[Qgis-developer] Re: [Qgis-user] Congratulations to all :-) and some comments for the hack fest

[Agustin Lobo]

I share your enthusiasm and gratitude. I want to mention that
Raster gdal utilities are an impressive addition, perhaps not from a 
developer point of view,  but it's a major step  forward in terms of 
functionality  for users. Adding these
raster functionality to QGIS makes a qualitative difference.
 
In general terms, perhaps it's time for a certain level-off of different
functionalities in QGIS, as while there are some
very advanced tools (i.e. manageR) that cannot be found elsewhere,
there are few critically missing tools. Among them:

1. A raster algebra with  a natural syntax (i.e. like r.mapcalc), and,
as a second step, a GUI. The current implementation has such an odd 
syntax that most
users using it early in their qgis learning would conclude that qgis is 
too complex and odd for them.
As far as I know, Barry is not thinking on further developing this tool.

2. A table manager tool able to operate among columns. Meanwhile, some 
kind of easy copy and paste
between an spreadsheet and qgis would be most helpful.

3. C++ implementation of the (vector) Tools, as a dissolve operation on 
a complex layer
takes hours to complete in qgis while seconds with other software (i.e. 
TNTmips) on
the same machine.

4. Improve the vector symbology system for continuous variables, in 
particular adding a
color bar to interpret the meaning of the resulting colors.

5. Improve the raster symbology system for continuous variables, adding a
color bar to interpret the meaning of the resulting colors.

6. Improve the raster symbology system for categorical variables (often
used for landcover maps produced from satellite imagery by classification)
through a colormap, and adding a
color bar to interpret the meaning of the resulting colors. Note that 
there are
several global-scale landcover maps in raster format in and the ability 
of qgis to
provide a good display of those would be an excellent presentation card.

In my opinion, these 6 improvements/additions are critical for the 
normal use of
QGIS as an operational GIS. Without them, I think we are still below the 
minimum
set of requirements for a GIS, even if in other aspects QGIS is very 
advanced.

Agus

Nikos Alexandris wrote:
> People,
>
> sometimes I look at QGIS and wonder if it's real. All of these changes
> and new stuff that were introduced the last months make me think that I
> am dreaming :-p
>
> Congratulations and thank you all. If QGIS grows at the same pace, I
> can't imagine which other platform can beat it with respect to
> user-friendliness, simplicity and interoperability.
>
> One general desire though: please try to keep the menu(s) grouped, in an
> easy and practical way. Right now, in the unstable version, loading many
> (or all possible) plugins gives a bit of a confusing impression.
>
> * The drop-down menus Raster (=gdal), Click-Fu, SDA-4PP and SelectPlus
> are right after the Help menu.
>
> * The Plugins are really too many just to keep them alphabetically
> ordered. IMHO, a thematic sorting is mandatory.
>
> And an extra-idea: since many-many times people wonder how to cite a
> tool, why not give the proper citing in an extra tab within the "About"
> dialog (or similar)?
>
> Again, thanks :-)
> Nikos
>
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