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German Users Manual

1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
2 <!DOCTYPE book
3 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
4 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"
5 [<!ENTITY imgscale "60">]>
6 <!-- $Revision$ -->
7 <book>
8 <bookinfo>
9 <title>Benutzerhandbuch für Thuban 1.0</title>
10 <authorgroup>
11 <author>
12 <firstname>Jonathan</firstname><surname>Coles</surname>
13 </author>
14 <author>
15 <firstname>Jan-Oliver</firstname><surname>Wagner</surname>
16 </author>
17 <author>
18 <firstname>Frank</firstname><surname>Koormann</surname>
19 </author>
20 </authorgroup>
21 <copyright>
22 <year>2004</year>
23 <holder>Intevation GmbH</holder>
24 </copyright>
25 <revhistory>
26 <!-- comment this first revision out when releasing a real version -->
27 <revision>
28 <revnumber>CVS version $Id$</revnumber>
29 <date></date>
30 <revremark>Under development.</revremark>
31 </revision>
32 <!--
33 <revision>
34 <revnumber>1.0.0</revnumber>
35 <date>nn-Mmm-2004</date>
36 <revremark>
37 Corresponds to Thuban 1.0.0.
38 </revremark>
39 </revision>
40 -->
41 </revhistory>
42
43 </bookinfo>
44
45 <chapter><title>Einführung</title>
46 <para>
47 Thuban ist ein interaktiver Geodaten-Betrachter.
48 Die Entwicklung wurde seinerzeit gestartet, da es zu dieser Zeit
49 keinen einfachen interkativen Betrachter für Geo-Daten als Freie
50 Software gab.
51 Thuban ist im wesentlichen in der Programmiersprache Python implementiert und
52 nutzt die wxWidgets (ehemals: wxWindows) Bibliothek die es erlaubt
53 Thuban auf verschiedenen Plattformen laufen zu lassen, darunter GNU/Linux
54 und Windows.
55 </para>
56 <para>
57 Geodatenbetrachter sind wichtige Werkzeuge die es gestatten, einen visuelle
58 Eindruck des räumlichen (gegenseiten) Bezuges von Informationen zu bekommen
59 die ansonsten anhand der reinen Daten nicht leicht ersichtlich sind.
60 Thuban erlaubt dem Benutzer, Sitzungen zu erzeugen, die geografische
61 Daten darstellen. Diese können dann erforscht werden indem er durch sie
62 sie navigieren und die Art der Darstellung ändern kann.
63 Die Ergebnisse können gespeichert oder gedruckt werden.
64 </para>
65 <para>
66 Thuban strukturiert eine Sitzung hierarchisch.
67 Eine Sitzung besteht aus Ebenen. Jede Ebene rerpäsentiert
68 einen bestimmten Datensatz.
69 Beispielsweise eine Ebene für Strassen und eine weitere für Gebäude.
70 Die Ebenen können sowohl Vektor-Daten beschreiben als auch Raster-Daten.
71 </para>
72
73 <section><title>Installation</title>
74 <para>
75 Thuban is actively supported under Debian Testing (sarge), RedHat 7.2,
76 and Windows 2000. Thuban depends on the following packages. These
77 packages can also be found on the
78 <ulink url="http://thuban.intevation.org/download.html">
79 Thuban Download site
80 </ulink>.
81 </para>
82 <para>
83 Required:
84 <itemizedlist>
85 <listitem><para>Python 2.2.1
86 (<literal>http://www.python.org</literal>)
87 </para></listitem>
88 <listitem><para>wxWindows 2.4
89 (<literal>http://www.wxwindows.org</literal>)
90 </para></listitem>
91 <listitem><para>wxPython 2.4
92 (<literal>http://www.wxpython.org</literal>)
93 </para></listitem>
94 <listitem><para>proj 4.4.5 Projection Library
95 (<literal>http://www.remotesensing.org/proj/</literal>)
96 </para></listitem>
97 <listitem><para>SQLite 2.8.3
98 <literal>http://www.hwaci.com/sw/sqlite/</literal>)
99 </para></listitem>
100 <listitem><para>PySQLite 0.4.3
101 (<literal>http://pysqlite.sourceforge.net</literal>)
102 </para></listitem>
103 </itemizedlist>
104 </para>
105 <para>
106 Optional:
107 <itemizedlist>
108 <listitem><para>GDAL 1.1.8
109 (<literal>http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/</literal>)
110 </para></listitem>
111 <listitem><para>psycopg 1.0.8
112 (<literal>http://initd.org/software/psycopg</literal>)
113 </para></listitem>
114 </itemizedlist>
115 </para>
116 <para>
117 Along with the source codes, the download page also offers full
118 installation packages for Debian, Windows and RPM-based systems
119 (Mandrake, RedHat, SuSE, etc).
120 </para>
121 <section><title>RPM-based GNU/Linux Systems</title>
122 <section><title>Installing Binary Packages</title>
123 <para>
124 The most wide-spread RPM-based GNU/Linux
125 Systems are RedHat, Mandrake and SuSE.
126 The documentation of these distributions
127 should contain information about how to
128 install third-party RPM packages.
129 Nonetheless, a short summary is provided here.
130 </para>
131 <para>
132 RPM packages can be installed applying several
133 tools. The most basic one is the command line
134 program "rpm". The hardware architecture is
135 identified in the name of RPM packages, eg.
136 'i386' for most Intel/AMD architectures.
137 If you have a different hardware architecture,
138 where no binary RPM packages are provided,
139 you must rebuild binary packages from the
140 RPM source packages first (see below).
141 Typical rpm commands look like:
142
143 <programlisting>
144 rpm --install Thuban-0.9.0-1.i386.rpm
145 </programlisting>
146
147 Depending on what you already have installed
148 on your system, you are informed that some
149 packages are required, but not installed.
150 You need to install them first. Either they
151 are provided by your GNU/Linux distributor
152 or available somewhere on the Internet.
153 The more essential and special ones are
154 provided together with the Thuban package.
155 </para>
156
157 <para>
158 For rpm exist some graphical user interfaces, notably
159 kpackage, GnoRPM and xrpm.
160 </para>
161
162 <para>
163 Make yourself familiar with one of the tools and apply it
164 to install the packages.
165 Note, that you need to be administrator (root) for the system
166 to do that.
167 </para>
168 </section>
169 <section><title>Build Binaries from Source Packages</title>
170 <para>
171 This section describes howto build RPM install-packages
172 from RPM source-packages.
173 This adapts and optimizes an install-package specifically
174 to your system.
175 This is especially helpful to resolve version conflicts of
176 dependent packages. Furthermore, install-packages for other
177 platforms (e.g. PowerPC) can be created.
178 </para>
179
180 <para>
181 Note: rpm must be at least version 4. Execute
182 <literal>rpm --version</literal> to find out about the version.
183 </para>
184
185 <para>
186 You need to do the following preparations to be able to
187 build the packages as a regular user. You should now
188 perform the package buling as root since this
189 might cause damage to your system.
190 <itemizedlist>
191 <listitem>
192 <para>
193 Create RPM directory structure:
194 Choose a directory (e.g. $HOME/myrpm) and create the
195 subdirectories BUILD, RPM, SOURCES, SPECS and SRPMS.
196 A possible command sequence for this is:
197 <programlisting>
198 mkdir $HOME/freegisrpm
199 cd $HOME/freegisrpm
200 mkdir BUILD RPMS SOURCES SPECS SRPMS
201 </programlisting>
202 </para>
203 </listitem>
204 <listitem>
205 <para>
206 Set environment variable RPM_DIR:
207 <programlisting>
208 export RPM_DIR=$HOME/freegisrpm
209 </programlisting>
210 </para>
211 </listitem>
212 <listitem>
213 <para>
214 Create $HOME/.rpmmacros:
215 This file sets general preferences and some
216 specific settings for signing packages.
217 If you don't have a GnuPG-key, you can skip
218 the signature settings i.e. drop the last 4 lines.
219 A signature becomes important when you want to
220 give away packages to third parties.
221 <programlisting>
222 <![CDATA[
223 %packager Name Lastname <[email protected]>
224
225 %_topdir /home/mylogin/myrpm
226
227 %_signature gpg
228 %_gpg_name Name Lastname
229 %_pgp_path ~/.gnupg
230 %_pgpbin /usr/bin/gpg
231 ]]>
232 </programlisting>
233 </para>
234 </listitem>
235 </itemizedlist>
236
237 Now you can install any RPM source-package.
238 It's components are installed into the corresponding
239 subdirectories of your rpm-directory.
240 Essentially these are the sources (into directory SOURCES)
241 and the so-called spec-file which contains all build
242 instructions. The spec-file will go into the SPEC directory.
243 Example:
244 <literal>rpm --install Thuban-0.9.0-1.src.rpm</literal>
245 </para>
246
247 <para>
248 Create install-package:
249 Go to the directory with the spec-files and rebuild the
250 package:
251 <programlisting>
252 cd $HOME/mypm/SPECS
253 rpm -bb thuban.spec
254 </programlisting>
255 Next, you will find the newly created package in
256 $HOME/myrpm/RPMS/i386.
257 If you build the package for another architecture than
258 i386, then the name of the directory has a corresponding name.
259 </para>
260 <para>
261 For documentation of RPM, either type
262 <literal>man rpm</literal> or <literal>rpm --help</literal>.
263 This will provide you with information on the various command
264 line options of RPM.
265 For more information see the
266 <ulink url="http://www.rpm.org/">homepage of RPM</ulink>.
267 </para>
268 </section>
269 </section> <!-- Intro - Installation - RPM-->
270
271 <section><title>Win32 Systems</title>
272 <para>
273 A common installation package of Thuban for Win32
274 systems is available from the Thuban website download
275 section. This installation package is configured for
276 displaying file based vector data (Shapefiles). For the
277 display of raster data or the connection to spatial
278 databases additional steps are needed.
279 </para>
280 <para>
281 The required Python packages are listed and linked on
282 the download page as well. If you don't have Python
283 installed already, download the packages for Python,
284 wxPython for Python and the SQLite Python Libraries as
285 well as the Thuban package. Install all four packages
286 in the order: Python, wxPython, SQLite, Thuban. Follow
287 the installation instructions provided by the seperate
288 setups. The Thuban installation package will add an
289 entry in the menu folder you configured.
290 </para>
291 <section><title>Raster Data: Installation of GDAL</title>
292 <para>
293 Enabling the raster data features of Thuban is
294 straight forward. For the examples we assume that
295 Thuban has been installed under
296 <literal>C:\Thuban</literal>:
297 <itemizedlist>
298 <listitem>
299 <para>
300 Download the zip-archive <ulink
301 url="ftp://intevation.de/thuban/win2k/gdal-win2k.zip"
302 >gdal-win2k</ulink>.
303 </para></listitem>
304 <listitem><para>Extract the archive (e.g. with
305 <ulink
306 url="http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/WiZ.html"
307 >WiZ (InfoZip)</ulink>) into the
308 <literal>C:\Thuban\Lib</literal>
309 directory of your Thuban installation.
310 </para>
311 </listitem>
312 <listitem>
313 <para>
314 Extent the <varname>PYTHONPATH</varname>
315 environment variable (in your Windows Control Panel)
316 to make the new libraries available for Thuban.
317 <programlisting>
318 %PYTHONPATH%;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal\pymod
319 </programlisting>
320 </para>
321 </listitem>
322 <listitem>
323 <para>
324 Extent also the <varname>PATH</varname>
325 environment variable accordingly:
326 <programlisting>
327 %PATH%;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal
328 </programlisting>
329 </para>
330 </listitem>
331 </itemizedlist>
332 After this installation steps Thuban is ready to
333 display raster data (e.g. the
334 <literal>island.tif</literal> from the Iceland Demo
335 data set.
336 </para>
337 </section> <!-- Win32: GDAL-->
338
339 <section><title>Working with PostGIS: Installation of PsycoPG</title>
340 <para>
341 To access PostgreSQL/PostGIS spatial databases with
342 Thuban you have to install the PsycoPG package for
343 Windows:
344 <itemizedlist>
345 <listitem>
346 <para>
347 Download the zip-archive
348 <ulink
349 url="http://stickpeople.com/projects/python/win-psycopg/win-psycopg22.zip"
350 >win-psycopg22.zip</ulink>.
351 </para>
352 </listitem>
353 <listitem>
354 <para>
355 Extract the zip-archive into a directory either already
356 in your <varname>PYTHONPATH</varname> or extent your
357 <varname>PYTHONPATH</varname> variable to the directory
358 you have extracted the archive to.
359 </para>
360 </listitem>
361 </itemizedlist>
362 For installation and maintenance of spatial databases
363 we refer to the <ulink
364 url="http://postgis.refractions.net"
365 >PostGIS Homepage</ulink>.
366 </para>
367 </section> <!-- Win32: PsycoPG-->
368
369 </section> <!-- Intro - Installation - Win32 -->
370 </section>
371
372 <section><title>Internationalisierung</title>
373 <para>
374 Thuban ist mit Unterstützung für Internaionalisierung realisiert.
375 Bisher wurde Thuban in folgende Sprachen (neben der Basis Englisch) übersetzt:
376 <itemizedlist>
377 <listitem><para>Französisch</para></listitem>
378 <listitem><para>Deutsch</para></listitem>
379 <listitem><para>Italienisch</para></listitem>
380 <listitem><para>Portugiesisch (Brasilien)</para></listitem>
381 <listitem><para>Russisch</para></listitem>
382 <listitem><para>Spanisch</para></listitem>
383 </itemizedlist>
384 </para>
385
386 <para>
387 Um die Internationalisierung auf POSIX Systemen (wie etwa GNU/Linux)
388 zu verwenden, muss die Umgebungsvariable LC_ALL entsprechend
389 gesetzt werden (z.B. LC_ALL=de_DE für Deutsch).
390 Prüfen Sie die Dokumentation zu Ihrem System für Details
391 und die unterstützten Einstellungen.
392 Normalweise haben Sie Ihre Sprache bereits mit der Installation
393 oder beim einloggen bereits vorausgewählt.
394 Trotzdem kann auch dann noch durch Setzen von LC_ALL auf
395 der Kommandozeile beim Aufruf von Thuban eine andere Sprache
396 gesetzt werden:
397 </para>
398 <programlisting>
399 LC_ALL=fr_FR thuban.py
400 </programlisting>
401
402 <para>
403 MS Windows Benutzer müssen die Sprache über die Kontroll-Leiste einstellen
404 welche grundsätzlich alle Anwendungen beeinflusst.
405 </para>
406 </section>
407
408 <section><title>Das Hauptfenster</title>
409 <para>
410 <figure><title>Das Hauptfenster</title>
411 <mediaobject>
412 <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="../images/1_2_mainwindow.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> </imageobject>
413 <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="./images/1_2_mainwindow.ps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> </imageobject>
414 </mediaobject>
415 </figure>
416 </para>
417
418 <para>
419 Das Hauptfenster stellt die aktuelle Karte dar. Hier kann der
420 Benutzer mit der Karte interagieren indem er die verschiednen
421 Werkzeuge anwendet.
422 </para>
423
424 <para>
425 Die Legende auf der linken Seite zeigt eine Liste der aktuellen
426 Ebenen und alle dargestellten Klassifikations-Gruppen.
427 Bei diesem Beispiel haben alle Geo-Objekte Ebenen eine voreingestellte
428 Klassifizierung wie die jeweiligen Geo-Objekte in den einzelnen
429 Ebenen gezeichnet werden sollen.
430 Die Ebenen die weiter oben in der Liste dargestellt werden über
431 die darunter aufgelisteten gezeichnet.
432 Die Legende kann durch Anwahl des X in der oberen rechten Ecke
433 geschlossen werden.
434 Um die Legenden-Ansicht wieder zu öffnen, wählen Sie
435 <menuchoice>
436 <guimenu>Karte</guimenu>
437 <guimenuitem>Legende</guimenuitem>
438 </menuchoice>.
439 The legend is also dockable, which means that it can be detached
440 from the main window by clicking on the small button next to the
441 close button. It can be attached by clicking the same button
442 again.
443 </para>
444 <para>
445 The status bar displays different information depending on the
446 current context. If the user is selecting an item from the menu
447 then the status bar will display a short help message indicating
448 what each menu item is for. If the user has a tool selected then
449 the position of the cursor on the map is displayed.
450 </para>
451 <para>
452 The tool bar provides quick access to the commonly needed tools.
453 By hovering over each button the user can see a short messages
454 describing what the tool does. The tools provided are Zoom In, Zoom
455 Out, Pan, Full Extent, Full Layer Extent, Full Shape Extent, Identify,
456 and Label. Each of the tools will be explained in further detail later
457 in the manual.
458 </para>
459 </section>
460
461 </chapter>
462
463 <chapter><title>Session Management</title>
464
465 <section><title>Starting a New Session</title>
466 <para>
467 A new session can be started from
468 <menuchoice>
469 <guimenu>File</guimenu>
470 <guimenuitem>New Session</guimenuitem>
471 </menuchoice>.
472 If a session is already loaded and has been modified without
473 being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should
474 be saved. A new session consists of an empty map with no
475 layers and no tables.
476 </para>
477 </section>
478
479 <section><title>Opening a Session</title>
480 <para>
481 A session can be opened from
482 <menuchoice>
483 <guimenu>File</guimenu>
484 <guimenuitem>Open Session</guimenuitem>
485 </menuchoice>. A dialog box will open allowing the user to browse
486 for a Thuban Session file. Thuban session files end with
487 <varname>.thuban</varname>. Selecting a file a clicking
488 <guibutton>OK</guibutton> will load the session into Thuban.
489
490 If a session is already loaded and has been modified without
491 being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should
492 be saved.
493 </para>
494 </section>
495
496 <section><title>Saving a Session</title>
497 <para>
498 A session can be saved from
499 <menuchoice>
500 <guimenu>File</guimenu>
501 <guimenuitem>Save Session</guimenuitem>
502 </menuchoice>. A dialog box will open allowing the user to browse
503 the file system and select a place to save the session. Thuban
504 sessions should be saved under a name ending in
505 <varname>.thuban</varname>. If the file already exists the user
506 will be prompted to save under a different name or overwrite the
507 existing file.
508 </para>
509 </section>
510
511 <section><title>The Session Info-Tree</title>
512 <para>
513 <figure>
514 <title>Session Info Tree</title>
515 <mediaobject>
516 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/2_4_session_tree.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
517 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/2_4_session_tree.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
518 </mediaobject>
519 </figure>
520 </para>
521 <para>
522 The session info-tree is primarily intended for developers working
523 with Thuban. It displays many of the internal values for the session,
524 map, and layers. It can be opened from
525 <menuchoice>
526 <guimenu>File</guimenu>
527 <guimenuitem>Session Tree</guimenuitem>
528 </menuchoice>.
529 </para>
530 </section>
531 </chapter>
532
533 <chapter><title>Map Management</title>
534 <para>
535 The map consists of a number of layers where each layer represents a
536 different type of data set. By interacting with the map the user can
537 visually explore the data.
538 </para>
539 <para>
540 The map can have a name that will appear in the Thuban title bar.
541 The map name can be changed using
542 <menuchoice>
543 <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
544 <guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem>
545 </menuchoice>.
546 </para>
547 <para>
548 <inlinemediaobject>
549 <imageobject>
550 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_rename_map.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
551 </imageobject>
552 <imageobject>
553 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_rename_map.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
554 </imageobject>
555 <textobject> <phrase>Rename Map</phrase> </textobject>
556 </inlinemediaobject>
557 </para>
558
559 <section><title>Adding and Removing Layers</title>
560 <para>
561 There are three types of layers that can be added to a map:
562 Shape layers, database layers
563 and image layers. Shape layers are stored in Shapefile format, a
564 widely used file format for storing geographic objects. These
565 files have the extension ``.shp''. Associated with
566 the shape file is a database file which stores attributes for
567 each shape in the Shape file. This file, in dBase format,
568 has the extension ``.dbf''. Both files must have the same base name.
569 For example, if there is a shape file named roads.shp there must
570 also be a file roads.dbf.
571 </para>
572 <itemizedlist>
573 <listitem>
574 <para>
575 Shape layers can be added to the map with
576 <menuchoice>
577 <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
578 <guimenuitem>Add Layer</guimenuitem>
579 </menuchoice>.
580 Initially, only the ``.shp'' files are shown which is enough for the
581 selection. However, if you switch to display all files and select one
582 of the associated files (e.g. ``.dbf''), Thuban will recognize the base
583 name and load the corresponding Shape file.
584 </para>
585 <para>
586 The file dialog for Shape files allows to select multiple files.
587 Use the shift-button together with the left mouse button to extend
588 the selection.
589 </para>
590 </listitem>
591
592 <listitem>
593 <para>Database layers can be added to the map with
594 <menuchoice>
595 <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
596 <guimenuitem>Add Database Layer</guimenuitem>
597 </menuchoice>.
598 A dialog with two is list is opened. The left list displays all
599 database connections currently open for the session. You can retrieve
600 a list of available layers from the selected database which is
601 displayed on the right hand. From this list one layer can be selected,
602 the dialog is closed afterwards.
603 </para>
604 <para>
605 See appendix ``Working with PostGIS'' for details.
606 </para>
607 </listitem>
608
609 <listitem>
610 <para>
611 Image layers can be added to the map with
612 <menuchoice>
613 <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
614 <guimenuitem>Add Image Layer</guimenuitem>
615 </menuchoice>.
616 It is important to select a valid image file that has geographic
617 data associated with it. The data can be embedded in the file itself,
618 or in another file. If geographic information cannot be found, Thuban
619 will report an error.
620 </para>
621 </listitem>
622 </itemizedlist>
623 </section>
624
625 <section><title>Navigation</title>
626 <para>
627 The map can be explored by using the navigation tools available on
628 the tool bar or from the
629 <menuchoice><guimenu>Map</guimenu></menuchoice> menu.
630 </para>
631 <itemizedlist>
632 <listitem>
633 <para>
634 The ZoomIn tool
635 <inlinemediaobject>
636 <imageobject>
637 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomin.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
638 </imageobject>
639 <imageobject>
640 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomin.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
641 </imageobject>
642 <textobject> <phrase>ZoomIn Tool</phrase> </textobject>
643 </inlinemediaobject>
644 enlarges a region of the map. Clicking once on the map
645 will double the magnification and center the map on the point that
646 was clicked. Clicking and dragging selects a region that will be
647 enlarged to fit the window.
648 </para>
649 </listitem>
650 <listitem>
651 <para>
652 The ZoomOut tool
653 <inlinemediaobject>
654 <imageobject>
655 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomout.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
656 </imageobject>
657 <imageobject>
658 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomout.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
659 </imageobject>
660 <textobject> <phrase>ZoomOut Tool</phrase> </textobject>
661 </inlinemediaobject>
662 shrinks the map so that a larger region is visible. A single click
663 reduces the magnification by a factor of two. Clicking and dragging
664 selects a box such that the current contents of the window will be
665 scaled to fit into that box.
666 </para>
667 </listitem>
668 <listitem>
669 <para>
670 The Pan tool
671 <inlinemediaobject>
672 <imageobject>
673 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_pan.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
674 </imageobject>
675 <imageobject>
676 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_pan.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
677 </imageobject>
678 <textobject> <phrase>Pan Tool</phrase> </textobject>
679 </inlinemediaobject>
680 allows the user to move the map around by clicking and dragging.
681 </para>
682 </listitem>
683 <listitem>
684 <para>
685 The Full Extent tool
686 <inlinemediaobject>
687 <imageobject>
688 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
689 </imageobject>
690 <imageobject>
691 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
692 </imageobject>
693 <textobject> <phrase>Full Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
694 </inlinemediaobject>
695 rescales the viewable region so that the entire map is visible.
696 </para>
697 </listitem>
698 <listitem>
699 <para>
700 The Full Layer Extent tool
701 <inlinemediaobject>
702 <imageobject>
703 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fulllayerextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
704 </imageobject>
705 <imageobject>
706 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fulllayerextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
707 </imageobject>
708 <textobject> <phrase>Full Layer Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
709 </inlinemediaobject>
710 rescales the viewable region so that the currently selected
711 layer fits within the window. If no layer is selected this button
712 will be disabled.
713 </para>
714 </listitem>
715 <listitem>
716 <para>
717 The Full Shape Extent tool
718 <inlinemediaobject>
719 <imageobject>
720 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullshapeextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
721 </imageobject>
722 <imageobject>
723 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullshapeextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
724 </imageobject>
725 <textobject> <phrase>Full Shape Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
726 </inlinemediaobject>
727 rescales the viewable region so that the currently selected
728 shape fits within the window. If the shape is a point, it is
729 centered and the map is zoomed all the way in. If no shape is
730 selected this button will be disabled. This feature is especially
731 helpful when identifying an object related to a selected record
732 in a tableview (see below).
733
734 </para>
735 </listitem>
736 </itemizedlist>
737 </section>
738
739 <section><title>Object Identification</title>
740 <para>
741 Objects on the map can be identified using the Identify tool
742 <inlinemediaobject>
743 <imageobject>
744 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_identify.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
745 </imageobject>
746 <imageobject>
747 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_identify.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
748 </imageobject>
749 <textobject> <phrase>Identify Tool</phrase> </textobject>
750 </inlinemediaobject>.
751 Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which
752 shows all the table attributes for that object. Any current selection
753 is lost. Objects on the map are typically shapes and this document
754 will often refer to objects as shapes.
755 </para>
756 </section>
757
758 <section><title>Object Labeling</title>
759 <para>
760 Objects can be labeled using the Label tool
761 <inlinemediaobject>
762 <imageobject>
763 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_label.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
764 </imageobject>
765 <imageobject>
766 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_label.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
767 </imageobject>
768 <textobject> <phrase>Label Tool</phrase> </textobject>
769 </inlinemediaobject>.
770 Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which
771 displays the table attributes for that object. An attribute can
772 be selected to be the label on the map. The label will be placed
773 at the center of the shape. Clicking on an object that already has
774 a label will remove the label.
775 </para>
776 </section>
777
778 <section><title>The Legend</title>
779 <para>
780 <inlinemediaobject>
781 <imageobject>
782 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_legend.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
783 </imageobject>
784 <imageobject>
785 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_legend.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
786 </imageobject>
787 <textobject> <phrase>Legend</phrase> </textobject>
788 </inlinemediaobject>
789 </para>
790 <para>
791 The Legend provides an overview of the layers in the map. Layers
792 that appear higher in the legend will appear ``closer'' to the user.
793 If a layer supports classification (currently, only shape layers
794 have this feature) then the classification groups will be shown
795 below each layer. The properties for each group are also displayed
796 with a small graphic. Polygon layers appear as rectangles, lines
797 appear as curved lines, and points appear as circles.
798 </para>
799 <para>
800 Along the top of the legend is a toolbar which allows quick access
801 to some of the layer manipulation options under
802 <menuchoice><guimenu>Map</guimenu></menuchoice>.
803 </para>
804
805 <itemizedlist>
806 <listitem>
807 <para>
808 The Move Layer to Top tool
809 <inlinemediaobject>
810 <imageobject>
811 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_totop.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
812 </imageobject>
813 <imageobject>
814 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_totop.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
815 </imageobject>
816 <textobject> <phrase>Move Layer to Top</phrase> </textobject>
817 </inlinemediaobject> raises the selected layer to the top of the map.
818 </para>
819 </listitem>
820 <listitem>
821
822 <para>
823 The Move Layer Up tool
824 <inlinemediaobject>
825 <imageobject>
826 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_moveup.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
827 </imageobject>
828 <imageobject>
829 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_moveup.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
830 </imageobject>
831 <textobject> <phrase>Move Layer Up</phrase> </textobject>
832 </inlinemediaobject> raises the selected layer one level.
833 </para>
834 </listitem>
835 <listitem>
836
837 <para>
838 The Move Layer Down tool
839 <inlinemediaobject>
840 <imageobject>
841 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_movedown.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
842 </imageobject>
843 <imageobject>
844 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_movedown.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
845 </imageobject>
846 <textobject> <phrase>Move Layer Down</phrase> </textobject>
847 </inlinemediaobject> lowers the selected layer one level.
848 </para>
849
850 </listitem>
851 <listitem>
852 <para>
853 The Move Layer to Bottom tool
854 <inlinemediaobject>
855 <imageobject>
856 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_tobottom.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
857 </imageobject>
858 <imageobject>
859 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_tobottom.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
860 </imageobject>
861 <textobject> <phrase>Move Layer to Bottom</phrase> </textobject>
862 </inlinemediaobject> lowers the selected layer to the bottom of the map.
863 </para>
864
865 </listitem>
866 <listitem>
867 <para>
868 The Visible tool
869 <inlinemediaobject>
870 <imageobject>
871 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_visible.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
872 </imageobject>
873 <imageobject>
874 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_visible.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
875 </imageobject>
876 <textobject> <phrase>Visible</phrase> </textobject>
877 </inlinemediaobject> shows the selected layer in the map if it was
878 hidden.
879 </para>
880
881 </listitem>
882 <listitem>
883 <para>
884 The Invisible tool
885 <inlinemediaobject>
886 <imageobject>
887 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_invisible.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
888 </imageobject>
889 <imageobject>
890 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_invisible.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
891 </imageobject>
892 <textobject> <phrase>Invisible</phrase> </textobject>
893 </inlinemediaobject> hides the selected layer in the map.
894 </para>
895
896 </listitem>
897 <listitem>
898 <para>
899 The Properties tool
900 <inlinemediaobject>
901 <imageobject>
902 <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_props.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
903 </imageobject>
904 <imageobject>
905 <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_props.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
906 </imageobject>
907 <textobject> <phrase>Properties</phrase> </textobject>
908 </inlinemediaobject> opens the layer's properties dialog box.
909 Double-clicking on a layer or a group of a layer will open the
910 properties dialog for that layer.
911 </para>
912 </listitem>
913 </itemizedlist>
914
915 <para>
916 The most used layer related actions are also available from a
917 popup menu. It is raised when a layer is clicked with the right mouse
918 button.
919 </para>
920
921 <para>
922 <figure>
923 <title>Layer Popup Menu</title>
924 <mediaobject>
925 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_popup_menu.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
926 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_popup_menu.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
927 </mediaobject>
928 </figure>
929 </para>
930
931 <para>
932 Along the bottom of the legend is the scalebar. The scalebar
933 will be available if there are any layers and the map has a
934 projection set.
935 </para>
936 </section>
937
938 <section><title>Exporting</title>
939 <para>
940 Under Windows, maps can be exported in Enhanced Metafile format
941 (<varname>.wmf</varname>)
942 from
943 <menuchoice>
944 <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
945 <guimenuitem>Export</guimenuitem>
946 </menuchoice> for use in reports, presentations, or further
947 modification. The current map view, legend, and, if available,
948 scalebar are exported. Under other platforms this option is not
949 available. Clicking this menu item open a file selection dialog
950 that lets the user select a location to export the map.
951 </para>
952 </section>
953
954 <section><title>Printing</title>
955 <para>
956 The map can be printed using
957 <menuchoice>
958 <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
959 <guimenuitem>Print</guimenuitem>
960 </menuchoice>. The current map view, legend, and, if available,
961 scalebar are printed. A standard printing dialog will open allowing
962 the user to configure the printer. This dialog will differ depending
963 on which platform Thuban is running.
964 </para>
965 </section>
966
967 </chapter>
968
969 <chapter><title>Layer Management</title>
970 <para>
971 </para>
972
973 <section><title>Types of Layers</title>
974 <para>
975 There are three types of layers supported by Thuban: shape layers,
976 database layers and
977 image layers. Shape layers consist of vector based shapes with
978 geo-referenced coordinates. There are three types of supported
979 shapes: polygons, lines (arc), and points. Database layers are similar
980 to shape layers but loaded from a database instead of the file system.
981 Image layers can be any image
982 file format supported by the Geo-spatial Data Abstraction Library
983 (GDAL). The images must have geographic
984 coordinate data either embedded within the file or in a separate
985 file that is in the same directory as the image file. GeoTIFF files
986 work very well with Thuban and were designed specifically to be image
987 layers in GIS programs.
988 </para>
989 <para>
990 All actions in the
991 <menuchoice>
992 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
993 </menuchoice> menu act on the currently selected layer in the legend.
994 </para>
995 </section>
996
997 <section><title>Properties</title>
998 <para>
999 To view the properties for a layer it must first be selected in the
1000 legend. The menu option
1001 <menuchoice>
1002 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1003 <guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem>
1004 </menuchoice> opens a dialog that displays a layer's properties.
1005 All layers have a title which can be modified in the text field
1006 provided. The type of layer is also shows. If the type is a type
1007 of shape (polygon, arc, point) the classification table will be
1008 shown. Image layers have no other properties other than title
1009 and type.
1010 </para>
1011 <para>
1012 <figure>
1013 <title>Properties Window</title>
1014 <mediaobject>
1015 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/4_2_layer_properties.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1016 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/4_2_layer_properties.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1017 </mediaobject>
1018 </figure>
1019 </para>
1020 <para>
1021 <figure>
1022 <title>Properties Window</title>
1023 <mediaobject>
1024 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/4_2_raster_layer_properties.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1025 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/4_2_raster_layer_properties.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1026 </mediaobject>
1027 </figure>
1028 </para>
1029 </section>
1030
1031 <section><title>Visibility</title>
1032 <para>
1033 Sometimes it is not desirable to view all layers at the same time.
1034 Some layers may take a long time to draw and so while navigating
1035 around the map the user may not want to wait for the map to redraw
1036 all the layers each time the map is changed. Each layer can be
1037 independently turned on or off using the
1038 <menuchoice>
1039 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1040 <guimenuitem>Show</guimenuitem>
1041 </menuchoice>
1042 or
1043 <menuchoice>
1044 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1045 <guimenuitem>Hide</guimenuitem>
1046 </menuchoice> options respectively.
1047 </para>
1048 </section>
1049
1050 <section><title>Duplication</title>
1051 <para>
1052 Layers and all their properties, including classifications, can
1053 be duplicated using
1054 <menuchoice>
1055 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1056 <guimenuitem>Duplicate</guimenuitem>
1057 </menuchoice>. Duplicating a layer is useful if the user wishes
1058 to model a layer in several different ways. Even though the layers
1059 overlap, by carefully selecting the shape properties it is possible
1060 to display several pieces of information at once. For example, one
1061 copy of a roads layer may be classified on a length property and
1062 another copy may be classified on a type property. If the length
1063 property was expressed with color and the type property expressed
1064 with line thickness then it would be possible to view both
1065 classifications by placing the type property copy over the
1066 length property copy.
1067 </para>
1068 </section>
1069
1070 </chapter>
1071
1072 <chapter><title>Layer Classifications</title>
1073 <para>
1074 A layer classification is a way of assigning drawing properties to
1075 groups of shapes based on attributes stored in the layer's table.
1076 Only layer's with shapes can have a classification; image layers
1077 cannot be classified.
1078 </para>
1079 <para>
1080 A classification consists of a number of groups, each group
1081 having a value or range of values to match against, and symbol
1082 properties which control how a shape is drawn on the map. The user
1083 selects which field in the table is used by the classification and
1084 when the map is drawn the value for that field for each shape is
1085 compared with each group's value. The properties of the first group
1086 to match are used to draw the shape. This allows the user to get a
1087 visual impression of not only how the data is laid out but also what
1088 kind of data lies where.
1089 </para>
1090 <para>
1091 A layer always has a classification. When a new layer is added to the
1092 map, a default classification is created with the DEFAULT group. This
1093 group cannot be removed but can be hidden (see below). Every shape in the
1094 layer, regardless of its attributes, will match this group if no other
1095 group matches.
1096 </para>
1097
1098 <section><title>Editing Classifications</title>
1099 <para>
1100 A layer's classification can be modified under the properties dialog
1101 (<menuchoice>
1102 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1103 <guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem>
1104 </menuchoice>). The layer's classification field can be set to None,
1105 which simply assigns a DEFAULT group to the classification. No new
1106 groups can be added to the classification if the field is None.
1107 The user must first select a field to classify on. New groups can
1108 be added to the classification with the <guibutton>Add</guibutton>
1109 button.
1110 </para>
1111 <para>
1112 To apply the changes to the map the user can click
1113 either <guibutton>Try</guibutton> or <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
1114 <guibutton>Try</guibutton> will not close the dialog box, allowing
1115 the user to see how the classification changes the map.
1116 <guibutton>Revert</guibutton> will undo the last classification applied
1117 to the map. <guibutton>OK</guibutton> will commit the changes and
1118 close the dialog. The user will be unable to undo the changes.
1119 <guibutton>Close</guibutton> simply closes the dialog box. If any
1120 changes have not been applied with <guibutton>Try</guibutton> the
1121 changes will not be applied to the map.
1122 </para>
1123 <para>
1124 <figure>
1125 <title>Properties Window</title>
1126 <mediaobject>
1127 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_classification.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1128 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_classification.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1129 </mediaobject>
1130 </figure>
1131 </para>
1132 <para>
1133 The order of the groups in the classification is significant
1134 except for the DEFAULT group, which remains at the top. When shapes
1135 are matched against groups the matching begins at the first group
1136 after the DEFAULT group so that groups higher in the list will
1137 be checked first. Matching for a
1138 given shape will stop at the first group that matches. The user can
1139 use <guibutton>Move Up</guibutton> and <guibutton>Move Down</guibutton>
1140 to change the order of the groups. The DEFAULT group will always
1141 match a shape that hasn't matched another group.
1142 </para>
1143 <section><title>Visible</title>
1144 <para>
1145 The Visible column has check-boxes that determine whether a
1146 classification group will be displayed in the legend. This is
1147 useful if the user knows that the groups completely cover
1148 the data set and don't want the DEFAULT group to be displayed
1149 in the legend and on a printout.
1150 </para>
1151 </section>
1152 <section><title>Symbols</title>
1153 <para>
1154 Each type of shape has its own type of symbol. Thuban supports three
1155 types of shapes: polygons, lines, and points. Polygons and points
1156 have outline and fill color, while lines have only line color. Each
1157 group has associated symbol properties. To edit the symbol
1158 properties for a group the user can double click on the Symbol
1159 column or select a group and click the
1160 <guibutton>Edit Symbol</guibutton> button.
1161 </para>
1162 </section>
1163 <section><title>Value</title>
1164 <para>
1165 The Value column of the classification table is the value that will
1166 be matched when the map is being drawn. The type of data that can
1167 entered into this field depends on the type of data of the
1168 classification field.
1169 </para>
1170 <para>
1171 If the field is of type Text, anything entered
1172 into the field is valid. The text will be compared literally to the
1173 value of the shape attribute, including case sensitivity.
1174 If the type is Integer, then any valid integer may be entered. In
1175 addition, with special syntax, a range of values can be entered.
1176 A range from <varname>start</varname> to <varname>end</varname>
1177 inclusive is specified like this: <literal>[start;end]</literal>.
1178 The exclusive range is specified like this:
1179 <literal>]start;end[</literal>. Ranges can include infinity like
1180 this: <literal>[-oo;oo]</literal>. Field types can also be of type
1181 Decimal. They represent any rational number and can be used in
1182 ranges as well.
1183 </para>
1184 </section>
1185 <section><title>Label</title>
1186 <para>
1187 By default, the text that is displayed for a group in the legend
1188 is the value for that group. The label can substitute a more
1189 descriptive term in the legend.
1190 </para>
1191 </section>
1192 </section>
1193
1194 <section><title>Generating Classes</title>
1195 <para>
1196 <figure>
1197 <title>Generate Class</title>
1198 <mediaobject>
1199 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_3_genclass.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1200 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_3_genclass.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1201 </mediaobject>
1202 </figure>
1203 </para>
1204 <para>
1205 Creating a classification by hand can be tedious.
1206 Thuban, therefore, provides a means of generating an entire
1207 classification at once while still giving the user control over
1208 how it appears. Clicking <guibutton>Generate Class</guibutton>
1209 opens the <varname>Generate Classification</varname> dialog.
1210 Under the <varname>Generate</varname> pull down there are at most
1211 three different ways to generate classifications:
1212 Unique Values, Uniform Distribution, and Quantiles. Some options
1213 may not be available if the data type for the field does not
1214 support them. For instance, <varname>Uniform Distribution</varname>
1215 doesn't make sense for a Text field.
1216 </para>
1217 <para>
1218 For every way of generating a classification, a color scheme must
1219 be selected. Thuban provides several different color schemes that
1220 affect how the group properties change over the classification.
1221 It may be desirable that only certain properties change over the
1222 classification. If the shape type is a polygon or a point then
1223 the <guibutton>Fix Border Color</guibutton> option will be available.
1224 This allows the user to select a border color for all classification
1225 groups.
1226 It is also possible to create a custom color scheme. Selecting
1227 this option will display two symbols: the one of the left has the
1228 properties of the first group and the one on the right has the
1229 properties of the last group. Thuban will interpolate between these
1230 two properties to generate the other groups.
1231 <figure>
1232 <title>Custom Color Scheme</title>
1233 <mediaobject>
1234 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_custom_ramp.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1235 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_custom_ramp.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1236 </mediaobject>
1237 </figure>
1238 </para>
1239 <para>
1240 The Unique Values option lets the user select specific values that
1241 appear in the table. Clicking <guibutton>Retrieve From Table</guibutton>
1242 searches the table for all unique values and displays them in the
1243 list on the left. Items can be selected and moved to the list on the
1244 right. Each list can be sorted or reversed for easier searching.
1245 The classification that is generated will be in the same order as
1246 the list on the right.
1247 <figure>
1248 <title>Unique Values</title>
1249 <mediaobject>
1250 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_unique_values.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1251 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_unique_values.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1252 </mediaobject>
1253 </figure>
1254 </para>
1255 <para>
1256 The Uniform Distribution option creates a user specified number of
1257 groups of ranges such that each range covers equal intervals. The
1258 minimum and maximum values can automatically be retrieved from the
1259 table by clicking <guibutton>Retrieve From Table</guibutton>. The
1260 stepping is how large each interval is. Adjusting this value will
1261 automatically recalculate how many groups is appropriate.
1262 <figure>
1263 <title>Uniform Distribution</title>
1264 <mediaobject>
1265 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_uniform_dist.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1266 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_uniform_dist.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1267 </mediaobject>
1268 </figure>
1269 </para>
1270 <para>
1271 The Quantiles option generates ranges based on the number of items
1272 in the table. For example, by specifying five groups Thuban will
1273 generate five groups with appropriate ranges such that 20% of the table
1274 data is in each group. If it is impossible to generate exact
1275 groupings, Thuban will issue a warning but allow the user to continue.
1276 <figure>
1277 <title>Quantiles</title>
1278 <mediaobject>
1279 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_quantiles.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1280 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_quantiles.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1281 </mediaobject>
1282 </figure>
1283 </para>
1284 </section>
1285 </chapter>
1286
1287 <chapter><title>Projection Management</title>
1288 <para>
1289 Projections control how the geographic data is displayed on the screen.
1290 If multiple layers are loaded into Thuban where the geographic data
1291 is in a different projection system, then the user must specify a
1292 projection for each layer. The user must also tell Thuban which
1293 projection the map is in. This can be the same as the layers or a different
1294 projection in which case the layers are reprojected into that space.
1295 The map projection can be set using
1296 <menuchoice>
1297 <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
1298 <guimenuitem>Projection</guimenuitem>
1299 </menuchoice> and the layer projection can be set using
1300 <menuchoice>
1301 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1302 <guimenuitem>Projection</guimenuitem>
1303 </menuchoice>.
1304 <figure>
1305 <title>Projection Window</title>
1306 <mediaobject>
1307 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/6_projection.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1308 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/6_projection.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1309 </mediaobject>
1310 </figure>
1311 </para>
1312 <para>
1313 Thuban is distributed with a sample collection of projections and the
1314 set of coordinate systems as used by the EPSG
1315 (European Petroleum Survey Group). This quite large set is only displayed
1316 if activated by the according checkbox. The set falls into two parts:
1317 deprecated lists all projections which are no longer part of the
1318 EPSG data base.
1319 </para>
1320 <para>
1321 The
1322 user can create new projections and make them available to all
1323 future Thuban sessions. They may also be exported and imported so
1324 that custom projections can be distributed.
1325 </para>
1326 <section><title>Selecting a Projection</title>
1327 <para>
1328 The available projections are listed on the left. If the layer
1329 or map already has a projection it will initially be highlighted
1330 and will end with <varname>(current)</varname>. Selecting
1331 <varname>&lt;None&gt;</varname> will cause Thuban to use the data as
1332 it appears in the source file and will not use a projection.
1333 </para>
1334 </section>
1335 <section><title>Editing a Projection</title>
1336 <para>
1337 Whenever a projection is selected from the list its properties
1338 are displayed on the right. These properties can be changed
1339 and the changes saved to the selected projection using
1340 <guibutton>Update</guibutton>. Only a projection that comes
1341 from a file can be updated, so if the current layer's projection
1342 is selected, <guibutton>Update</guibutton> will be disabled.
1343 <guibutton>Add to List</guibutton> adds the projection to the
1344 list of available projections as a new entry, and thus makes it
1345 available to future Thuban sessions. Clicking <guibutton>New</guibutton>
1346 will create an entirely new, empty projection. The
1347 <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> button will permanently remove a
1348 projection from the list of available projections.
1349 </para>
1350 <para>
1351 To apply the selected projection to the map the user can click
1352 either <guibutton>Try</guibutton> or <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
1353 <guibutton>Try</guibutton> will not close the dialog box, allowing
1354 the user to see how the projeciton changes the map.
1355 <guibutton>Revert</guibutton> will undo the last projection applied
1356 to the map. <guibutton>OK</guibutton> will commit the changes and
1357 close the dialog. The user will be unable to undo the changes.
1358 <guibutton>Close</guibutton> simply closes the dialog box. If no
1359 selection has been applied with <guibutton>Try</guibutton> the
1360 selection will not be applied to the map.
1361 </para>
1362 </section>
1363 <section><title>Importing/Exporting Projections</title>
1364 <para>
1365 The projections that appear in the list of available projections
1366 can be exported to another file that the user chooses. By selecting
1367 one or more projections and clicking <guibutton>Export</guibutton>
1368 the user will be able to select a file in which to store those
1369 projections.
1370 The file can then be distributed to other Thuban users. To import
1371 a projection file the user can click <guibutton>Import</guibutton>.
1372 The imported projections are added to the list and are then available
1373 to the current session and any future Thuban sessions.
1374 </para>
1375 </section>
1376 </chapter>
1377
1378 <chapter><title>Table Management</title>
1379 <para>
1380 Thuban distinguishes two different types of tables: Attribute tables
1381 (which belong to a layer) and normal data tables. Both provide
1382 the same general functionality with the difference that actions on an
1383 attribute table might also effect the map display.
1384 </para>
1385
1386 <section><title>Table View</title>
1387 <para>
1388 <figure>
1389 <title>Table View</title>
1390 <mediaobject>
1391 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/7_1_table_view.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1392 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/7_1_table_view.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1393 </mediaobject>
1394 </figure>
1395 </para>
1396 <para>
1397 Thuban provides a standard dialog to display table contents, the
1398 Table View. The view has five sections: The title, selections,
1399 the table grid, export functions, and the status bar.
1400 </para>
1401 <para>
1402 The title bar identifies the table with its name.
1403 </para>
1404 <para>
1405 The selections box let the user perform simple analysis on the data
1406 based on comparisons: The first choice must be a field identifier of
1407 the table, the second choice determines the type of comparison. The
1408 third choice can be either a specific value (interpreted as numerical
1409 or string depending on the type of the first field) or a second field
1410 identifier. Thus you can perform analysis like selecting all
1411 records where <literal>population > 10000</literal> or
1412 <literal>cars_per_inhabitant < bikes_per_inhabitant</literal>
1413 (note that the field names are only explanatory, the dBase files
1414 allow only 11 character field names).
1415
1416 Selections can be combined either by applying a selection only on
1417 a previously selected set of records or by adding the results of a
1418 selection to a previous set. The default is that a selection replaces
1419 earlier results.
1420 </para>
1421 <para>
1422 The table grid shows the contents of the table (one record per row),
1423 with highlighted selection results. Columns and rows can be resized.
1424 </para>
1425 <para>
1426 The contents of a table can be exported into a file, either dBase
1427 format (DBF) or comma separated values (CSV). The
1428 <guibutton>Export</guibutton> button
1429 raises a file dialog to specify a path and file name, the export type
1430 is determined by the file extension (either .dbf or .csv).
1431
1432 The <guibutton>Export Selection</guibutton> button works similarly
1433 but exports only the selected records.
1434
1435 The <guibutton>Close</guibutton> button closes the table view window.
1436 This is different from the menu item
1437 <menuchoice>
1438 <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1439 <guimenuitem>Close</guimenuitem>
1440 </menuchoice> which unloads the table from Thuban.
1441 </para>
1442 <para>
1443 The status bar displays some statistics about the table and optional
1444 selection results.
1445 </para>
1446 </section>
1447
1448 <section><title>General Functionality (Menu Table)</title>
1449 <para>
1450 The general functions affect all tables open in Thuban. Attribute
1451 tables are considered here as normal data tables (with the exception
1452 that they cannot be closed).
1453 </para>
1454 <section><title>Open</title>
1455 <para>
1456 The
1457 <menuchoice>
1458 <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1459 <guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>
1460 </menuchoice>
1461 item raises a file dialog to let you select a
1462 dBase file from the file system to be loaded into Thuban read-only.
1463 On <guibutton>OK</guibutton> the selected file is loaded and a
1464 table view is opened.
1465 </para>
1466 </section>
1467
1468 <section><title>Close</title>
1469 <para>
1470 The
1471 <menuchoice>
1472 <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1473 <guimenuitem>Close</guimenuitem>
1474 </menuchoice>
1475 item raises a dialog listing the currently open
1476 data tables
1477 (loaded via
1478 <menuchoice>
1479 <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1480 <guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>
1481 </menuchoice>). Selected tables are dereferenced on confirmation.
1482 Since tables are opened read-only the contents of the tables are
1483 not affected.
1484
1485 Any open views of the tables are closed as well.
1486
1487 Tables used in a join cannot be closed.
1488 </para>
1489 </section>
1490
1491 <section><title>Rename</title>
1492 <para>
1493 <menuchoice>
1494 <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1495 <guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem>
1496 </menuchoice> changes the table title.
1497 </para>
1498 </section>
1499
1500 <section><title>Show</title>
1501 <para>
1502 The
1503 <menuchoice>
1504 <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1505 <guimenuitem>Show</guimenuitem>
1506 </menuchoice>
1507 item raises a list of available tables (explicitly
1508 loaded, attribute tables, results of a join). Selected tables are
1509 show in tables views on <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
1510 </para>
1511 </section>
1512
1513 <section><title>Join</title>
1514 <para>
1515 <figure>
1516 <title>Join Tables</title>
1517 <mediaobject>
1518 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/7_2_5_join.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1519 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/7_2_5_join.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1520 </mediaobject>
1521 </figure>
1522 </para>
1523 <para>
1524 The
1525 <menuchoice>
1526 <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1527 <guimenuitem>Join</guimenuitem>
1528 </menuchoice>
1529 item raises a dialog to specify the two tables to be
1530 joined. The join results in a new table named 'Join of "left table"
1531 and "right table"'.
1532
1533 The dialog lets you select the two tables to be joined and the two
1534 fields the join has to be performed on. By default, the new
1535 table contains only those records which are matched by the join.
1536
1537 If you want to preserve the records of the left table you can
1538 perform an outer join. The fields from the right table for records
1539 not matched by the join are filled with <varname>None</varname> in
1540 this case.
1541 </para>
1542 </section>
1543
1544 </section>
1545 <section><title>Attribute Tables</title>
1546 <para>
1547 To clearly separate between both types of tables (data and
1548 attribute), Thuban provides functionality regarding the attribute
1549 tables under the <menuchoice><guimenu>Layer</guimenu></menuchoice> menu.
1550 </para>
1551
1552 <section><title>Show Table</title>
1553 <para>
1554 <menuchoice>
1555 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1556 <guimenuitem>Show Table</guimenuitem>
1557 </menuchoice>
1558 opens the attribute table of the currently active layer in a table
1559 view.
1560
1561 In addition to the functionality described above selections
1562 affect also the map display: objects related to selected records
1563 are highlighted.
1564 </para>
1565 </section>
1566
1567 <section><title>Join Table</title>
1568 <para>
1569 Unlike the join described above, the join does not result in a
1570 new table. The attribute table of the currently active layer is the
1571 left table and other tables are joined to this table. The results of
1572 the join are available for classification.
1573
1574 As a consequence, the join cannot result in fewer
1575 records than the source attribute table. The user is warned if the
1576 right table does not fulfill this constraint. An outer join must be
1577 used in such cases.
1578 </para>
1579 </section>
1580
1581 <section><title>Unjoin Table</title>
1582 <para>
1583 As said above, a normal table cannot be closed while it is still
1584 used in a join. While the joined table resulting from a join of
1585 normal tables can be simply closed (and thereby dereferencing
1586 the source tables), this is not possible for attribute tables.
1587
1588 Hence joins on attribute tables must be solved explicitly. This is
1589 what the
1590 <menuchoice>
1591 <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1592 <guimenuitem>Unjoin Table</guimenuitem>
1593 </menuchoice>
1594 item is used for: The last join for the currently
1595 active layer is solved.
1596 </para>
1597 </section>
1598 </section>
1599 </chapter>
1600
1601 <chapter><title>Extensions</title>
1602 <para>
1603 Thuban is designed to be extensible. The term Extension is used as a
1604 general term for anything that extends Thuban.
1605 This chapter introduces into some oppportunities how to add and
1606 handle extra functionality developed by your own or third parties.
1607 </para>
1608
1609 <section><title>Add personal extensions via thubanstart.py</title>
1610 <para>
1611 After Thuban has been started for the first time, a directory
1612 .thuban is created within your home directory.
1613 There you can add a file thubanstart.py which will be imported
1614 by Thuban at start-up. It is recommended to add only import-statements
1615 to this file to keep the actual code of extensions separate.
1616 </para>
1617 <para>
1618 The modules to import must either be found through the environment
1619 variable PYTHONPATH or directly be placed into the .thuban-directory.
1620 </para>
1621 <para>
1622 As an example, copy the file examples/simple_extensions/hello_world.py
1623 of the Thuban source code into the .thuban-directory of your home
1624 directory. Now add add the statement import hello_world to the
1625 file thubanstart.py and run Thuban. You will notice an additional
1626 menu <menuchoice><guimenu>Extensions</guimenu></menuchoice> where
1627 the new item for the Hello-World extension is placed - select it
1628 to see the Hello-World message.
1629 </para>
1630 </section>
1631
1632 <section><title>Extensions included in Thuban package</title>
1633 <para>
1634 The extensions described in this section are part of the
1635 Thuban package, but not activated by default.
1636 You will find them in the Thuban installation directory
1637 under <literal>Extensions/</literal>. Activate them as personal
1638 extensions via PYTHONPATH as described in the previous section.
1639 Stable extensions will appear under the menu
1640 <menuchoice><guimenu>Extensions</guimenu></menuchoice> and
1641 extensions which are in experimental state and therefore
1642 not fully functional under
1643 <menuchoice><guimenu>Experimental</guimenu></menuchoice>.
1644 </para>
1645
1646 <section><title>Stable extensions</title>
1647 <para>
1648 These extensions provide extra-functionality to Thuban
1649 that has not (yet) been integrated in the main application.
1650 They are considered to be free of bugs, but may be
1651 further polished with helpful user interactions.
1652 </para>
1653 <section><title>gns2shp</title>
1654 <para>
1655 This tool converts data of the Geospatial Names Server
1656 (GNS, see <ulink url="http://www.nima.mil/gns"/>)
1657 into Shapefile format.
1658 The above web-site offer to download named places
1659 information grouped by countries for all of the world
1660 except USA for which other data are provided.
1661 </para>
1662 <para>
1663 If you download and unpack a package, you will have
1664 a text-file with suffix .txt.
1665 Selecting such a file via gns2shp will create the
1666 corresponding Shapefile with the same basename and
1667 place it in the same direcory. Afterwards it
1668 is automatically loaded into Thuban.
1669 The Shapefile will not automatically be delete afterwards.
1670 </para>
1671 <para>
1672 The gns2shp.py module can also be executed on the
1673 command line for batch processing purposes.
1674 </para>
1675 <para>
1676 A sample (<literal>ls.txt</literal> for Liechtenstein)
1677 is included in the directory
1678 <literal>Extensions/gns2shp/test</literal>.
1679 </para>
1680 </section>
1681 </section>
1682 <section><title>Experimental extensions</title>
1683 <para>
1684 All all of these functions have to be handled with care,
1685 since they are neither complete nor well tested.
1686 They are to be seen as a proof-of-concept and may
1687 additionally in some cases of practical help.
1688 </para>
1689 <para>
1690 Any interest on further improvement of these extensions
1691 should be communicated towards the developer and user
1692 community.
1693 </para>
1694
1695 <section><title>importAPR</title>
1696 <para>
1697 This command offer to load an ESRI® ArcView® project
1698 file (suffix .apr) and convert it for use within Thuban.
1699 After selecting a apr-file to load, a list
1700 will be presented that offers to select one of the views
1701 of the apr-file, provided there is more than one.
1702 Furthermore, the Session Info-Tree is extended with
1703 a complete representation of the parsed apr-file.
1704 </para>
1705 <para>
1706 The legend of Thuban does not yet cover all of the elements as
1707 supported by the legend of ArcView®. Therefore, the Thuban
1708 map will look different. Furthermore, the apr-format is
1709 a proprietary format, not openly documented.
1710 Therefore, the interpretation is
1711 partly based on reverse engeneering and good guessing.
1712 </para>
1713 <para>
1714 The file-paths within the apr-file may not fit and potentially
1715 are subject to fix in the apr-file. You can do this
1716 applying any text editor. The paths are either absolute
1717 or relative from where Thuban has been started.
1718 </para>
1719 <para>
1720 A sample for the Iceland data is included as
1721 <literal>Extensions/importAPR/samples/iceland.apr</literal>.
1722 The file-paths are relative from the Thuban main directory.
1723 </para>
1724 </section>
1725 </section>
1726 </section>
1727
1728 <section><title>Writing simple extensions</title>
1729 <para>
1730 Writing an extension for Thuban basically means to
1731 implement the extra functionality in Python with all of the
1732 Thuban classes, methods and variables available.
1733 </para>
1734 <para>
1735 All classes and their methods are documented in the source code
1736 (see their doc-strings). Here is an example from
1737 Thuban/Model/layer.py that describes some of the methods
1738 of a Layer object:
1739 </para>
1740 <programlisting>
1741 <![CDATA[
1742 class BaseLayer(TitledObject, Modifiable):
1743
1744 """Base class for the layers."""
1745
1746 def __init__(self, title, visible = True, projection = None):
1747 """Initialize the layer.
1748
1749 title -- the title
1750 visible -- boolean. If true the layer is visible.
1751 """
1752 TitledObject.__init__(self, title)
1753 Modifiable.__init__(self)
1754 self.visible = visible
1755 self.projection = projection
1756
1757 def Visible(self):
1758 """Return true if layer is visible"""
1759 return self.visible
1760
1761 def SetVisible(self, visible):
1762 """Set the layer's visibility."""
1763 self.visible = visible
1764 self.issue(LAYER_VISIBILITY_CHANGED, self)
1765
1766 def HasClassification(self):
1767 """Determine if this layer support classifications."""
1768 ...
1769 ]]>
1770 </programlisting>
1771 <para>
1772 This example intends to give you an impression of the
1773 source-code-level documentation.
1774 You have to make yourself familiar with
1775 the Python programming language to understand some special
1776 code elements.
1777 </para>
1778 <section><title>hello_world.py</title>
1779 <para>
1780 Traditionally, the first example should welcome the world.
1781 Most of the code handles the frame for integrating a menu
1782 item into Thuban while the actual raising of a message
1783 is done in a single line.
1784 </para>
1785 <programlisting>
1786 <![CDATA[
1787 # Copyright (C) 2003 by Intevation GmbH
1788 # Authors:
1789 # Jan-Oliver Wagner <[email protected]>
1790 #
1791 # This program is free software under the GPL (>=v2)
1792 # Read the file COPYING coming with Thuban for details.
1793
1794 """
1795 Extend Thuban with a sample Hello World to demonstrate simple
1796 extensions.
1797 """
1798
1799 __version__ = '$Revision$'
1800
1801 # use _() already now for all strings that may later be translated
1802 from Thuban import _
1803
1804 # Thuban has named commands which can be registered in the central
1805 # instance registry.
1806 from Thuban.UI.command import registry, Command
1807
1808 # The instance of the main menu of the Thuban application
1809 # See Thuban/UI/menu.py for the API of the Menu class
1810 from Thuban.UI.mainwindow import main_menu
1811
1812 def hello_world_dialog(context):
1813 """Just raise a simple dialog to greet the world.
1814
1815 context -- The Thuban context.
1816 """
1817 context.mainwindow.RunMessageBox(_('Hello World'), _('Hello World!'))
1818
1819
1820 # create a new command and register it
1821 registry.Add(Command('hello_world', _('Hello World'), hello_world_dialog,
1822 helptext = _('Welcome everyone on this planet')))
1823
1824 # find the extensions menu (create it anew if not found)
1825 extensions_menu = main_menu.FindOrInsertMenu('extensions', _('E&xtensions'))
1826
1827 # finally bind the new command with an entry in the extensions menu
1828 extensions_menu.InsertItem('hello_world')
1829 ]]>
1830 </programlisting>
1831 </section>
1832 <section><title>Registering a Command</title>
1833 <para>
1834 Mainly, our new function has to be registered to the Thuban
1835 framework in order to connect it to the menu. A registered
1836 command can also be connected to e.g. a toolbar button.
1837 </para>
1838 <para>
1839 The instances and classes for this are imported at the beginning.
1840 Any code not inside a method or class is directly executed when
1841 the source-code module is imported. Therefore, the second
1842 part of this example consist of the plain statements to create a new
1843 Command and to add it to the menu.
1844 </para>
1845 <para>
1846 By convention, it looks for a menu registered as ``extensions'' to
1847 insert the new command. If it does not exist yet, it gets created.
1848 It is advisable to copy this code for any of your extensions.
1849 </para>
1850 </section>
1851 <section><title>The Thuban context</title>
1852 <para>
1853 A registered command that is called, always receives the
1854 Thuban context. This instance provides our method with
1855 hook references to all important components of the Thuban
1856 application.
1857 </para>
1858 <para>
1859 In the example hello_world.py, our function uses the
1860 mainwindow component which offers a method to raise a
1861 message dialog. In total there are three hooks:
1862 <itemizedlist>
1863 <listitem>
1864 <para>application:
1865 This object is the instance of the Thuban Application class.
1866 Except maybe for loading or savinf sessions, you will not
1867 need this object for a simple extension.
1868 See Thuban/UI/application.py for the API.
1869 </para>
1870 </listitem>
1871 <listitem>
1872 <para>session:
1873 The instance of the current session. It manages the sessions'
1874 map and tables. You can set and remove the map or tables.
1875 In may also get the map object. However, you should know that
1876 internally it is already prepared to handle many maps.
1877 Therfore, currently you would always receive a list with exactlty
1878 one element. In the future, if there are more than one map,
1879 you will not know which one is the currently display one and
1880 therefore you should use the mainwindow as hook to find
1881 the currently displayed map.
1882 See Thuban/Model/session.py for the API.
1883 </para>
1884 </listitem>
1885 <listitem>
1886 <para>
1887 mainwindow: The mainwindow object is central to manage various
1888 GUI things such as the Legend sub-window. Most notably,
1889 you get access to the canvas which is the window part where
1890 the map is drawn. The canvas knows, which map it currently
1891 draws and therefore you get the current map via
1892 context.mainwindow.canvas.Map().
1893 See Thuban/UI/mainwindow.py for the API.
1894 </para>
1895 </listitem>
1896 </itemizedlist>
1897 </para>
1898 </section>
1899 </section>
1900 </chapter>
1901
1902 <chapter><title>Trouble Shooting</title>
1903 <para>
1904 Here are a few problems that users have encountered when first using Thuban.
1905 </para>
1906 <para>
1907
1908 <itemizedlist>
1909 <listitem>
1910 <para>After adding two or more layers nothing is drawn in the map window.
1911 </para>
1912 <para>
1913 This is probably because the layers have different projections. Projections
1914 must be set on all layers and on the map itself if the layers' projections
1915 are different.
1916 </para>
1917 </listitem>
1918
1919 <listitem>
1920 <para>Thuban crashes on startup with the error
1921 <literal>NameError: global name 'False' is not defined</literal>.
1922 </para>
1923 <para>
1924 <varname>True</varname> and <varname>False</varname> were only introduced
1925 in Python 2.2.1. Thuban depends on at least Python 2.2.1.
1926 </para>
1927 </listitem>
1928
1929 <listitem>
1930 <para>After compiling Thuban, Thuban crashes with an error similar to
1931 <literal>
1932 ImportError: /usr/local//lib/thuban/Thuban/../Lib/wxproj.so: undefined symbol: __gxx_personality_v0
1933 </literal>
1934 </para>
1935 <para>
1936 Thuban depends on the wxWindows library. If Thuban is compiled with an
1937 incompatible version of the compiler than wxWindows was compiled with
1938 this error may occur. Try compiling with a different version of the
1939 compiler.
1940 </para>
1941 </listitem>
1942 </itemizedlist>
1943 </para>
1944 <para>
1945 If an error occurs Thuban will display a dialog indicating the error
1946 before closing. The text should be copied and reported to the
1947 <ulink url="http://thuban.intevation.org/bugtracker.html">
1948 Intevation bugtracker
1949 </ulink>.
1950 More information about the system is available from
1951 <menuchoice><guimenu>Help</guimenu><guimenuitem>About</guimenuitem></menuchoice> box.
1952 This should also be included in the bug report.
1953 <figure>
1954 <title>Error Dialog</title>
1955 <mediaobject>
1956 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/8_int_error.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1957 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/8_int_error.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1958 </mediaobject>
1959 </figure>
1960 </para>
1961
1962 </chapter>
1963
1964 <appendix><title>Supported Data Sources</title>
1965 <para>
1966 </para>
1967 <variablelist>
1968 <varlistentry>
1969 <term>Shapefile</term>
1970 <listitem>
1971 <para>
1972 The Shapefile format has become a standard format for saving
1973 geographic vector information. It supports polygons, lines, and
1974 points.
1975
1976 <ulink url="http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf">
1977 Technical Specification.
1978 </ulink>
1979 </para>
1980 </listitem>
1981 </varlistentry>
1982
1983 <varlistentry>
1984 <term>dBase file</term>
1985 <listitem>
1986 <para>
1987 dBase files are used to store the attributes for each layer. This
1988 is closely associated with the Shapefile format. For detailed
1989 specifications on the correct format of a dBase file used with
1990 Thuban please see the Technical Specification for the Shapefile
1991 format above.
1992 </para>
1993 </listitem>
1994 </varlistentry>
1995
1996 <varlistentry>
1997 <term>PostGIS</term>
1998 <listitem>
1999 <para>
2000 PostGIS adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL
2001 object-relational database. Different layer types (as for Shapefiles)
2002 are supported. <ulink url="http://postgis.refractions.net">PostGIS
2003 Homepage</ulink>
2004 </para>
2005 </listitem>
2006 </varlistentry>
2007
2008 <varlistentry>
2009 <term>Raster files</term>
2010 <listitem>
2011 <para>
2012 Binding the GDAL library Thuban supports numerous raster file formats,
2013 see <ulink url="http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/formats_list.html">
2014 GDAL format list</ulink> for details.</para>
2015
2016 <para>Most commonly used is the <emphasis>TIFF/GeoTIFF</emphasis>
2017 format: Raster maps are provided as TIFF images, with an additional
2018 "world file" storing the geographic reference (usually with an
2019 extension ".tfw").
2020 </para>
2021 </listitem>
2022 </varlistentry>
2023
2024 </variablelist>
2025 </appendix>
2026
2027 <appendix><title>Working with PostGIS</title>
2028 <para>
2029 This section focusses on the use of PostGIS in the Thuban framework. For
2030 installation and maintenance of spatial databases we refer to the
2031 <ulink url="http://postgis.refractions.net">PostGIS Homepage</ulink>.
2032 The Thuban PostGIS support requires the
2033 <ulink url="http://initd.org/software/psycopg">psycopg module</ulink>.
2034 </para>
2035
2036 <para>
2037 Working with PostGIS Databases is seperated into two steps:
2038 <itemizedlist>
2039 <listitem><para>Opening a Database Connection</para></listitem>
2040 <listitem><para>Loading a Data Layer</para></listitem>
2041 </itemizedlist>
2042 </para>
2043 <section><title>Opening a Database Connection</title>
2044 <para>
2045 Before a data layer can be loaded from a PostGIS database a
2046 connection with the database has to be established.
2047 <menuchoice>
2048 <guimenu>Session</guimenu>
2049 <guimenuitem>Database Connections ...</guimenuitem>
2050 </menuchoice> opens a dialog for database connection
2051 management. In the dialog new connections can be added
2052 and existing ones can be removed. Removing a database
2053 connection is not possible if the map still displays a
2054 layer provided by this database connection.
2055 </para>
2056 <figure>
2057 <title>Database Management Dialog</title>
2058 <mediaobject>
2059 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_db_management.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2060 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_db_management.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2061 </mediaobject>
2062 </figure>
2063
2064 <para>
2065 To add a new database connection to the session a dialog is
2066 opened to specify the relevant connection data. Enter all
2067 data relevant for your connection. If the connection fails
2068 the dialog remains open and provides some hints on the failure.
2069 </para>
2070 <figure>
2071 <title>Add Database Dialog</title>
2072 <mediaobject>
2073 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_db_add.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2074 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_db_add.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2075 </mediaobject>
2076 </figure>
2077
2078 <para>
2079 It is important to note that information on database connections are
2080 also stored with the session. Passwords are NOT stored. If you load a
2081 session with database connections you are asked to enter these
2082 passwords again where required.
2083 </para>
2084
2085 </section>
2086
2087 <section><title>Loading a Data Layer</title>
2088 <para>
2089 Data layers as part of a map are loaded with the
2090 <menuchoice>
2091 <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
2092 <guimenuitem>Add Database Layer ...</guimenuitem>
2093 </menuchoice> menu item. A dialog is raised displaying two choice
2094 lists. In the left list all connected databases are shown.
2095 Highlighting
2096 one of these and issuing a retrieval results in a list of available
2097 layer tables from that database. After selection of a
2098 layer the dialog is closed.
2099 </para>
2100 <figure>
2101 <title>Add Database Dialog</title>
2102 <mediaobject>
2103 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_add_layer.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2104 <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_add_layer.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2105 </mediaobject>
2106 </figure>
2107
2108 </section>
2109
2110 </appendix>
2111
2112 <appendix><title>Supported Projections</title>
2113 <para>
2114 The following types of projections are directly support by
2115 Thuban. The specific values for each are provided by the user
2116 to create custom projections. Thuban comes with predefined
2117 projections which are available through the Projections dialog.
2118 </para>
2119 <itemizedlist>
2120 <listitem>
2121 <para>Geographic</para>
2122 <itemizedlist>
2123 <listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem>
2124 <listitem><para>
2125 <literal>Source Data</literal>: either Degrees or Radians
2126 </para></listitem>
2127 </itemizedlist>
2128 </listitem>
2129 <listitem>
2130 <para>Lambert Conic Conformal</para>
2131 <itemizedlist>
2132 <listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem>
2133 <listitem><para><literal>Latitude of 1st standard parallel</literal></para></listitem>
2134 <listitem><para><literal>Latitude of 2nd standard parallel</literal></para></listitem>
2135 <listitem><para><literal>Central Meridian</literal></para></listitem>
2136 <listitem><para><literal>Latitude of Origin</literal></para></listitem>
2137 <listitem><para><literal>False Easting</literal> (meters)</para></listitem>
2138 <listitem><para><literal>False Northing</literal> (meters)</para></listitem>
2139 </itemizedlist>
2140 </listitem>
2141 <listitem>
2142 <para>Transverse Mercator</para>
2143 <itemizedlist>
2144 <listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem>
2145 <listitem><para><literal>Latitude</literal>of origin</para></listitem>
2146 <listitem><para><literal>Longitude</literal>at central meridian</para></listitem>
2147 <listitem><para><literal>Scale Factor</literal>at central meridian</para></listitem>
2148 <listitem><para><literal>False Easting</literal> (meters)</para></listitem>
2149 <listitem><para><literal>False Northing</literal> (meters)</para></listitem>
2150 </itemizedlist>
2151 </listitem>
2152 <listitem>
2153 <para>Universal Transverse Mercator</para>
2154 <itemizedlist>
2155 <listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem>
2156 <listitem><para><literal>Zone</literal>
2157 (can be guessed appling the Propose button)</para></listitem>
2158 <listitem><para><literal>Southern Hemisphere</literal> flag</para></listitem>
2159 </itemizedlist>
2160 </listitem>
2161 </itemizedlist>
2162
2163 <para>
2164 Thuban comes with a sample set of map projections for various
2165 European countries. Apart from the basic projection they differ
2166 especially in their parameterization:
2167 </para>
2168 <itemizedlist>
2169 <listitem><para>Belgium Datum 1972 (Lambert Conic Conformal)</para>
2170 </listitem>
2171
2172 <listitem><para>Gauss-Boaga Zone 1 (Italy, Transverse Mercartor)</para>
2173 </listitem>
2174
2175 <listitem><para>Gauss-Krueger Zone 2 (Germany, Transverse Mercartor)
2176 </para>
2177 </listitem>
2178
2179 <listitem><para>Reseau Geodesique Francaise
2180 (France, Lambert Conic Conformal)</para>
2181 </listitem>
2182
2183 <listitem><para>UK National Grid (United Kingdom, Transverse Mercartor)
2184 </para>
2185 </listitem>
2186 </itemizedlist>
2187
2188 <para>
2189 Thuban uses the comprehensive PROJ library for projections. PROJ provides
2190 more than the four commonly used projections described above. If needed
2191 Thuban can be easily extended to a new projection covered by PROJ.
2192 </para>
2193 </appendix>
2194
2195 </book>
2196

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