sample dataset including plug-ins (=> was: Re: [Qgis-user] Announcing "Time Manager" Plugin v 0.1)

[Pierre Chevalier Géologue]

Hello,

I start another thread, based on the discussion about time manager dataset.

Noli Sicad claviota:
> Very good point. Probably you can have 2 versions with data and
> without data. I suggest that probably you can put a link, a button to
> get the sample data in one of the plugin widgets. These are all
> suggestions to improve usabilities of the qgis plugins in general.

Yes, I plussoie beaucoup. I agree, in a more proper language.


> Some of QGIS plugins are hard to figure out if you don't have a properly data to work on. And most of the users, have no real use of the plugin at the time the plugin is announced and just like to see how it works.

Yes. And this is particularly true in GIS software.
If you look at R, for instance, they provide datasets that can be
accessed so simply. It is excellent, because you are able to *really*
play with data in a matter of seconds, literally.
For instance, in R, all you have to do is:
    contour(10 * (1:nrow(2 * volcano)), 10 * (1:ncol(2 * volcano)), 1.5
* volcano, pretty(range(volcano)))

To get, in ONE line, a contour map from a volcano in New Zealand.

Similarly, to get a perspective view of the same data:
    persp(10 * (1:nrow(2 * volcano)), 10 * (1:ncol(2 * volcano)), 1.5 *
volcano, theta = 140, phi = 30, scale = FALSE, axes = FALSE, shade =
0.5, border = NA)


In fact, the variable 'volcano' seems to directly contain a whole
dataset. No need to do any file/open or anything.

Another example with another dataset provided with R, 'iris':
    pairs(iris[1:4], main="Edgar Anderson's Iris Data", pch=21,bg =
c("red", "green3", "blue")[unclass(iris$Species)])


In my humble opinion, this solution is extremely effective, from the
end-user-beginner point of view.
Now, back to qgis: there is already the Alaska dataset, also the grass
spearfish dataset.


I would be in favour of compiling a "state-of-the-art" complete dataset,
so that users can play immediately with it, and get a good feeling about
softwares. Not only plug-ins, but the whole thing. This could be a sort
of standard, a base on which any GIS newbie could rely on to make his
own dataset: just erase all example data, and fill with your own, and
you're up and running.

Such a dataset has, of course, to be free (freedom), it may have data
such as:
    - an srtm dem,
    - a topo map,
    - gpx data,
    - satellite imagery
    - a scanned geological map (sorry, "je prêche pour ma paroisse"
                                                           => if someone
knows the English

translation, go on and translate ;)
                                               ),
    - a scanned pedological map,
    - a set of pictures taken from the ground, geotagged,
    - buildings as vectors,
    - roads as vectors,
    - "field occupation" (occupation du sol, in French: not sure about
translation) as vectors,
    - a postgis database,
    - an sqlite database,
    - a mysql (forgot about postgis equivalent, sorry) database,
    - a whole grass dataset,
    - etc, etc. (unlimited)

Then, any plug-in developer should add to this dataset some sample data.
I think such a sample dataset should be:
    - well-structured (state of the art => so that the GIS newbies can
inherit from the experience/errors from senior users),
    - small, in terms of size: this way, when a user tries some features,
       it doesn't run for hours or colonize the whole user's RAM,
    - available separately from the software itself (regarding issues
mentioned during the initial discussion); if it was for instance a linux
package, it could be something like qgis-sample-data.


The "spearfish" dataset could well be a base for such an exercise. Or
Alaska.
Or anything else. There was a "Doncaster" totally fake dataset, provided
with GDM (geological package): it was invented, by mixing different data
from various places, mangling data.

> I hope if it will be in python plugin repository soon. I just like to try it.

If such a solution was adopted, then every plugin developer should add
relevant data in the sample data set. Or, maybe, publish on the
repository a small dataset, which would make the complement of the
existing whole dataset?

Your opinions? Silly ideas? Utopia?...

A+
Pierre

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