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2  <!DOCTYPE book  <!DOCTYPE book
3          PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"          PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
4          "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">          "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
5  <!-- $ Revision: $ -->  <!-- $Revision$ -->
6  <book>  <book>
7    <bookinfo>    <bookinfo>
8      <title>Thuban Manual</title>      <title>Thuban Manual</title>
9      <author>      <author>
10        <firstname></firstname><surname></surname>        <firstname>Jonathan</firstname><surname>Coles</surname>
11        </author>
12        <author>
13          <firstname>Jan-Oliver</firstname><surname>Wagner</surname>
14      </author>      </author>
15      <copyright>      <copyright>
16        <year>2003</year>        <year>2003</year>
# Line 17  Line 20 
20    
21    <chapter><title>Introduction</title>    <chapter><title>Introduction</title>
22      <para>      <para>
23        Thuban is a Free Software Geographic Information Systems (GIS) viewer.
24        It is being developed because there is currently no simple interactive
25        viewer for geographic information available as Free Software. Thuban is
26        written in Python and C++ and uses the wxWindows library allowing it to
27        run on many different platforms, including GNU/Linux and Windows.
28        </para>
29        <para>
30        GIS viewers are a necessary tool as they allow one to get a visual
31        impression of the positional relationship of the information that may not
32        be apparent from simple inspection of the data values themselves.
33        Thuban allows the user to create a session that displays
34        geographic data and then explore that data through navigation and
35        manipulation of how it is drawn. The results can then be saved or printed.
36        </para>
37        <para>
38        Thuban arranges a session in a hierarchy. A session contains a map which
39        consists of layers. Each layer represents one kind of data set. For
40        instance, there may be a layer for roads and another layer for buildings.
41        These layers can either be vector shapes or images.
42      </para>      </para>
43    
44            <section><title>Installation</title>
45            <para>
46            Thuban is actively supported under Debian Testing (sarge), RedHat 7.2,
47            and Windows 2000. All the necessary files can be found on the
48            <ulink url="http://thuban.intevation.org/download.html">
49            Thuban Download site
50            </ulink>.
51            </para>
52            </section>
53    
54            <section><title>The Main Window</title>
55            <para>
56            <screenshot>
57            <screeninfo>The Main Window</screeninfo>
58            <mediaobject>
59            <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="../images/1_2_mainwindow.png" format="PNG"/> </imageobject>
60            <imageobject> <imagedata fileref="./images/1_2_mainwindow.ps" format="EPS"/> </imageobject>
61            <textobject><phrase>The Main Window</phrase></textobject>
62            <caption><para>The Main Window</para></caption>
63            </mediaobject>
64            </screenshot>
65            </para>
66    
67            <para>
68            The map window shows the current state of the map and is where
69            the user can interact with the map using the tools.
70            </para>
71    
72            <para>
73            The legend on the left displays a list of the current layers and
74            any visible classification groups. In the example, each shape layer
75            has a default classification which specifies how the shapes in each
76            layer are drawn. Layers that are higher in the list appear
77            ``closer'' to the user. The legend can be closed by clicking on the
78            small X in the upper right-hand region of the legend.
79            To open it again, use
80            <menuchoice>
81            <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
82            <guimenuitem>Legend</guimenuitem>
83            </menuchoice>.
84            The legend is also dockable, which means that it can be detached
85            from the main window by clicking on the small button next to the
86            close button. It can be attached by clicking the same button
87            again.
88            </para>
89            <para>
90            The status bar displays different information depending on the
91            current context. If the user is selecting an item from the menu
92            then the status bar will display a short help message indicating
93            what each menu item is for. If the user has a tool selected then
94            the position of the cursor on the map is displayed.
95            </para>
96            <para>
97            The tool bar provides quick access to the commonly needed tools.
98            By hovering over each button the user can see a short messages
99            describing what the tool does. The tools provided are Zoom In, Zoom
100            Out, Pan, Full Extent, Full Layer Extent, Full Shape Extent, Indentify,
101            and Label. Each of the tools will be explained in further detail later
102            in the manual.
103            </para>
104            </section>
105    
106    </chapter>    </chapter>
107    
108      <chapter><title>Session Management</title>
109    
110            <section><title>Starting a New Session</title>
111            <para>
112            A new session can be started from
113            <menuchoice>
114            <guimenu>File</guimenu>
115            <guimenuitem>New Session</guimenuitem>
116            </menuchoice>.
117    
118            If a session is already loaded and has been modified without
119            being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should
120            be saved.
121    
122            </para>
123            </section>
124    
125            <section><title>Opening a Session</title>
126            <para>
127            A session can be opened from
128            <menuchoice>
129            <guimenu>File</guimenu>
130            <guimenuitem>Open Session</guimenuitem>
131            </menuchoice>.
132    
133            If a session is already loaded and has been modified without
134            being saved a prompt will ask if the current session should
135            be saved.
136            </para>
137            </section>
138    
139            <section><title>Saving a Session</title>
140            <para>
141            A session can be saved from
142            <menuchoice>
143            <guimenu>File</guimenu>
144            <guimenuitem>Save Session</guimenuitem>
145            </menuchoice>.
146    
147            </para>
148            </section>
149    
150            <section><title>The Session Info-Tree</title>
151            <para>
152                    (primarily for developers)
153            </para>
154            </section>
155      </chapter>
156    
157      <chapter><title>Map Management</title>
158        <para>
159        The map consists of a number of layers where each layer represents a
160        different type of data set. By interacting with the map the user can
161        visually explore the data.
162        </para>
163    
164            <section><title>Adding and Removing Layers</title>
165            <para>
166            There are two types of layers that can use added to a map: shape layers
167            and image layers. Shape layers are stored in Shapefile format, a
168            standard file format for storing geographic objects. Normally, these
169            files have the extension ``.shp''. Associated with
170            the object information is a database file which stores attributes for
171            each shape in the Shapefile. This file, stored in DB2 format, usually
172            has the extension ``.dbf''. Both files should have the same base name.
173            For example, if there is a Shapefile named roads.shp there should
174            also be a file roads.dbf.
175            </para>
176            <para>
177            Shape layers can be added to the map with
178            <menuchoice>
179            <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
180            <guimenuitem>Add Layer</guimenuitem>
181            </menuchoice>.
182            Thuban will load all files with the same base name, so it doesn't
183            matter if the Shapefile or database file is selected.
184            </para>
185    
186            <para>
187            Image layers can be added to the map with
188            <menuchoice>
189            <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
190            <guimenuitem>Add Image Layer</guimenuitem>
191            </menuchoice>.
192            It is important to select a valid image file that has geographic
193            data associated with it. This can be embedded in the file itself,
194            or in another file. If geographic information cannot be found, Thuban
195            will report an error.
196            </para>
197            </section>
198    
199            <section><title>Navigation</title>
200            <para>
201            The map can be explored by using the navigation tools available on
202            the tool bar, or from the
203            <menuchoice><guimenu>Map</guimenu></menuchoice> menu.
204            </para>
205            <para>
206            The ZoomIn tool
207            <inlinemediaobject>
208            <imageobject>
209            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomin.png" format="PNG"/>
210            </imageobject>
211            <imageobject>
212            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomin.eps" format="EPS"/>
213            </imageobject>
214            <textobject> <phrase>ZoomIn Tool</phrase> </textobject>
215            </inlinemediaobject>
216            can be used to enlarge a region of the map. Clicking once on the map
217            will double the magnification and center the map on the point that
218            was clicked. Clicking and dragging lets the user select a region
219            to be enlarged to fit the window.
220            </para>
221            <para>
222            The ZoomOut tool
223            <inlinemediaobject>
224            <imageobject>
225            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_zoomout.png" format="PNG"/>
226            </imageobject>
227            <imageobject>
228            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_zoomout.eps" format="EPS"/>
229            </imageobject>
230            <textobject> <phrase>ZoomOut Tool</phrase> </textobject>
231            </inlinemediaobject>
232            shrinks the map so that a larger region is visible. A single click
233            reduces the magnification by a factor of two. Clicking and dragging
234            selects a box such that the current contents of the window will be
235            scaled to fit into that box.
236            </para>
237            <para>
238            The Pan tool
239            <inlinemediaobject>
240            <imageobject>
241            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_pan.png" format="PNG"/>
242            </imageobject>
243            <imageobject>
244            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_pan.eps" format="EPS"/>
245            </imageobject>
246            <textobject> <phrase>Pan Tool</phrase> </textobject>
247            </inlinemediaobject>
248            allows the user to move the map around by clicking and dragging.
249            </para>
250            <para>
251            The Full Extent tool
252            <inlinemediaobject>
253            <imageobject>
254            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullextent.png" format="PNG"/>
255            </imageobject>
256            <imageobject>
257            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullextent.eps" format="EPS"/>
258            </imageobject>
259            <textobject> <phrase>Full Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
260            </inlinemediaobject>
261            rescales the viewable region so that the entire map is visible.
262            </para>
263            <para>
264            The Full Layer Extent tool
265            <inlinemediaobject>
266            <imageobject>
267            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fulllayerextent.png" format="PNG"/>
268            </imageobject>
269            <imageobject>
270            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fulllayerextent.eps" format="EPS"/>
271            </imageobject>
272            <textobject> <phrase>Full Layer Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
273            </inlinemediaobject>
274            rescales the viewable region so that the currently selected
275            layer fits within the window. If no layer is selected this button
276            will be disabled.
277            </para>
278            <para>
279            The Full Shape Extent tool
280            <inlinemediaobject>
281            <imageobject>
282            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_2_fullshapeextent.png" format="PNG"/>
283            </imageobject>
284            <imageobject>
285            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_2_fullshapeextent.eps" format="EPS"/>
286            </imageobject>
287            <textobject> <phrase>Full Shape Extent Tool</phrase> </textobject>
288            </inlinemediaobject>
289            rescales the viewable region so that the currently selected
290            shape fits within the window. If the shape is a point, it is
291            centered and the map is zoomed all the way in. If no shape is
292            selected this button will be disabled.
293            </para>
294            </section>
295    
296            <section><title>Object Identification</title>
297            <para>
298            Objects on the map can be identified using the Identify tool
299            <inlinemediaobject>
300            <imageobject>
301            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_identify.png" format="PNG"/>
302            </imageobject>
303            <imageobject>
304            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_identify.eps" format="EPS"/>
305            </imageobject>
306            <textobject> <phrase>Identify Tool</phrase> </textobject>
307            </inlinemediaobject>.
308            Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which
309            shows all the table attributes for that object. Any current selection
310            is lost.
311            </para>
312            </section>
313    
314            <section><title>Object Labelling</title>
315            <para>
316            Objects can be labelled using the Label tool
317            <inlinemediaobject>
318            <imageobject>
319            <imagedata fileref="../images/3_3_label.png" format="PNG"/>
320            </imageobject>
321            <imageobject>
322            <imagedata fileref="./images/3_3_label.eps" format="EPS"/>
323            </imageobject>
324            <textobject> <phrase>Label Tool</phrase> </textobject>
325            </inlinemediaobject>.
326            Clicking on an object selects that object and opens a dialog which
327            displays the table attributes for that object. An attribute can
328            be selected to be the label on the map. Using this tool for an
329            object that already has a label will remove the label.
330            </para>
331            </section>
332    
333            <section><title>The Legend</title>
334            <para>
335            The Legend provides an overview of the layers in the map. Layers
336            that appear higher in the legend will appear ``closer'' to the user.
337            If a layer supports classification (currently, only shape layers
338            have this feature) then the classification groups will be shown
339            below each layer. The properties for each group are also displayed
340            with a small graphic. Polygon layers appear as rectangles, lines
341            appear as curved lines, and points appear as circles.
342            </para>
343            <para>
344            Along the top of the legend is a toolbar which allows quick access
345            to some of the layer manipulation options under
346            <menuchoice> <guimenu>Map</guimenu> </menuchoice>.
347    
348            Double-clicking on a layer or a group of a layer will open the
349            properties dialog for that layer.
350            </para>
351            </section>
352    
353            <section><title>Printing</title>
354            <para>
355            The map can be printed using
356            <menuchoice>
357            <guimenu>Map</guimenu>
358            <guimenuitem>Print</guimenuitem>
359            </menuchoice>. A standard printing dialog will open allowing the
360            user to configure the printer.
361            </para>
362            </section>
363      </chapter>
364    
365      <chapter><title>Layer Management</title>
366        <para>
367        </para>
368    
369            <section><title>Types of Layers</title>
370            <para>
371            There are two types of layers supported by Thuban: shape layers and
372            image layers. Shape layers consist of vector based shapes with
373            geo-referenced coordinates. There are three types of supported
374            shapes: polygons, lines, and points. Image layers can be any image
375            file format supported by GDAL. The images must have geographic
376            coordinate data either embedded within the file, or in a seperate
377            file that is in the same directory as the image file. GeoTIFF files
378            work very well with Thuban and were designed specifically to be image
379            layers in GIS programs.
380            </para>
381            </section>
382    
383            <section><title>Properties</title>
384            <para>
385            Each shape in a shape layer can have various properties which control
386            how it is drawn on the map. Polygons and points can be drawn with an
387            outline color and a fill color, while lines have only a line color.
388            </para>
389            </section>
390    
391            <section><title>Visibility</title>
392            <para>
393            Sometimes it is not desirable to view all layers at the same time.
394            Some layers may take a long time to draw and so while navigating
395            around the map the user may not want to wait for the map to redraw
396            each time the map is changed. Each layer can be independently
397            turned on or off using the
398            <menuchoice>
399            <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
400            <guimenuitem>Show</guimenuitem>
401            </menuchoice>
402            or
403            <menuchoice>
404            <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
405            <guimenuitem>Hide</guimenuitem>
406            </menuchoice> options respectively.
407            </para>
408            </section>
409    
410            <section><title>Sequence</title>
411            <para>
412            </para>
413            </section>
414    
415            <section><title>Duplication</title>
416            <para>
417            Layers and all their properties, including classifications, can
418            be duplicated using
419            <menuchoice>
420            <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
421            <guimenuitem>Duplicate</guimenuitem>
422            </menuchoice>. Duplicating a layer is useful if the user wishes
423            to model a layer in several different ways. Even though the layers
424            overlap by carefully selecting the shape properties it is possible
425            to display several pieces of information at once. For example, one
426            copy of a roads layer may be classified on a length property and
427            another copy may be classified on a type property. if the length
428            property was expressed with color and the type property expressed
429            with line thickness then it would be possible to view both
430            classifications by placing the type property copy over the
431            length property copy.
432            </para>
433            </section>
434    
435      </chapter>
436    
437      <chapter><title>Layer Classifications</title>
438        <para>
439        A layer classification is a way of assigning drawing properties to
440        groups of shapes based on attributes stored in the layer's table.
441        Only layer's with shapes can have a classification; image layers
442        cannot be classified.
443        </para>
444        <para>
445        A classification consists of a number of groups, with each group
446        having a value or range of values to match against, and symbol
447        properties which control how a shape is drawn on the map. The user
448        selects which field in the table is used by the classification and
449        when the map is drawn the value for that field for each shape is
450        compared with each group's value. The properties of the first group
451        to match are used to draw the shape. This allows the user to get a
452        visual impression of not only how the data is laid out but also what
453        kind of data lies where.
454        </para>
455        <para>
456        A layer always has a classification. When a new layer is added to the
457        map, a default classification is created with the DEFAULT group. This
458        group cannot be removed. Every shape in the layer, regardless of its
459        attributes, will match this group.
460        </para>
461    
462            <section><title>Editing Classifications</title>
463            <para>
464            A layer's classification can be modified under the properties dialog
465            (<menuchoice>
466            <guimenu>Layer</guimenu>
467            <guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem>
468            </menuchoice>). The layer's classification field can be set to None,
469            which simply assigns a DEFAULT group to the classification. No new
470            groups can be added to the classification if the field is None.
471            The user must first select a field to classify on. New groups can
472            be added to the classification with the <guibutton>Add</guibutton>
473            button.
474            </para>
475            <para>
476            The order of the groups in the classification is significant
477            except for the DEFAULT group, which remains at the top. When shapes
478            are matched against groups the matching begins at the first group
479            other than the DEFAULT group so that groups higher in the list will
480            be checked first. Matching for a
481            given shape will stop at the first group that matches. The user can
482            use <guibutton>Move Up</guibutton> and <guibutton>Move Down</guibutton>
483            to change the order of the groups. The DEFAULT group will always
484            match a shape that hasn't matched another group.
485            </para>
486            <para>
487            The Value column of the classification table is the value that will
488            be matched when the map is being drawn. The type of data that can
489            entered into this field depends on the type of data of the
490            classification field.
491            </para>
492            <para>
493            If the field is of type Text, anything entered
494            into the field is valid. The text will be compared literally to the
495            value of the shape attribute, including case sensitivity.
496            If the type is Integer, then any valid integer may be entered. In
497            addition, with special syntax, a range of values can be entered.
498            A range from <varname>start</varname> to <varname>end</varname>
499            inclusive is specifed like this: <literal>[start;end]</literal>.
500            The exclusive range is specified like this:
501            <literal>]start;end[</literal>. Ranges can include infinity like
502            this: <literal>[-oo;oo]</literal>. Field types can also be of type
503            Decimal. They represent any rational number and can be used in ranges
504            as well.
505            </para>
506            </section>
507    
508            <section><title>Symbols</title>
509            <para>
510            Each type of shape has its own type of symbol. Thuban supports three
511            types of shapes: polygons, lines, and points. Polygons and points have
512            outline and fill color, while lines have only line color. Each group
513            has associated symbol properties. To edit the symbol properties for a
514            group the user can double click on the Symbol column or select a
515            group and click the <guibutton>Edit Symbol</guibutton> button.
516            </para>
517            </section>
518    
519            <section><title>Generating Classes</title>
520            <para>
521            Creating a classification by hand can be tedious.
522            Thuban, therefore, provides a means of generating an entire
523            classification at once while still giving the user control over
524            how it appears. Clicking <guibutton>Generate Class</guibutton>
525            opens the <varname>Generate Classification</varname> dialog.
526            Under the <varname>Generate</varname> pulldown there are at most
527            three different ways to generate classifications:
528            Unique Values, Unique Distribution, and Quantiles. Some options
529            may not be available if they data type for the field does not
530            support them. For instance, <varname>Unique Distribution</varname>
531            doesn't make sense for a Text field.
532            </para>
533            <para>
534            For every way of generating a classification, a color scheme must
535            be selected. Thuban provides several different color schemes that
536            affect how the group properties change over the classification.
537            It is also possible to create a custom color scheme. Selecting
538            this option will display two symbols: the one of the left has the
539            properties of the first group and the one on the right has the
540            properties of the last group. Thuban will interpolate between these
541            two properties to generate the other groups.
542            </para>
543            <para>
544            The Unique Values option lets the user select specific values that
545            appear in the table. Clicking <guibutton>Retrieve From Table</guibutton>
546            searches the table for all unique values and displays them in the
547            list on the left. Items can be selected and moved to the list on the
548            right. Each list can be sorted or reversed for easier searching.
549            The classification that is generated will be in the same order as
550            the list on the right.
551            </para>
552            <para>
553            The Unique Distribution option creates a user specified number of
554            groups of ranges such that each range covers equal intervals. The
555            minimum and maximum values can automatically be retrieved from the
556            table by clicking <guibutton>Retrieve From Table</guibutton>. The
557            stepping is how large each interval is. Adjusting this value will
558            automatically recalculate how many groups is appropriate.
559            </para>
560            <para>
561            The Quantiles option generates ranges based on the number items
562            in the input set. For example, by specifying 5 groups Thuban will
563            generate groups with appropriate ranges such that 20% of the table
564            data is in each group. If it is impossible to generate exact
565            grouping, Thuban will issue a warning but allow the user to continue.
566            </para>
567            </section>
568      </chapter>
569    
570      <chapter><title>Projection Management</title>
571        <para>
572        </para>
573            <section><title>Selecting a Projection</title><para/></section>
574            <section><title>Creating a Projection</title><para/></section>
575            <section><title>Editing a Projection</title><para/></section>
576            <section><title>Importing/Exporting Projections</title><para/></section>
577      </chapter>
578    
579      <chapter><title>Table Management</title>
580        <para>
581        </para>
582      </chapter>
583    
584      <chapter><title>Trouble Shooting</title>
585        <para>
586        </para>
587      </chapter>
588    
589      <appendix><title>Supported Data Sources</title>
590        <para>
591        </para>
592      </appendix>
593    
594      <appendix><title>Supported Projections</title>
595        <para>
596        </para>
597      </appendix>
598    
599  </book>  </book>

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