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revision 1473 by jonathan, Thu Jul 24 09:05:11 2003 UTC revision 2209 by jan, Sun May 16 09:38:48 2004 UTC
# Line 1  Line 1 
1  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
2  <!DOCTYPE book  <!DOCTYPE book
3          PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"          PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
4          "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">          "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"
5        [<!ENTITY imgscale "60">]>
6  <!-- $Revision$ -->  <!-- $Revision$ -->
7  <book>  <book>
8    <bookinfo>    <bookinfo>
9      <title>Thuban Manual</title>      <title>User's Manual for Thuban 1.0</title>
10      <author>          <authorgroup>
11        <firstname>Jonathan</firstname><surname>Coles</surname>        <author>
12      </author>          <firstname>Jonathan</firstname><surname>Coles</surname>
13      <author>        </author>
14        <firstname>Jan-Oliver</firstname><surname>Wagner</surname>        <author>
15      </author>          <firstname>Jan-Oliver</firstname><surname>Wagner</surname>
16          </author>
17          <author>
18            <firstname>Frank</firstname><surname>Koormann</surname>
19          </author>
20            </authorgroup>
21      <copyright>      <copyright>
22        <year>2003</year>        <year>2003, 2004</year>
23        <holder>Intevation GmbH</holder>        <holder>Intevation GmbH</holder>
24      </copyright>      </copyright>
25       <revhistory>
26    <!-- comment this first revision out when releasing a real version -->
27    <!--
28         <revision>
29            <revnumber>CVS version $Id$</revnumber>
30            <date></date>
31            <revremark>Under development.</revremark>
32         </revision>
33    -->
34         <revision>
35            <revnumber>1.0.0</revnumber>
36            <date>22-Jan-2004</date>
37            <revremark>
38                            Corresponds to Thuban 1.0.0.
39                            New: Installation instructions for Win32.
40                    </revremark>
41         </revision>
42         <revision>
43            <revnumber>1.0pre3</revnumber>
44            <date>04-Dec-2003</date>
45            <revremark>
46                            Corresponds to Thuban 1.0rc1.
47                            New: I18n, right button legend menu, EPSG projectons,
48                PostGIS support.
49                    </revremark>
50         </revision>
51         <revision>
52            <revnumber>1.0pre2</revnumber>
53            <date>29-Aug-2003</date>
54            <revremark>
55                            Corresponds to Thuban development release 0.8.1.
56                            New: chapter on extensions.
57                    </revremark>
58         </revision>
59         <revision>
60            <revnumber>1.0pre1</revnumber>
61            <date>08-Aug-2003</date>
62            <revremark>Corresponds to Thuban development release 0.8.1.</revremark>
63         </revision>
64      </revhistory>
65    
66    </bookinfo>    </bookinfo>
67    
68    <chapter><title>Introduction</title>    <chapter><title>Introduction</title>
69      <para>      <para>
70      Thuban is a Free Software Geographic Information Systems (GIS) viewer.      Thuban is an interactive geographic data viewer.
71      It is being developed because there is currently no simple interactive      It has been developed because there was no simple interactive
72      viewer for geographic information available as Free Software. Thuban is      viewer for geographic information available as Free Software. Thuban is
73      written in Python and C++ and uses the wxWindows library allowing it to      written in Python and C++ and uses the wxWindows library allowing it to
74      run on many different platforms, including GNU/Linux and Windows.      run on many different platforms, including GNU/Linux and Windows.
75      </para>      </para>
76      <para>      <para>
77      GIS viewers are a necessary tool as they allow one to get a visual      Geographic data viewers are a necessary tool as they allow one to
78            get a visual
79      impression of the positional relationship of the information that may not      impression of the positional relationship of the information that may not
80      be apparent from simple inspection of the data values themselves.      be apparent from simple inspection of the data values themselves.
81      Thuban allows the user to create a session that displays      Thuban allows the user to create a session that displays
# Line 44  Line 92 
92          <section><title>Installation</title>          <section><title>Installation</title>
93          <para>          <para>
94          Thuban is actively supported under Debian Testing (sarge), RedHat 7.2,          Thuban is actively supported under Debian Testing (sarge), RedHat 7.2,
95          and Windows 2000. All the necessary files can be found on the          and Windows 2000. Thuban depends on the following packages. These
96            packages can also be found on the
97          <ulink url="http://thuban.intevation.org/download.html">          <ulink url="http://thuban.intevation.org/download.html">
98          Thuban Download site          Thuban Download site
99          </ulink>.          </ulink>.
100            </para>
101            <para>
102            Required:
103            <itemizedlist>
104                <listitem><para>Python 2.2.1
105                            (<literal>http://www.python.org</literal>)
106                            </para></listitem>
107                <listitem><para>wxWindows 2.4
108                            (<literal>http://www.wxwindows.org</literal>)
109                            </para></listitem>
110                <listitem><para>wxPython 2.4
111                            (<literal>http://www.wxpython.org</literal>)
112                            </para></listitem>
113                <listitem><para>proj 4.4.5 Projection Library
114                            (<literal>http://www.remotesensing.org/proj/</literal>)
115                            </para></listitem>
116                <listitem><para>SQLite 2.8.3
117                            <literal>http://www.hwaci.com/sw/sqlite/</literal>)
118                            </para></listitem>
119                <listitem><para>PySQLite 0.4.3
120                            (<literal>http://pysqlite.sourceforge.net</literal>)
121                            </para></listitem>
122            </itemizedlist>
123            </para>
124            <para>
125            Optional:
126            <itemizedlist>
127                <listitem><para>GDAL 1.1.8
128                            (<literal>http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/</literal>)
129                            </para></listitem>
130                <listitem><para>psycopg 1.0.8
131                            (<literal>http://initd.org/software/psycopg</literal>)
132                            </para></listitem>
133                </itemizedlist>
134          </para>          </para>
135                    <para>
136                    Along with the source codes, the download page also offers full
137                    installation packages for Debian, Windows and RPM-based systems
138                    (Mandrake, RedHat, SuSE, etc).
139                    </para>
140                    <section><title>RPM-based GNU/Linux Systems</title>
141                            <section><title>Installing Binary Packages</title>
142                                    <para>
143                                    The most wide-spread RPM-based GNU/Linux
144                                    Systems are RedHat, Mandrake and SuSE.
145                                    The documentation of these distributions
146                                    should contain information about how to
147                                    install third-party RPM packages.
148                                    Nonetheless, a short summary is provided here.
149                                    </para>
150                                    <para>
151                                    RPM packages can be installed applying several
152                                    tools. The most basic one is the command line
153                                    program "rpm".  The hardware architecture is
154                                    identified in the name of RPM packages, eg.
155                                    'i386' for most Intel/AMD architectures.  
156                                    If you have a different hardware architecture,
157                                    where no binary RPM packages are provided,
158                                    you must rebuild binary packages from the
159                                    RPM source packages first (see below).
160                                    Typical rpm commands look like:
161    
162                                    <programlisting>
163                                    rpm --install Thuban-0.9.0-1.i386.rpm
164                                    </programlisting>
165    
166                                    Depending on what you already have installed
167                                    on your system, you are informed that some
168                                    packages are required, but not installed.
169                                    You need to install them first. Either they
170                                    are provided by your GNU/Linux distributor
171                                    or available somewhere on the Internet.  
172                                    The more essential and special ones are
173                                    provided together with the Thuban package.
174                                    </para>
175    
176                                    <para>
177                                    For rpm exist some graphical user interfaces, notably
178                                    kpackage, GnoRPM and xrpm.
179                                    </para>
180    
181                                    <para>
182                                    Make yourself familiar with one of the tools and apply it
183                                    to install the packages.
184                                    Note, that you need to be administrator (root) for the system
185                                    to do that.
186                                    </para>
187                            </section>
188                            <section><title>Build Binaries from Source Packages</title>
189                                    <para>
190                                    This section describes howto build RPM install-packages
191                                    from RPM source-packages.
192                                    This adapts and optimizes an install-package specifically
193                                    to your system.
194                                    This is especially helpful to resolve version conflicts of
195                                    dependent packages. Furthermore, install-packages for other
196                                    platforms (e.g. PowerPC) can be created.
197                                    </para>
198    
199                                    <para>
200                                    Note: rpm must be at least version 4. Execute
201                                    <literal>rpm --version</literal> to find out about the version.
202                                    </para>
203    
204                                    <para>
205                                    You need to do the following preparations to be able to
206                                    build the packages as a regular user. You should now
207                                    perform the package buling as root since this
208                                    might cause damage to your system.
209                            <itemizedlist>
210                            <listitem>
211                                                    <para>
212                                                    Create RPM directory structure:
213                                                    Choose a directory (e.g. $HOME/myrpm) and create the
214                                                    subdirectories BUILD, RPM, SOURCES, SPECS and SRPMS.
215                                                    A possible command sequence for this is:
216                                                    <programlisting>
217                                                    mkdir $HOME/freegisrpm
218                                                    cd $HOME/freegisrpm
219                                                    mkdir BUILD RPMS SOURCES SPECS SRPMS
220                                                    </programlisting>
221                                                    </para>
222                                            </listitem>
223                                            <listitem>
224                                                    <para>
225                                                    Set environment variable RPM_DIR:
226                                                    <programlisting>
227                                                    export RPM_DIR=$HOME/freegisrpm
228                                                    </programlisting>
229                                                    </para>
230                                            </listitem>
231                                            <listitem>
232                                                    <para>
233                                                    Create $HOME/.rpmmacros:
234                                                    This file sets general preferences and some
235                                                    specific settings for signing packages.
236                                                    If you don't have a GnuPG-key, you can skip
237                                                    the signature settings i.e. drop the last 4 lines.
238                                                    A signature becomes important when you want to
239                                                    give away packages to third parties.
240                                                    <programlisting>
241    <![CDATA[
242    %packager Name Lastname <[email protected]>
243    
244    %_topdir /home/mylogin/myrpm
245    
246    %_signature gpg
247    %_gpg_name Name Lastname
248    %_pgp_path ~/.gnupg
249    %_pgpbin /usr/bin/gpg
250    ]]>
251                                                    </programlisting>
252                                                    </para>
253                                            </listitem>
254                            </itemizedlist>
255    
256                                    Now you can install any RPM source-package.
257                                    It's components are installed into the corresponding
258                                    subdirectories of your rpm-directory.
259                                    Essentially these are the sources (into directory SOURCES)
260                                    and the so-called spec-file which contains all build
261                                    instructions. The spec-file will go into the SPEC directory.
262                                    Example:
263                                    <literal>rpm --install Thuban-0.9.0-1.src.rpm</literal>
264                                    </para>
265    
266                                    <para>
267                                    Create install-package:
268                                    Go to the directory with the spec-files and rebuild the
269                                    package:
270                                    <programlisting>
271    cd $HOME/mypm/SPECS
272    rpm -bb thuban.spec
273                                    </programlisting>
274                                    Next, you will find the newly created package in
275                                    $HOME/myrpm/RPMS/i386.
276                                    If you build the package for another architecture than
277                                    i386, then the name of the directory has a corresponding name.
278                                    </para>
279                                    <para>
280                                    For documentation of RPM, either type
281                                    <literal>man rpm</literal> or <literal>rpm --help</literal>.
282                                    This will provide you with information on the various command
283                                    line options of RPM.
284                                    For more information see the
285                            <ulink url="http://www.rpm.org/">homepage of RPM</ulink>.
286                                    </para>
287                            </section>
288                    </section> <!-- Intro - Installation - RPM-->
289    
290                    <section><title>Win32 Systems</title>
291                    <para>
292                            A common installation package of Thuban for Win32
293                            systems is available from the Thuban website download
294                            section. This installation package is configured for
295                            displaying file based vector data (Shapefiles). For the
296                            display of raster data or the connection to spatial
297                            databases additional steps are needed.  
298                    </para>
299                    <para>
300                            The required Python packages are listed and linked on
301                            the download page as well.  If you don't have Python
302                            installed already, download the packages for Python,
303                            wxPython for Python and the SQLite Python Libraries as
304                            well as the Thuban package. Install all four packages
305                            in the order: Python, wxPython, SQLite, Thuban. Follow
306                            the installation instructions provided by the seperate
307                            setups. The Thuban installation package will add an
308                            entry in the menu folder you configured.
309                    </para>
310                    <section><title>Raster Data: Installation of GDAL</title>
311                    <para>
312                            Enabling the raster data features of Thuban is
313                            straight forward. For the examples we assume that
314                            Thuban has been installed under
315                            <literal>C:\Thuban</literal>:
316                            <itemizedlist>
317                            <listitem>
318                            <para>
319                            Download the zip-archive <ulink
320                            url="ftp://intevation.de/thuban/win2k/gdal-win2k.zip"
321                            >gdal-win2k</ulink>.
322                            </para></listitem>
323                            <listitem><para>Extract the archive (e.g. with
324                            <ulink
325                            url="http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/WiZ.html"
326                            >WiZ (InfoZip)</ulink>) into the
327                            <literal>C:\Thuban\Lib</literal>
328                            directory of your Thuban installation.
329                            </para>
330                            </listitem>
331                            <listitem>
332                            <para>
333                            Extent the <varname>PYTHONPATH</varname>
334                            environment variable (in your Windows Control Panel)
335                            to make the new libraries available for Thuban.
336                            <programlisting>
337    %PYTHONPATH%;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal\pymod
338                            </programlisting>
339                            </para>
340                            </listitem>
341                            <listitem>
342                            <para>
343                            Extent also the <varname>PATH</varname>
344                            environment variable accordingly:
345                            <programlisting>
346    %PATH%;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal
347                            </programlisting>
348                            </para>
349                            </listitem>
350                            </itemizedlist>
351                            After this installation steps Thuban is ready to
352                            display raster data (e.g. the
353                            <literal>island.tif</literal> from the Iceland Demo
354                            data set.
355                    </para>
356                    </section> <!-- Win32: GDAL-->
357    
358                    <section><title>Working with PostGIS: Installation of PsycoPG</title>
359                    <para>
360                            To access PostgreSQL/PostGIS spatial databases with
361                            Thuban you have to install the PsycoPG package for
362                            Windows:
363                            <itemizedlist>
364                            <listitem>
365                            <para>
366                            Download the zip-archive
367                            <ulink
368                                    url="http://stickpeople.com/projects/python/win-psycopg/win-psycopg22.zip"
369                            >win-psycopg22.zip</ulink>.
370                            </para>
371                            </listitem>
372                            <listitem>
373                            <para>
374                            Extract the zip-archive into a directory either already
375                            in your <varname>PYTHONPATH</varname> or extent your
376                            <varname>PYTHONPATH</varname> variable to the directory
377                            you have extracted the archive to.
378                            </para>
379                            </listitem>
380                            </itemizedlist>
381                            For installation and maintenance of spatial databases
382                            we refer to the  <ulink
383                            url="http://postgis.refractions.net"
384                            >PostGIS Homepage</ulink>.
385                    </para>
386                    </section> <!-- Win32: PsycoPG-->
387    
388                    </section> <!-- Intro - Installation - Win32 -->
389          </section>          </section>
390    
391            <section><title>Internationalization</title>
392            <para>
393            Thuban is implemented with internationalization support. So far Thuban
394            is translated by volunteers to the following languages (apart from its
395            main language: English):
396            <itemizedlist>
397                <listitem><para>French</para></listitem>
398                <listitem><para>German</para></listitem>
399                <listitem><para>Italian</para></listitem>
400                <listitem><para>Russian</para></listitem>
401                <listitem><para>Spanish</para></listitem>
402            </itemizedlist>
403            </para>
404    
405            <para>
406            To use internationalization under POSIX systems (like GNU/Linux)
407            you have to set the environment variable LC_ALL accordingly (e.g.
408            LC_ALL=fr_FR for the french language support). Please check your
409            systems documentation for details and supported settings.
410            Specifiying LC_ALL on the command line while launching thuban
411            allows appication specific language settings.
412            </para>
413    
414            <para>
415            MS Windows users have to specify the language to be used via the control
416            bar (which effects all applications).
417            </para>
418            </section>
419    
420          <section><title>The Main Window</title>          <section><title>The Main Window</title>
421          <para>          <para>
422          <screenshot>          <figure>
423          <screeninfo>The Main Window</screeninfo>          <title>The Main Window</title>
424          <mediaobject>          <mediaobject>
425          <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="../images/1_2_mainwindow.png" format="PNG"/> </imageobject>          <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="../images/1_2_mainwindow.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> </imageobject>
426          <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="./images/1_2_mainwindow.ps" format="EPS"/> </imageobject>          <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="./images/1_2_mainwindow.ps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> </imageobject>
         <textobject><phrase>The Main Window</phrase></textobject>  
         <caption><para>The Main Window</para></caption>  
427          </mediaobject>          </mediaobject>
428          </screenshot>          </figure>
429          </para>          </para>
430    
431          <para>          <para>
# Line 97  Line 461 
461          The tool bar provides quick access to the commonly needed tools.          The tool bar provides quick access to the commonly needed tools.
462          By hovering over each button the user can see a short messages          By hovering over each button the user can see a short messages
463          describing what the tool does. The tools provided are Zoom In, Zoom          describing what the tool does. The tools provided are Zoom In, Zoom
464          Out, Pan, Full Extent, Full Layer Extent, Full Shape Extent, Indentify,          Out, Pan, Full Extent, Full Layer Extent, Full Shape Extent, Identify,
465          and Label. Each of the tools will be explained in further detail later          and Label. Each of the tools will be explained in further detail later
466          in the manual.          in the manual.
467          </para>          </para>
# Line 113  Line 477 
477          <menuchoice>          <menuchoice>
478          <guimenu>File</guimenu>          <guimenu>File</guimenu>
479          <guimenuitem>New Session</guimenuitem>          <guimenuitem>New Session</guimenuitem>
480          </menuchoice>.          </menuchoice>.
   
481          If a session is already loaded and has been modified without          If a session is already loaded and has been modified without
482          being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should          being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should
483          be saved.          be saved. A new session consists of an empty map with no
484            layers and no tables.
485          </para>          </para>
486          </section>          </section>
487    
# Line 128  Line 491 
491          <menuchoice>          <menuchoice>
492          <guimenu>File</guimenu>          <guimenu>File</guimenu>
493          <guimenuitem>Open Session</guimenuitem>          <guimenuitem>Open Session</guimenuitem>
494          </menuchoice>.          </menuchoice>. A dialog box will open allowing the user to browse
495            for a Thuban Session file. Thuban session files end with
496            <varname>.thuban</varname>. Selecting a file a clicking
497            <guibutton>OK</guibutton> will load the session into Thuban.
498    
499          If a session is already loaded and has been modified without          If a session is already loaded and has been modified without
500          being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should          being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should
# Line 142  Line 508 
508          <menuchoice>          <menuchoice>
509          <guimenu>File</guimenu>          <guimenu>File</guimenu>
510          <guimenuitem>Save Session</guimenuitem>          <guimenuitem>Save Session</guimenuitem>
511          </menuchoice>.          </menuchoice>. A dialog box will open allowing the user to browse
512            the file system and select a place to save the session. Thuban
513            sessions should be saved under a name ending in
514            <varname>.thuban</varname>. If the file already exists the user
515            will be prompted to save under a different name or overwrite the
516            existing file.
517          </para>          </para>
518          </section>          </section>
519    
520          <section><title>The Session Info-Tree</title>          <section><title>The Session Info-Tree</title>
521            <para>
522            <figure>
523            <title>Session Info Tree</title>
524            <mediaobject>
525            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/2_4_session_tree.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
526            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/2_4_session_tree.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
527            </mediaobject>
528            </figure>
529            </para>
530          <para>          <para>
531                  (primarily for developers)          The session info-tree is primarily intended for developers working
532            with Thuban. It displays many of the internal values for the session,
533            map, and layers. It can be opened from
534            <menuchoice>
535            <guimenu>File</guimenu>
536            <guimenuitem>Session Tree</guimenuitem>
537            </menuchoice>.
538          </para>          </para>
539          </section>          </section>
540    </chapter>    </chapter>
# Line 160  Line 545 
545      different type of data set. By interacting with the map the user can      different type of data set. By interacting with the map the user can
546      visually explore the data.      visually explore the data.
547      </para>      </para>
548        <para>
549        The map can have a name that will appear in the Thuban title bar.
550        The map name can be changed using
551        <menuchoice>
552        <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
553        <guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem>
554        </menuchoice>.
555        </para>
556        <para>
557        <inlinemediaobject>
558        <imageobject>
559        <imagedata fileref="../images/3_rename_map.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
560        </imageobject>
561        <imageobject>
562        <imagedata fileref="./images/3_rename_map.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
563        </imageobject>
564        <textobject> <phrase>Rename Map</phrase> </textobject>
565        </inlinemediaobject>
566        </para>
567    
568          <section><title>Adding and Removing Layers</title>          <section><title>Adding and Removing Layers</title>
569          <para>          <para>
570          There are two types of layers that can use added to a map: shape layers          There are three types of layers that can be added to a map:
571            Shape layers, database layers
572          and image layers. Shape layers are stored in Shapefile format, a          and image layers. Shape layers are stored in Shapefile format, a
573          standard file format for storing geographic objects. Normally, these          widely used file format for storing geographic objects. These
574          files have the extension ``.shp''. Associated with          files have the extension ``.shp''. Associated with
575          the object information is a database file which stores attributes for          the shape file is a database file which stores attributes for
576          each shape in the Shapefile. This file, stored in DB2 format, usually          each shape in the Shape file. This file, in dBase format,
577          has the extension ``.dbf''. Both files should have the same base name.          has the extension ``.dbf''. Both files must have the same base name.
578          For example, if there is a Shapefile named roads.shp there should          For example, if there is a shape file named roads.shp there must
579          also be a file roads.dbf.          also be a file roads.dbf.
580          </para>          </para>
581          <para>          <itemizedlist>
582            <listitem>
583            <para>
584          Shape layers can be added to the map with          Shape layers can be added to the map with
585          <menuchoice>          <menuchoice>
586          <guimenu>Map</guimenu>          <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
587          <guimenuitem>Add Layer</guimenuitem>          <guimenuitem>Add Layer</guimenuitem>
588          </menuchoice>.          </menuchoice>.
589          Thuban will load all files with the same base name, so it doesn't          Initially, only the ``.shp'' files are shown which is enough for the
590          matter if the Shapefile or database file is selected.                  selection. However, if you switch to display all files and select one
591          </para>                  of the associated files (e.g. ``.dbf''), Thuban will recognize the base
592                    name and load the corresponding Shape file.
593            </para>
594                    <para>
595                    The file dialog for Shape files allows to select multiple files.
596                    Use the shift-button together with the left mouse button to extend
597                    the selection.
598            </para>
599            </listitem>
600    
601            <listitem>
602            <para>Database layers can be added to the map with
603            <menuchoice>
604            <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
605            <guimenuitem>Add Database Layer</guimenuitem>
606            </menuchoice>.
607            A dialog with two is list is opened. The left list displays all
608            database connections currently open for the session. You can retrieve
609            a list of available layers from the selected database which is
610            displayed on the right hand. From this list one layer can be selected,
611            the dialog is closed afterwards.
612            </para>
613            <para>
614            See appendix ``Working with PostGIS'' for details.
615            </para>
616            </listitem>
617    
618            <listitem>
619          <para>          <para>
620          Image layers can be added to the map with          Image layers can be added to the map with
621          <menuchoice>          <menuchoice>
# Line 190  Line 623 
623          <guimenuitem>Add Image Layer</guimenuitem>          <guimenuitem>Add Image Layer</guimenuitem>
624          </menuchoice>.          </menuchoice>.
625          It is important to select a valid image file that has geographic          It is important to select a valid image file that has geographic
626          data associated with it. This can be embedded in the file itself,          data associated with it. The data can be embedded in the file itself,
627          or in another file. If geographic information cannot be found, Thuban          or in another file. If geographic information cannot be found, Thuban
628          will report an error.          will report an error.
629          </para>          </para>
630            </listitem>
631            </itemizedlist>
632          </section>          </section>
633    
634          <section><title>Navigation</title>          <section><title>Navigation</title>
635          <para>          <para>
636          The map can be explored by using the navigation tools available on          The map can be explored by using the navigation tools available on
637          the tool bar, or from the          the tool bar or from the
638          <menuchoice><guimenu>Map</guimenu></menuchoice> menu.          <menuchoice><guimenu>Map</guimenu></menuchoice> menu.
639          </para>          </para>
640            <itemizedlist>
641            <listitem>
642          <para>          <para>
643          The ZoomIn tool          The ZoomIn tool
644          <inlinemediaobject>          <inlinemediaobject>
645          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
646          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomin.png" format="PNG"/>          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomin.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
647          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
648          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
649          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomin.eps" format="EPS"/>          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomin.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
650          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
651          <textobject> <phrase>ZoomIn Tool</phrase> </textobject>          <textobject> <phrase>ZoomIn Tool</phrase> </textobject>
652          </inlinemediaobject>          </inlinemediaobject>
653          can be used to enlarge a region of the map. Clicking once on the map          enlarges a region of the map. Clicking once on the map
654          will double the magnification and center the map on the point that          will double the magnification and center the map on the point that
655          was clicked. Clicking and dragging lets the user select a region          was clicked. Clicking and dragging selects a region that will be
656          to be enlarged to fit the window.          enlarged to fit the window.
657          </para>          </para>
658            </listitem>
659            <listitem>
660          <para>          <para>
661          The ZoomOut tool          The ZoomOut tool
662          <inlinemediaobject>          <inlinemediaobject>
663          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
664          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomout.png" format="PNG"/>          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomout.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
665          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
666          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
667          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomout.eps" format="EPS"/>          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomout.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
668          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
669          <textobject> <phrase>ZoomOut Tool</phrase> </textobject>          <textobject> <phrase>ZoomOut Tool</phrase> </textobject>
670          </inlinemediaobject>          </inlinemediaobject>
# Line 234  Line 673 
673          selects a box such that the current contents of the window will be          selects a box such that the current contents of the window will be
674          scaled to fit into that box.          scaled to fit into that box.
675          </para>          </para>
676            </listitem>
677            <listitem>
678          <para>          <para>
679          The Pan tool          The Pan tool
680          <inlinemediaobject>          <inlinemediaobject>
681          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
682          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_pan.png" format="PNG"/>          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_pan.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
683          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
684          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
685          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_pan.eps" format="EPS"/>          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_pan.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
686          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
687          <textobject> <phrase>Pan Tool</phrase> </textobject>          <textobject> <phrase>Pan Tool</phrase> </textobject>
688          </inlinemediaobject>          </inlinemediaobject>
689          allows the user to move the map around by clicking and dragging.          allows the user to move the map around by clicking and dragging.
690          </para>          </para>
691            </listitem>
692            <listitem>
693          <para>          <para>
694          The Full Extent tool          The Full Extent tool
695          <inlinemediaobject>          <inlinemediaobject>
696          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
697          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullextent.png" format="PNG"/>          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
698          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
699          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
700          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullextent.eps" format="EPS"/>          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
701          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
702          <textobject> <phrase>Full Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>          <textobject> <phrase>Full Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
703          </inlinemediaobject>          </inlinemediaobject>
704          rescales the viewable region so that the entire map is visible.          rescales the viewable region so that the entire map is visible.
705          </para>          </para>
706            </listitem>
707            <listitem>
708          <para>          <para>
709          The Full Layer Extent tool          The Full Layer Extent tool
710          <inlinemediaobject>          <inlinemediaobject>
711          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
712          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fulllayerextent.png" format="PNG"/>          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fulllayerextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
713          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
714          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
715          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fulllayerextent.eps" format="EPS"/>          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fulllayerextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
716          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
717          <textobject> <phrase>Full Layer Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>          <textobject> <phrase>Full Layer Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
718          </inlinemediaobject>          </inlinemediaobject>
# Line 275  Line 720 
720          layer fits within the window. If no layer is selected this button          layer fits within the window. If no layer is selected this button
721          will be disabled.          will be disabled.
722          </para>          </para>
723            </listitem>
724            <listitem>
725          <para>          <para>
726          The Full Shape Extent tool          The Full Shape Extent tool
727          <inlinemediaobject>          <inlinemediaobject>
728          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
729          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullshapeextent.png" format="PNG"/>          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullshapeextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
730          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
731          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
732          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullshapeextent.eps" format="EPS"/>          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullshapeextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
733          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
734          <textobject> <phrase>Full Shape Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>          <textobject> <phrase>Full Shape Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
735          </inlinemediaobject>          </inlinemediaobject>
736          rescales the viewable region so that the currently selected          rescales the viewable region so that the currently selected
737          shape fits within the window. If the shape is a point, it is          shape fits within the window. If the shape is a point, it is
738          centered and the map is zoomed all the way in. If no shape is          centered and the map is zoomed all the way in. If no shape is
739          selected this button will be disabled.          selected this button will be disabled. This feature is especially
740            helpful when identifying an object related to a selected record
741            in a tableview (see below).
742    
743          </para>          </para>
744            </listitem>
745            </itemizedlist>
746          </section>          </section>
747    
748          <section><title>Object Identification</title>          <section><title>Object Identification</title>
# Line 298  Line 750 
750          Objects on the map can be identified using the Identify tool          Objects on the map can be identified using the Identify tool
751          <inlinemediaobject>          <inlinemediaobject>
752          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
753          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_identify.png" format="PNG"/>          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_identify.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
754          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
755          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
756          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_identify.eps" format="EPS"/>          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_identify.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
757          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
758          <textobject> <phrase>Identify Tool</phrase> </textobject>          <textobject> <phrase>Identify Tool</phrase> </textobject>
759          </inlinemediaobject>.          </inlinemediaobject>.
760          Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which          Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which
761          shows all the table attributes for that object. Any current selection          shows all the table attributes for that object. Any current selection
762          is lost.          is lost. Objects on the map are typically shapes and this document
763            will often refer to objects as shapes.
764          </para>          </para>
765          </section>          </section>
766    
767          <section><title>Object Labelling</title>          <section><title>Object Labeling</title>
768          <para>          <para>
769          Objects can be labelled using the Label tool          Objects can be labeled using the Label tool
770          <inlinemediaobject>          <inlinemediaobject>
771          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
772          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_label.png" format="PNG"/>          <imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_label.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
773          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
774          <imageobject>          <imageobject>
775          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_label.eps" format="EPS"/>          <imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_label.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
776          </imageobject>          </imageobject>
777          <textobject> <phrase>Label Tool</phrase> </textobject>          <textobject> <phrase>Label Tool</phrase> </textobject>
778          </inlinemediaobject>.          </inlinemediaobject>.
779          Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which          Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which
780          displays the table attributes for that object. An attribute can          displays the table attributes for that object. An attribute can
781          be selected to be the label on the map. Using this tool for an          be selected to be the label on the map. The label will be placed
782          object that already has a label will remove the label.          at the center of the shape. Clicking on an object that already has
783            a label will remove the label.
784          </para>          </para>
785          </section>          </section>
786    
787          <section><title>The Legend</title>          <section><title>The Legend</title>
788            <para>
789            <inlinemediaobject>
790            <imageobject>
791            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_legend.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
792            </imageobject>
793            <imageobject>
794            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_legend.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
795            </imageobject>
796            <textobject> <phrase>Legend</phrase> </textobject>
797            </inlinemediaobject>
798            </para>
799          <para>          <para>
800          The Legend provides an overview of the layers in the map. Layers          The Legend provides an overview of the layers in the map. Layers
801          that appear higher in the legend will appear ``closer'' to the user.          that appear higher in the legend will appear ``closer'' to the user.
# Line 343  Line 808 
808          <para>          <para>
809          Along the top of the legend is a toolbar which allows quick access          Along the top of the legend is a toolbar which allows quick access
810          to some of the layer manipulation options under          to some of the layer manipulation options under
811          <menuchoice> <guimenu>Map</guimenu> </menuchoice>.          <menuchoice><guimenu>Map</guimenu></menuchoice>.
812            </para>
813    
814            <itemizedlist>
815            <listitem>
816            <para>
817            The Move Layer to Top tool
818            <inlinemediaobject>
819            <imageobject>
820            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_totop.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
821            </imageobject>
822            <imageobject>
823            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_totop.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
824            </imageobject>
825            <textobject> <phrase>Move Layer to Top</phrase> </textobject>
826            </inlinemediaobject> raises the selected layer to the top of the map.
827            </para>
828            </listitem>
829            <listitem>
830    
831            <para>
832            The Move Layer Up tool
833            <inlinemediaobject>
834            <imageobject>
835            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_moveup.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
836            </imageobject>
837            <imageobject>
838            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_moveup.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
839            </imageobject>
840            <textobject> <phrase>Move Layer Up</phrase> </textobject>
841            </inlinemediaobject> raises the selected layer one level.
842            </para>
843            </listitem>
844            <listitem>
845    
846            <para>
847            The Move Layer Down tool
848            <inlinemediaobject>
849            <imageobject>
850            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_movedown.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
851            </imageobject>
852            <imageobject>
853            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_movedown.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
854            </imageobject>
855            <textobject> <phrase>Move Layer Down</phrase> </textobject>
856            </inlinemediaobject> lowers the selected layer one level.
857            </para>
858    
859            </listitem>
860            <listitem>
861            <para>
862            The Move Layer to Bottom tool
863            <inlinemediaobject>
864            <imageobject>
865            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_tobottom.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
866            </imageobject>
867            <imageobject>
868            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_tobottom.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
869            </imageobject>
870            <textobject> <phrase>Move Layer to Bottom</phrase> </textobject>
871            </inlinemediaobject> lowers the selected layer to the bottom of the map.
872            </para>
873    
874            </listitem>
875            <listitem>
876            <para>
877            The Visible tool
878            <inlinemediaobject>
879            <imageobject>
880            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_visible.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
881            </imageobject>
882            <imageobject>
883            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_visible.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
884            </imageobject>
885            <textobject> <phrase>Visible</phrase> </textobject>
886            </inlinemediaobject> shows the selected layer in the map if it was
887            hidden.
888            </para>
889    
890            </listitem>
891            <listitem>
892            <para>
893            The Invisible tool
894            <inlinemediaobject>
895            <imageobject>
896            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_invisible.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
897            </imageobject>
898            <imageobject>
899            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_invisible.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
900            </imageobject>
901            <textobject> <phrase>Invisible</phrase> </textobject>
902            </inlinemediaobject> hides the selected layer in the map.
903            </para>
904    
905            </listitem>
906            <listitem>
907            <para>
908            The Properties tool
909            <inlinemediaobject>
910            <imageobject>
911            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_props.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/>
912            </imageobject>
913            <imageobject>
914            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_props.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/>
915            </imageobject>
916            <textobject> <phrase>Properties</phrase> </textobject>
917            </inlinemediaobject> opens the layer's properties dialog box.
918          Double-clicking on a layer or a group of a layer will open the          Double-clicking on a layer or a group of a layer will open the
919          properties dialog for that layer.          properties dialog for that layer.
920          </para>          </para>
921            </listitem>
922            </itemizedlist>
923    
924            <para>
925            The most used layer related actions are also available from a
926            popup menu. It is raised when a layer is clicked with the right mouse
927            button.
928            </para>
929            
930            <para>
931            <figure>
932            <title>Layer Popup Menu</title>
933            <mediaobject>
934            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_popup_menu.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
935            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_popup_menu.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
936            </mediaobject>
937            </figure>
938            </para>
939    
940            <para>
941            Along the bottom of the legend is the scalebar. The scalebar
942            will be available if there are any layers and the  map has a
943            projection set.
944            </para>
945            </section>
946    
947            <section><title>Exporting</title>
948            <para>
949            Under Windows, maps can be exported in Enhanced Metafile format
950            (<varname>.wmf</varname>)
951            from
952            <menuchoice>
953            <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
954            <guimenuitem>Export</guimenuitem>
955            </menuchoice> for use in reports, presentations, or further
956            modification. The current map view, legend, and, if available,
957            scalebar are exported. Under other platforms this option is not
958            available. Clicking this menu item open a file selection dialog
959            that lets the user select a location to export the map.
960            </para>
961          </section>          </section>
962    
963          <section><title>Printing</title>          <section><title>Printing</title>
# Line 356  Line 966 
966          <menuchoice>          <menuchoice>
967          <guimenu>Map</guimenu>          <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
968          <guimenuitem>Print</guimenuitem>          <guimenuitem>Print</guimenuitem>
969          </menuchoice>. A standard printing dialog will open allowing the          </menuchoice>. The current map view, legend, and, if available,
970          user to configure the printer.          scalebar are printed. A standard printing dialog will open allowing
971            the user to configure the printer. This dialog will differ depending
972            on which platform Thuban is running.
973          </para>          </para>
974          </section>          </section>
975    
976    </chapter>    </chapter>
977    
978    <chapter><title>Layer Management</title>    <chapter><title>Layer Management</title>
# Line 368  Line 981 
981    
982          <section><title>Types of Layers</title>          <section><title>Types of Layers</title>
983          <para>          <para>
984          There are two types of layers supported by Thuban: shape layers and          There are three types of layers supported by Thuban: shape layers,
985            database layers and
986          image layers. Shape layers consist of vector based shapes with          image layers. Shape layers consist of vector based shapes with
987          geo-referenced coordinates. There are three types of supported          geo-referenced coordinates. There are three types of supported
988          shapes: polygons, lines, and points. Image layers can be any image          shapes: polygons, lines (arc), and points. Database layers are similar
989          file format supported by GDAL. The images must have geographic          to shape layers but loaded from a database instead of the file system.
990          coordinate data either embedded within the file, or in a seperate          Image layers can be any image
991            file format supported by the Geo-spatial Data Abstraction Library
992            (GDAL). The images must have geographic
993            coordinate data either embedded within the file or in a separate
994          file that is in the same directory as the image file. GeoTIFF files          file that is in the same directory as the image file. GeoTIFF files
995          work very well with Thuban and were designed specifically to be image          work very well with Thuban and were designed specifically to be image
996          layers in GIS programs.          layers in GIS programs.
997          </para>          </para>
998            <para>
999            All actions in the
1000            <menuchoice>
1001            <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1002            </menuchoice> menu act on the currently selected layer in the legend.
1003            </para>
1004          </section>          </section>
1005    
1006          <section><title>Properties</title>          <section><title>Properties</title>
1007          <para>          <para>
1008          Each shape in a shape layer can have various properties which control          To view the properties for a layer it must first be selected in the
1009          how it is drawn on the map. Polygons and points can be drawn with an          legend. The menu option
1010          outline color and a fill color, while lines have only a line color.          <menuchoice>
1011            <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1012            <guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem>
1013            </menuchoice> opens a dialog that displays a layer's properties.
1014            All layers have a title which can be modified in the text field
1015            provided. The type of layer is also shows. If the type is a type
1016            of shape (polygon, arc, point) the classification table will be
1017            shown. Image layers have no other properties other than title
1018            and type.
1019            </para>
1020            <para>
1021            <figure>
1022            <title>Properties Window</title>
1023            <mediaobject>
1024            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/4_2_layer_properties.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1025            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/4_2_layer_properties.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1026            </mediaobject>
1027            </figure>
1028            </para>
1029            <para>
1030            <figure>
1031            <title>Properties Window</title>
1032            <mediaobject>
1033            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/4_2_raster_layer_properties.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1034            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/4_2_raster_layer_properties.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1035            </mediaobject>
1036            </figure>
1037          </para>          </para>
1038          </section>          </section>
1039    
# Line 393  Line 1042 
1042          Sometimes it is not desirable to view all layers at the same time.          Sometimes it is not desirable to view all layers at the same time.
1043          Some layers may take a long time to draw and so while navigating          Some layers may take a long time to draw and so while navigating
1044          around the map the user may not want to wait for the map to redraw          around the map the user may not want to wait for the map to redraw
1045          each time the map is changed. Each layer can be independently          all the layers each time the map is changed. Each layer can be
1046          turned on or off using the          independently turned on or off using the
1047          <menuchoice>          <menuchoice>
1048          <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>          <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1049          <guimenuitem>Show</guimenuitem>          <guimenuitem>Show</guimenuitem>
# Line 407  Line 1056 
1056          </para>          </para>
1057          </section>          </section>
1058    
         <section><title>Sequence</title>  
         <para>  
         </para>  
         </section>  
   
1059          <section><title>Duplication</title>          <section><title>Duplication</title>
1060          <para>          <para>
1061          Layers and all their properties, including classifications, can          Layers and all their properties, including classifications, can
# Line 421  Line 1065 
1065          <guimenuitem>Duplicate</guimenuitem>          <guimenuitem>Duplicate</guimenuitem>
1066          </menuchoice>. Duplicating a layer is useful if the user wishes          </menuchoice>. Duplicating a layer is useful if the user wishes
1067          to model a layer in several different ways. Even though the layers          to model a layer in several different ways. Even though the layers
1068          overlap by carefully selecting the shape properties it is possible          overlap, by carefully selecting the shape properties it is possible
1069          to display several pieces of information at once. For example, one          to display several pieces of information at once. For example, one
1070          copy of a roads layer may be classified on a length property and          copy of a roads layer may be classified on a length property and
1071          another copy may be classified on a type property. if the length          another copy may be classified on a type property. If the length
1072          property was expressed with color and the type property expressed          property was expressed with color and the type property expressed
1073          with line thickness then it would be possible to view both          with line thickness then it would be possible to view both
1074          classifications by placing the type property copy over the          classifications by placing the type property copy over the
# Line 442  Line 1086 
1086      cannot be classified.      cannot be classified.
1087      </para>      </para>
1088      <para>      <para>
1089      A classification consists of a number of groups, with each group      A classification consists of a number of groups, each group
1090      having a value or range of values to match against, and symbol      having a value or range of values to match against, and symbol
1091      properties which control how a shape is drawn on the map. The user      properties which control how a shape is drawn on the map. The user
1092      selects which field in the table is used by the classification and      selects which field in the table is used by the classification and
# Line 455  Line 1099 
1099      <para>      <para>
1100      A layer always has a classification. When a new layer is added to the      A layer always has a classification. When a new layer is added to the
1101      map, a default classification is created with the DEFAULT group. This      map, a default classification is created with the DEFAULT group. This
1102      group cannot be removed. Every shape in the layer, regardless of its      group cannot be removed but can be hidden (see below). Every shape in the
1103      attributes, will match this group.      layer, regardless of its attributes, will match this group if no other
1104        group matches.
1105      </para>      </para>
1106    
1107          <section><title>Editing Classifications</title>          <section><title>Editing Classifications</title>
# Line 473  Line 1118 
1118          button.          button.
1119          </para>          </para>
1120          <para>          <para>
1121            To apply the changes to the map the user can click
1122            either <guibutton>Try</guibutton> or <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
1123            <guibutton>Try</guibutton> will not close the dialog box, allowing
1124            the user to see how the classification changes the map.
1125            <guibutton>Revert</guibutton> will undo the last classification applied
1126            to the map. <guibutton>OK</guibutton> will commit the changes and
1127            close the dialog. The user will be unable to undo the changes.
1128            <guibutton>Close</guibutton> simply closes the dialog box. If any
1129            changes have not been applied with <guibutton>Try</guibutton> the
1130            changes will not be applied to the map.
1131            </para>
1132            <para>
1133            <figure>
1134            <title>Properties Window</title>
1135            <mediaobject>
1136            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_classification.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1137            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_classification.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1138            </mediaobject>
1139            </figure>
1140            </para>
1141            <para>
1142          The order of the groups in the classification is significant          The order of the groups in the classification is significant
1143          except for the DEFAULT group, which remains at the top. When shapes          except for the DEFAULT group, which remains at the top. When shapes
1144          are matched against groups the matching begins at the first group          are matched against groups the matching begins at the first group
1145          other than the DEFAULT group so that groups higher in the list will          after the DEFAULT group so that groups higher in the list will
1146          be checked first. Matching for a          be checked first. Matching for a
1147          given shape will stop at the first group that matches. The user can          given shape will stop at the first group that matches. The user can
1148          use <guibutton>Move Up</guibutton> and <guibutton>Move Down</guibutton>          use <guibutton>Move Up</guibutton> and <guibutton>Move Down</guibutton>
1149          to change the order of the groups. The DEFAULT group will always          to change the order of the groups. The DEFAULT group will always
1150          match a shape that hasn't matched another group.          match a shape that hasn't matched another group.
1151          </para>          </para>
1152          <para>              <section><title>Visible</title>
1153          The Value column of the classification table is the value that will              <para>
1154          be matched when the map is being drawn. The type of data that can              The Visible column has check-boxes that determine whether a
1155          entered into this field depends on the type of data of the              classification group will be displayed in the legend. This is
1156          classification field.              useful if the user knows that the groups completely cover
1157          </para>              the data set and don't want the DEFAULT group to be displayed
1158          <para>              in the legend and on a printout.
1159          If the field is of type Text, anything entered              </para>
1160          into the field is valid. The text will be compared literally to the          </section>
1161          value of the shape attribute, including case sensitivity.              <section><title>Symbols</title>
1162          If the type is Integer, then any valid integer may be entered. In              <para>
1163          addition, with special syntax, a range of values can be entered.              Each type of shape has its own type of symbol. Thuban supports three
1164          A range from <varname>start</varname> to <varname>end</varname>              types of shapes: polygons, lines, and points. Polygons and points
1165          inclusive is specifed like this: <literal>[start;end]</literal>.              have outline and fill color, while lines have only line color. Each
1166          The exclusive range is specified like this:              group has associated symbol properties. To edit the symbol
1167          <literal>]start;end[</literal>. Ranges can include infinity like              properties for a group the user can double click on the Symbol
1168          this: <literal>[-oo;oo]</literal>. Field types can also be of type              column or select a group and click the
1169          Decimal. They represent any rational number and can be used in ranges              <guibutton>Edit Symbol</guibutton> button.
1170          as well.              </para>
1171          </para>              </section>
1172          </section>          <section><title>Value</title>
1173                <para>
1174          <section><title>Symbols</title>              The Value column of the classification table is the value that will
1175          <para>              be matched when the map is being drawn. The type of data that can
1176          Each type of shape has its own type of symbol. Thuban supports three              entered into this field depends on the type of data of the
1177          types of shapes: polygons, lines, and points. Polygons and points have              classification field.
1178          outline and fill color, while lines have only line color. Each group              </para>
1179          has associated symbol properties. To edit the symbol properties for a              <para>
1180          group the user can double click on the Symbol column or select a              If the field is of type Text, anything entered
1181          group and click the <guibutton>Edit Symbol</guibutton> button.              into the field is valid. The text will be compared literally to the
1182          </para>              value of the shape attribute, including case sensitivity.
1183                If the type is Integer, then any valid integer may be entered. In
1184                addition, with special syntax, a range of values can be entered.
1185                A range from <varname>start</varname> to <varname>end</varname>
1186                inclusive is specified like this: <literal>[start;end]</literal>.
1187                The exclusive range is specified like this:
1188                <literal>]start;end[</literal>. Ranges can include infinity like
1189                this: <literal>[-oo;oo]</literal>. Field types can also be of type
1190                Decimal. They represent any rational number and can be used in
1191                ranges as well.
1192                </para>
1193                </section>
1194                <section><title>Label</title>
1195                <para>
1196                By default, the text that is displayed for a group in the legend
1197                is the value for that group. The label can substitute a more
1198                descriptive term in the legend.
1199                </para>
1200            </section>
1201          </section>          </section>
1202    
1203          <section><title>Generating Classes</title>          <section><title>Generating Classes</title>
1204          <para>          <para>
1205            <figure>
1206            <title>Generate Class</title>
1207            <mediaobject>
1208            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_3_genclass.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1209            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_3_genclass.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1210            </mediaobject>
1211            </figure>
1212            </para>
1213            <para>
1214          Creating a classification by hand can be tedious.          Creating a classification by hand can be tedious.
1215          Thuban, therefore, provides a means of generating an entire          Thuban, therefore, provides a means of generating an entire
1216          classification at once while still giving the user control over          classification at once while still giving the user control over
1217          how it appears. Clicking <guibutton>Generate Class</guibutton>          how it appears. Clicking <guibutton>Generate Class</guibutton>
1218          opens the <varname>Generate Classification</varname> dialog.          opens the <varname>Generate Classification</varname> dialog.
1219          Under the <varname>Generate</varname> pulldown there are at most          Under the <varname>Generate</varname> pull down there are at most
1220          three different ways to generate classifications:          three different ways to generate classifications:
1221          Unique Values, Unique Distribution, and Quantiles. Some options          Unique Values, Uniform Distribution, and Quantiles. Some options
1222          may not be available if they data type for the field does not          may not be available if the data type for the field does not
1223          support them. For instance, <varname>Unique Distribution</varname>          support them. For instance, <varname>Uniform Distribution</varname>
1224          doesn't make sense for a Text field.          doesn't make sense for a Text field.
1225          </para>          </para>
1226          <para>          <para>
1227          For every way of generating a classification, a color scheme must          For every way of generating a classification, a color scheme must
1228          be selected. Thuban provides several different color schemes that          be selected. Thuban provides several different color schemes that
1229          affect how the group properties change over the classification.          affect how the group properties change over the classification.
1230            It may be desirable that only certain properties change over the
1231            classification. If the shape type is a polygon or a point then
1232            the <guibutton>Fix Border Color</guibutton> option will be available.
1233            This allows the user to select a border color for all classification
1234            groups.
1235          It is also possible to create a custom color scheme. Selecting          It is also possible to create a custom color scheme. Selecting
1236          this option will display two symbols: the one of the left has the          this option will display two symbols: the one of the left has the
1237          properties of the first group and the one on the right has the          properties of the first group and the one on the right has the
1238          properties of the last group. Thuban will interpolate between these          properties of the last group. Thuban will interpolate between these
1239          two properties to generate the other groups.          two properties to generate the other groups.
1240            <figure>
1241            <title>Custom Color Scheme</title>
1242            <mediaobject>
1243            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_custom_ramp.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1244            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_custom_ramp.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1245            </mediaobject>
1246            </figure>
1247          </para>          </para>
1248          <para>          <para>
1249          The Unique Values option lets the user select specific values that          The Unique Values option lets the user select specific values that
# Line 548  Line 1253 
1253          right. Each list can be sorted or reversed for easier searching.          right. Each list can be sorted or reversed for easier searching.
1254          The classification that is generated will be in the same order as          The classification that is generated will be in the same order as
1255          the list on the right.          the list on the right.
1256            <figure>
1257            <title>Unique Values</title>
1258            <mediaobject>
1259            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_unique_values.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1260            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_unique_values.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1261            </mediaobject>
1262            </figure>
1263          </para>          </para>
1264          <para>          <para>
1265          The Unique Distribution option creates a user specified number of          The Uniform Distribution option creates a user specified number of
1266          groups of ranges such that each range covers equal intervals. The          groups of ranges such that each range covers equal intervals. The
1267          minimum and maximum values can automatically be retrieved from the          minimum and maximum values can automatically be retrieved from the
1268          table by clicking <guibutton>Retrieve From Table</guibutton>. The          table by clicking <guibutton>Retrieve From Table</guibutton>. The
1269          stepping is how large each interval is. Adjusting this value will          stepping is how large each interval is. Adjusting this value will
1270          automatically recalculate how many groups is appropriate.          automatically recalculate how many groups is appropriate.
1271            <figure>
1272            <title>Uniform Distribution</title>
1273            <mediaobject>
1274            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_uniform_dist.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1275            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_uniform_dist.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1276            </mediaobject>
1277            </figure>
1278          </para>          </para>
1279          <para>          <para>
1280          The Quantiles option generates ranges based on the number items          The Quantiles option generates ranges based on the number of items
1281          in the input set. For example, by specifying 5 groups Thuban will          in the table. For example, by specifying five groups Thuban will
1282          generate groups with appropriate ranges such that 20% of the table          generate five groups with appropriate ranges such that 20% of the table
1283          data is in each group. If it is impossible to generate exact          data is in each group. If it is impossible to generate exact
1284          grouping, Thuban will issue a warning but allow the user to continue.          groupings, Thuban will issue a warning but allow the user to continue.
1285            <figure>
1286            <title>Quantiles</title>
1287            <mediaobject>
1288            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_quantiles.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1289            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_quantiles.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1290            </mediaobject>
1291            </figure>
1292          </para>          </para>
1293          </section>          </section>
1294    </chapter>    </chapter>
1295    
1296    <chapter><title>Projection Management</title>    <chapter><title>Projection Management</title>
1297      <para>      <para>
1298        Projections control how the geographic data is displayed on the screen.
1299        If multiple layers are loaded into Thuban where the geographic data
1300        is in a different projection system, then the user must specify a
1301        projection for each layer. The user must also tell Thuban which
1302        projection the map is in. This can be the same as the layers or a different
1303        projection in which case the layers are reprojected into that space.
1304        The map projection can be set using
1305        <menuchoice>
1306        <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
1307        <guimenuitem>Projection</guimenuitem>
1308        </menuchoice> and the layer projection can be set using
1309        <menuchoice>
1310        <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1311        <guimenuitem>Projection</guimenuitem>
1312        </menuchoice>.
1313        <figure>
1314        <title>Projection Window</title>
1315        <mediaobject>
1316        <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/6_projection.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1317        <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/6_projection.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1318        </mediaobject>
1319        </figure>
1320        </para>
1321        <para>
1322        Thuban is distributed with a sample collection of projections and the
1323        set of coordinate systems as used by the EPSG
1324        (European Petroleum Survey Group). This quite large set is only displayed
1325        if activated by the according checkbox. The set falls into two parts:
1326        deprecated lists all projections which are no longer part of the
1327        EPSG data base.
1328      </para>      </para>
1329          <section><title>Selecting a Projection</title><para/></section>      <para>
1330          <section><title>Creating a Projection</title><para/></section>           The
1331          <section><title>Editing a Projection</title><para/></section>      user can create new projections and make them available to all
1332          <section><title>Importing/Exporting Projections</title><para/></section>      future Thuban sessions. They may also be exported and imported so
1333        that custom projections can be distributed.
1334        </para>
1335            <section><title>Selecting a Projection</title>
1336            <para>
1337            The available projections are listed on the left. If the layer
1338            or map already has a projection it will initially be highlighted
1339            and will end with <varname>(current)</varname>. Selecting
1340            <varname>&lt;None&gt;</varname> will cause Thuban to use the data as
1341            it appears in the source file and will not use a projection.
1342            </para>
1343        </section>
1344            <section><title>Editing a Projection</title>
1345            <para>
1346            Whenever a projection is selected from the list its properties
1347            are displayed on the right. These properties can be changed
1348            and the changes saved to the selected projection using
1349            <guibutton>Update</guibutton>. Only a projection that comes
1350            from a file can be updated, so if the current layer's projection
1351            is selected, <guibutton>Update</guibutton> will be disabled.
1352            <guibutton>Add to List</guibutton> adds the projection to the
1353            list of available projections as a new entry, and thus makes it
1354            available to future Thuban sessions. Clicking <guibutton>New</guibutton>
1355            will create an entirely new, empty projection. The
1356            <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> button will permanently remove a
1357            projection from the list of available projections.
1358            </para>
1359            <para>
1360            To apply the selected projection to the map the user can click
1361            either <guibutton>Try</guibutton> or <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
1362            <guibutton>Try</guibutton> will not close the dialog box, allowing
1363            the user to see how the projeciton changes the map.
1364            <guibutton>Revert</guibutton> will undo the last projection applied
1365            to the map. <guibutton>OK</guibutton> will commit the changes and
1366            close the dialog. The user will be unable to undo the changes.
1367            <guibutton>Close</guibutton> simply closes the dialog box. If no
1368            selection has been applied with <guibutton>Try</guibutton> the
1369            selection will not be applied to the map.
1370            </para>
1371        </section>
1372            <section><title>Importing/Exporting Projections</title>
1373            <para>
1374            The projections that appear in the list of available projections
1375            can be exported to another file that the user chooses. By selecting
1376            one or more projections and clicking <guibutton>Export</guibutton>
1377            the user will be able to select a file in which to store those
1378            projections.
1379            The file can then be distributed to other Thuban users. To import
1380            a projection file the user can click <guibutton>Import</guibutton>.
1381            The imported projections are added to the list and are then available
1382            to the current session and any future Thuban sessions.
1383            </para>
1384        </section>
1385    </chapter>    </chapter>
1386    
1387    <chapter><title>Table Management</title>    <chapter><title>Table Management</title>
1388      <para>      <para>
1389        Thuban distinguishes two different types of tables: Attribute tables
1390        (which belong to a layer) and normal data tables. Both provide
1391            the same general functionality with the difference that actions on an
1392        attribute table might also effect the map display.
1393      </para>      </para>
1394    
1395        <section><title>Table View</title>
1396            <para>
1397            <figure>
1398            <title>Table View</title>
1399            <mediaobject>
1400            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/7_1_table_view.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1401            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/7_1_table_view.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1402            </mediaobject>
1403            </figure>
1404            </para>
1405            <para>
1406            Thuban provides a standard dialog to display table contents, the
1407            Table View. The view has five sections: The title, selections,
1408            the table grid, export functions, and the status bar.
1409            </para>
1410            <para>
1411            The title bar identifies the table with its name.
1412            </para>
1413            <para>
1414            The selections box let the user perform simple analysis on the data
1415            based on comparisons: The first choice must be a field identifier of
1416            the table, the second choice determines the type of comparison. The
1417            third choice can be either a specific value (interpreted as numerical
1418            or string depending on the type of the first field) or a second field
1419            identifier. Thus you can perform analysis like selecting all
1420            records where <literal>population > 10000</literal> or
1421            <literal>cars_per_inhabitant < bikes_per_inhabitant</literal>
1422            (note that the field names are only explanatory, the dBase files
1423            allow only 11 character field names).
1424          
1425            Selections can be combined either by applying a selection only on
1426            a previously selected set of records or by adding the results of a
1427            selection to a previous set. The default is that a selection replaces
1428            earlier results.
1429            </para>
1430            <para>
1431            The table grid shows the contents of the table (one record per row),
1432            with highlighted selection results. Columns and rows can be resized.
1433            </para>
1434            <para>
1435            The contents of a table can be exported into a file, either dBase
1436            format (DBF) or comma separated values (CSV). The
1437            <guibutton>Export</guibutton> button
1438            raises a file dialog to specify a path and file name, the export type
1439            is determined by the file extension (either .dbf or .csv).
1440    
1441            The <guibutton>Export Selection</guibutton> button works similarly
1442            but exports only the selected records.
1443    
1444            The <guibutton>Close</guibutton> button closes the table view window.
1445            This is different from the menu item
1446            <menuchoice>
1447            <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1448            <guimenuitem>Close</guimenuitem>
1449            </menuchoice> which unloads the table from Thuban.
1450            </para>
1451            <para>
1452            The status bar displays some statistics about the table and optional
1453            selection results.
1454            </para>
1455        </section>
1456    
1457        <section><title>General Functionality (Menu Table)</title>
1458            <para>
1459            The general functions affect all tables open in Thuban. Attribute
1460            tables are considered here as normal data tables (with the exception
1461            that they cannot be closed).
1462            </para>
1463            <section><title>Open</title>
1464                <para>
1465                The
1466                <menuchoice>
1467                <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1468                <guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>
1469                </menuchoice>
1470                item raises a file dialog to let you select a
1471                dBase file from the file system to be loaded into Thuban read-only.
1472                On <guibutton>OK</guibutton> the selected file is loaded and a
1473                table view is opened.
1474                </para>
1475            </section>
1476    
1477            <section><title>Close</title>
1478                <para>
1479                The
1480                <menuchoice>
1481                <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1482                <guimenuitem>Close</guimenuitem>
1483                </menuchoice>
1484                item raises a dialog listing the currently open
1485                data tables
1486                (loaded via
1487                <menuchoice>
1488                <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1489                <guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>
1490                </menuchoice>). Selected tables are dereferenced on confirmation.
1491                Since tables are opened read-only the contents of the tables are
1492                not affected.
1493    
1494                Any open views of the tables are closed as well.
1495    
1496                Tables used in a join cannot be closed.
1497                </para>
1498            </section>
1499    
1500            <section><title>Rename</title>
1501                <para>
1502                <menuchoice>
1503                <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1504                <guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem>
1505                </menuchoice> changes the table title.
1506                </para>
1507            </section>
1508    
1509            <section><title>Show</title>
1510                <para>
1511                The
1512                <menuchoice>
1513                <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1514                <guimenuitem>Show</guimenuitem>
1515                </menuchoice>
1516                item raises a list of available tables (explicitly
1517                loaded, attribute tables, results of a join). Selected tables are
1518                show in tables views on <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
1519                </para>
1520            </section>
1521    
1522            <section><title>Join</title>
1523                <para>
1524                <figure>
1525                <title>Join Tables</title>
1526                <mediaobject>
1527                <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/7_2_5_join.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1528                <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/7_2_5_join.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1529                </mediaobject>
1530                </figure>
1531                </para>
1532                <para>
1533                The
1534                <menuchoice>
1535                <guimenu>Table</guimenu>
1536                <guimenuitem>Join</guimenuitem>
1537                </menuchoice>
1538                item raises a dialog to specify the two tables to be
1539                joined. The join results in a new table named 'Join of "left table"
1540                and "right table"'.
1541    
1542                The dialog lets you select the two tables to be joined and the two
1543                fields the join has to be performed on. By default, the new
1544                table contains only those records which are matched by the join.
1545    
1546                If you want to preserve the records of the left table you can
1547                perform an outer join. The fields from the right table for records
1548                not matched by the join are filled with <varname>None</varname> in
1549                this case.
1550                </para>
1551            </section>
1552    
1553        </section>
1554        <section><title>Attribute Tables</title>
1555            <para>
1556                To clearly separate between both types of tables (data and
1557            attribute), Thuban provides functionality regarding the attribute
1558            tables under the <menuchoice><guimenu>Layer</guimenu></menuchoice> menu.
1559            </para>
1560    
1561            <section><title>Show Table</title>
1562                <para>
1563                <menuchoice>
1564                <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1565                <guimenuitem>Show Table</guimenuitem>
1566                </menuchoice>
1567                opens the attribute table of the currently active layer in a table
1568                view.
1569    
1570                In addition to the functionality described above selections
1571                affect also the map display: objects related to selected records
1572                are highlighted.
1573                </para>
1574            </section>
1575    
1576            <section><title>Join Table</title>
1577                <para>
1578                Unlike the join described above, the join does not result in a
1579                new table. The attribute table of the currently active layer is the
1580                left table and other tables are joined to this table. The results of
1581                the join are available for classification.
1582    
1583                As a consequence, the join cannot result in fewer
1584                records than the source attribute table. The user is warned if the
1585                right table does not fulfill this constraint. An outer join must be
1586                used in such cases.
1587                </para>
1588            </section>
1589    
1590            <section><title>Unjoin Table</title>
1591                <para>
1592                As said above, a normal table cannot be closed while it is still
1593                used in a join. While the joined table resulting from a join of
1594                normal tables can be simply closed (and thereby dereferencing
1595                the source tables), this is not possible for attribute tables.
1596    
1597                Hence joins on attribute tables must be solved explicitly. This is
1598                what the
1599                <menuchoice>
1600                <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
1601                <guimenuitem>Unjoin Table</guimenuitem>
1602                </menuchoice>
1603                item is used for: The last join for the currently
1604                active layer is solved.
1605                </para>
1606            </section>
1607        </section>
1608      </chapter>
1609    
1610      <chapter><title>Extensions</title>
1611            <para>
1612            Thuban is designed to be extensible. The term Extension is used as a
1613            general term for anything that extends Thuban.
1614            This chapter introduces into some oppportunities how to add and
1615            handle extra functionality developed by your own or third parties.
1616            </para>
1617    
1618            <section><title>Add personal extensions via thubanstart.py</title>
1619                    <para>
1620                    After Thuban has been started for the first time, a directory
1621                    .thuban is created within your home directory.
1622                    There you can add a file thubanstart.py  which will be imported
1623                    by Thuban at start-up. It is recommended to add only import-statements
1624                    to this file to keep the actual code of extensions separate.
1625                    </para>
1626                    <para>
1627                    The modules to import must either be found through the environment
1628                    variable PYTHONPATH or directly be placed into the .thuban-directory.
1629                    </para>
1630                    <para>
1631                    As an example, copy the file examples/simple_extensions/hello_world.py
1632                    of the Thuban source code into the .thuban-directory of your home
1633                    directory. Now add add the statement import hello_world to the
1634                    file thubanstart.py and run Thuban. You will notice an additional
1635                    menu <menuchoice><guimenu>Extensions</guimenu></menuchoice> where
1636                    the new item for the Hello-World extension is placed - select it
1637                    to see the Hello-World message.
1638                    </para>
1639            </section>
1640    
1641            <section><title>Extensions included in Thuban package</title>
1642                    <para>
1643                    The extensions described in this section are part of the
1644                    Thuban package, but not activated by default.
1645                    You will find them in the Thuban installation directory
1646                    under <literal>Extensions/</literal>. Activate them as personal
1647                    extensions via PYTHONPATH as described in the previous section.
1648                    Stable extensions will appear under the menu
1649                    <menuchoice><guimenu>Extensions</guimenu></menuchoice> and
1650                    extensions which are in experimental state and therefore
1651                    not fully functional under
1652                    <menuchoice><guimenu>Experimental</guimenu></menuchoice>.
1653                    </para>
1654    
1655                    <section><title>Stable extensions</title>
1656                            <para>
1657                            These extensions provide extra-functionality to Thuban
1658                            that has not (yet) been integrated in the main application.
1659                            They are considered to be free of bugs, but may be
1660                            further polished with helpful user interactions.
1661                            </para>
1662                            <section><title>gns2shp</title>
1663                                    <para>
1664                                    This tool converts data of the Geospatial Names Server
1665                                    (GNS, see <ulink url="http://www.nima.mil/gns"/>)
1666                                    into Shapefile format.
1667                                    The above web-site offer to download named places
1668                                    information grouped by countries for all of the world
1669                                    except USA for which other data are provided.
1670                                    </para>
1671                                    <para>
1672                                    If you download and unpack a package, you will have
1673                                    a text-file with suffix .txt.
1674                                    Selecting such a file via gns2shp will create the
1675                                    corresponding Shapefile with the same basename and
1676                                    place it in the same direcory. Afterwards it
1677                                    is automatically loaded into Thuban.
1678                                    The Shapefile will not automatically be delete afterwards.
1679                                    </para>
1680                                    <para>
1681                                    The gns2shp.py module can also be executed on the
1682                                    command line for batch processing purposes.
1683                                    </para>
1684                                    <para>
1685                                    A sample (<literal>ls.txt</literal> for Liechtenstein)
1686                                    is included in the directory
1687                                    <literal>Extensions/gns2shp/test</literal>.
1688                                    </para>
1689                            </section>
1690                    </section>
1691                    <section><title>Experimental extensions</title>
1692                            <para>
1693                            All all of these functions have to be handled with care,
1694                            since they are neither complete nor well tested.
1695                            They are to be seen as a proof-of-concept and may
1696                            additionally in some cases of practical help.
1697                            </para>
1698                            <para>
1699                            Any interest on further improvement of these extensions
1700                            should be communicated towards the developer and user
1701                            community.
1702                            </para>
1703    
1704                            <section><title>importAPR</title>
1705                                    <para>
1706                                    This command offer to load an ESRI� ArcView� project
1707                                    file (suffix .apr) and convert it for use within Thuban.
1708                                    After selecting a apr-file to load, a list
1709                                    will be presented that offers to select one of the views
1710                                    of the apr-file, provided there is more than one.
1711                                    Furthermore, the Session Info-Tree is extended with
1712                                    a complete representation of the parsed apr-file.
1713                                    </para>
1714                                    <para>
1715                                    The legend of Thuban does not yet cover all of the elements as
1716                                    supported by the legend of ArcView�. Therefore, the Thuban
1717                                    map will look different. Furthermore, the apr-format is
1718                                    a proprietary format, not openly documented.
1719                                    Therefore, the interpretation is
1720                                    partly based on reverse engeneering and good guessing.
1721                                    </para>
1722                                    <para>
1723                                    The file-paths within the apr-file may not fit and potentially
1724                                    are subject to fix in the apr-file. You can do this
1725                                    applying any text editor. The paths are either absolute
1726                                    or relative from where Thuban has been started.
1727                                    </para>
1728                                    <para>
1729                                    A sample for the Iceland data is included as
1730                                    <literal>Extensions/importAPR/samples/iceland.apr</literal>.
1731                                    The file-paths are relative from the Thuban main directory.
1732                                    </para>
1733                            </section>
1734                    </section>
1735            </section>
1736    
1737            <section><title>Writing simple extensions</title>
1738                    <para>
1739                    Writing an extension for Thuban basically means to
1740                    implement the extra functionality in Python with all of the
1741                    Thuban classes, methods and variables available.
1742                    </para>
1743                    <para>
1744                    All classes and their methods are documented in the source code
1745                    (see their doc-strings). Here is an example from
1746                    Thuban/Model/layer.py that describes some of the methods
1747                    of a Layer object:
1748                    </para>
1749                    <programlisting>
1750                    <![CDATA[
1751    class BaseLayer(TitledObject, Modifiable):
1752    
1753        """Base class for the layers."""
1754    
1755        def __init__(self, title, visible = True, projection = None):
1756            """Initialize the layer.
1757    
1758            title -- the title
1759            visible -- boolean. If true the layer is visible.
1760            """
1761            TitledObject.__init__(self, title)
1762            Modifiable.__init__(self)
1763            self.visible = visible
1764            self.projection = projection
1765    
1766        def Visible(self):
1767            """Return true if layer is visible"""
1768            return self.visible
1769    
1770        def SetVisible(self, visible):
1771            """Set the layer's visibility."""
1772            self.visible = visible
1773            self.issue(LAYER_VISIBILITY_CHANGED, self)
1774    
1775        def HasClassification(self):
1776            """Determine if this layer support classifications."""
1777    ...
1778                    ]]>
1779                    </programlisting>
1780                    <para>
1781                    This example intends to give you an impression of the
1782                    source-code-level documentation.
1783                    You have to make yourself familiar with
1784                    the Python programming language to understand some special
1785                    code elements.
1786                    </para>
1787                    <section><title>hello_world.py</title>
1788                      <para>
1789                      Traditionally, the first example should welcome the world.
1790                      Most of the code handles the frame for integrating a menu
1791                      item into Thuban while the actual raising of a message
1792                      is done in a single line.
1793                      </para>
1794                            <programlisting>
1795                            <![CDATA[
1796    # Copyright (C) 2003 by Intevation GmbH
1797    # Authors:
1798    # Jan-Oliver Wagner <[email protected]>
1799    #
1800    # This program is free software under the GPL (>=v2)
1801    # Read the file COPYING coming with Thuban for details.
1802    
1803    """
1804    Extend Thuban with a sample Hello World to demonstrate simple
1805    extensions.
1806    """
1807    
1808    __version__ = '$Revision$'
1809    
1810    # use _() already now for all strings that may later be translated
1811    from Thuban import _
1812    
1813    # Thuban has named commands which can be registered in the central
1814    # instance registry.
1815    from Thuban.UI.command import registry, Command
1816    
1817    # The instance of the main menu of the Thuban application
1818    # See Thuban/UI/menu.py for the API of the Menu class
1819    from Thuban.UI.mainwindow import main_menu
1820    
1821    def hello_world_dialog(context):
1822        """Just raise a simple dialog to greet the world.
1823    
1824        context -- The Thuban context.
1825        """
1826        context.mainwindow.RunMessageBox(_('Hello World'), _('Hello World!'))
1827    
1828    
1829    # create a new command and register it
1830    registry.Add(Command('hello_world', _('Hello World'), hello_world_dialog,
1831                         helptext = _('Welcome everyone on this planet')))
1832    
1833    # find the extensions menu (create it anew if not found)
1834    extensions_menu = main_menu.FindOrInsertMenu('extensions', _('E&xtensions'))
1835    
1836    # finally bind the new command with an entry in the extensions menu
1837    extensions_menu.InsertItem('hello_world')
1838                            ]]>
1839                            </programlisting>
1840                    </section>
1841                    <section><title>Registering a Command</title>
1842                      <para>
1843                      Mainly, our new function has to be registered to the Thuban
1844                      framework in order to connect it to the menu. A registered
1845                      command can also be connected to e.g. a toolbar button.
1846                      </para>
1847                      <para>
1848                      The instances and classes for this are imported at the beginning.
1849                      Any code not inside a method or class is directly executed when
1850                      the source-code module is imported. Therefore, the second
1851                      part of this example consist of the plain statements to create a new
1852                      Command and to add it to the menu.
1853                      </para>
1854                      <para>
1855                      By convention, it looks for a menu registered as ``extensions'' to
1856                      insert the new command. If it does not exist yet, it gets created.
1857                      It is advisable to copy this code for any of your extensions.
1858                      </para>
1859                    </section>
1860                    <section><title>The Thuban context</title>
1861                            <para>
1862                            A registered command that is called, always receives the
1863                            Thuban context. This instance provides our method with
1864                            hook references to all important components of the Thuban
1865                            application.
1866                            </para>
1867                            <para>
1868                    In the example hello_world.py, our function uses the
1869                            mainwindow component which offers a method to raise a
1870                            message dialog. In total there are three hooks:
1871                            <itemizedlist>
1872                            <listitem>
1873                            <para>application:
1874                            This object is the instance of the Thuban Application class.
1875                            Except maybe for loading or savinf sessions, you will not
1876                            need this object for a simple extension.
1877                            See Thuban/UI/application.py for the API.
1878                            </para>
1879                            </listitem>
1880                            <listitem>
1881                            <para>session:
1882                            The instance of the current session. It manages the sessions'
1883                            map and tables. You can set and remove the map or tables.
1884                            In may also get the map object. However, you should know that
1885                            internally it is already prepared to handle many maps.
1886                            Therfore, currently you would always receive a list with exactlty
1887                            one element. In the future, if there are more than one map,
1888                            you will not know which one is the currently display one and
1889                            therefore you should use the mainwindow as hook to find
1890                            the currently displayed map.
1891                            See Thuban/Model/session.py for the API.
1892                            </para>
1893                            </listitem>
1894                            <listitem>
1895                            <para>
1896                            mainwindow: The mainwindow object is central to manage various
1897                            GUI things such as the Legend sub-window. Most notably,
1898                            you get access to the canvas which is the window part where
1899                            the map is drawn. The canvas knows, which map it currently
1900                            draws and therefore you get the current map via
1901                            context.mainwindow.canvas.Map().
1902                            See Thuban/UI/mainwindow.py for the API.
1903                            </para>
1904                            </listitem>
1905                            </itemizedlist>
1906                </para>
1907                    </section>
1908            </section>
1909    </chapter>    </chapter>
1910    
1911    <chapter><title>Trouble Shooting</title>    <chapter><title>Trouble Shooting</title>
1912      <para>      <para>
1913        Here are a few problems that users have encountered when first using Thuban.
1914        </para>
1915        <para>
1916    
1917        <itemizedlist>
1918        <listitem>
1919        <para>After adding two or more layers nothing is drawn in the map window.
1920        </para>
1921        <para>
1922        This is probably because the layers have different projections. Projections
1923        must be set on all layers and on the map itself if the layers' projections
1924        are different.
1925        </para>
1926        </listitem>
1927    
1928        <listitem>
1929        <para>Thuban crashes on startup with the error
1930            <literal>NameError: global name 'False' is not defined</literal>.
1931        </para>
1932        <para>
1933        <varname>True</varname> and <varname>False</varname> were only introduced
1934        in Python 2.2.1. Thuban depends on at least Python 2.2.1.
1935        </para>
1936        </listitem>
1937    
1938        <listitem>
1939        <para>After compiling Thuban, Thuban crashes with an error similar to
1940            <literal>
1941            ImportError: /usr/local//lib/thuban/Thuban/../Lib/wxproj.so: undefined symbol: __gxx_personality_v0
1942            </literal>
1943        </para>
1944        <para>
1945        Thuban depends on the wxWindows library. If Thuban is compiled with an
1946        incompatible version of the compiler than wxWindows was compiled with
1947        this error may occur. Try compiling with a different version of the
1948        compiler.
1949      </para>      </para>
1950        </listitem>
1951        </itemizedlist>
1952        </para>
1953        <para>
1954        If an error occurs Thuban will display a dialog indicating the error
1955        before closing. The text should be copied and reported to the
1956        <ulink url="http://thuban.intevation.org/bugtracker.html">
1957        Intevation bugtracker
1958        </ulink>.
1959        More information about the system is available from
1960        <menuchoice><guimenu>Help</guimenu><guimenuitem>About</guimenuitem></menuchoice> box.
1961        This should also be included in the bug report.
1962        <figure>
1963        <title>Error Dialog</title>
1964        <mediaobject>
1965        <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/8_int_error.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1966        <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/8_int_error.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
1967        </mediaobject>
1968        </figure>
1969        </para>
1970    
1971    </chapter>    </chapter>
1972    
1973    <appendix><title>Supported Data Sources</title>    <appendix><title>Supported Data Sources</title>
1974      <para>      <para>
1975      </para>      </para>
1976        <variablelist>
1977        <varlistentry>
1978        <term>Shapefile</term>
1979        <listitem>
1980            <para>
1981            The Shapefile format has become a standard format for saving
1982            geographic vector information. It supports polygons, lines, and
1983            points.
1984            
1985            <ulink url="http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf">
1986            Technical Specification.
1987            </ulink>  
1988            </para>
1989        </listitem>
1990        </varlistentry>
1991    
1992        <varlistentry>
1993        <term>dBase file</term>
1994        <listitem>
1995            <para>
1996            dBase files are used to store the attributes for each layer. This
1997            is closely associated with the Shapefile format. For detailed
1998            specifications on the correct format of a dBase file used with
1999            Thuban please see the Technical Specification for the Shapefile
2000            format above.
2001            </para>
2002        </listitem>
2003        </varlistentry>
2004    
2005        <varlistentry>
2006        <term>PostGIS</term>
2007        <listitem>
2008            <para>
2009            PostGIS adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL
2010            object-relational database. Different layer types (as for Shapefiles)
2011            are supported. <ulink url="http://postgis.refractions.net">PostGIS
2012            Homepage</ulink>
2013            </para>
2014        </listitem>
2015        </varlistentry>
2016    
2017        <varlistentry>
2018        <term>Raster files</term>
2019        <listitem>
2020            <para>
2021            Binding the GDAL library Thuban supports numerous raster file formats,
2022            see <ulink url="http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/formats_list.html">
2023            GDAL format list</ulink> for details.</para>
2024    
2025            <para>Most commonly used is the <emphasis>TIFF/GeoTIFF</emphasis>
2026            format: Raster maps are provided as TIFF images, with an additional
2027            "world file" storing the geographic reference (usually with an
2028            extension ".tfw").
2029            </para>
2030        </listitem>
2031        </varlistentry>
2032    
2033        </variablelist>
2034      </appendix>
2035    
2036      <appendix><title>Working with PostGIS</title>
2037      <para>
2038      This section focusses on the use of PostGIS in the Thuban framework. For
2039      installation and maintenance of spatial databases we refer to the  
2040      <ulink url="http://postgis.refractions.net">PostGIS Homepage</ulink>.
2041      The Thuban PostGIS support requires the
2042      <ulink url="http://initd.org/software/psycopg">psycopg module</ulink>.
2043      </para>
2044    
2045      <para>
2046            Working with PostGIS Databases is seperated into two steps:
2047            <itemizedlist>
2048            <listitem><para>Opening a Database Connection</para></listitem>
2049            <listitem><para>Loading a Data Layer</para></listitem>
2050            </itemizedlist>
2051      </para>
2052            <section><title>Opening a Database Connection</title>
2053            <para>
2054                    Before a data layer can be loaded from a PostGIS database a
2055                    connection with the database has to be established.
2056                    <menuchoice>
2057                    <guimenu>Session</guimenu>
2058                    <guimenuitem>Database Connections ...</guimenuitem>
2059                    </menuchoice> opens a dialog for database connection
2060                    management. In the dialog new connections can be added
2061                    and existing ones can be removed. Removing a database
2062                    connection is not possible if the map still displays a
2063                    layer provided by this database connection.
2064            </para>
2065        <figure>
2066        <title>Database Management Dialog</title>
2067        <mediaobject>
2068        <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_db_management.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2069        <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_db_management.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2070        </mediaobject>
2071        </figure>
2072    
2073            <para>
2074                    To add a new database connection to the session a dialog is
2075                    opened to specify the relevant connection data. Enter all
2076                    data relevant for your connection. If the connection fails
2077                    the dialog remains open and provides some hints on the failure.
2078            </para>
2079            <figure>
2080            <title>Add Database Dialog</title>
2081            <mediaobject>
2082            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_db_add.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2083            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_db_add.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2084            </mediaobject>
2085            </figure>
2086            
2087            <para>
2088            It is important to note that information on database connections are
2089            also stored with the session. Passwords are NOT stored. If you load a
2090            session with database connections you are asked to enter these
2091            passwords again where required.
2092            </para>
2093    
2094            </section>
2095    
2096            <section><title>Loading a Data Layer</title>
2097            <para>
2098            Data layers as part of a map are loaded with the
2099            <menuchoice>
2100            <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
2101            <guimenuitem>Add Database Layer ...</guimenuitem>
2102            </menuchoice> menu item. A dialog is raised displaying two choice
2103            lists. In the left list all connected databases are shown.
2104            Highlighting
2105            one of these and issuing a retrieval results in a list of available
2106            layer tables from that database. After selection of a
2107            layer the dialog is closed.
2108            </para>
2109            <figure>
2110            <title>Add Database Dialog</title>
2111            <mediaobject>
2112            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_add_layer.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2113            <imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_add_layer.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject>
2114            </mediaobject>
2115            </figure>
2116            
2117            </section>
2118    
2119    </appendix>    </appendix>
2120    
2121    <appendix><title>Supported Projections</title>    <appendix><title>Supported Projections</title>
2122      <para>      <para>
2123        The following types of projections are directly support by
2124        Thuban. The specific values for each are provided by the user
2125        to create custom projections. Thuban comes with predefined
2126        projections which are available through the Projections dialog.
2127        </para>
2128        <itemizedlist>
2129        <listitem>
2130            <para>Geographic</para>
2131            <itemizedlist>
2132            <listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem>
2133            <listitem><para>
2134                    <literal>Source Data</literal>: either Degrees or Radians
2135                    </para></listitem>
2136            </itemizedlist>
2137        </listitem>
2138        <listitem>
2139            <para>Lambert Conic Conformal</para>
2140        <itemizedlist>
2141            <listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem>
2142            <listitem><para><literal>Latitude of 1st standard parallel</literal></para></listitem>
2143            <listitem><para><literal>Latitude of 2nd standard parallel</literal></para></listitem>
2144            <listitem><para><literal>Central Meridian</literal></para></listitem>
2145            <listitem><para><literal>Latitude of Origin</literal></para></listitem>
2146            <listitem><para><literal>False Easting</literal> (meters)</para></listitem>
2147            <listitem><para><literal>False Northing</literal> (meters)</para></listitem>
2148        </itemizedlist>
2149        </listitem>
2150        <listitem>
2151            <para>Transverse Mercator</para>
2152        <itemizedlist>
2153            <listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem>
2154            <listitem><para><literal>Latitude</literal>of origin</para></listitem>
2155            <listitem><para><literal>Longitude</literal>at central meridian</para></listitem>
2156            <listitem><para><literal>Scale Factor</literal>at central meridian</para></listitem>
2157            <listitem><para><literal>False Easting</literal> (meters)</para></listitem>
2158            <listitem><para><literal>False Northing</literal> (meters)</para></listitem>
2159        </itemizedlist>
2160        </listitem>
2161        <listitem>
2162            <para>Universal Transverse Mercator</para>
2163        <itemizedlist>
2164            <listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem>
2165            <listitem><para><literal>Zone</literal>
2166                    (can be guessed appling the Propose button)</para></listitem>
2167            <listitem><para><literal>Southern Hemisphere</literal> flag</para></listitem>
2168        </itemizedlist>
2169        </listitem>
2170        </itemizedlist>
2171        
2172        <para>
2173        Thuban comes with a sample set of map projections for various
2174        European countries. Apart from the basic projection they differ
2175        especially in their parameterization:
2176        </para>
2177        <itemizedlist>
2178        <listitem><para>Belgium Datum 1972 (Lambert Conic Conformal)</para>
2179        </listitem>
2180    
2181        <listitem><para>Gauss-Boaga Zone 1 (Italy, Transverse Mercartor)</para>
2182        </listitem>
2183    
2184        <listitem><para>Gauss-Krueger Zone 2 (Germany, Transverse Mercartor)
2185        </para>
2186        </listitem>
2187    
2188        <listitem><para>Reseau Geodesique Francaise
2189        (France, Lambert Conic Conformal)</para>
2190        </listitem>
2191    
2192        <listitem><para>UK National Grid (United Kingdom, Transverse Mercartor)
2193        </para>
2194        </listitem>
2195        </itemizedlist>
2196    
2197        <para>
2198        Thuban uses the comprehensive PROJ library for projections. PROJ provides
2199        more than the four commonly used projections described above. If needed
2200        Thuban can be easily extended to a new projection covered by PROJ.
2201      </para>      </para>
2202    </appendix>    </appendix>
2203    
2204  </book>  </book>
2205    

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