[Qgis-developer] Proposal for organizing algorithms in SEXTANTE

[Victor Olaya]

Hi all

I have been doing some work to have an alternative organization of
algorithms in the SEXTANTE toolbox, targeted at the non-advanced
users. I can be now be enabled in the SEXTANTE configuration. When
this is active, algorithms do not appear as belonging to a provider,
but just under a common branch simply called "algorithms". All
available algorithms are classified in categories, independently of
their origin. This gives a more homogeneous interface and should make
it easier for users to select the algorithm they need.

I think this is important to make it easier and more intuitive to use
SEXTANTE and the (very) large number or algorithms it currently
contains, and it is an area that we should work on.

This homogeneous interface requires some extra work to be done:

- Defining a set of categories, based on a criteria that is agreed as
the best one (or even define several of them, according to different
criteria, such as field of application, type of data it needs, etc).
- Define categories for each algorithm, and also alternative names,
since now they do not follow a similar pattern (GRASS ones, for
instance, are too verbose). This is stored independently of the
algorithms and their names, so it can be used as a decoration, and
different naming schemes can be used, or a different classification.

Since no classification has been defined yet, now all algorithms use
their "normal" undecorated name and group name, but the functionality
is already there, and ready to

A third task will round this up, but implies clearly a larger amount of work:

- Write help files for algorithms using a common template. A single
help file written in RestructuredText, that can be turned into HTML to
display basic ideas about each algorithm, like a description of the
process or an explanation about the meaning of each input and output.
Algorithms already documented (like GRASS ones), should be easily
adapted to this in some automated way. I plan to write some kind of
script to automate the creation of the basic files for all remaining
algorithms, including parameter names, etc.

All this tasks require quite a bit of work, but it is work that can be
somehow outsourced to the community by putting into a wiki or
easy-to-edit format. For instance, a Google spreadsheet might be a
good solution for editing alternative names for algorithms or
classifying them in groups.

What is your opinion about this?

As usual, thanks in advance for your help!

Victor