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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> |
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<!DOCTYPE book |
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PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN" |
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd" |
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[<!ENTITY imgscale "60">]> |
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<!-- $Revision$ --> |
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<book> |
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<bookinfo> |
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<title>User's Manual for Thuban 1.0</title> |
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<authorgroup> |
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<author> |
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<firstname>Jonathan</firstname><surname>Coles</surname> |
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</author> |
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<author> |
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<firstname>Jan-Oliver</firstname><surname>Wagner</surname> |
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</author> |
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<author> |
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<firstname>Frank</firstname><surname>Koormann</surname> |
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</author> |
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</authorgroup> |
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<copyright> |
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<year>2003, 2004</year> |
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<holder>Intevation GmbH</holder> |
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</copyright> |
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<revhistory> |
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<!-- comment this first revision out when releasing a real version --> |
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<revision> |
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<revnumber>CVS version $Id$</revnumber> |
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<date></date> |
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<revremark>Under development.</revremark> |
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</revision> |
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<revision> |
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<revnumber>1.0.0</revnumber> |
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<date>22-Jan-2004</date> |
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<revremark> |
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Corresponds to Thuban 1.0.0. |
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New: Installation instructions for Win32. |
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</revremark> |
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</revision> |
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<revision> |
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<revnumber>1.0pre3</revnumber> |
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<date>04-Dec-2003</date> |
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<revremark> |
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Corresponds to Thuban 1.0rc1. |
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New: I18n, right button legend menu, EPSG projectons, |
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PostGIS support. |
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</revremark> |
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</revision> |
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<revision> |
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<revnumber>1.0pre2</revnumber> |
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<date>29-Aug-2003</date> |
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<revremark> |
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Corresponds to Thuban development release 0.8.1. |
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New: chapter on extensions. |
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</revremark> |
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</revision> |
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<revision> |
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<revnumber>1.0pre1</revnumber> |
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<date>08-Aug-2003</date> |
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<revremark>Corresponds to Thuban development release 0.8.1.</revremark> |
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</revision> |
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</revhistory> |
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|
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</bookinfo> |
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|
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<chapter><title>Introduction</title> |
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<para> |
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Thuban is an interactive geographic data viewer. |
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Its development had been started because there was no simple interactive |
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viewer for geographic information available as Free Software. Thuban is |
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written mainly in Python and uses the wxWidgets (former wxWindows) |
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library allowing it to |
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run on many different platforms, including GNU/Linux and Windows. |
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</para> |
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<para> |
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Geographic data viewers are a necessary tool as they allow one to |
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get a visual |
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impression of the positional relationship of the information that may not |
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be apparent from simple inspection of the data values themselves. |
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Thuban allows the user to create a session that displays |
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geographic data and then explore that data through navigation and |
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manipulation of how it is drawn. The results can then be saved or printed. |
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</para> |
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<para> |
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Thuban arranges a session in a hierarchy. A session contains a map which |
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consists of layers. Each layer represents a data set. For |
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instance, there may be a layer for roads and another layer for buildings. |
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These layers can either be vector shapes or images. |
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</para> |
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|
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<section><title>Installation</title> |
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<para> |
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Thuban is actively supported under Debian Testing (sarge), RedHat 7.2, |
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and Windows 2000. Thuban depends on the following packages. These |
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packages can also be found on the |
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<ulink url="http://thuban.intevation.org/download.html"> |
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Thuban Download site |
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</ulink>. |
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</para> |
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<para> |
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Required: |
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<itemizedlist> |
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<listitem><para>Python 2.2.1 |
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(<literal>http://www.python.org</literal>) |
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</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>wxWindows 2.4 |
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(<literal>http://www.wxwindows.org</literal>) |
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</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>wxPython 2.4 |
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(<literal>http://www.wxpython.org</literal>) |
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</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>proj 4.4.5 Projection Library |
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(<literal>http://www.remotesensing.org/proj/</literal>) |
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</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>SQLite 2.8.3 |
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<literal>http://www.hwaci.com/sw/sqlite/</literal>) |
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</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>PySQLite 0.4.3 |
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(<literal>http://pysqlite.sourceforge.net</literal>) |
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</para></listitem> |
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</itemizedlist> |
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</para> |
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<para> |
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Optional: |
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<itemizedlist> |
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<listitem><para>GDAL 1.1.8 |
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(<literal>http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/</literal>) |
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</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>psycopg 1.0.8 |
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(<literal>http://initd.org/software/psycopg</literal>) |
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</para></listitem> |
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</itemizedlist> |
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</para> |
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<para> |
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Along with the source codes, the download page also offers full |
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installation packages for Debian, Windows and RPM-based systems |
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(Mandrake, RedHat, SuSE, etc). |
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</para> |
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<section><title>RPM-based GNU/Linux Systems</title> |
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<section><title>Installing Binary Packages</title> |
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<para> |
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The most wide-spread RPM-based GNU/Linux |
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Systems are RedHat, Mandrake and SuSE. |
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The documentation of these distributions |
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should contain information about how to |
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install third-party RPM packages. |
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Nonetheless, a short summary is provided here. |
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</para> |
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<para> |
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RPM packages can be installed applying several |
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tools. The most basic one is the command line |
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program "rpm". The hardware architecture is |
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identified in the name of RPM packages, eg. |
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'i386' for most Intel/AMD architectures. |
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If you have a different hardware architecture, |
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where no binary RPM packages are provided, |
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you must rebuild binary packages from the |
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RPM source packages first (see below). |
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Typical rpm commands look like: |
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|
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<programlisting> |
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rpm --install Thuban-0.9.0-1.i386.rpm |
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</programlisting> |
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|
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Depending on what you already have installed |
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on your system, you are informed that some |
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packages are required, but not installed. |
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You need to install them first. Either they |
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are provided by your GNU/Linux distributor |
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or available somewhere on the Internet. |
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The more essential and special ones are |
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provided together with the Thuban package. |
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</para> |
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|
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<para> |
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For rpm exist some graphical user interfaces, notably |
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kpackage, GnoRPM and xrpm. |
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</para> |
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|
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<para> |
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Make yourself familiar with one of the tools and apply it |
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to install the packages. |
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Note, that you need to be administrator (root) for the system |
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to do that. |
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</para> |
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</section> |
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<section><title>Build Binaries from Source Packages</title> |
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<para> |
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This section describes howto build RPM install-packages |
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from RPM source-packages. |
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This adapts and optimizes an install-package specifically |
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to your system. |
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This is especially helpful to resolve version conflicts of |
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dependent packages. Furthermore, install-packages for other |
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platforms (e.g. PowerPC) can be created. |
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</para> |
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|
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<para> |
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Note: rpm must be at least version 4. Execute |
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<literal>rpm --version</literal> to find out about the version. |
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</para> |
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|
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<para> |
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You need to do the following preparations to be able to |
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build the packages as a regular user. You should now |
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perform the package buling as root since this |
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might cause damage to your system. |
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<itemizedlist> |
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<listitem> |
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<para> |
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Create RPM directory structure: |
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Choose a directory (e.g. $HOME/myrpm) and create the |
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subdirectories BUILD, RPM, SOURCES, SPECS and SRPMS. |
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A possible command sequence for this is: |
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<programlisting> |
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mkdir $HOME/freegisrpm |
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cd $HOME/freegisrpm |
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mkdir BUILD RPMS SOURCES SPECS SRPMS |
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</programlisting> |
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</para> |
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</listitem> |
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<listitem> |
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<para> |
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Set environment variable RPM_DIR: |
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<programlisting> |
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export RPM_DIR=$HOME/freegisrpm |
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</programlisting> |
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</para> |
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</listitem> |
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<listitem> |
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<para> |
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Create $HOME/.rpmmacros: |
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This file sets general preferences and some |
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specific settings for signing packages. |
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If you don't have a GnuPG-key, you can skip |
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the signature settings i.e. drop the last 4 lines. |
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A signature becomes important when you want to |
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give away packages to third parties. |
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<programlisting> |
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<![CDATA[ |
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%packager Name Lastname <[email protected]> |
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|
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%_topdir /home/mylogin/myrpm |
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|
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%_signature gpg |
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%_gpg_name Name Lastname |
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%_pgp_path ~/.gnupg |
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%_pgpbin /usr/bin/gpg |
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]]> |
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</programlisting> |
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</para> |
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</listitem> |
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</itemizedlist> |
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|
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Now you can install any RPM source-package. |
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It's components are installed into the corresponding |
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subdirectories of your rpm-directory. |
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Essentially these are the sources (into directory SOURCES) |
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and the so-called spec-file which contains all build |
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instructions. The spec-file will go into the SPEC directory. |
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Example: |
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<literal>rpm --install Thuban-0.9.0-1.src.rpm</literal> |
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</para> |
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|
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<para> |
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Create install-package: |
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Go to the directory with the spec-files and rebuild the |
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package: |
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<programlisting> |
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cd $HOME/mypm/SPECS |
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rpm -bb thuban.spec |
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</programlisting> |
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Next, you will find the newly created package in |
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$HOME/myrpm/RPMS/i386. |
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If you build the package for another architecture than |
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i386, then the name of the directory has a corresponding name. |
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</para> |
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<para> |
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For documentation of RPM, either type |
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<literal>man rpm</literal> or <literal>rpm --help</literal>. |
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This will provide you with information on the various command |
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line options of RPM. |
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For more information see the |
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<ulink url="http://www.rpm.org/">homepage of RPM</ulink>. |
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</para> |
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</section> |
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</section> <!-- Intro - Installation - RPM--> |
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|
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<section><title>Win32 Systems</title> |
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<para> |
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A common installation package of Thuban for Win32 |
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systems is available from the Thuban website download |
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section. This installation package is configured for |
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displaying file based vector data (Shapefiles). For the |
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display of raster data or the connection to spatial |
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databases additional steps are needed. |
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</para> |
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<para> |
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The required Python packages are listed and linked on |
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the download page as well. If you don't have Python |
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installed already, download the packages for Python, |
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wxPython for Python and the SQLite Python Libraries as |
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well as the Thuban package. Install all four packages |
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in the order: Python, wxPython, SQLite, Thuban. Follow |
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the installation instructions provided by the seperate |
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setups. The Thuban installation package will add an |
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entry in the menu folder you configured. |
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</para> |
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<section><title>Raster Data: Installation of GDAL</title> |
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<para> |
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Enabling the raster data features of Thuban is |
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straight forward. For the examples we assume that |
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Thuban has been installed under |
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<literal>C:\Thuban</literal>: |
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<itemizedlist> |
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<listitem> |
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<para> |
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Download the zip-archive <ulink |
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url="ftp://intevation.de/thuban/win2k/gdal-win2k.zip" |
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>gdal-win2k</ulink>. |
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</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>Extract the archive (e.g. with |
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<ulink |
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url="http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/WiZ.html" |
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>WiZ (InfoZip)</ulink>) into the |
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<literal>C:\Thuban\Lib</literal> |
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directory of your Thuban installation. |
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</para> |
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</listitem> |
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<listitem> |
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<para> |
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Extent the <varname>PYTHONPATH</varname> |
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environment variable (in your Windows Control Panel) |
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to make the new libraries available for Thuban. |
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<programlisting> |
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%PYTHONPATH%;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal\pymod |
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</programlisting> |
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</para> |
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</listitem> |
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<listitem> |
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<para> |
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Extent also the <varname>PATH</varname> |
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environment variable accordingly: |
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<programlisting> |
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%PATH%;C:\Thuban\Lib\gdal |
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</programlisting> |
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</para> |
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</listitem> |
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</itemizedlist> |
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After this installation steps Thuban is ready to |
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display raster data (e.g. the |
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<literal>island.tif</literal> from the Iceland Demo |
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data set. |
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</para> |
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</section> <!-- Win32: GDAL--> |
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|
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<section><title>Working with PostGIS: Installation of PsycoPG</title> |
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<para> |
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To access PostgreSQL/PostGIS spatial databases with |
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Thuban you have to install the PsycoPG package for |
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Windows: |
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<itemizedlist> |
363 |
<listitem> |
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<para> |
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Download the zip-archive |
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<ulink |
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url="http://stickpeople.com/projects/python/win-psycopg/win-psycopg22.zip" |
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>win-psycopg22.zip</ulink>. |
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</para> |
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</listitem> |
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<listitem> |
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<para> |
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Extract the zip-archive into a directory either already |
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in your <varname>PYTHONPATH</varname> or extent your |
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<varname>PYTHONPATH</varname> variable to the directory |
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you have extracted the archive to. |
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</para> |
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</listitem> |
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</itemizedlist> |
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For installation and maintenance of spatial databases |
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we refer to the <ulink |
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url="http://postgis.refractions.net" |
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>PostGIS Homepage</ulink>. |
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</para> |
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</section> <!-- Win32: PsycoPG--> |
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|
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</section> <!-- Intro - Installation - Win32 --> |
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</section> |
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|
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<section><title>Internationalization</title> |
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<para> |
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Thuban is implemented with internationalization support. So far Thuban |
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is translated by volunteers to the following languages (apart from its |
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main language: English): |
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<itemizedlist> |
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<listitem><para>French</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>German</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>Italian</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>Portuguese (Brazilian)</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>Russian</para></listitem> |
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<listitem><para>Spanish</para></listitem> |
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</itemizedlist> |
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</para> |
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|
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<para> |
406 |
To use internationalization under POSIX systems (like GNU/Linux) |
407 |
you have to set the environment variable LC_ALL accordingly (e.g. |
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LC_ALL=fr_FR for the french language support). Please check your |
409 |
systems documentation for details and supported settings. |
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Specifiying LC_ALL on the command line while launching thuban |
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allows appication specific language settings: |
412 |
</para> |
413 |
<programlisting> |
414 |
LC_ALL=fr_FR thuban.py |
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</programlisting> |
416 |
|
417 |
<para> |
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MS Windows users have to specify the language to be used via the control |
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bar (which effects all applications). |
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</para> |
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</section> |
422 |
|
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<section><title>The Main Window</title> |
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<para> |
425 |
<figure> |
426 |
<title>The Main Window</title> |
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<mediaobject> |
428 |
<imageobject> <imagedata fileref="../images/1_2_mainwindow.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> </imageobject> |
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<imageobject> <imagedata fileref="./images/1_2_mainwindow.ps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> </imageobject> |
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</mediaobject> |
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</figure> |
432 |
</para> |
433 |
|
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<para> |
435 |
The map window shows the current state of the map and is where |
436 |
the user can interact with the map using the tools. |
437 |
</para> |
438 |
|
439 |
<para> |
440 |
The legend on the left displays a list of the current layers and |
441 |
any visible classification groups. In the example, each shape layer |
442 |
has a default classification which specifies how the shapes in each |
443 |
layer are drawn. Layers that are higher in the list appear |
444 |
``closer'' to the user. The legend can be closed by clicking on the |
445 |
small X in the upper right-hand region of the legend. |
446 |
To open it again, use |
447 |
<menuchoice> |
448 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
449 |
<guimenuitem>Legend</guimenuitem> |
450 |
</menuchoice>. |
451 |
The legend is also dockable, which means that it can be detached |
452 |
from the main window by clicking on the small button next to the |
453 |
close button. It can be attached by clicking the same button |
454 |
again. |
455 |
</para> |
456 |
<para> |
457 |
The status bar displays different information depending on the |
458 |
current context. If the user is selecting an item from the menu |
459 |
then the status bar will display a short help message indicating |
460 |
what each menu item is for. If the user has a tool selected then |
461 |
the position of the cursor on the map is displayed. |
462 |
</para> |
463 |
<para> |
464 |
The tool bar provides quick access to the commonly needed tools. |
465 |
By hovering over each button the user can see a short messages |
466 |
describing what the tool does. The tools provided are Zoom In, Zoom |
467 |
Out, Pan, Full Extent, Full Layer Extent, Full Shape Extent, Identify, |
468 |
and Label. Each of the tools will be explained in further detail later |
469 |
in the manual. |
470 |
</para> |
471 |
</section> |
472 |
|
473 |
</chapter> |
474 |
|
475 |
<chapter><title>Session Management</title> |
476 |
|
477 |
<section><title>Starting a New Session</title> |
478 |
<para> |
479 |
A new session can be started from |
480 |
<menuchoice> |
481 |
<guimenu>File</guimenu> |
482 |
<guimenuitem>New Session</guimenuitem> |
483 |
</menuchoice>. |
484 |
If a session is already loaded and has been modified without |
485 |
being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should |
486 |
be saved. A new session consists of an empty map with no |
487 |
layers, no tables and no projection. |
488 |
</para> |
489 |
</section> |
490 |
|
491 |
<section><title>Opening a Session</title> |
492 |
<para> |
493 |
A session can be opened from |
494 |
<menuchoice> |
495 |
<guimenu>File</guimenu> |
496 |
<guimenuitem>Open Session</guimenuitem> |
497 |
</menuchoice>. A dialog box will open allowing the user to browse |
498 |
for a Thuban Session file. Thuban session files end with |
499 |
<varname>.thuban</varname>. Selecting a file a clicking |
500 |
<guibutton>OK</guibutton> will load the session into Thuban. |
501 |
|
502 |
If a session is already loaded and has been modified without |
503 |
being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should |
504 |
be saved. |
505 |
</para> |
506 |
</section> |
507 |
|
508 |
<section><title>Saving a Session</title> |
509 |
<para> |
510 |
A session can be saved from |
511 |
<menuchoice> |
512 |
<guimenu>File</guimenu> |
513 |
<guimenuitem>Save Session</guimenuitem> |
514 |
</menuchoice>. |
515 |
In the case the session is not a new and unsaved one, |
516 |
the corresponding file is updated with the current session |
517 |
data. |
518 |
In the case the current session is a new one and yet unsaved |
519 |
a dialog box will open allowing the user to browse |
520 |
the file system and select a place to save the session. Thuban |
521 |
sessions should be saved under a name ending in |
522 |
<varname>.thuban</varname>. If the file already exists the user |
523 |
will be prompted to save under a different name or overwrite the |
524 |
existing file. |
525 |
</para> |
526 |
</section> |
527 |
|
528 |
<section><title>The Session Info-Tree</title> |
529 |
<para> |
530 |
<figure> |
531 |
<title>Session Info Tree</title> |
532 |
<mediaobject> |
533 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/2_4_session_tree.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
534 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/2_4_session_tree.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
535 |
</mediaobject> |
536 |
</figure> |
537 |
</para> |
538 |
<para> |
539 |
The session info-tree is primarily intended for developers working |
540 |
with Thuban. It displays many of the internal values for the session, |
541 |
map, and layers. It can be opened from |
542 |
<menuchoice> |
543 |
<guimenu>File</guimenu> |
544 |
<guimenuitem>Session Tree</guimenuitem> |
545 |
</menuchoice>. |
546 |
</para> |
547 |
</section> |
548 |
</chapter> |
549 |
|
550 |
<chapter><title>Map Management</title> |
551 |
<para> |
552 |
The map consists of a number of layers where each layer represents a |
553 |
different type of data set. By interacting with the map the user can |
554 |
visually explore the data. |
555 |
</para> |
556 |
<para> |
557 |
The map can have a name that will appear in the Thuban title bar. |
558 |
The map name can be changed using |
559 |
<menuchoice> |
560 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
561 |
<guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem> |
562 |
</menuchoice>. |
563 |
</para> |
564 |
<para> |
565 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
566 |
<imageobject> |
567 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_rename_map.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
568 |
</imageobject> |
569 |
<imageobject> |
570 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_rename_map.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
571 |
</imageobject> |
572 |
<textobject> <phrase>Rename Map</phrase> </textobject> |
573 |
</inlinemediaobject> |
574 |
</para> |
575 |
|
576 |
<section><title>Adding and Removing Layers</title> |
577 |
<para> |
578 |
There are three types of layers that can be added to a map: |
579 |
Shape layers, database layers |
580 |
and image layers. Shape layers are stored in Shapefile format, a |
581 |
widely used file format for storing geographic objects. These |
582 |
files have the extension ``.shp''. Associated with |
583 |
the shape file is a database file which stores attributes for |
584 |
each shape in the Shape file. This file, in dBase format, |
585 |
has the extension ``.dbf''. Both files must have the same base name. |
586 |
For example, if there is a shape file named roads.shp there must |
587 |
also be a file roads.dbf. |
588 |
</para> |
589 |
<itemizedlist> |
590 |
<listitem> |
591 |
<para> |
592 |
Shape layers can be added to the map with |
593 |
<menuchoice> |
594 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
595 |
<guimenuitem>Add Layer</guimenuitem> |
596 |
</menuchoice>. |
597 |
Initially, only the ``.shp'' files are shown which is enough for the |
598 |
selection. However, if you switch to display all files and select one |
599 |
of the associated files (e.g. ``.dbf''), Thuban will recognize the base |
600 |
name and load the corresponding Shape file. |
601 |
</para> |
602 |
<para> |
603 |
The file dialog for Shape files allows to select multiple files. |
604 |
Use the shift-button together with the left mouse button to extend |
605 |
the selection. |
606 |
</para> |
607 |
</listitem> |
608 |
|
609 |
<listitem> |
610 |
<para>Database layers can be added to the map with |
611 |
<menuchoice> |
612 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
613 |
<guimenuitem>Add Database Layer</guimenuitem> |
614 |
</menuchoice>. |
615 |
A dialog with two is list is opened. The left list displays all |
616 |
database connections currently open for the session. You can retrieve |
617 |
a list of available layers from the selected database which is |
618 |
displayed on the right hand. From this list one layer can be selected, |
619 |
the dialog is closed afterwards. |
620 |
</para> |
621 |
<para> |
622 |
See appendix ``Working with PostGIS'' for details. |
623 |
</para> |
624 |
</listitem> |
625 |
|
626 |
<listitem> |
627 |
<para> |
628 |
Image layers can be added to the map with |
629 |
<menuchoice> |
630 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
631 |
<guimenuitem>Add Image Layer</guimenuitem> |
632 |
</menuchoice>. |
633 |
It is important to select a valid image file that has geographic |
634 |
data associated with it. The data can be embedded in the file itself, |
635 |
or in another file. If geographic information cannot be found, Thuban |
636 |
will report an error. |
637 |
</para> |
638 |
</listitem> |
639 |
</itemizedlist> |
640 |
</section> |
641 |
|
642 |
<section><title>Navigation</title> |
643 |
<para> |
644 |
The map can be explored by using the navigation tools available on |
645 |
the tool bar or from the |
646 |
<menuchoice><guimenu>Map</guimenu></menuchoice> menu. |
647 |
</para> |
648 |
<itemizedlist> |
649 |
<listitem> |
650 |
<para> |
651 |
The ZoomIn tool |
652 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
653 |
<imageobject> |
654 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomin.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
655 |
</imageobject> |
656 |
<imageobject> |
657 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomin.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
658 |
</imageobject> |
659 |
<textobject> <phrase>ZoomIn Tool</phrase> </textobject> |
660 |
</inlinemediaobject> |
661 |
enlarges a region of the map. Clicking once on the map |
662 |
will double the magnification and center the map on the point that |
663 |
was clicked. Clicking and dragging selects a region that will be |
664 |
enlarged to fit the window. |
665 |
</para> |
666 |
</listitem> |
667 |
<listitem> |
668 |
<para> |
669 |
The ZoomOut tool |
670 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
671 |
<imageobject> |
672 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomout.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
673 |
</imageobject> |
674 |
<imageobject> |
675 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomout.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
676 |
</imageobject> |
677 |
<textobject> <phrase>ZoomOut Tool</phrase> </textobject> |
678 |
</inlinemediaobject> |
679 |
shrinks the map so that a larger region is visible. A single click |
680 |
reduces the magnification by a factor of two. Clicking and dragging |
681 |
selects a box such that the current contents of the window will be |
682 |
scaled to fit into that box. |
683 |
</para> |
684 |
</listitem> |
685 |
<listitem> |
686 |
<para> |
687 |
The Pan tool |
688 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
689 |
<imageobject> |
690 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_pan.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
691 |
</imageobject> |
692 |
<imageobject> |
693 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_pan.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
694 |
</imageobject> |
695 |
<textobject> <phrase>Pan Tool</phrase> </textobject> |
696 |
</inlinemediaobject> |
697 |
allows the user to move the map around by clicking and dragging. |
698 |
</para> |
699 |
</listitem> |
700 |
<listitem> |
701 |
<para> |
702 |
The Full Extent tool |
703 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
704 |
<imageobject> |
705 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
706 |
</imageobject> |
707 |
<imageobject> |
708 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
709 |
</imageobject> |
710 |
<textobject> <phrase>Full Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject> |
711 |
</inlinemediaobject> |
712 |
rescales the viewable region so that the entire map is visible. |
713 |
</para> |
714 |
</listitem> |
715 |
<listitem> |
716 |
<para> |
717 |
The Full Layer Extent tool |
718 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
719 |
<imageobject> |
720 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fulllayerextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
721 |
</imageobject> |
722 |
<imageobject> |
723 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fulllayerextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
724 |
</imageobject> |
725 |
<textobject> <phrase>Full Layer Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject> |
726 |
</inlinemediaobject> |
727 |
rescales the viewable region so that the currently selected |
728 |
layer fits within the window. If no layer is selected this button |
729 |
will be disabled. |
730 |
</para> |
731 |
</listitem> |
732 |
<listitem> |
733 |
<para> |
734 |
The Full Shape Extent tool |
735 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
736 |
<imageobject> |
737 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullshapeextent.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
738 |
</imageobject> |
739 |
<imageobject> |
740 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullshapeextent.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
741 |
</imageobject> |
742 |
<textobject> <phrase>Full Shape Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject> |
743 |
</inlinemediaobject> |
744 |
rescales the viewable region so that the currently selected |
745 |
shape fits within the window. If the shape is a point, it is |
746 |
centered and the map is zoomed all the way in. If no shape is |
747 |
selected this button will be disabled. This feature is especially |
748 |
helpful when identifying an object related to a selected record |
749 |
in a tableview (see below). |
750 |
|
751 |
</para> |
752 |
</listitem> |
753 |
</itemizedlist> |
754 |
</section> |
755 |
|
756 |
<section><title>Object Identification</title> |
757 |
<para> |
758 |
Objects on the map can be identified using the Identify tool |
759 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
760 |
<imageobject> |
761 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_identify.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
762 |
</imageobject> |
763 |
<imageobject> |
764 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_identify.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
765 |
</imageobject> |
766 |
<textobject> <phrase>Identify Tool</phrase> </textobject> |
767 |
</inlinemediaobject>. |
768 |
Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which |
769 |
shows all the table attributes for that object. Any current selection |
770 |
is lost. Objects on the map are typically shapes and this document |
771 |
will often refer to objects as shapes. |
772 |
</para> |
773 |
</section> |
774 |
|
775 |
<section><title>Object Labeling</title> |
776 |
<para> |
777 |
Objects can be labeled using the Label tool |
778 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
779 |
<imageobject> |
780 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_label.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
781 |
</imageobject> |
782 |
<imageobject> |
783 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_label.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
784 |
</imageobject> |
785 |
<textobject> <phrase>Label Tool</phrase> </textobject> |
786 |
</inlinemediaobject>. |
787 |
Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which |
788 |
displays the table attributes for that object. An attribute can |
789 |
be selected to be the label on the map. The label will be placed |
790 |
at the center of the shape. Clicking on an object that already has |
791 |
a label will remove the label. |
792 |
</para> |
793 |
</section> |
794 |
|
795 |
<section><title>The Legend</title> |
796 |
<para> |
797 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
798 |
<imageobject> |
799 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_legend.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
800 |
</imageobject> |
801 |
<imageobject> |
802 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_legend.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
803 |
</imageobject> |
804 |
<textobject> <phrase>Legend</phrase> </textobject> |
805 |
</inlinemediaobject> |
806 |
</para> |
807 |
<para> |
808 |
The Legend provides an overview of the layers in the map. Layers |
809 |
that appear higher in the legend will appear ``closer'' to the user. |
810 |
If a layer supports classification (currently, only shape layers |
811 |
have this feature) then the classification groups will be shown |
812 |
below each layer. The properties for each group are also displayed |
813 |
with a small graphic. Polygon layers appear as rectangles, lines |
814 |
appear as curved lines, and points appear as circles. |
815 |
</para> |
816 |
<para> |
817 |
Along the top of the legend is a toolbar which allows quick access |
818 |
to some of the layer manipulation options under |
819 |
<menuchoice><guimenu>Map</guimenu></menuchoice>. |
820 |
</para> |
821 |
|
822 |
<itemizedlist> |
823 |
<listitem> |
824 |
<para> |
825 |
The Move Layer to Top tool |
826 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
827 |
<imageobject> |
828 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_totop.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
829 |
</imageobject> |
830 |
<imageobject> |
831 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_totop.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
832 |
</imageobject> |
833 |
<textobject> <phrase>Move Layer to Top</phrase> </textobject> |
834 |
</inlinemediaobject> raises the selected layer to the top of the map. |
835 |
</para> |
836 |
</listitem> |
837 |
<listitem> |
838 |
|
839 |
<para> |
840 |
The Move Layer Up tool |
841 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
842 |
<imageobject> |
843 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_moveup.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
844 |
</imageobject> |
845 |
<imageobject> |
846 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_moveup.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
847 |
</imageobject> |
848 |
<textobject> <phrase>Move Layer Up</phrase> </textobject> |
849 |
</inlinemediaobject> raises the selected layer one level. |
850 |
</para> |
851 |
</listitem> |
852 |
<listitem> |
853 |
|
854 |
<para> |
855 |
The Move Layer Down tool |
856 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
857 |
<imageobject> |
858 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_movedown.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
859 |
</imageobject> |
860 |
<imageobject> |
861 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_movedown.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
862 |
</imageobject> |
863 |
<textobject> <phrase>Move Layer Down</phrase> </textobject> |
864 |
</inlinemediaobject> lowers the selected layer one level. |
865 |
</para> |
866 |
|
867 |
</listitem> |
868 |
<listitem> |
869 |
<para> |
870 |
The Move Layer to Bottom tool |
871 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
872 |
<imageobject> |
873 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_tobottom.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
874 |
</imageobject> |
875 |
<imageobject> |
876 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_tobottom.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
877 |
</imageobject> |
878 |
<textobject> <phrase>Move Layer to Bottom</phrase> </textobject> |
879 |
</inlinemediaobject> lowers the selected layer to the bottom of the map. |
880 |
</para> |
881 |
|
882 |
</listitem> |
883 |
<listitem> |
884 |
<para> |
885 |
The Visible tool |
886 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
887 |
<imageobject> |
888 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_visible.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
889 |
</imageobject> |
890 |
<imageobject> |
891 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_visible.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
892 |
</imageobject> |
893 |
<textobject> <phrase>Visible</phrase> </textobject> |
894 |
</inlinemediaobject> shows the selected layer in the map if it was |
895 |
hidden. |
896 |
</para> |
897 |
|
898 |
</listitem> |
899 |
<listitem> |
900 |
<para> |
901 |
The Invisible tool |
902 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
903 |
<imageobject> |
904 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_invisible.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
905 |
</imageobject> |
906 |
<imageobject> |
907 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_invisible.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
908 |
</imageobject> |
909 |
<textobject> <phrase>Invisible</phrase> </textobject> |
910 |
</inlinemediaobject> hides the selected layer in the map. |
911 |
</para> |
912 |
|
913 |
</listitem> |
914 |
<listitem> |
915 |
<para> |
916 |
The Properties tool |
917 |
<inlinemediaobject> |
918 |
<imageobject> |
919 |
<imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_props.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
920 |
</imageobject> |
921 |
<imageobject> |
922 |
<imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_props.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/> |
923 |
</imageobject> |
924 |
<textobject> <phrase>Properties</phrase> </textobject> |
925 |
</inlinemediaobject> opens the layer's properties dialog box. |
926 |
Double-clicking on a layer or a group of a layer will open the |
927 |
properties dialog for that layer. |
928 |
</para> |
929 |
</listitem> |
930 |
</itemizedlist> |
931 |
|
932 |
<para> |
933 |
The most used layer related actions are also available from a |
934 |
popup menu. It is raised when a layer is clicked with the right mouse |
935 |
button. |
936 |
</para> |
937 |
|
938 |
<para> |
939 |
<figure> |
940 |
<title>Layer Popup Menu</title> |
941 |
<mediaobject> |
942 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/3_5_popup_menu.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
943 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/3_5_popup_menu.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
944 |
</mediaobject> |
945 |
</figure> |
946 |
</para> |
947 |
|
948 |
<para> |
949 |
Along the bottom of the legend is the scalebar. The scalebar |
950 |
will be available if there are any layers and the map has a |
951 |
projection set. |
952 |
</para> |
953 |
</section> |
954 |
|
955 |
<section><title>Exporting</title> |
956 |
<para> |
957 |
Under Windows, maps can be exported in Enhanced Metafile format |
958 |
(<varname>.wmf</varname>) |
959 |
from |
960 |
<menuchoice> |
961 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
962 |
<guimenuitem>Export</guimenuitem> |
963 |
</menuchoice> for use in reports, presentations, or further |
964 |
modification. The current map view, legend, and, if available, |
965 |
scalebar are exported. Under other platforms this option is not |
966 |
available. Clicking this menu item open a file selection dialog |
967 |
that lets the user select a location to export the map. |
968 |
</para> |
969 |
</section> |
970 |
|
971 |
<section><title>Printing</title> |
972 |
<para> |
973 |
The map can be printed using |
974 |
<menuchoice> |
975 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
976 |
<guimenuitem>Print</guimenuitem> |
977 |
</menuchoice>. The current map view, legend, and, if available, |
978 |
scalebar are printed. A standard printing dialog will open allowing |
979 |
the user to configure the printer. This dialog will differ depending |
980 |
on which platform Thuban is running. |
981 |
</para> |
982 |
</section> |
983 |
|
984 |
</chapter> |
985 |
|
986 |
<chapter><title>Layer Management</title> |
987 |
<para> |
988 |
</para> |
989 |
|
990 |
<section><title>Types of Layers</title> |
991 |
<para> |
992 |
There are three types of layers supported by Thuban: shape layers, |
993 |
database layers and |
994 |
image layers. Shape layers consist of vector based shapes with |
995 |
geo-referenced coordinates. There are three types of supported |
996 |
shapes: polygons, lines (arc), and points. Database layers are similar |
997 |
to shape layers but loaded from a database instead of the file system. |
998 |
Image layers can be any image |
999 |
file format supported by the Geo-spatial Data Abstraction Library |
1000 |
(GDAL). The images must have geographic |
1001 |
coordinate data either embedded within the file or in a separate |
1002 |
file that is in the same directory as the image file. GeoTIFF files |
1003 |
work very well with Thuban and were designed specifically to be image |
1004 |
layers in GIS programs. |
1005 |
</para> |
1006 |
<para> |
1007 |
All actions in the |
1008 |
<menuchoice> |
1009 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1010 |
</menuchoice> menu act on the currently selected layer in the legend. |
1011 |
</para> |
1012 |
</section> |
1013 |
|
1014 |
<section><title>Properties</title> |
1015 |
<para> |
1016 |
To view the properties for a layer it must first be selected in the |
1017 |
legend. The menu option |
1018 |
<menuchoice> |
1019 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1020 |
<guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem> |
1021 |
</menuchoice> opens a dialog that displays a layer's properties. |
1022 |
All layers have a title which can be modified in the text field |
1023 |
provided. The type of layer is also shows. If the type is a type |
1024 |
of shape (polygon, arc, point) the classification table will be |
1025 |
shown. Image layers have no other properties other than title |
1026 |
and type. |
1027 |
</para> |
1028 |
<para> |
1029 |
<figure> |
1030 |
<title>Properties Window</title> |
1031 |
<mediaobject> |
1032 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/4_2_layer_properties.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1033 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/4_2_layer_properties.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1034 |
</mediaobject> |
1035 |
</figure> |
1036 |
</para> |
1037 |
<para> |
1038 |
<figure> |
1039 |
<title>Properties Window</title> |
1040 |
<mediaobject> |
1041 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/4_2_raster_layer_properties.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1042 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/4_2_raster_layer_properties.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1043 |
</mediaobject> |
1044 |
</figure> |
1045 |
</para> |
1046 |
</section> |
1047 |
|
1048 |
<section><title>Visibility</title> |
1049 |
<para> |
1050 |
Sometimes it is not desirable to view all layers at the same time. |
1051 |
Some layers may take a long time to draw and so while navigating |
1052 |
around the map the user may not want to wait for the map to redraw |
1053 |
all the layers each time the map is changed. Each layer can be |
1054 |
independently turned on or off using the |
1055 |
<menuchoice> |
1056 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1057 |
<guimenuitem>Show</guimenuitem> |
1058 |
</menuchoice> |
1059 |
or |
1060 |
<menuchoice> |
1061 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1062 |
<guimenuitem>Hide</guimenuitem> |
1063 |
</menuchoice> options respectively. |
1064 |
</para> |
1065 |
</section> |
1066 |
|
1067 |
<section><title>Duplication</title> |
1068 |
<para> |
1069 |
Layers and all their properties, including classifications, can |
1070 |
be duplicated using |
1071 |
<menuchoice> |
1072 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1073 |
<guimenuitem>Duplicate</guimenuitem> |
1074 |
</menuchoice>. Duplicating a layer is useful if the user wishes |
1075 |
to model a layer in several different ways. Even though the layers |
1076 |
overlap, by carefully selecting the shape properties it is possible |
1077 |
to display several pieces of information at once. For example, one |
1078 |
copy of a roads layer may be classified on a length property and |
1079 |
another copy may be classified on a type property. If the length |
1080 |
property was expressed with color and the type property expressed |
1081 |
with line thickness then it would be possible to view both |
1082 |
classifications by placing the type property copy over the |
1083 |
length property copy. |
1084 |
</para> |
1085 |
</section> |
1086 |
|
1087 |
</chapter> |
1088 |
|
1089 |
<chapter><title>Layer Classifications</title> |
1090 |
<para> |
1091 |
A layer classification is a way of assigning drawing properties to |
1092 |
groups of shapes based on attributes stored in the layer's table. |
1093 |
Only layer's with shapes can have a classification; image layers |
1094 |
cannot be classified. |
1095 |
</para> |
1096 |
<para> |
1097 |
A classification consists of a number of groups, each group |
1098 |
having a value or range of values to match against, and symbol |
1099 |
properties which control how a shape is drawn on the map. The user |
1100 |
selects which field in the table is used by the classification and |
1101 |
when the map is drawn the value for that field for each shape is |
1102 |
compared with each group's value. The properties of the first group |
1103 |
to match are used to draw the shape. This allows the user to get a |
1104 |
visual impression of not only how the data is laid out but also what |
1105 |
kind of data lies where. |
1106 |
</para> |
1107 |
<para> |
1108 |
A layer always has a classification. When a new layer is added to the |
1109 |
map, a default classification is created with the DEFAULT group. This |
1110 |
group cannot be removed but can be hidden (see below). Every shape in the |
1111 |
layer, regardless of its attributes, will match this group if no other |
1112 |
group matches. |
1113 |
</para> |
1114 |
|
1115 |
<section><title>Editing Classifications</title> |
1116 |
<para> |
1117 |
A layer's classification can be modified under the properties dialog |
1118 |
(<menuchoice> |
1119 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1120 |
<guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem> |
1121 |
</menuchoice>). The layer's classification field can be set to None, |
1122 |
which simply assigns a DEFAULT group to the classification. No new |
1123 |
groups can be added to the classification if the field is None. |
1124 |
The user must first select a field to classify on. New groups can |
1125 |
be added to the classification with the <guibutton>Add</guibutton> |
1126 |
button. |
1127 |
</para> |
1128 |
<para> |
1129 |
To apply the changes to the map the user can click |
1130 |
either <guibutton>Try</guibutton> or <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. |
1131 |
<guibutton>Try</guibutton> will not close the dialog box, allowing |
1132 |
the user to see how the classification changes the map. |
1133 |
<guibutton>Revert</guibutton> will undo the last classification applied |
1134 |
to the map. <guibutton>OK</guibutton> will commit the changes and |
1135 |
close the dialog. The user will be unable to undo the changes. |
1136 |
<guibutton>Close</guibutton> simply closes the dialog box. If any |
1137 |
changes have not been applied with <guibutton>Try</guibutton> the |
1138 |
changes will not be applied to the map. |
1139 |
</para> |
1140 |
<para> |
1141 |
<figure> |
1142 |
<title>Properties Window</title> |
1143 |
<mediaobject> |
1144 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_classification.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1145 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_classification.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1146 |
</mediaobject> |
1147 |
</figure> |
1148 |
</para> |
1149 |
<para> |
1150 |
The order of the groups in the classification is significant |
1151 |
except for the DEFAULT group, which remains at the top. When shapes |
1152 |
are matched against groups the matching begins at the first group |
1153 |
after the DEFAULT group so that groups higher in the list will |
1154 |
be checked first. Matching for a |
1155 |
given shape will stop at the first group that matches. The user can |
1156 |
use <guibutton>Move Up</guibutton> and <guibutton>Move Down</guibutton> |
1157 |
to change the order of the groups. The DEFAULT group will always |
1158 |
match a shape that hasn't matched another group. |
1159 |
</para> |
1160 |
<section><title>Visible</title> |
1161 |
<para> |
1162 |
The Visible column has check-boxes that determine whether a |
1163 |
classification group will be displayed in the legend. This is |
1164 |
useful if the user knows that the groups completely cover |
1165 |
the data set and don't want the DEFAULT group to be displayed |
1166 |
in the legend and on a printout. |
1167 |
</para> |
1168 |
</section> |
1169 |
<section><title>Symbols</title> |
1170 |
<para> |
1171 |
Each type of shape has its own type of symbol. Thuban supports three |
1172 |
types of shapes: polygons, lines, and points. Polygons and points |
1173 |
have outline and fill color, while lines have only line color. Each |
1174 |
group has associated symbol properties. To edit the symbol |
1175 |
properties for a group the user can double click on the Symbol |
1176 |
column or select a group and click the |
1177 |
<guibutton>Edit Symbol</guibutton> button. |
1178 |
</para> |
1179 |
</section> |
1180 |
<section><title>Value</title> |
1181 |
<para> |
1182 |
The Value column of the classification table is the value that will |
1183 |
be matched when the map is being drawn. The type of data that can |
1184 |
entered into this field depends on the type of data of the |
1185 |
classification field. |
1186 |
</para> |
1187 |
<para> |
1188 |
If the field is of type Text, anything entered |
1189 |
into the field is valid. The text will be compared literally to the |
1190 |
value of the shape attribute, including case sensitivity. |
1191 |
If the type is Integer, then any valid integer may be entered. In |
1192 |
addition, with special syntax, a range of values can be entered. |
1193 |
A range from <varname>start</varname> to <varname>end</varname> |
1194 |
inclusive is specified like this: <literal>[start;end]</literal>. |
1195 |
The exclusive range is specified like this: |
1196 |
<literal>]start;end[</literal>. Ranges can include infinity like |
1197 |
this: <literal>[-oo;oo]</literal>. Field types can also be of type |
1198 |
Decimal. They represent any rational number and can be used in |
1199 |
ranges as well. |
1200 |
</para> |
1201 |
</section> |
1202 |
<section><title>Label</title> |
1203 |
<para> |
1204 |
By default, the text that is displayed for a group in the legend |
1205 |
is the value for that group. The label can substitute a more |
1206 |
descriptive term in the legend. |
1207 |
</para> |
1208 |
</section> |
1209 |
</section> |
1210 |
|
1211 |
<section><title>Generating Classes</title> |
1212 |
<para> |
1213 |
<figure> |
1214 |
<title>Generate Class</title> |
1215 |
<mediaobject> |
1216 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_3_genclass.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1217 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_3_genclass.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1218 |
</mediaobject> |
1219 |
</figure> |
1220 |
</para> |
1221 |
<para> |
1222 |
Creating a classification by hand can be tedious. |
1223 |
Thuban, therefore, provides a means of generating an entire |
1224 |
classification at once while still giving the user control over |
1225 |
how it appears. Clicking <guibutton>Generate Class</guibutton> |
1226 |
opens the <varname>Generate Classification</varname> dialog. |
1227 |
Under the <varname>Generate</varname> pull down there are at most |
1228 |
three different ways to generate classifications: |
1229 |
Unique Values, Uniform Distribution, and Quantiles. Some options |
1230 |
may not be available if the data type for the field does not |
1231 |
support them. For instance, <varname>Uniform Distribution</varname> |
1232 |
doesn't make sense for a Text field. |
1233 |
</para> |
1234 |
<para> |
1235 |
For every way of generating a classification, a color scheme must |
1236 |
be selected. Thuban provides several different color schemes that |
1237 |
affect how the group properties change over the classification. |
1238 |
It may be desirable that only certain properties change over the |
1239 |
classification. If the shape type is a polygon or a point then |
1240 |
the <guibutton>Fix Border Color</guibutton> option will be available. |
1241 |
This allows the user to select a border color for all classification |
1242 |
groups. |
1243 |
It is also possible to create a custom color scheme. Selecting |
1244 |
this option will display two symbols: the one of the left has the |
1245 |
properties of the first group and the one on the right has the |
1246 |
properties of the last group. Thuban will interpolate between these |
1247 |
two properties to generate the other groups. |
1248 |
<figure> |
1249 |
<title>Custom Color Scheme</title> |
1250 |
<mediaobject> |
1251 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_custom_ramp.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1252 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_custom_ramp.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1253 |
</mediaobject> |
1254 |
</figure> |
1255 |
</para> |
1256 |
<para> |
1257 |
The Unique Values option lets the user select specific values that |
1258 |
appear in the table. Clicking <guibutton>Retrieve From Table</guibutton> |
1259 |
searches the table for all unique values and displays them in the |
1260 |
list on the left. Items can be selected and moved to the list on the |
1261 |
right. Each list can be sorted or reversed for easier searching. |
1262 |
The classification that is generated will be in the same order as |
1263 |
the list on the right. |
1264 |
<figure> |
1265 |
<title>Unique Values</title> |
1266 |
<mediaobject> |
1267 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_unique_values.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1268 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_unique_values.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1269 |
</mediaobject> |
1270 |
</figure> |
1271 |
</para> |
1272 |
<para> |
1273 |
The Uniform Distribution option creates a user specified number of |
1274 |
groups of ranges such that each range covers equal intervals. The |
1275 |
minimum and maximum values can automatically be retrieved from the |
1276 |
table by clicking <guibutton>Retrieve From Table</guibutton>. The |
1277 |
stepping is how large each interval is. Adjusting this value will |
1278 |
automatically recalculate how many groups is appropriate. |
1279 |
<figure> |
1280 |
<title>Uniform Distribution</title> |
1281 |
<mediaobject> |
1282 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_uniform_dist.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1283 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_uniform_dist.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1284 |
</mediaobject> |
1285 |
</figure> |
1286 |
</para> |
1287 |
<para> |
1288 |
The Quantiles option generates ranges based on the number of items |
1289 |
in the table. For example, by specifying five groups Thuban will |
1290 |
generate five groups with appropriate ranges such that 20% of the table |
1291 |
data is in each group. If it is impossible to generate exact |
1292 |
groupings, Thuban will issue a warning but allow the user to continue. |
1293 |
<figure> |
1294 |
<title>Quantiles</title> |
1295 |
<mediaobject> |
1296 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/5_2_quantiles.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1297 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/5_2_quantiles.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1298 |
</mediaobject> |
1299 |
</figure> |
1300 |
</para> |
1301 |
</section> |
1302 |
</chapter> |
1303 |
|
1304 |
<chapter><title>Projection Management</title> |
1305 |
<para> |
1306 |
Projections control how the geographic data is displayed on the screen. |
1307 |
If multiple layers are loaded into Thuban where the geographic data |
1308 |
is in a different projection system, then the user must specify a |
1309 |
projection for each layer. The user must also tell Thuban which |
1310 |
projection the map is in. This can be the same as the layers or a different |
1311 |
projection in which case the layers are reprojected into that space. |
1312 |
The map projection can be set using |
1313 |
<menuchoice> |
1314 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
1315 |
<guimenuitem>Projection</guimenuitem> |
1316 |
</menuchoice> and the layer projection can be set using |
1317 |
<menuchoice> |
1318 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1319 |
<guimenuitem>Projection</guimenuitem> |
1320 |
</menuchoice>. |
1321 |
<figure> |
1322 |
<title>Projection Window</title> |
1323 |
<mediaobject> |
1324 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/6_projection.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1325 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/6_projection.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1326 |
</mediaobject> |
1327 |
</figure> |
1328 |
</para> |
1329 |
<para> |
1330 |
Thuban is distributed with a sample collection of projections and the |
1331 |
set of coordinate systems as used by the EPSG |
1332 |
(European Petroleum Survey Group). This quite large set is only displayed |
1333 |
if activated by the according checkbox. The set falls into two parts: |
1334 |
deprecated lists all projections which are no longer part of the |
1335 |
EPSG data base. |
1336 |
</para> |
1337 |
<para> |
1338 |
The |
1339 |
user can create new projections and make them available to all |
1340 |
future Thuban sessions. They may also be exported and imported so |
1341 |
that custom projections can be distributed. |
1342 |
</para> |
1343 |
<section><title>Selecting a Projection</title> |
1344 |
<para> |
1345 |
The available projections are listed on the left. If the layer |
1346 |
or map already has a projection it will initially be highlighted |
1347 |
and will end with <varname>(current)</varname>. Selecting |
1348 |
<varname><None></varname> will cause Thuban to use the data as |
1349 |
it appears in the source file and will not use a projection. |
1350 |
</para> |
1351 |
</section> |
1352 |
<section><title>Editing a Projection</title> |
1353 |
<para> |
1354 |
Whenever a projection is selected from the list its properties |
1355 |
are displayed on the right. These properties can be changed |
1356 |
and the changes saved to the selected projection using |
1357 |
<guibutton>Update</guibutton>. Only a projection that comes |
1358 |
from a file can be updated, so if the current layer's projection |
1359 |
is selected, <guibutton>Update</guibutton> will be disabled. |
1360 |
<guibutton>Add to List</guibutton> adds the projection to the |
1361 |
list of available projections as a new entry, and thus makes it |
1362 |
available to future Thuban sessions. Clicking <guibutton>New</guibutton> |
1363 |
will create an entirely new, empty projection. The |
1364 |
<guibutton>Remove</guibutton> button will permanently remove a |
1365 |
projection from the list of available projections. |
1366 |
</para> |
1367 |
<para> |
1368 |
To apply the selected projection to the map the user can click |
1369 |
either <guibutton>Try</guibutton> or <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. |
1370 |
<guibutton>Try</guibutton> will not close the dialog box, allowing |
1371 |
the user to see how the projeciton changes the map. |
1372 |
<guibutton>Revert</guibutton> will undo the last projection applied |
1373 |
to the map. <guibutton>OK</guibutton> will commit the changes and |
1374 |
close the dialog. The user will be unable to undo the changes. |
1375 |
<guibutton>Close</guibutton> simply closes the dialog box. If no |
1376 |
selection has been applied with <guibutton>Try</guibutton> the |
1377 |
selection will not be applied to the map. |
1378 |
</para> |
1379 |
</section> |
1380 |
<section><title>Importing/Exporting Projections</title> |
1381 |
<para> |
1382 |
The projections that appear in the list of available projections |
1383 |
can be exported to another file that the user chooses. By selecting |
1384 |
one or more projections and clicking <guibutton>Export</guibutton> |
1385 |
the user will be able to select a file in which to store those |
1386 |
projections. |
1387 |
The file can then be distributed to other Thuban users. To import |
1388 |
a projection file the user can click <guibutton>Import</guibutton>. |
1389 |
The imported projections are added to the list and are then available |
1390 |
to the current session and any future Thuban sessions. |
1391 |
</para> |
1392 |
</section> |
1393 |
</chapter> |
1394 |
|
1395 |
<chapter><title>Table Management</title> |
1396 |
<para> |
1397 |
Thuban distinguishes two different types of tables: Attribute tables |
1398 |
(which belong to a layer) and normal data tables. Both provide |
1399 |
the same general functionality with the difference that actions on an |
1400 |
attribute table might also effect the map display. |
1401 |
</para> |
1402 |
|
1403 |
<section><title>Table View</title> |
1404 |
<para> |
1405 |
<figure> |
1406 |
<title>Table View</title> |
1407 |
<mediaobject> |
1408 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/7_1_table_view.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1409 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/7_1_table_view.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1410 |
</mediaobject> |
1411 |
</figure> |
1412 |
</para> |
1413 |
<para> |
1414 |
Thuban provides a standard dialog to display table contents, the |
1415 |
Table View. The view has five sections: The title, selections, |
1416 |
the table grid, export functions, and the status bar. |
1417 |
</para> |
1418 |
<para> |
1419 |
The title bar identifies the table with its name. |
1420 |
</para> |
1421 |
<para> |
1422 |
The selections box let the user perform simple analysis on the data |
1423 |
based on comparisons: The first choice must be a field identifier of |
1424 |
the table, the second choice determines the type of comparison. The |
1425 |
third choice can be either a specific value (interpreted as numerical |
1426 |
or string depending on the type of the first field) or a second field |
1427 |
identifier. Thus you can perform analysis like selecting all |
1428 |
records where <literal>population > 10000</literal> or |
1429 |
<literal>cars_per_inhabitant < bikes_per_inhabitant</literal> |
1430 |
(note that the field names are only explanatory, the dBase files |
1431 |
allow only 11 character field names). |
1432 |
|
1433 |
Selections can be combined either by applying a selection only on |
1434 |
a previously selected set of records or by adding the results of a |
1435 |
selection to a previous set. The default is that a selection replaces |
1436 |
earlier results. |
1437 |
</para> |
1438 |
<para> |
1439 |
The table grid shows the contents of the table (one record per row), |
1440 |
with highlighted selection results. Columns and rows can be resized. |
1441 |
</para> |
1442 |
<para> |
1443 |
The contents of a table can be exported into a file, either dBase |
1444 |
format (DBF) or comma separated values (CSV). The |
1445 |
<guibutton>Export</guibutton> button |
1446 |
raises a file dialog to specify a path and file name, the export type |
1447 |
is determined by the file extension (either .dbf or .csv). |
1448 |
|
1449 |
The <guibutton>Export Selection</guibutton> button works similarly |
1450 |
but exports only the selected records. |
1451 |
|
1452 |
The <guibutton>Close</guibutton> button closes the table view window. |
1453 |
This is different from the menu item |
1454 |
<menuchoice> |
1455 |
<guimenu>Table</guimenu> |
1456 |
<guimenuitem>Close</guimenuitem> |
1457 |
</menuchoice> which unloads the table from Thuban. |
1458 |
</para> |
1459 |
<para> |
1460 |
The status bar displays some statistics about the table and optional |
1461 |
selection results. |
1462 |
</para> |
1463 |
</section> |
1464 |
|
1465 |
<section><title>General Functionality (Menu Table)</title> |
1466 |
<para> |
1467 |
The general functions affect all tables open in Thuban. Attribute |
1468 |
tables are considered here as normal data tables (with the exception |
1469 |
that they cannot be closed). |
1470 |
</para> |
1471 |
<section><title>Open</title> |
1472 |
<para> |
1473 |
The |
1474 |
<menuchoice> |
1475 |
<guimenu>Table</guimenu> |
1476 |
<guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem> |
1477 |
</menuchoice> |
1478 |
item raises a file dialog to let you select a |
1479 |
dBase file from the file system to be loaded into Thuban read-only. |
1480 |
On <guibutton>OK</guibutton> the selected file is loaded and a |
1481 |
table view is opened. |
1482 |
</para> |
1483 |
</section> |
1484 |
|
1485 |
<section><title>Close</title> |
1486 |
<para> |
1487 |
The |
1488 |
<menuchoice> |
1489 |
<guimenu>Table</guimenu> |
1490 |
<guimenuitem>Close</guimenuitem> |
1491 |
</menuchoice> |
1492 |
item raises a dialog listing the currently open |
1493 |
data tables |
1494 |
(loaded via |
1495 |
<menuchoice> |
1496 |
<guimenu>Table</guimenu> |
1497 |
<guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem> |
1498 |
</menuchoice>). Selected tables are dereferenced on confirmation. |
1499 |
Since tables are opened read-only the contents of the tables are |
1500 |
not affected. |
1501 |
|
1502 |
Any open views of the tables are closed as well. |
1503 |
|
1504 |
Tables used in a join cannot be closed. |
1505 |
</para> |
1506 |
</section> |
1507 |
|
1508 |
<section><title>Rename</title> |
1509 |
<para> |
1510 |
<menuchoice> |
1511 |
<guimenu>Table</guimenu> |
1512 |
<guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem> |
1513 |
</menuchoice> changes the table title. |
1514 |
</para> |
1515 |
</section> |
1516 |
|
1517 |
<section><title>Show</title> |
1518 |
<para> |
1519 |
The |
1520 |
<menuchoice> |
1521 |
<guimenu>Table</guimenu> |
1522 |
<guimenuitem>Show</guimenuitem> |
1523 |
</menuchoice> |
1524 |
item raises a list of available tables (explicitly |
1525 |
loaded, attribute tables, results of a join). Selected tables are |
1526 |
show in tables views on <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. |
1527 |
</para> |
1528 |
</section> |
1529 |
|
1530 |
<section><title>Join</title> |
1531 |
<para> |
1532 |
<figure> |
1533 |
<title>Join Tables</title> |
1534 |
<mediaobject> |
1535 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/7_2_5_join.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1536 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/7_2_5_join.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1537 |
</mediaobject> |
1538 |
</figure> |
1539 |
</para> |
1540 |
<para> |
1541 |
The |
1542 |
<menuchoice> |
1543 |
<guimenu>Table</guimenu> |
1544 |
<guimenuitem>Join</guimenuitem> |
1545 |
</menuchoice> |
1546 |
item raises a dialog to specify the two tables to be |
1547 |
joined. The join results in a new table named 'Join of "left table" |
1548 |
and "right table"'. |
1549 |
|
1550 |
The dialog lets you select the two tables to be joined and the two |
1551 |
fields the join has to be performed on. By default, the new |
1552 |
table contains only those records which are matched by the join. |
1553 |
|
1554 |
If you want to preserve the records of the left table you can |
1555 |
perform an outer join. The fields from the right table for records |
1556 |
not matched by the join are filled with <varname>None</varname> in |
1557 |
this case. |
1558 |
</para> |
1559 |
</section> |
1560 |
|
1561 |
</section> |
1562 |
<section><title>Attribute Tables</title> |
1563 |
<para> |
1564 |
To clearly separate between both types of tables (data and |
1565 |
attribute), Thuban provides functionality regarding the attribute |
1566 |
tables under the <menuchoice><guimenu>Layer</guimenu></menuchoice> menu. |
1567 |
</para> |
1568 |
|
1569 |
<section><title>Show Table</title> |
1570 |
<para> |
1571 |
<menuchoice> |
1572 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1573 |
<guimenuitem>Show Table</guimenuitem> |
1574 |
</menuchoice> |
1575 |
opens the attribute table of the currently active layer in a table |
1576 |
view. |
1577 |
|
1578 |
In addition to the functionality described above selections |
1579 |
affect also the map display: objects related to selected records |
1580 |
are highlighted. |
1581 |
</para> |
1582 |
</section> |
1583 |
|
1584 |
<section><title>Join Table</title> |
1585 |
<para> |
1586 |
Unlike the join described above, the join does not result in a |
1587 |
new table. The attribute table of the currently active layer is the |
1588 |
left table and other tables are joined to this table. The results of |
1589 |
the join are available for classification. |
1590 |
|
1591 |
As a consequence, the join cannot result in fewer |
1592 |
records than the source attribute table. The user is warned if the |
1593 |
right table does not fulfill this constraint. An outer join must be |
1594 |
used in such cases. |
1595 |
</para> |
1596 |
</section> |
1597 |
|
1598 |
<section><title>Unjoin Table</title> |
1599 |
<para> |
1600 |
As said above, a normal table cannot be closed while it is still |
1601 |
used in a join. While the joined table resulting from a join of |
1602 |
normal tables can be simply closed (and thereby dereferencing |
1603 |
the source tables), this is not possible for attribute tables. |
1604 |
|
1605 |
Hence joins on attribute tables must be solved explicitly. This is |
1606 |
what the |
1607 |
<menuchoice> |
1608 |
<guimenu>Layer</guimenu> |
1609 |
<guimenuitem>Unjoin Table</guimenuitem> |
1610 |
</menuchoice> |
1611 |
item is used for: The last join for the currently |
1612 |
active layer is solved. |
1613 |
</para> |
1614 |
</section> |
1615 |
</section> |
1616 |
</chapter> |
1617 |
|
1618 |
<chapter><title>Extensions</title> |
1619 |
<para> |
1620 |
Thuban is designed to be extensible. The term Extension is used as a |
1621 |
general term for anything that extends Thuban. |
1622 |
This chapter introduces into some oppportunities how to add and |
1623 |
handle extra functionality developed by your own or third parties. |
1624 |
</para> |
1625 |
|
1626 |
<section><title>Add personal extensions via thubanstart.py</title> |
1627 |
<para> |
1628 |
After Thuban has been started for the first time, a directory |
1629 |
.thuban is created within your home directory. |
1630 |
There you can add a file thubanstart.py which will be imported |
1631 |
by Thuban at start-up. It is recommended to add only import-statements |
1632 |
to this file to keep the actual code of extensions separate. |
1633 |
</para> |
1634 |
<para> |
1635 |
The modules to import must either be found through the environment |
1636 |
variable PYTHONPATH or directly be placed into the .thuban-directory. |
1637 |
</para> |
1638 |
<para> |
1639 |
As an example, copy the file examples/simple_extensions/hello_world.py |
1640 |
of the Thuban source code into the .thuban-directory of your home |
1641 |
directory. Now add add the statement import hello_world to the |
1642 |
file thubanstart.py and run Thuban. You will notice an additional |
1643 |
menu <menuchoice><guimenu>Extensions</guimenu></menuchoice> where |
1644 |
the new item for the Hello-World extension is placed - select it |
1645 |
to see the Hello-World message. |
1646 |
</para> |
1647 |
</section> |
1648 |
|
1649 |
<section><title>Extensions included in Thuban package</title> |
1650 |
<para> |
1651 |
The extensions described in this section are part of the |
1652 |
Thuban package, but not activated by default. |
1653 |
You will find them in the Thuban installation directory |
1654 |
under <literal>Extensions/</literal>. Activate them as personal |
1655 |
extensions via PYTHONPATH as described in the previous section. |
1656 |
Stable extensions will appear under the menu |
1657 |
<menuchoice><guimenu>Extensions</guimenu></menuchoice> and |
1658 |
extensions which are in experimental state and therefore |
1659 |
not fully functional under |
1660 |
<menuchoice><guimenu>Experimental</guimenu></menuchoice>. |
1661 |
</para> |
1662 |
|
1663 |
<section><title>Stable extensions</title> |
1664 |
<para> |
1665 |
These extensions provide extra-functionality to Thuban |
1666 |
that has not (yet) been integrated in the main application. |
1667 |
They are considered to be free of bugs, but may be |
1668 |
further polished with helpful user interactions. |
1669 |
</para> |
1670 |
<section><title>gns2shp</title> |
1671 |
<para> |
1672 |
This tool converts data of the Geospatial Names Server |
1673 |
(GNS, see <ulink url="http://www.nima.mil/gns"/>) |
1674 |
into Shapefile format. |
1675 |
The above web-site offer to download named places |
1676 |
information grouped by countries for all of the world |
1677 |
except USA for which other data are provided. |
1678 |
</para> |
1679 |
<para> |
1680 |
If you download and unpack a package, you will have |
1681 |
a text-file with suffix .txt. |
1682 |
Selecting such a file via gns2shp will create the |
1683 |
corresponding Shapefile with the same basename and |
1684 |
place it in the same direcory. Afterwards it |
1685 |
is automatically loaded into Thuban. |
1686 |
The Shapefile will not automatically be delete afterwards. |
1687 |
</para> |
1688 |
<para> |
1689 |
The gns2shp.py module can also be executed on the |
1690 |
command line for batch processing purposes. |
1691 |
</para> |
1692 |
<para> |
1693 |
A sample (<literal>ls.txt</literal> for Liechtenstein) |
1694 |
is included in the directory |
1695 |
<literal>Extensions/gns2shp/test</literal>. |
1696 |
</para> |
1697 |
</section> |
1698 |
</section> |
1699 |
<section><title>Experimental extensions</title> |
1700 |
<para> |
1701 |
All all of these functions have to be handled with care, |
1702 |
since they are neither complete nor well tested. |
1703 |
They are to be seen as a proof-of-concept and may |
1704 |
additionally in some cases of practical help. |
1705 |
</para> |
1706 |
<para> |
1707 |
Any interest on further improvement of these extensions |
1708 |
should be communicated towards the developer and user |
1709 |
community. |
1710 |
</para> |
1711 |
|
1712 |
<section><title>importAPR</title> |
1713 |
<para> |
1714 |
This command offer to load an ESRI® ArcView® project |
1715 |
file (suffix .apr) and convert it for use within Thuban. |
1716 |
After selecting a apr-file to load, a list |
1717 |
will be presented that offers to select one of the views |
1718 |
of the apr-file, provided there is more than one. |
1719 |
Furthermore, the Session Info-Tree is extended with |
1720 |
a complete representation of the parsed apr-file. |
1721 |
</para> |
1722 |
<para> |
1723 |
The legend of Thuban does not yet cover all of the elements as |
1724 |
supported by the legend of ArcView®. Therefore, the Thuban |
1725 |
map will look different. Furthermore, the apr-format is |
1726 |
a proprietary format, not openly documented. |
1727 |
Therefore, the interpretation is |
1728 |
partly based on reverse engeneering and good guessing. |
1729 |
</para> |
1730 |
<para> |
1731 |
The file-paths within the apr-file may not fit and potentially |
1732 |
are subject to fix in the apr-file. You can do this |
1733 |
applying any text editor. The paths are either absolute |
1734 |
or relative from where Thuban has been started. |
1735 |
</para> |
1736 |
<para> |
1737 |
A sample for the Iceland data is included as |
1738 |
<literal>Extensions/importAPR/samples/iceland.apr</literal>. |
1739 |
The file-paths are relative from the Thuban main directory. |
1740 |
</para> |
1741 |
</section> |
1742 |
</section> |
1743 |
</section> |
1744 |
|
1745 |
<section><title>Writing simple extensions</title> |
1746 |
<para> |
1747 |
Writing an extension for Thuban basically means to |
1748 |
implement the extra functionality in Python with all of the |
1749 |
Thuban classes, methods and variables available. |
1750 |
</para> |
1751 |
<para> |
1752 |
All classes and their methods are documented in the source code |
1753 |
(see their doc-strings). Here is an example from |
1754 |
Thuban/Model/layer.py that describes some of the methods |
1755 |
of a Layer object: |
1756 |
</para> |
1757 |
<programlisting> |
1758 |
<![CDATA[ |
1759 |
class BaseLayer(TitledObject, Modifiable): |
1760 |
|
1761 |
"""Base class for the layers.""" |
1762 |
|
1763 |
def __init__(self, title, visible = True, projection = None): |
1764 |
"""Initialize the layer. |
1765 |
|
1766 |
title -- the title |
1767 |
visible -- boolean. If true the layer is visible. |
1768 |
""" |
1769 |
TitledObject.__init__(self, title) |
1770 |
Modifiable.__init__(self) |
1771 |
self.visible = visible |
1772 |
self.projection = projection |
1773 |
|
1774 |
def Visible(self): |
1775 |
"""Return true if layer is visible""" |
1776 |
return self.visible |
1777 |
|
1778 |
def SetVisible(self, visible): |
1779 |
"""Set the layer's visibility.""" |
1780 |
self.visible = visible |
1781 |
self.issue(LAYER_VISIBILITY_CHANGED, self) |
1782 |
|
1783 |
def HasClassification(self): |
1784 |
"""Determine if this layer support classifications.""" |
1785 |
... |
1786 |
]]> |
1787 |
</programlisting> |
1788 |
<para> |
1789 |
This example intends to give you an impression of the |
1790 |
source-code-level documentation. |
1791 |
You have to make yourself familiar with |
1792 |
the Python programming language to understand some special |
1793 |
code elements. |
1794 |
</para> |
1795 |
<section><title>hello_world.py</title> |
1796 |
<para> |
1797 |
Traditionally, the first example should welcome the world. |
1798 |
Most of the code handles the frame for integrating a menu |
1799 |
item into Thuban while the actual raising of a message |
1800 |
is done in a single line. |
1801 |
</para> |
1802 |
<programlisting> |
1803 |
<![CDATA[ |
1804 |
# Copyright (C) 2003 by Intevation GmbH |
1805 |
# Authors: |
1806 |
# Jan-Oliver Wagner <[email protected]> |
1807 |
# |
1808 |
# This program is free software under the GPL (>=v2) |
1809 |
# Read the file COPYING coming with Thuban for details. |
1810 |
|
1811 |
""" |
1812 |
Extend Thuban with a sample Hello World to demonstrate simple |
1813 |
extensions. |
1814 |
""" |
1815 |
|
1816 |
__version__ = '$Revision$' |
1817 |
|
1818 |
# use _() already now for all strings that may later be translated |
1819 |
from Thuban import _ |
1820 |
|
1821 |
# Thuban has named commands which can be registered in the central |
1822 |
# instance registry. |
1823 |
from Thuban.UI.command import registry, Command |
1824 |
|
1825 |
# The instance of the main menu of the Thuban application |
1826 |
# See Thuban/UI/menu.py for the API of the Menu class |
1827 |
from Thuban.UI.mainwindow import main_menu |
1828 |
|
1829 |
def hello_world_dialog(context): |
1830 |
"""Just raise a simple dialog to greet the world. |
1831 |
|
1832 |
context -- The Thuban context. |
1833 |
""" |
1834 |
context.mainwindow.RunMessageBox(_('Hello World'), _('Hello World!')) |
1835 |
|
1836 |
|
1837 |
# create a new command and register it |
1838 |
registry.Add(Command('hello_world', _('Hello World'), hello_world_dialog, |
1839 |
helptext = _('Welcome everyone on this planet'))) |
1840 |
|
1841 |
# find the extensions menu (create it anew if not found) |
1842 |
extensions_menu = main_menu.FindOrInsertMenu('extensions', _('E&xtensions')) |
1843 |
|
1844 |
# finally bind the new command with an entry in the extensions menu |
1845 |
extensions_menu.InsertItem('hello_world') |
1846 |
]]> |
1847 |
</programlisting> |
1848 |
</section> |
1849 |
<section><title>Registering a Command</title> |
1850 |
<para> |
1851 |
Mainly, our new function has to be registered to the Thuban |
1852 |
framework in order to connect it to the menu. A registered |
1853 |
command can also be connected to e.g. a toolbar button. |
1854 |
</para> |
1855 |
<para> |
1856 |
The instances and classes for this are imported at the beginning. |
1857 |
Any code not inside a method or class is directly executed when |
1858 |
the source-code module is imported. Therefore, the second |
1859 |
part of this example consist of the plain statements to create a new |
1860 |
Command and to add it to the menu. |
1861 |
</para> |
1862 |
<para> |
1863 |
By convention, it looks for a menu registered as ``extensions'' to |
1864 |
insert the new command. If it does not exist yet, it gets created. |
1865 |
It is advisable to copy this code for any of your extensions. |
1866 |
</para> |
1867 |
</section> |
1868 |
<section><title>The Thuban context</title> |
1869 |
<para> |
1870 |
A registered command that is called, always receives the |
1871 |
Thuban context. This instance provides our method with |
1872 |
hook references to all important components of the Thuban |
1873 |
application. |
1874 |
</para> |
1875 |
<para> |
1876 |
In the example hello_world.py, our function uses the |
1877 |
mainwindow component which offers a method to raise a |
1878 |
message dialog. In total there are three hooks: |
1879 |
<itemizedlist> |
1880 |
<listitem> |
1881 |
<para>application: |
1882 |
This object is the instance of the Thuban Application class. |
1883 |
Except maybe for loading or savinf sessions, you will not |
1884 |
need this object for a simple extension. |
1885 |
See Thuban/UI/application.py for the API. |
1886 |
</para> |
1887 |
</listitem> |
1888 |
<listitem> |
1889 |
<para>session: |
1890 |
The instance of the current session. It manages the sessions' |
1891 |
map and tables. You can set and remove the map or tables. |
1892 |
In may also get the map object. However, you should know that |
1893 |
internally it is already prepared to handle many maps. |
1894 |
Therfore, currently you would always receive a list with exactlty |
1895 |
one element. In the future, if there are more than one map, |
1896 |
you will not know which one is the currently display one and |
1897 |
therefore you should use the mainwindow as hook to find |
1898 |
the currently displayed map. |
1899 |
See Thuban/Model/session.py for the API. |
1900 |
</para> |
1901 |
</listitem> |
1902 |
<listitem> |
1903 |
<para> |
1904 |
mainwindow: The mainwindow object is central to manage various |
1905 |
GUI things such as the Legend sub-window. Most notably, |
1906 |
you get access to the canvas which is the window part where |
1907 |
the map is drawn. The canvas knows, which map it currently |
1908 |
draws and therefore you get the current map via |
1909 |
context.mainwindow.canvas.Map(). |
1910 |
See Thuban/UI/mainwindow.py for the API. |
1911 |
</para> |
1912 |
</listitem> |
1913 |
</itemizedlist> |
1914 |
</para> |
1915 |
</section> |
1916 |
</section> |
1917 |
</chapter> |
1918 |
|
1919 |
<chapter><title>Trouble Shooting</title> |
1920 |
<para> |
1921 |
Here are a few problems that users have encountered when first using Thuban. |
1922 |
</para> |
1923 |
<para> |
1924 |
|
1925 |
<itemizedlist> |
1926 |
<listitem> |
1927 |
<para>After adding two or more layers nothing is drawn in the map window. |
1928 |
</para> |
1929 |
<para> |
1930 |
This is probably because the layers have different projections. Projections |
1931 |
must be set on all layers and on the map itself if the layers' projections |
1932 |
are different. |
1933 |
</para> |
1934 |
</listitem> |
1935 |
|
1936 |
<listitem> |
1937 |
<para>Thuban crashes on startup with the error |
1938 |
<literal>NameError: global name 'False' is not defined</literal>. |
1939 |
</para> |
1940 |
<para> |
1941 |
<varname>True</varname> and <varname>False</varname> were only introduced |
1942 |
in Python 2.2.1. Thuban depends on at least Python 2.2.1. |
1943 |
</para> |
1944 |
</listitem> |
1945 |
|
1946 |
<listitem> |
1947 |
<para>After compiling Thuban, Thuban crashes with an error similar to |
1948 |
<literal> |
1949 |
ImportError: /usr/local//lib/thuban/Thuban/../Lib/wxproj.so: undefined symbol: __gxx_personality_v0 |
1950 |
</literal> |
1951 |
</para> |
1952 |
<para> |
1953 |
Thuban depends on the wxWindows library. If Thuban is compiled with an |
1954 |
incompatible version of the compiler than wxWindows was compiled with |
1955 |
this error may occur. Try compiling with a different version of the |
1956 |
compiler. |
1957 |
</para> |
1958 |
</listitem> |
1959 |
</itemizedlist> |
1960 |
</para> |
1961 |
<para> |
1962 |
If an error occurs Thuban will display a dialog indicating the error |
1963 |
before closing. The text should be copied and reported to the |
1964 |
<ulink url="http://thuban.intevation.org/bugtracker.html"> |
1965 |
Intevation bugtracker |
1966 |
</ulink>. |
1967 |
More information about the system is available from |
1968 |
<menuchoice><guimenu>Help</guimenu><guimenuitem>About</guimenuitem></menuchoice> box. |
1969 |
This should also be included in the bug report. |
1970 |
<figure> |
1971 |
<title>Error Dialog</title> |
1972 |
<mediaobject> |
1973 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/8_int_error.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1974 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/8_int_error.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
1975 |
</mediaobject> |
1976 |
</figure> |
1977 |
</para> |
1978 |
|
1979 |
</chapter> |
1980 |
|
1981 |
<appendix><title>Supported Data Sources</title> |
1982 |
<para> |
1983 |
</para> |
1984 |
<variablelist> |
1985 |
<varlistentry> |
1986 |
<term>Shapefile</term> |
1987 |
<listitem> |
1988 |
<para> |
1989 |
The Shapefile format has become a standard format for saving |
1990 |
geographic vector information. It supports polygons, lines, and |
1991 |
points. |
1992 |
|
1993 |
<ulink url="http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf"> |
1994 |
Technical Specification. |
1995 |
</ulink> |
1996 |
</para> |
1997 |
</listitem> |
1998 |
</varlistentry> |
1999 |
|
2000 |
<varlistentry> |
2001 |
<term>dBase file</term> |
2002 |
<listitem> |
2003 |
<para> |
2004 |
dBase files are used to store the attributes for each layer. This |
2005 |
is closely associated with the Shapefile format. For detailed |
2006 |
specifications on the correct format of a dBase file used with |
2007 |
Thuban please see the Technical Specification for the Shapefile |
2008 |
format above. |
2009 |
</para> |
2010 |
</listitem> |
2011 |
</varlistentry> |
2012 |
|
2013 |
<varlistentry> |
2014 |
<term>PostGIS</term> |
2015 |
<listitem> |
2016 |
<para> |
2017 |
PostGIS adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL |
2018 |
object-relational database. Different layer types (as for Shapefiles) |
2019 |
are supported. <ulink url="http://postgis.refractions.net">PostGIS |
2020 |
Homepage</ulink> |
2021 |
</para> |
2022 |
</listitem> |
2023 |
</varlistentry> |
2024 |
|
2025 |
<varlistentry> |
2026 |
<term>Raster files</term> |
2027 |
<listitem> |
2028 |
<para> |
2029 |
Binding the GDAL library Thuban supports numerous raster file formats, |
2030 |
see <ulink url="http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/formats_list.html"> |
2031 |
GDAL format list</ulink> for details.</para> |
2032 |
|
2033 |
<para>Most commonly used is the <emphasis>TIFF/GeoTIFF</emphasis> |
2034 |
format: Raster maps are provided as TIFF images, with an additional |
2035 |
"world file" storing the geographic reference (usually with an |
2036 |
extension ".tfw"). |
2037 |
</para> |
2038 |
</listitem> |
2039 |
</varlistentry> |
2040 |
|
2041 |
</variablelist> |
2042 |
</appendix> |
2043 |
|
2044 |
<appendix><title>Working with PostGIS</title> |
2045 |
<para> |
2046 |
This section focusses on the use of PostGIS in the Thuban framework. For |
2047 |
installation and maintenance of spatial databases we refer to the |
2048 |
<ulink url="http://postgis.refractions.net">PostGIS Homepage</ulink>. |
2049 |
The Thuban PostGIS support requires the |
2050 |
<ulink url="http://initd.org/software/psycopg">psycopg module</ulink>. |
2051 |
</para> |
2052 |
|
2053 |
<para> |
2054 |
Working with PostGIS Databases is seperated into two steps: |
2055 |
<itemizedlist> |
2056 |
<listitem><para>Opening a Database Connection</para></listitem> |
2057 |
<listitem><para>Loading a Data Layer</para></listitem> |
2058 |
</itemizedlist> |
2059 |
</para> |
2060 |
<section><title>Opening a Database Connection</title> |
2061 |
<para> |
2062 |
Before a data layer can be loaded from a PostGIS database a |
2063 |
connection with the database has to be established. |
2064 |
<menuchoice> |
2065 |
<guimenu>Session</guimenu> |
2066 |
<guimenuitem>Database Connections ...</guimenuitem> |
2067 |
</menuchoice> opens a dialog for database connection |
2068 |
management. In the dialog new connections can be added |
2069 |
and existing ones can be removed. Removing a database |
2070 |
connection is not possible if the map still displays a |
2071 |
layer provided by this database connection. |
2072 |
</para> |
2073 |
<figure> |
2074 |
<title>Database Management Dialog</title> |
2075 |
<mediaobject> |
2076 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_db_management.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
2077 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_db_management.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
2078 |
</mediaobject> |
2079 |
</figure> |
2080 |
|
2081 |
<para> |
2082 |
To add a new database connection to the session a dialog is |
2083 |
opened to specify the relevant connection data. Enter all |
2084 |
data relevant for your connection. If the connection fails |
2085 |
the dialog remains open and provides some hints on the failure. |
2086 |
</para> |
2087 |
<figure> |
2088 |
<title>Add Database Dialog</title> |
2089 |
<mediaobject> |
2090 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_db_add.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
2091 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_db_add.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
2092 |
</mediaobject> |
2093 |
</figure> |
2094 |
|
2095 |
<para> |
2096 |
It is important to note that information on database connections are |
2097 |
also stored with the session. Passwords are NOT stored. If you load a |
2098 |
session with database connections you are asked to enter these |
2099 |
passwords again where required. |
2100 |
</para> |
2101 |
|
2102 |
</section> |
2103 |
|
2104 |
<section><title>Loading a Data Layer</title> |
2105 |
<para> |
2106 |
Data layers as part of a map are loaded with the |
2107 |
<menuchoice> |
2108 |
<guimenu>Map</guimenu> |
2109 |
<guimenuitem>Add Database Layer ...</guimenuitem> |
2110 |
</menuchoice> menu item. A dialog is raised displaying two choice |
2111 |
lists. In the left list all connected databases are shown. |
2112 |
Highlighting |
2113 |
one of these and issuing a retrieval results in a list of available |
2114 |
layer tables from that database. After selection of a |
2115 |
layer the dialog is closed. |
2116 |
</para> |
2117 |
<figure> |
2118 |
<title>Add Database Dialog</title> |
2119 |
<mediaobject> |
2120 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="../images/app_postgis_add_layer.png" format="PNG" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
2121 |
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="./images/app_postgis_add_layer.eps" format="EPS" scale="&imgscale;"/></imageobject> |
2122 |
</mediaobject> |
2123 |
</figure> |
2124 |
|
2125 |
</section> |
2126 |
|
2127 |
</appendix> |
2128 |
|
2129 |
<appendix><title>Supported Projections</title> |
2130 |
<para> |
2131 |
The following types of projections are directly support by |
2132 |
Thuban. The specific values for each are provided by the user |
2133 |
to create custom projections. Thuban comes with predefined |
2134 |
projections which are available through the Projections dialog. |
2135 |
</para> |
2136 |
<itemizedlist> |
2137 |
<listitem> |
2138 |
<para>Geographic</para> |
2139 |
<itemizedlist> |
2140 |
<listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem> |
2141 |
<listitem><para> |
2142 |
<literal>Source Data</literal>: either Degrees or Radians |
2143 |
</para></listitem> |
2144 |
</itemizedlist> |
2145 |
</listitem> |
2146 |
<listitem> |
2147 |
<para>Lambert Conic Conformal</para> |
2148 |
<itemizedlist> |
2149 |
<listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem> |
2150 |
<listitem><para><literal>Latitude of 1st standard parallel</literal></para></listitem> |
2151 |
<listitem><para><literal>Latitude of 2nd standard parallel</literal></para></listitem> |
2152 |
<listitem><para><literal>Central Meridian</literal></para></listitem> |
2153 |
<listitem><para><literal>Latitude of Origin</literal></para></listitem> |
2154 |
<listitem><para><literal>False Easting</literal> (meters)</para></listitem> |
2155 |
<listitem><para><literal>False Northing</literal> (meters)</para></listitem> |
2156 |
</itemizedlist> |
2157 |
</listitem> |
2158 |
<listitem> |
2159 |
<para>Transverse Mercator</para> |
2160 |
<itemizedlist> |
2161 |
<listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem> |
2162 |
<listitem><para><literal>Latitude</literal>of origin</para></listitem> |
2163 |
<listitem><para><literal>Longitude</literal>at central meridian</para></listitem> |
2164 |
<listitem><para><literal>Scale Factor</literal>at central meridian</para></listitem> |
2165 |
<listitem><para><literal>False Easting</literal> (meters)</para></listitem> |
2166 |
<listitem><para><literal>False Northing</literal> (meters)</para></listitem> |
2167 |
</itemizedlist> |
2168 |
</listitem> |
2169 |
<listitem> |
2170 |
<para>Universal Transverse Mercator</para> |
2171 |
<itemizedlist> |
2172 |
<listitem><para><literal>Ellipsoid</literal></para></listitem> |
2173 |
<listitem><para><literal>Zone</literal> |
2174 |
(can be guessed appling the Propose button)</para></listitem> |
2175 |
<listitem><para><literal>Southern Hemisphere</literal> flag</para></listitem> |
2176 |
</itemizedlist> |
2177 |
</listitem> |
2178 |
</itemizedlist> |
2179 |
|
2180 |
<para> |
2181 |
Thuban comes with a sample set of map projections for various |
2182 |
European countries. Apart from the basic projection they differ |
2183 |
especially in their parameterization: |
2184 |
</para> |
2185 |
<itemizedlist> |
2186 |
<listitem><para>Belgium Datum 1972 (Lambert Conic Conformal)</para> |
2187 |
</listitem> |
2188 |
|
2189 |
<listitem><para>Gauss-Boaga Zone 1 (Italy, Transverse Mercartor)</para> |
2190 |
</listitem> |
2191 |
|
2192 |
<listitem><para>Gauss-Krueger Zone 2 (Germany, Transverse Mercartor) |
2193 |
</para> |
2194 |
</listitem> |
2195 |
|
2196 |
<listitem><para>Reseau Geodesique Francaise |
2197 |
(France, Lambert Conic Conformal)</para> |
2198 |
</listitem> |
2199 |
|
2200 |
<listitem><para>UK National Grid (United Kingdom, Transverse Mercartor) |
2201 |
</para> |
2202 |
</listitem> |
2203 |
</itemizedlist> |
2204 |
|
2205 |
<para> |
2206 |
Thuban uses the comprehensive PROJ library for projections. PROJ provides |
2207 |
more than the four commonly used projections described above. If needed |
2208 |
Thuban can be easily extended to a new projection covered by PROJ. |
2209 |
</para> |
2210 |
</appendix> |
2211 |
|
2212 |
</book> |
2213 |
|