over PROJ, GDAL and
libgeotiff, and used CSV or other adhoc text-based formats.

Late-binding coordinate operation capabilities, that takes  metadata such as
area of use and accuracy into account, has been added. This can avoid in a
number of situations the past requirement of using WGS84 as a pivot system,
which could cause unneeded accuracy loss, or was not doable at all sometimes
when transformation to WGS84 was not available. Those late-binding capabilities
are now used by the proj_create_crs_to_crs() function and the cs2cs utility.

A new command line utility, projinfo, has been added to query information about
a geodetic object of the database, import and export geodetic objects from/into
WKT and PROJ strings, and display coordinate operations available between two
CRSs.

 UPDATES
 -------

 o Removed projects.h as a public interface (#835)

 o Deprecated the proj_api.h interface. The header file is still available
   but will be removed with the next major version release of PROJ. It is
   now required to define ACCEPT_USE_OF_DEPRECATED_PROJ_API_H before the
   interface can be used (#836)

 o Removed support for the nmake build system (#838)

 o Removed support for the proj_def.dat defaults file (#201)

 o C++11 required for building PROJ (#1203)

 o Added build dependency on SQLite 3.7 (#1175)

 o Added projinfo command line application (#1189)

 o Added many functions to proj.h for handling ISO19111 functionality (#1175)

 o Added C++ API exposing ISO19111 functionality (#1175)

 o Updated cs2cs to use late-binding features (#1182)

 o Removed the nad2bin application. Now available in the proj-datumgrid
   git repository (#1236)

 o Removed support for Chebyshev polynomials in proj (#1226)

 o Removed proj_geocentric_latitude from proj.h API (#1170)

 o Changed behaviour of proj: Now only allow initialization of
   projections (#1162)

 o Changed behaviour of tmerc: Now default to the Extended Transverse
   Mercator algorithm (etmerc). Old implementation available by adding
   +approx (#404)

 o Chaged behaviour: Default ellipsoid now set to GRS80 (was WGS84) (#1210)

 o Allow multiple directories in PROJ_LIB environment variable (#1281)

 o Added Lambert Conic Conformal (2SP Michigan) projection (#1142)

 o Added Bertin1953 projection (#1133)

 o Added Tobler-Mercator projection (#1153)

 o Added Molodensky-Badekas transform (#1160)

 o Added push and pop coordinate operations (#1250)

 o Removed +t_obs parameter from helmert and deformation (#1264)

 o Added +dt parameter to deformation as replacement for
   removed +t_obs (#1264)

 BUG FIXES
 ---------

 o Read +towgs84 values correctly on locales not using dot as comma separator (#1136)

 o Fixed file offset for reading of shift values in NTv1 files (#1144)

 o Avoid problems with PTHREAD_MUTEX_RECURSIVE when using CMake (#1158)

 o Avoid raising errors when setting ellipsoid flattening to zero (#1191)

 o Fixed lower square calculations in rHealpix projection (#1206)

 o Allow Molodensky transform parameters to be zero (#1194)

 o Fixed wrong parameter in ITRF2000 init file (#1240)

 o Fixed use of grid paths including spaces (#1152)

 THANKS TO
 ------------

 Version 6.0.0 is made possible by the following contributors:

 Aaron Puchert
 Phil Elson
 Mateusz Łoskot
 Markus Neteler
 Jürgen Fischer
 Howard Butler
 Charles Karney
 Alan D. Snow
 Marco Bernasocchi
 Karoline Skaar
 Ben Boeckel
 Ivan Veselov
 Mike Taves
 Philippe Rivière
 Elliott Sales de Andrade
 Kai Pastor
 Kristian Evers
 Even Rouault