= GRASS GIS =

[[TOC]]

Version: 6.4.0svn r36506 (as of Mar 2009)

== User Notes ==

 * A desktop raster/vector GIS system (command line and graphical user interface)
 * Main site: http://grass.osgeo.org/
 * Current packaging should be considered a preliminary proof-of-concept.
 * The available interfaces are the new wxPython GUI, the older Tcl/Tk GUI GIS manager (GIS.m), and a plain text curses DOS box command prompt (DOS box has no access to display monitors).
 * '''First time users should explore the [http://grass.bologna.enea.it/tutorial/ first steps tutorial]''' after installing.

=== Installation === 
 * Get the [http://download.osgeo.org/osgeo4w/osgeo4w-setup.exe OSGeo4W Installer]. (''400k network-installer, full download is approx 60-80mb'')
  * Generic installer help can be found on the main [WikiStart OSGeo4W] wiki page.
 * For the moment '''GRASS is available in the "advanced" install'''. After a period of testing it may be moved to the "express" section. All other required packages are auto-selected during the installation.

 * Change the default help browser: edit `C:\OSGeo4W\etc\ini\grass.bat` and change the GRASS_HTML_BROWSER line to be like:
{{{
set GRASS_HTML_BROWSER=%PROGRAMFILES%\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
}}}

=== Usage === 
The application can be run through:
 * a desktop shortcut (icon)
 * a menu shortcut
 * its executable ''osgeo4w''\apps\grass-6.4.X\bin\grass64.bat
 * on the osgeo4w shell through the grass64.bat

To start GRASS with graphical user interface, click on the desktop icon.

How to get '''command line''':
 * Start the osgeo4w shell. Then type:
{{{
   grass64 -text
}}}

How to start GRASS with the '''new wxPython GUI''':
 * Start the osgeo4w shell. Then type:
{{{
   grass64 -wxpython
}}}

Alternatively from the Tcl/Tk GUI go to Config -> GRASS working environment -> Change settings -> GRASS variable to set -> "GRASS_GUI=wxpython"
If it doesn't work, make sure that python is in the path.

=== Later Installation Update === 

 * It is sufficient to re-run the installer which fetches the list of packages to then suggest available updates for the individual packages.

=== Lab Installation as offline set of packages === 

While the OSGeo4W installer is nice for individual installs, it may be problematic for institutional lab installs, where IT managers want to have stand alone applications that they can test, install, and remove easily. To install OSGeo4W-GRASS package as stand alone, see

 * [wiki:FAQ#HowdoIperformanofflineorcomputerlabinstall How do I perform an offline or computer lab install?]
 * and [http://blog.qgis.org/node/124 Unattended install of QGIS (et al) from OSGeo4W]

== TODO ==

 * Test, test test!

== Errata ==

 * While the GRASS libraries and modules are typically extremely well tested and stable, this new Windows install package is not. Because we are very confident in the underlying GIS code we hope that any problems due to the new Windows packaging efforts will be superficial and quickly resolved. You can help this process by reporting bugs: if it seems to be the fault of the installer report bugs to the [http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo4w/report OSGeo4W bug tracker], if it seems to be the fault of GRASS, report bugs to the [http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/report GRASS bug tracker]. You will need to create yourself an [http://www.osgeo.org/osgeo_userid/ OSGeo ID] to submit and comment on bugs. Bugs don't get fixed unless people point them out! It is expected that some issues related to spaces in the path names still exist, but we hope to have found most of these by now. Also it is likely that the wxPython GUI still has some gremlins in it, please help us find and fix them by reporting any errors you come across! Typically once found they are easy to fix. You can help to find spaces-in-the-path bugs by installing OSGeo4W into "`Program Files\OSGeo4W`" and setting the GRASS data directory to "`Documents and Settings\username`".

 * If a bunch of errors appear in the DOS command window (e.g. "Traceback ... wxgui.py, line 1234") you can cut and paste these to a text file or bug report by right-clicking on the window and selecting "Mark". Scroll up to the top of the text and drag the highlight box down over the text with the left mouse button. When you are done highlighting right click. You can then Paste the text from the clipboard.

 * GRASS "monitors" are not present in this build due to an unresolved [http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gis.grass.devel/18751/ problem replacing] [http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gis.grass.devel/24221/ Unix-domain sockets] [http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gis.grass.devel/25688/ with pipes or TCP sockets] and so some interactive modules which require them, such as i.class and i.ortho.photo, will not work. You will need to use a Cygwin build for Windows to use those modules or help port them to the new multi-platform wxPython GUI.

 * See also [https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/CompileOnWindows#Errata keyword: wingrass tickets in the main GRASS bug tracker]

 * Probably more ...

See also the [http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/WinGRASS_Current_Status#Known_Issues known issues wiki page].

=== Open Tickets ===

[[TicketQuery(status=new|assigned|reopened&keywords~=grass&order=priority)]]

=== Closed Tickets ===

[[TicketQuery(status=closed&keywords~=grass&order=priority)]]


== Packager Notes ==

 * Compile guide used:
  * [http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/CompileOnWindows Build using MinGW] (maturing nicely)
  * or [http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/CompileOnWindowsMSVC Build using MSVC] (in development)
  * (based on ~~ http://www.webalice.it/marco.pasetti/grass/BuildFromSource.html ~~)
 * Main [http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/WinGRASS_Current_Status WinGRASS Current Status] page
 * Steps:
  * compile GRASS in a way that it fits in the OSGeo4W directory hierarchy. Example: [http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/branches/develbranch_6/mswindows/osgeo4w/package.sh]
  * package in a tar.bz2 file
  * if needed, write/update "etc/postinstall/$paketname.bat"  which is executed after extraction of the package during installation to define menu stuff and link on user desktop.
 * Depends on the MSYS package for command line operations, because GRASS 6 uses unix shell scripts (GRASS 7 uses Python and so no UNIX compatibility is needed at run time [but build scripts still require GNU tools like awk, sed, etc.])
 * WinGRASS is built with MSYS/MinGW.  The libraries used to link to the VC++ built GDAL & friends is in the mingw-libs package (copies of the libraries: ''foo''{{{.lib}}} renamed to {{{lib}}}''foo''{{{.a}}}).
 * Release tree: http://download.osgeo.org/osgeo4w/release/grass/ (the installer selects the package with highest version number)
 * Maintainer is JuergenFischer ('''''seeking new package maintainer''''')