GRASS migration hints: Difference between revisions

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== Migrating to GRASS ==
== Support ==


Welcome! There is a lot of help on the web and a wealth of expertise available on the mailing lists and via IRC.
There is a lot of help on the web, this wiki and in the user manual. However, a lot of people are available on the mailing lists and at other places.
* See [https://grass.osgeo.org/support/ the official support page] which also includes links to commercially provided support.
* Subscribe to the grass-users [https://lists.osgeo.org/listinfo/grass-user maillist]
* Visit the [http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/grass GRASS tag] on gis.stackexchange.com


== Guides and tips for migration ==
* [[GIS Concepts]] in GRASS GIS
=== Migrating from ESRI products ===
* [[GRASS GIS for ArcGIS users]]
* [[Tips for Arc users|Tips for ArcGIS users]]
* [http://www.surfaces.co.il/?p=241 Watershed Analysis with GRASS] (in case you know the ESRI way)
* [[Terminology comparison between ArcGIS and GRASS GIS]]
=== Migrating from older versions of GRASS GIS ===
* [[GRASS Module Porting List|Module updates between GRASS GIS version 5 and 6]]
* [https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/Grass7/NewFeatures List of new features in GRASS GIS 7] (new modules, new names, options, etc.; check here if you don't find a certain modules or module parameter)
* [[Upgrading GRASS database]]


== GIS "The GRASS way" ==
== GIS "The GRASS way" ==


=== Interoperability ===
When migrating to GRASS GIS, it is useful to review its design and values. Here are the highlights.
Collaboration with external software is highly encouraged.
 
* [http://www.gdal.org GDAL/OGR] for Import/Export
* R statistics: GRASS/R interface
* DXF: v.in.dxf, v.out.dxf
* Matlab/Octave: r.in.mat, r.out.mat, v.in.mapgen, v.in.ascii, v.out.ascii
* POVray: r.out.pov, v.out.pov
* VMRL: p.out.vrml
* GMT - Generic Mapping Tools for cartography: r.in.bin, r.out.bin
* Google Earth/KML: v.out.ogr
* VTK (Paraview, etc): r3.out.vtk, r.out.vtk, v.out.vtk
* V5D: r3.in.v5d, r3.out.v5d


=== Portability ===
=== Portability ===
* Support for all major platforms including Linux, Mac OS X and MS Windows
* All code POSIX C and generic UNIX compatible
* All code POSIX C and generic UNIX compatible
* Most code [http://www.mingw.org/ MinGW] compatible for native MS-Windows
* GRASS GIS works not only on powerful desktops but also on low-end laptops all the way down to devices such as [[Raspberry Pi]].
* GRASS GIS also works on servers, clusters for scientific computing, and on other supper computer or cloud setups
* 64bit and 32bit versions
 
=== Scalability ===
* [[GRASS GIS Performance]]
* 64bit version offers even better performance and capacity on all platforms including MS Windows
 
=== All in one ===
 
* With GRASS GIS you are getting full selection of analysis including but not limited to hydrology, terrain analysis, network analysis and image processing. No installing or purchasing of additional tools or plugins.
* GRASS GIS aims to process all kinds of geospatial data in a unified way including vectors, rasters, images, 3D rasters and their time series.


=== Scriptability ===
=== Scriptability ===
* GRASS is made up of modular tools specifically designed for easy scriptability in any number of common scripting languages
* GRASS GIS is made up of modular tools specifically designed for easy scriptability in any number of common scripting languages, see for example [[GRASS and Shell]]
* SWIG interface for direct hooks into higher scripting languages
* Interface for direct hooks into higher scripting languages especially Python but also R and Bash/Shell, see [[GRASS and Python]] and [[Category:Linking to other languages]]
* GRASS GIS can run without any GUI when the full path to the mapset is provided in the command line parameters. If "<tt>GRASS_BATCH_JOB=/path/to/script.sh</tt>" environmental variable is set GRASS 6+ will run the script as a batch job and exit when it is complete. Same applies to <tt>--exec</tt> parameter in GRASS 7.1+. See also {{cmd|grass7}} command manual and [[GRASS and Shell#GRASS Batch jobs|GRASS and Shell]].


=== Freedom ===
=== Interoperability ===
* [[Gis_Concepts#How_the_Open_Source_software_development_model_works|How the Open Source software development model works]]
Collaboration with external software is highly encouraged.


* [http://www.gdal.org GDAL/OGR] for import/export to many formats
* [http://www.numpy.org/ NumPy] (in Python): {{pyapi|script|script.array|array}}, {{pyapi|script|script.array|array3d}}
* [https://www.r-project.org/ R] statistical software: [http://grass.osgeo.org/statsgrass/ GRASS-R interface]
* DXF: {{cmd|v.in.dxf}}, {{cmd|v.out.dxf}}, {{cmd|v.in.ogr}}, {{cmd|v.out.ogr}}
* Matlab/[http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/Octave Octave]: {{cmd|r.in.mat}}, {{cmd|r.out.mat}}, {{cmd|v.in.mapgen}}, {{cmd|v.in.ascii}}, {{cmd|v.out.ascii}}
* [http://www.povray.org/ POV-Ray] rendering: {{cmd|r.out.pov}}, {{cmd|v.out.pov}} - see also [[POV-Ray]]
* VMRL: {{cmd|r.out.vrml}} (3D virtual reality)
* [http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/ GMT] - Generic Mapping Tools for cartography: {{cmd|r.in.bin}}, {{cmd|r.out.bin}}
* Google Earth/KML: {{cmd|v.out.ogr}}
* VTK ([http://www.paraview.org/ Paraview], etc): {{cmd|r3.out.vtk}}, {{cmd|r.out.vtk}}, {{cmd|v.out.vtk}} - see also [[GRASS and Paraview]]
* [http://vis5d.sourceforge.net/ Vis5D]: {{cmd|r3.in.v5d}}, {{cmd|r3.out.v5d}}
* QGIS has GRASS Plugin to work with GRASS GIS data and analytical tools inside QGIS


== GRASS Concepts ==
=== Freedom ===
* All users are free to run the GRASS GIS for any purpose, study how it works, copy it and redistribute it, and even change it.
* Freedoms ensured by GNU General Public License (GPL)
* Rocchini, D., Neteler, M., 2012. Let the four freedoms paradigm apply to ecology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 27, 310–311., ([http://tinyurl.com/tree-four-freedoms full text])


* [[Gis_Concepts|GIS concepts]]
== External links: Software Comparisons ==


''Some information may be outdated. Note the year of individual resources.''


== Tips for recent migrants ==
* Steiniger, S., Hunter, A.J.S., 2013. The 2012 free and open source GIS software map – A guide to facilitate research, development, and adoption. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 39, 136–150. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2012.10.003 DOI]
* [http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Albk_XRkhVkzdGxyYk8tNEZvLUp1UTUzTFN5bjlLX2c&hl=en Matrix of open source and proprietary software functionality] (2010)
* [http://contentcat.fhsu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/thesis/id/545/rec/44 MSc thesis 2006 (English), Comparison of geographic information system software (ArcGIS 9.0 and GRASS 6.0): implementation and case study] by T.R. Buchanan
* [http://cemml.carleton.ca/osgeo_files/FOSS_geomatics.pdf An Exploration Of Free And Open Source Software For Geomatics] (thesis, 2008)
* [http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/23637/comparison-of-open-source-desktop-gis-packages Comparison of Open Source Desktop GIS Packages] (collection of links) at GIS StackExchange


* [[Tips for ArcInfo users]]
[[Category:Community]]
* GRASS 4 and 5 users: [[GRASS Module Porting List]] (check here if you don't find a certain command in GRASS 6)
[[Category:ArcGIS]]

Latest revision as of 11:48, 12 August 2024

Support

There is a lot of help on the web, this wiki and in the user manual. However, a lot of people are available on the mailing lists and at other places.

Guides and tips for migration

Migrating from ESRI products

Migrating from older versions of GRASS GIS

GIS "The GRASS way"

When migrating to GRASS GIS, it is useful to review its design and values. Here are the highlights.

Portability

  • Support for all major platforms including Linux, Mac OS X and MS Windows
  • All code POSIX C and generic UNIX compatible
  • GRASS GIS works not only on powerful desktops but also on low-end laptops all the way down to devices such as Raspberry Pi.
  • GRASS GIS also works on servers, clusters for scientific computing, and on other supper computer or cloud setups
  • 64bit and 32bit versions

Scalability

  • GRASS GIS Performance
  • 64bit version offers even better performance and capacity on all platforms including MS Windows

All in one

  • With GRASS GIS you are getting full selection of analysis including but not limited to hydrology, terrain analysis, network analysis and image processing. No installing or purchasing of additional tools or plugins.
  • GRASS GIS aims to process all kinds of geospatial data in a unified way including vectors, rasters, images, 3D rasters and their time series.

Scriptability

  • GRASS GIS is made up of modular tools specifically designed for easy scriptability in any number of common scripting languages, see for example GRASS and Shell
  • Interface for direct hooks into higher scripting languages especially Python but also R and Bash/Shell, see GRASS and Python and
  • GRASS GIS can run without any GUI when the full path to the mapset is provided in the command line parameters. If "GRASS_BATCH_JOB=/path/to/script.sh" environmental variable is set GRASS 6+ will run the script as a batch job and exit when it is complete. Same applies to --exec parameter in GRASS 7.1+. See also grass7 command manual and GRASS and Shell.

Interoperability

Collaboration with external software is highly encouraged.

Freedom

  • All users are free to run the GRASS GIS for any purpose, study how it works, copy it and redistribute it, and even change it.
  • Freedoms ensured by GNU General Public License (GPL)
  • Rocchini, D., Neteler, M., 2012. Let the four freedoms paradigm apply to ecology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 27, 310–311., (full text)

External links: Software Comparisons

Some information may be outdated. Note the year of individual resources.

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