Opened 14 years ago

Last modified 5 years ago

#1031 new enhancement

More specific parameter information in command line help

Reported by: huhabla Owned by: grass-dev@…
Priority: minor Milestone: 7.6.2
Component: LibGIS Version: svn-trunk
Keywords: parser, help Cc: martinl
CPU: All Platform: All

Description

I would like to suggest the implementation of a more informative command line help for grass modules. Additionally to the current parameters the status(age), type and if it is required or not should be displayed.

A patch for parser_help.c is attached.

Example r.buffer:

lib/gis>r.buffer help                                                                                                                                                     

Description:
 Creates a raster map layer showing buffer zones surrounding cells that contain non-NULL category values.

Keywords:
 raster, buffer

Usage:
 r.buffer [-z] input=name output=name distances=value[,value,...]
   [units=string] [--overwrite] [--verbose] [--quiet]            

Flags:
  -z   Ignore zero (0) data cells instead of NULL cells
 --o   Allow output files to overwrite existing files  
 --v   Verbose module output                           
 --q   Quiet module output                             

Parameters:
      input   Name of input raster map
     output   Name for output raster map
  distances   Distance zone(s)          
      units   Units of distance         
              options: meters,kilometers,feet,miles,nautmiles
              default: meters

Will change into

lib/gis> r.buffer help

Description:
 Creates a raster map layer showing buffer zones surrounding cells that contain non-NULL category values.

Keywords:
 raster, buffer

Usage:
 r.buffer [-z] input=name output=name distances=value[,value,...]
   [units=string] [--overwrite] [--verbose] [--quiet]

Flags:
  -z   Ignore zero (0) data cells instead of NULL cells
 --o   Allow output files to overwrite existing files
 --v   Verbose module output
 --q   Quiet module output

Parameters:
      input   Name of input raster map
              status: input
              type: cell
              required: yes
     output   Name for output raster map
              status: output
              type: cell
              required: yes
  distances   Distance zone(s)
              type: float
              required: yes
      units   Units of distance
              options: meters,kilometers,feet,miles,nautmiles
              default: meters
              type: string
              required: no

Attachments (5)

parser_help.diff (1.3 KB ) - added by huhabla 14 years ago.
parser.diff (7.6 KB ) - added by huhabla 14 years ago.
main.c (1.6 KB ) - added by huhabla 14 years ago.
Simple examples of the new type system suggested by Glynn
type_system.h (3.3 KB ) - added by huhabla 14 years ago.
Very simple prototype of the new type system suggested by Glynn
type_system.c (5.9 KB ) - added by huhabla 14 years ago.
Very simple prototype of the new type system suggested by Glynn

Download all attachments as: .zip

Change History (28)

by huhabla, 14 years ago

Attachment: parser_help.diff added

comment:1 by hamish, 14 years ago

most of what you want is already given by usage:

Usage:
 r.buffer [-z] input=name output=name distances=value[,value,...]
   [units=string] [--overwrite] [--verbose] [--quiet]

things in [square] brackets are optional (according to age-old unix convention (and prob ms-dos too))

the 'name' or 'value' on the right side of the equals sign, if not given a custom setting by the programmer with opt->key_desc, could perhaps be improved. see the tcltk module guis which are quite informative. I think we still have some work to do on this for the wx module guis (see also #886 for that).

Hamish

comment:2 by huhabla, 14 years ago

I am aware that some of informations i requests are given by the usage string. But IMHO it is more convenient and easier to understand (especially for command line beginner) to make these informations also available in the help description. My enhancement request is only related to the command line. It does not touch the automated gui generation.

The usage string does not always provide the convenient information if the parameter is of type raster, vector, volume, integer or float. In many modules input and output parameter are named related to the modules purpose, the information if its an input or output is only present if you read the help page.

Martin Landa currently renamed in several modules the input and output parameter to make clear which of them are inputs or outputs. I.e: elevation -> elevation_input, direction -> direction_output, but this is IMHO not a good idea. It is redundant information, especially if you are using the gui. In my opinion there is no need to rename the parameters, we can provide the information which the gui uses to make the data handling easy in the command line too.

in reply to:  2 ; comment:3 by martinl, 14 years ago

Replying to huhabla:

I am aware that some of informations i requests are given by the usage string. But IMHO it is more convenient and easier to understand (especially for command line beginner) to make these informations also available in the help description. My enhancement request is only related to the command line. It does not touch the automated gui generation.

I think that the beginners usually do not use CLI at all. At least 'type' and 'required' are redundant info

      input   Name of input raster map
              status: input
              type: cell
              required: yes

We could use key_desc attribute for defining prompt type.

input=raster

instead of

input=name

The question is how to handle 'status' of the options.

The usage string does not always provide the convenient information if the parameter is of type raster, vector, volume, integer or float. In many modules input and output parameter are named related to the modules purpose, the information if its an input or output is only present if you read the help page.

Right, it could be improved by better key_desc usage.

Martin Landa currently renamed in several modules the input and output parameter to make clear which of them are inputs or outputs. I.e: elevation -> elevation_input, direction -> direction_output, but this is IMHO not a good idea. It is redundant information, especially if you are using the gui.

Right, see Rename options. Your idea about 'status' info seems to be better solution. If you prefer I can remove '_input/optput' from paramaters key string.

in reply to:  3 ; comment:4 by huhabla, 14 years ago

Replying to martinl:

Replying to huhabla:

I am aware that some of informations i requests are given by the usage string. But IMHO it is more convenient and easier to understand (especially for command line beginner) to make these informations also available in the help description. My enhancement request is only related to the command line. It does not touch the automated gui generation.

I think that the beginners usually do not use CLI at all. At least 'type' and 'required' are redundant info

      input   Name of input raster map
              status: input
              type: cell
              required: yes

We could use key_desc attribute for defining prompt type.

input=raster

instead of

input=name

The question is how to handle 'status' of the options.

The usage string does not always provide the convenient information if the parameter is of type raster, vector, volume, integer or float. In many modules input and output parameter are named related to the modules purpose, the information if its an input or output is only present if you read the help page.

Right, it could be improved by better key_desc usage.

Thats a good idea. We could start modifying the default options in lib/gis/parser.c adding key_desc. Although this information is already specified in the gisprompt string ... we can use the convenient naming scheme used in gisprompt for key_desc.

Martin Landa currently renamed in several modules the input and output parameter to make clear which of them are inputs or outputs. I.e: elevation -> elevation_input, direction -> direction_output, but this is IMHO not a good idea. It is redundant information, especially if you are using the gui.

Right, see Rename options. Your idea about 'status' info seems to be better solution. If you prefer I can remove '_input/optput' from paramaters key string.

Well this is only my humble opinion. In case other developers prefer the your naming schema i will accept it. Thats why i would like to discuss this topic.

I would personally prefer to remove '_input/optput' from paramaters key string and establish a combination of key_desc and the additional "status" parameter in the command line. Maybe we can use a better name than "status" ... like "type"? Additionally we can hide the status parameter in case "input", "map" and "output" are used as key strings?

by huhabla, 14 years ago

Attachment: parser.diff added

comment:5 by huhabla, 14 years ago

I have attached a patch for lib/gis/parser_help.c and lib/gis/parser_stanndard_options.c which implements the discussed ideas.

Examples:

lib/gis> r.neighbors help

Description:
 Makes each cell category value a function of the category values assigned to the cells around it, and stores new cell values in an output raster map layer.

Keywords:
 raster

Usage:
 r.neighbors [-ac] input=raster [selection=raster] output=raster
   [method=string] [size=value] [title=phrase] [weight=filename]
   [gauss=value] [quantile=value] [--overwrite] [--verbose] [--quiet]

Flags:
  -a   Do not align output with the input
  -c   Use circular neighborhood
 --o   Allow output files to overwrite existing files
 --v   Verbose module output
 --q   Quiet module output

Parameters:
      input   Name of input raster map
  selection   Name of an input raster map to select the cells which should be processed
              type: input
     output   Name for output raster map
     method   Neighborhood operation
              options: average,median,mode,minimum,maximum,stddev,sum,
                       variance,diversity,interspersion,quart1,quart3,perc90,
                       quantile
              default: average
       size   Neighborhood size
              default: 3
      title   Title of the output raster map
     weight   Text file containing weights
      gauss   Sigma (in cells) for Gaussian filter
   quantile   Quantile to calculate for method=quantile
              options: 0.0-1.0
              default: 0.5
lib/gis> r.buffer2 help

Description:
 Creates a raster map layer showing buffer zones surrounding cells that contain non-NULL category values.

Keywords:
 raster, buffer

Usage:
 r.buffer2 [-z] input=raster output=raster distances=value[,value,...]
   [units=string] [--overwrite] [--verbose] [--quiet]

Flags:
  -z   Ignore zero (0) data cells instead of NULL cells
 --o   Allow output files to overwrite existing files
 --v   Verbose module output
 --q   Quiet module output

Parameters:
      input   Name of input raster map
     output   Name for output raster map
  distances   Distance zone(s)
      units   Units of distance
              options: meters,kilometers,feet,miles,nautmiles
              default: meters
lib/gis> r.gwflow help                                       

Description:
 Numerical calculation program for transient, confined and unconfined groundwater flow in two dimensions.

Keywords:
 raster, groundwater flow

Usage:
 r.gwflow [-f] phead=raster status=raster hc_x=raster hc_y=raster
   [q=raster] s=raster [recharge=raster] top=raster bottom=raster
   output=raster [vx=raster] [vy=raster] [budget=raster] type=string
   [river_bed=raster] [river_head=raster] [river_leak=raster]
   [drain_bed=raster] [drain_leak=raster] dt=value [maxit=value]
   [error=value] [solver=name] [--overwrite] [--verbose] [--quiet]

Flags:
  -f   Allocate a full quadratic linear equation system, default is a sparse linear equation system.
 --o   Allow output files to overwrite existing files
 --v   Verbose module output
 --q   Quiet module output

Parameters:
       phead   The initial piezometric head in [m]
               type: input
      status   Boundary condition status, 0-inactive, 1-active, 2-dirichlet
               type: input
        hc_x   X-part of the hydraulic conductivity tensor in [m/s]
               type: input
        hc_y   Y-part of the hydraulic conductivity tensor in [m/s]
               type: input
           q   Raster map water sources and sinks in [m^3/s]
               type: input
           s   Specific yield in [1/m]
               type: input
    recharge   Recharge map e.g: 6*10^-9 per cell in [m^3/s*m^2]
               type: input
         top   Top surface of the aquifer in [m]
               type: input
      bottom   Bottom surface of the aquifer in [m]
               type: input
      output   The map storing the numerical result [m]
          vx   Calculate and store the groundwater filter velocity vector part in x direction [m/s]
               type: output
          vy   Calculate and store the groundwater filter velocity vector part in y direction [m/s]
               type: output
      budget   Store the groundwater budget for each cell [m^3/s]
               type: output
        type   The type of groundwater flow
               options: confined,unconfined
               default: confined
   river_bed   The height of the river bed in [m]
               type: input
  river_head   Water level (head) of the river with leakage connection in [m]
               type: input
  river_leak   The leakage coefficient of the river bed in [1/s].
               type: input
   drain_bed   The height of the drainage bed in [m]
               type: input
  drain_leak   The leakage coefficient of the drainage bed in [1/s]
               type: input
          dt   The calculation time in seconds
               default: 86400
       maxit   Maximum number of iteration used to solver the linear equation system
               default: 100000
       error   Error break criteria for iterative solvers (jacobi, sor, cg or bicgstab)
               default: 0.0000000001
      solver   The type of solver which should solve the symmetric linear equation system
               options: cg,pcg,cholesky
               default: cg

in reply to:  5 ; comment:6 by glynn, 14 years ago

Replying to huhabla:

I have attached a patch for lib/gis/parser_help.c and lib/gis/parser_stanndard_options.c which implements the discussed ideas.

  1. The patch makes unnecessary formatting changes, which also contravene the GRASS formatting conventions. In general, formatting changes should be kept separate from other changes to make it easier to review the substance of the changes. But in this case, the formatting changes just shouldn't be there.
  1. The updated output is unnecessarily verbose, which is a bad thing IMHO. The "required" and "multiple" status can already be determined from the "Usage:" section. Non-required options are listed in square brackets, while multiple options use the "option=value,..." convention. If you really want this format, it should be a separate option, e.g. --verbose-help.

in reply to:  6 ; comment:7 by martinl, 14 years ago

Replying to glynn:

Replying to huhabla:

I have attached a patch for lib/gis/parser_help.c and lib/gis/parser_stanndard_options.c which implements the discussed ideas.

  1. The patch makes unnecessary formatting changes, which also contravene the GRASS formatting conventions. In general, formatting changes should be kept separate from other changes to make it easier to review the substance of the changes. But in this case, the formatting changes just shouldn't be there.
  1. The updated output is unnecessarily verbose, which is a bad thing IMHO. The "required" and "multiple" status can already be determined from the "Usage:" section. Non-required options are listed in square brackets, while multiple options use the "option=value,..." convention. If you really want this format, it should be a separate option, e.g. --verbose-help.

Probably we should think about the optimalization of the attributes in struct Option (1) Currently we have:

struct Option			
{
    const char *key;		
    int type;			
    int required;		
    int multiple;		
    const char *options;	
    const char **opts;		
    const char *key_desc;	
    const char *label;		
    const char *description;	
    const char *descriptions;	
    const char **descs;		
    char *answer;		
    const char *def;		
    char **answers;		
    struct Option *next_opt;	
    const char *gisprompt;	
    const char *guisection;	
    const char *guidependency;  
    int (*checker) ();		
    int count;
};

Parsed for wxGUI, e.g.

{'gisprompt': True, 'multiple': 'no', 'description': 'Name for output vector map', 'guidependency': '', 'default': '', 'age': 'new', 'required': 'yes', 'value': 'lakes_buff', 'label': '', 'guisection': u'Required', 'key_desc': ['name'], 'values': [], 'values_desc': [], 'prompt': 'vector', 'wxId': [-327], 'element': 'vector', 'type': 'string', 'name': 'output'}

I would suggest:

  • if 'key_desc' is NULL then use as 'key_desc' 'prompt' value
  • do we need 'element' attribute - it could be probably replaced by 'prompt'
  • suggested 'status' info is determined from 'prompt' and 'age' attribute.

(1) http://download.osgeo.org/grass/grass7_progman/gislib.html#Complete_Structure_Members_Table

comment:8 by martinl, 14 years ago

Cc: martinl added

in reply to:  7 ; comment:9 by glynn, 14 years ago

Replying to martinl:

Probably we should think about the optimalization of the attributes in struct Option

Yes please.

I've been suggesting that the "type system" should be re-worked since roughly forever. I would have hoped that the wxGUI development would produce some feedback, but so far that hasn't happened.

in reply to:  9 ; comment:10 by martinl, 14 years ago

Replying to glynn:

Replying to martinl:

Probably we should think about the optimalization of the attributes in struct Option

Yes please.

I've been suggesting that the "type system" should be re-worked since roughly forever. I would have hoped that the wxGUI development would produce some feedback, but so far that hasn't happened.

Can you elaborate a bit on your suggestion? From wxGUI POV it's required to have info about

multiple               widget properties
description and label  widget label + tooltip
guidependency          to updated related widgets (e.g. database -> table -> column)
age                    widget properties (e.g. show only maps from current maps for 'new')
required               options for 'required tab'
value                  widget value
guisection             tabs
prompt                 for widget type (gselect.*)
type                   input validation

see also #278

in reply to:  9 comment:11 by huhabla, 14 years ago

Replying to glynn:

Replying to martinl:

Probably we should think about the optimalization of the attributes in struct Option

Yes please.

I've been suggesting that the "type system" should be re-worked since roughly forever. I would have hoped that the wxGUI development would produce some feedback, but so far that hasn't happened.

Reworking the "type system" is a good idea. I would be happy to help. My main focus is that most of the data processing grass modules supports the generation of a fully machine readable description of its inputs and outputs (raster, vector, file ... as well as literal data). This will allow the automated generic connection of modules in graphical work-flow builder as well as in WPS process builder. The current approach leads in the right direction but could e improved. E.g.: putting the age, element and prompt into the gisprompt string may be replaced using functions like G_option_set_age(), G_option_set_element() and so on. So the Option structure can be enhanced with additional variables, which are accessed with library functions, so better parameter storage schemes may be implemented and data handling is easier (no parsing overhead)?

From the WPS describe process point of view, i need the following variables:

key                    Identifier in WPS execute request
multiple               maxOccurs in WPS execute request
description and label  abstract and title for inputs and outputs 
age                    Is used to distinguish between old -> input (ComplexData, LiteralData) and new -> output (ComplexOutput, LiteralOutput)
required               minOccurs in WPS execute request 
answer                 Default value
options                Allowed values
prompt                 Is used to distinguish between raster, vector and file
type                   LiteralData type

Additionally the following parameter would be very useful:

  • The mime types of input and output files
  • The specification of multiple outputs see #1033
  • In case no output was defined (e.g. r.univar) the definition of the data type printed to stdout is useful. There is currently no way to define the literal data type of printed output ... and may never be, because this mostly depends on flags or different options

in reply to:  4 comment:12 by martinl, 14 years ago

Replying to huhabla:

Martin Landa currently renamed in several modules the input and output parameter to make clear which of them are inputs or outputs. I.e: elevation -> elevation_input, direction -> direction_output, but this is IMHO not a good idea. It is redundant information, especially if you are using the gui.

Right, see Rename options. Your idea about 'status' info seems to be better solution. If you prefer I can remove '_input/optput' from paramaters key string.

Well this is only my humble opinion. In case other developers prefer the your naming schema i will accept it. Thats why i would like to discuss this topic.

I would personally prefer to remove '_input/optput' from paramaters key string and establish a combination of key_desc and the additional "status" parameter in the command line. Maybe we can use a better name than "status" ... like "type"? Additionally we can hide the status parameter in case "input", "map" and "output" are used as key strings?

OK, done in r41865, Rename options updated.

in reply to:  10 ; comment:13 by glynn, 14 years ago

Replying to martinl:

I've been suggesting that the "type system" should be re-worked since roughly forever. I would have hoped that the wxGUI development would produce some feedback, but so far that hasn't happened.

Can you elaborate a bit on your suggestion?

Currently, the "type" is defined by a combination of fields:

type, required, multiple, options, key_desc, gisprompt.

The type field defines a base type: string, integer or floating-point. gis_prompt may refine the base type to a more specific type. options replaces the base type with an enumeration type. required==NO converts the type to a "Maybe" type. multiple=YES converts the type to a list type (except that the GUI treats it as a set if the "options" field is set). key_desc converts the type to a tuple type if the description contains commas.

My preference would be for a structured type system as is commonly found in high-level languages, where base types can be combined using constructors.

Essentially, all of the above fields would be replaced by a single type field, whose value would be a pointer to an arbitrarily complex structure, with a set of functions for creating types. Off the top of my head, you would need:

// Base types:
T_integer()
T_integer_subrange(int first, int last, int step)
T_integer_enumeration(int count, int val0, [, int val1, ...])
T_real()
T_real_subrange(double first, bool first_inclusive, double last, bool last_inclusive)
T_string()
T_string_enumeration(count, char* val0, [, char* val1, ...])
T_string_enumeration_with_descs(count, char* val0, char *desc0, [, char* val1, char* desc1, ...])
T_element(enum Element element, enum Age age)

// Composite types:
T_optional(Type* base)
T_tuple(int count, Type* type0 [, Type* type1, ...])
T_record(int count, char* name0, Type* type0 [, char* name1, Type* type1, ...])
T_list(Type* type, bool allow_empty, bool allow_duplicates, bool order_matters)
T_union(int count, Type* type0, Type* type1 [, Type* type2, ...])

So e.g.:

opt->type = T_union(2,
	T_integer_subrange(1, 99, 2),
	T_string_enumeration(2, "all", "none"));

would allow the option value to be any odd integer between 1 and 99 inclusive or the strings "all" or "none".

Variadic functions could either use a prefixed count or a NULL terminator (but the latter won't work for numbers).

You would also need dependent base types, e.g. "column name within the database table associated with the map specified by the input= option".

When it comes to parsing, you could implement such types using a generic mechanism using a callback function to enumerate or validate allowed values; however, we need to think about how this interacts with the GUI.

One possibility would be:

T_dependent(Type* (*callback)(int argc, charargv), char* opt0 [, char* opt1, ...])

The parser would provide an option to expand an option's type given a partial list of option values, e.g.

d.vect --expand=rgb_column map=inmap

would convert the rgb_column= option's dependent type to a fixed enumeration of the available columns for the specified input map.

The alternative is to simply add each case as a separate base type, i.e.:

T_database_column(char* driver_opt, char* database_opt, char* table_opt)
T_map_database_column(char* map_opt)

The --interface description would simply report the information verbatim and the GUI would be responsible for enumeration.

in reply to:  13 ; comment:14 by huhabla, 14 years ago

Replying to glynn:

Replying to martinl:

[snip]

So e.g.:

opt->type = T_union(2,
	T_integer_subrange(1, 99, 2),
	T_string_enumeration(2, "all", "none"));

would allow the option value to be any odd integer between 1 and 99 inclusive or the strings "all" or "none".

That sounds brilliant! I have implemented a simple prototype, to get an idea how this may work. Files are attached. Do you think my implementation points in the right direction?

Variadic functions could either use a prefixed count or a NULL terminator (but the latter won't work for numbers).

You would also need dependent base types, e.g. "column name within the database table associated with the map specified by the input= option".

I am not sure if i understand that, What is the benefit of dependent base type?

When it comes to parsing, you could implement such types using a generic mechanism using a callback function to enumerate or validate allowed values; however, we need to think about how this interacts with the GUI.

The implementation i attached uses a simple callback to generically prints the content of the type structures. The callback will be attached while memory allocation.

struct T_type {
  enum T_TYPES type;
  void *p; /*Pointer to a type structure*/
  void (*print)(struct T_type*);
};

struct Option {
  struct T_type *key;
  struct T_type *type;
  struct T_type *description;
  struct T_type *answer;
};

struct Option* T_define_option()
{
  struct Option *opt;

  opt = (struct Option*)calloc(1, sizeof(struct Option));
  opt->key = NULL;
  opt->type = NULL;
  opt->description = NULL;
  opt->answer = NULL;

  return opt;
}

struct T_type* T_real_subrange(double first, enum T_BOOL first_inclusive, double last, enum T_BOOL last_inclusive)
{
  struct T_type *t;
  struct T_type_real_subrange *it;

  t =  T_type_alloc();
  
  it = (struct T_type_real_subrange*)calloc(1, sizeof(struct T_type_real_subrange));
  it->first = first;
  it->last = last;
  it->first_inclusive = first_inclusive;
  it->last_inclusive = last_inclusive;

  t->type = REAL_SUBRANGE;
  t->p = it;
  t->print = T_real_subrange_print;

  return t;
}

void T_real_subrange_print(struct T_type* type)
{
  struct T_type_real_subrange* p;
  p = (struct T_type_real_subrange*)type->p;
  if(p) {
    fprintf(stderr, "first: %f\n", p->first);
    fprintf(stderr, "last: %f\n", p->last);
    fprintf(stderr, "first_include: %i\n", p->first_inclusive);
    fprintf(stderr, "last_include: %i\n", p->last_inclusive);
  }

  return;
}

  struct Option *opt5 = T_define_option();
  opt5->key = T_string("val");
  opt5->type = T_real_subrange(100.0, True, 200.0, True);
  opt5->description = T_string("Values in between");
  //Print the content to stdout
  opt5->key->print(opt5->key);
  opt5->description->print(opt5->description);
  opt5->type->print(opt5->type);

//This will bw the result at stdout:
val
Values in between
first: 100.000000
last: 200.000000
first_include: 1
last_include: 1

One possibility would be:

T_dependent(Type* (*callback)(int argc, charargv), char* opt0 [, char* opt1, ...])

The parser would provide an option to expand an option's type given a partial list of option values, e.g.

d.vect --expand=rgb_column map=inmap

would convert the rgb_column= option's dependent type to a fixed enumeration of the available columns for the specified input map.

Well, sorry, you lost me at this point. But i think i will catch up, if you could add more examples. :)

I think your approach has enormous potential, but i am also concerned that it may be to complicated for grass module programmers?

by huhabla, 14 years ago

Attachment: main.c added

Simple examples of the new type system suggested by Glynn

by huhabla, 14 years ago

Attachment: type_system.h added

Very simple prototype of the new type system suggested by Glynn

by huhabla, 14 years ago

Attachment: type_system.c added

Very simple prototype of the new type system suggested by Glynn

in reply to:  14 comment:15 by glynn, 14 years ago

Replying to huhabla:

I have implemented a simple prototype, to get an idea how this may work. Files are attached. Do you think my implementation points in the right direction?

I think that it's too early to be bothering with implementation details right now. I'd rather clarify the concept then the interface.

Variadic functions could either use a prefixed count or a NULL terminator (but the latter won't work for numbers).

You would also need dependent base types, e.g. "column name within the database table associated with the map specified by the input= option".

I am not sure if i understand that, What is the benefit of dependent base type?

I'm talking about the situation where the set of valid values for one option is dependent upon the value of another option. E.g. for options which specify the name of a database column, valid values are column names in a particular table, typically the table associated with a specific map.

E.g. for d.vect, there are rgb_column=, wcolumn=, size_column=, rot_column=, and attrcolumn= options; valid values for these options are column names from the table associated with the map specified by the map= option. Ideally, the GUI would be able to offer a list of column names once the user has chosen a map.

IIRC, at present the GUI updates the list whenever the user chooses a map. If a module has more than one option whose value is a vector map name, the GUI has no way of knowing which one determines the set of valid column names.

Similar issues exist if valid option values are categories within a raster map, or cell values within the map's range, or coordinates within the map's bounds, subgroups within an imagery group, etc.

When it comes to parsing, you could implement such types using a generic mechanism using a callback function to enumerate or validate allowed values; however, we need to think about how this interacts with the GUI.

Right. This is why I'm inclined towards a "closed sum" approach, with a finite, fixed set of base types and constructors. Having the GUI invoke the module to execute a call-back should be a last resort. Apart from efficiency issues, it forces the GUI to use a generic interface rather than more specialised interfaces.

I think your approach has enormous potential, but i am also concerned that it may be to complicated for grass module programmers?

Most modules will only need relatively straightforward types, e.g. "raster map name". The most common cases will just use G_define_standard_option(). Still-common but more complex cases (e.g. a database column for a particular map) can have utility functions written for them.

comment:16 by martinl, 8 years ago

Milestone: 7.0.07.0.5

comment:17 by martinl, 8 years ago

Milestone: 7.0.57.3.0

comment:18 by martinl, 8 years ago

Milestone: 7.3.07.4.0

Milestone renamed

comment:19 by neteler, 6 years ago

Milestone: 7.4.07.4.1

Ticket retargeted after milestone closed

comment:20 by neteler, 6 years ago

Milestone: 7.4.17.4.2

comment:21 by martinl, 6 years ago

Milestone: 7.4.27.6.0

All enhancement tickets should be assigned to 7.6 milestone.

comment:22 by martinl, 5 years ago

Milestone: 7.6.07.6.1

Ticket retargeted after milestone closed

comment:23 by martinl, 5 years ago

Milestone: 7.6.17.6.2

Ticket retargeted after milestone closed

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