[Qgis-community-team] How do I do that on QGIS?

[Alister Hood]

Hi again,

> -----Original Message-----
> From: qgis-community-team-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:qgis-
> community-team-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of custard
> Sent: Tuesday, 22 March 2011 3:55 p.m.
> To: Qgis-community-team at lists.osgeo.org
> Subject: Re: [Qgis-community-team] How do I do that on QGIS?
> 
> Hi Alister,
> 
> ----- "Alister Hood" <alister.hood at synergine.com> wrote:
> > Hi Ramon,
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: qgis-community-team-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
> > [mailto:qgis-community-team-
> > > bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Ramon Andinach
> > > Sent: Tuesday, 22 March 2011 12:20 a.m.
> > > To: Qgis-community-team at lists.osgeo.org
> > > Subject: Re: [Qgis-community-team] How do I do that on QGIS?
> > >
> > > Right here goes.
> > >
> > > The "How do I do that in QGIS?" is now up on the wiki.
> > >
> > > It can be reached from the Users Corner, in the HowTos section
> > > (http://www.qgis.org/wiki/Users_Corner#HowTos).
> > >
> > > It can be reached directly here:
> > > http://www.qgis.org/wiki/How_do_I_do_that_in_QGIS
> > >
> > > My intention was to keep it as a direct section for section
> > equivalent
> > for the
> > > "How do I do that in ArcGIS/Manifold?" document, but I can see a
> > suggestion,
> > > and it's a good one, so maybe we shouldn't feel constrained by
> that
> > too much.
> > > Thoughts?
> >
> > Personally I think it would be good to keep the structure in line
> > with the
> > ArcGIS/Manifold document so that they can be compared easily.  As
> > well as
> > potentially helping users coming from or going to ArcGIS or
> Manifold,
> > this could allow users to easily identify:
> > 1) "classic GIS tasks" that aren't yet included in "How do I do that
> > in QGIS?", so they can write them up.  (let's build on the work that
> has
> > already been done by others, instead of trying to come up with a new
> list of
> > essential GIS tasks)
> > 2) functionality that is available in ArcGIS or Manifold but not
> > (yet)
> > in
> > QGIS.  (e.g. for the "sorting tabular data" task, it is not
> currently
> > possible in QGIS to sort by multiple columns)
> 
> I'm glad you say that - it means I didn't miss something obvious.
> 
> > Even if the structure is kept in line with the ArcGIS/Manifold
> > document, we
> > can still add additional tasks.  I'd suggest restricting it to
> > similar "classic GIS tasks", rather than including tutorials for
> > anything and everything - those would be better in a separate list.
> > If you'd like, I can add a short paragraph defining "classic GIS
> > tasks" and
> > explaining the history of the list, so it is clear what the page is
> > about without having to read the ArGIS/Manifold document.
> 
> Yes please. I'd quite appreciate that.

OK, I'd say something like the following paragraph.  It is written kind 
of assuming there was only one list, organised like the "supplement" 
page is currently, using an * or something to indicate whether or not a 
task was in the ArcGIS/Manifold document (I have a wiki account, so I 
can add it, but I have some comments below about one vs two lists which 
I'd like to hear your opinion on).

This section is intended to show how to perform basic GIS operations in QGIS in the most straightforward way.  It is modelled after “How do I do that in ArcGIS/Manifold?: illustrating classic GIS tasks”.  That document illustrated a selection of tasks which were thought to be representative of common usage in 2004, and was itself derived from a checklist of essential GIS functions that was included in 1988 in “A Process for Selecting Geographic Information Systems”.
As well as everyday tasks for managing and presenting spatial data, this section includes common operations which are typically one step in a longer process of analysis.  More in-depth tutorials which detail all the steps to achieve a particular outcome are beyond the scope of this list and belong <FIXME:ADD-LINK here>.
The use of GIS has changed over time, particularly in regard to data availability and the provision of services via the internet.  Feel free therefore to add appropriate tasks to the list.

> > I suggest we:
> > - add all the tasks from the ArcGIS/Manifold document to the list
> > now, even though we haven't written them up for QGIS
> 
> I quite agree with this.
> 
> > - indicate whether each task was included in the ArcGIS/Manifold
> > document.
> > One way of doing this would be to use a table format and have a
> > column
> > for it.
> >
> > - when writing up tasks, indicate "missing" functionality (see (2)
> > above)
> 
> What's sitting in my head this morning/late last night is something
> like:
> 1. Under the HowTos heading a page that links directly to to little
> descriptions of purely what's in the ArcGIS/Manifold document. This
> would allow a rapid and direct comparison.
> 
> 2. Also under the HowTos heading a page that has links out to all
> classic tasks (including the ones in the ArcGIS/Manifold document).
> This then would be a place for Deleting columns from Tables. This
> could be broken up into relatively obvious sections (as a default I'd
> probably use those in the How do I document)

Are you sure it is a good idea to have two separate lists, as it is currently?  
There is already at least one topic which has ended up with two different links 
on the two pages ("Creating a polygon from line segments").

Two lists means that any time someone writes a task that is included in both 
lists they might decide to give it a different title, and update the link in 
the main list but not realise that they also need to update it in the 
"supplement" list.  Even if they guess that the task also appears in the 
"supplement" list, to update the link there they will need to look carefully 
for it, because the two lists are arranged differently and some of the titles 
are different.

Maintaining two separate lists seems to me like unnecessary work.
What do you think?

>    This is something where a tablular format would be helpful, and as
> a start I'd probably be thinking of something like:
> Title : Classic Task? : ArcGis/Manifold? : Status
> Adding a column : Y : Y : Complete.
> Deleting a column : Y : N : Plug-in required.
> Sorting a table : Y : Y : Partial. Can only sort by one column.
> 
> (Sounds like work, but once 1. was done, could probably cut, paste and
> modify to get 2. Then the ArcGIS/Manifold tasks in both pages link to
> the same place.)
> 
> I suppose I'm thinking that the tasks in the ArcGIS/Manifold document
> as a subset of things that you need to get around in QGIS. However, it
> is clearly useful for comparision to be able to view them as a unit
> for more rapid comparision.
> 
> I suspect that this format works best for quick-reference type notes,
> and that longer tutorial type things should go in a third section
> under HowTos or even in their own section.
> 
> That probably confuses things enough and I should get back to work.
> 
> -ramon.

Regards,
Alister