wiki:GSoC/2020/StartupWindow

Version 37 (modified by lindakladivova, 4 years ago) ( diff )

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GSoC 2020: GRASS GIS startup mechanism

Title: Creation of a new GRASS GIS startup mechanism
Student Name: Linda Kladivova
Organization: ​OSGeo - Open Source Geospatial Foundation
Mentor Name: Anna Petrasova, Martin Landa, Vaclav Petras, Moritz Lennert
GSoC proposal: ​View proposal
GitHub Repository: ​view repository

Abstract

This project will focus on the creation of a more user-friendly GRASS GIS startup. The general idea is to make the initial user’s contact easier and with a less steep learning curve. While programming new GRASS startup GUI several tasks will be solved – changes in Location wizard structure, Data Catalog as well as general GUI.

Goal

GRASS GIS comes with the concept of Location and Mapset which is not going to be replaced because of its advantages such as organized structure. The goal of this project is to make this concept more user-friendly (especially in terms of the welcome screen). The motion is that the Data Catalog will be expanded so that in addition to raster and vector data, it can manage even Locations and Mapsets. Then this widget could be used in the welcome screen. The work schedule below has been compiled on the basis of the Roadmap available here: ​https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/wxGUIDevelopment/New_Startup#PragueRoadmap.

To sum up the schedule: From June 1st to June 28th (4 weeks), I plan to work on the Location wizard (the topic for the first evaluation), from June 29th to July 19th (3 weeks) I plan to program the new form of the Data Catalog (the topic for the second evaluation). From July 20th to August 23rd I will work on creating the new welcome page itself by integrating the improved components.

Timeline

Time Period

Milestones

Tasks

Status

May 4 - June 1
Community Bonding

  • Introduce myself in dev list, get in contact with my mentors and discuss the design of functions
  • Prepare the wiki page about the project
  • Set up the GitHub repository of the project
  • Setup GRASS GIS developer environment
  • Familiarize with the code in wxPython and with the development process
  • Discuss the elements of the startup window and get acquainted with the whole design (video call on May 14)
  • Contribute small features related to Location Wizard (see week 1) (first PR already created, see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/493)

Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok

June 1 - June 7
Week 1

Location wizard - first page

  • Major code refactoring
  • Remove map picture (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/657)
  • Database directory not editable but mentioned
  • Location name marked as required
  • Location title (renamed as description) marked as optional
  • "Set default region and resolution" removed and set automatically if info is available
  • "Create user mapset" removed (user can do it from the data catalog in the future, now with a button in the startup window) (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/646)



Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok

June 8 - June 14
Week 2

Location wizard - EPSG page - (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/670):

  • Remove path to "/usr/share/proj/epsg"
  • Merge search and EPSG code text inputs
  • Add a link to epsg.io. Possibly put text from the text field into a query part of the URL.
  • Show the matching CSRs as user types EPSG or any text (like now), if only a number, assume it is EPSG (don't search through definition)
  • "to WGS" dialog as an additional



Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
?

June 15 - June 21
Week 3

Location wizard

Ok


Ok
Ok

?
?

June 22 - June 28
Week 4

Finishing the implementation of Location wizard



Ok
Ok

Ok
OK

June 29 - July 5
Week 5

Data catalog:

First evaluation
?
?
?
OK

OK

OK

July 6 - July 12
Week 6

Data catalog:


OK
OK
OK

July 13 - July 19
Week 7

Data catalog

OK
OK
OK

July 20 - July 26
Week 8

Data Catalog:


OK
OK

July 27 - August 2
Week 9

Data Catalog:


OK
WIP
WIP
WIP
WIP
WIP

August 3 - August 9
Week 10

General GUI:

  • Finishing up
  • Testing
  • Documentation
  • Integrating the components into the new welcome page

TBD

August 10 - August 16
Week 11

Integrating the components into the new welcome page (continued)

TBD

August 17 - August 23
Week 12

Finishing up, testing, documentation

TBD

August 24 - August 31
Week 13

Finalizing the existing work Submitting the final work

TBD

Bonding period report

Introduce myself in dev list, get in contact with my mentors and discuss the design of functions
After being accepted as a student for GSoC 2020, I introduced myself to grass dev lists on May 13. Also, I got in contact with my mentors - Martin Landa, Anna Petrasova, Vaclav Petras and Moritz Lennert. On May 14 we set up the video call where we discussed how to set up my GRASS dev environment and how to proceed with future work.

Prepare the wiki page about the project
I created my project wiki page (2) and added the link to the GSoC 2018 Accepted proposals page (3). The wiki page includes - General information about the project (title, mentors, links to the proposal and GitHub repository, etc.), a brief description of the project, goal, and timeline of tasks and deliverables. I will keep my wiki page up to date and will add weekly reports following the instructions in the GSoC Recommendations for Student page (4).

Set up the GitHub repository of the project
I have chosen GitHub (5) as a public repository for the development of this project. I added the link to the GSoC 2020 Accepted proposals page (3), to my wiki page (2) and I shared it with my mentors. My repository is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0, according to the license of GRASS GIS.

Set up a developer environment
I checked and updated my developer environment so as to be ready to start coding after the bonding period.

Four PR already created
I created two PR related to the First Page of Location Wizard: ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/493 and ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/646. Both of them are already closed. In those PR the layout of this page was changed quite significantly. The database directory was mentioned as the last attribute and can be changed. The Location Name was marked as required. Location Title was renamed as Description and marked as optional (also in the Summary Page this was renamed). Both checkboxes "Set default region and resolution" and "Create user mapset" were removed.

I also created a single PR related to removing the picture of the world: ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/657 which is still open and made one improvement related to automatic detection of case-independent cases of grassdata directory that is not literally mentioned in the roadmap: ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/664 (issue: ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/644.)

(1) ​https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/grass-dev/2018-April/088262.html
(2) ​https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/GSoC/2020/StartupWindow
(3) ​https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_2020_Accepted
(4) ​https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_Recommendations_for_Students
(5) ​https://github.com/lindakladivova/grass

Weekly reports

Week 1

1) What did I complete this week?
I created a single PR related to the bigger topic related to changes in EPSG page (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/670). I made a change in layout definition. Now it is defined by boxSizer instead of gridBagSizer. Also, path to usr/share/proj/epsg was removed. Search and EPSG code text inputs were merged into one search input. An informative link to epsg.io was added. Removing the picture of the world: ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/657 was already merged into master. Similarly, I am already done with the automatic detection of case-independent cases of grassdata directory: ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/664 (issue: ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/644.)

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?
Next week I am going to continue on PR regarding the EPSG page (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/670). The layout is done, now I am gonna focus on events. There are several requirements:

  • searching in a list on the fly
  • choose automatically the first row and permit "next" button
  • if epsg code is empty, nothing is selected and "next" button is not active
  • change informative URL according to a query string

Furthermore, I am gonna work on improvement when GRASS should create a grassdata directory in the default path for its platform automatically (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/682).

3) Is there any blocking issue?
No, it isn't.

Week 2

1) What did I complete this week?
I focused mainly on completing the PR (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/670) regarding the EPSG page. New things that are already incorporated:

  • remove path to "/usr/share/proj/epsg"
  • merge search and EPSG code text inputs
  • searching in a list on the fly
  • if epsg code is empty, nothing is selected and "next" button is not active
  • change informative URL according to a query string (link to epsg.io)

Other two PRs were established:

After starting GRASS GIS with GUI, the GUI now searches for existing grassdata. If nothing is found, GRASS GIS (GUI) should automatically create directory named grassdata as a subdirectory of a platfrom-dependent directory. This platfrom-dependent directory would be:

  1. $HOME (os.path.expanduser('~')) on Linux and the like,
  2. User's Documents on Windows (see dac6d4a for code trying to identify that dir),
  3. One of the above on macOS - macOS users, please share your ideas.
  4. If that fails, it should use a temporary directory (/tmp/... etc.) as a fallback.

Those PRs are still in progress.

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?

I would definitely work on finishing PRs see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/664 and ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/705. Then I will continue in work on Location Wizard particularly Projection page and Final Page. The labels in some pages will be also probably somehow changed, so far it was not addressed.

3) Is there any blocking issue?

No, it isn't.

Week 3

1) What did I complete this week?

I have worked and completed two PRs related to Startup page:

I have also set up and work on the new PR related to CRS selection page (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/721, see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/706). I am almost done with this PR.

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?

I would end up the last PR related to Location Wizard (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/721) and also start to work on other issues related mainly to the Data Catalog:

3) Is there any blocking issue?

I am sorry for not doing much work earlier this week, I was away one week from home till this Wednesday. Now, for the last three days, I have been trying to catch it up and next week I will work harder. :)

I do not have any blocking issues.

Week 4

1) What did I complete this week?

I finalized my work regarding the Location Wizard:

I have also started to work on other issues related mainly to the Data Catalog:

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?

I would finalize on the PR Add new mapset action to data catalog (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/731, see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/717):

  • adjusting the code in gis_set.py to accommodate the new changes,
  • creation of new function in datacatalog/tree called insertMapset for inserting a mapset into a virtual tree,
  • adjusting the code in gis_set.py and tree.py to accommodate the new changes.

I would also start to work on other issues related mainly to the Data Catalog:

3) Is there any blocking issue?

I do not have any blocking issues.

Week 5

1) What did I complete this week?

I ended up adding of the new mapset action to the data catalog (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/731, see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/717):

  • adjusting the code in gis_set.py to accommodate the new changes,
  • creation of new function in datacatalog/tree called insertMapset for inserting a mapset into a virtual tree,
  • adjusting the code in gis_set.py and tree.py to accommodate the new changes.

I also made two other PR related to Data Catalog. First one makes data tab the default in GUI. The Data tab was moved so it is the first tab from the left and it is the default when the GUI opens. (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/756, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/748). Second one merges LocationMapTree and DataCatalogTree classes (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/755, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/740).

I have also started to work on a bigger issue which allows users to add additional grass databases as currently, only one database is in the GUI data catalog (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/761, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/741). Unfortunately, I made the mistake upon committing into GitHub so now till correction it is also associated with other commits. In this PR I made the toolbar button for adding an existing database and then edited several functions mainly in datacatalog/tree.py that need to handle more than one database. This PR is not finished yet, I am a bit stuck here and need to solve other processing with mentors.

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?

I would finalize on the PR Add multiple GRASS databases (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/761, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/741). I would also start to work on other issues related mainly to the Data Catalog:

3) Is there any blocking issue?
No, it is not.

Week 6

1) What did I complete this week?

I am finalizing the PR Add multiple GRASS databases (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/761, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/741). This PR changes tree.py quite significantly and also adds the new toolbar button for adding the existing GRASS database. Simultaneously, I have finished the bigger PR related to new Rename and Delete actions of Location and Mapset (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/771, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/710).

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?

I would finalize on the PR Add multiple GRASS databases (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/761, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/741). And I would merge the above-mentioned PRs. I would also start to work on other issues related mainly to the Data Catalog:

3) Is there any blocking issue?
No, it is not.

Week 7

1) What did I complete this week?

I finalized the PR Add multiple GRASS databases (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/761, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/741). I also made several smaller PRs related to several issues. As we would like distinguish different layers according to lock and ownership in future, it was necessary to distinguish label and name of nodes (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/783, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/780). I also changed the order of Layer Manager tabs and a label "Layers" to "Display" (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/802, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/799). Simultaneously, I am working on bigger PRs related to new actions in Data Catalog. The first one adds Create New Location and Download Location actions to database node in Data tab (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/790, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/747). The second one allows the Delete action on multiple selected mapsets (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/795, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/791).

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?

As the paradigm has quite changed after the community video call on July 15 (startup screen will be probably removed), I will go ahead and add more functions and actions to Data Catalog which is now becoming the center point of the whole management in GRASS. First I am gonna focus on Adding new icons to the data catalog for several actions whose list is still broadening. This is related to the Issue ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/800. There are also other issues related to the Data Catalog I am gonna address:

3) Is there any blocking issue?
No, it is not.

Week 8

1) What did I complete this week?

I ended up a smaller PR repairing Delete action in Data Catalog (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/789, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/788). Then I and my mentors finalized bigger PR related to new actions in Data Catalog. The first one adds Create New Location and Download Location actions to database node in Data tab (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/790, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/747). The second one allows the Delete action on multiple selected mapsets (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/795, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/791). There is also another PR that adds new icons to Data Catalog for actions available in the context menu. Out of those actions Create new mapset was managed (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/811, ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/800).

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?

I am gonna work on new icons available in the context menu: download sample location, create new location, import into current mapset. There are also other issues related to the Data Catalog I am gonna address:

3) Is there any blocking issue?
There is no technical stuff, however, I will be four days gone for my holidays (25-28 July). From 29 July I will start to work on GSoC again and do not have any other plans until the end of August.

Week 9

1) What did I complete this week?

I added two icons avaliable in the context menu: download sample location, create new location (see ​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/pull/830). Currently I am working on 5 other PRs and unfortunately I am a bit stuck on 3 of them.

I set new mapset node properties: lock and user: Our motion is that those mapsets will be displayed in Data Catalog in gray and also distinguished by labels. I have an error which is probably somehow relates to my new keys definition, but do not know how to figure that out.

Within this PR I made two functions for deleting grassdb from the disk and removing grassdb from the tree. In this PR I also changed a bit checking if wanted grassdb is not already added to Data Catalog. All these functions = adding, removing and deleting grassdb change the wx file so that we can remember which grass databases are in the Data Catalog. Saving grassdatabase string to this file works but I have a problem when I starting GRASS GIS for the second time it falls down because it does not probably like the edited wx file (see errorPR858).

This PR is ready for review. I added checking of current mapsets and location when deleting and renaming. The motion is that when Allow editing mode is ON we are allowed to rename and delete any mapsets and locations except current ones, if OFF no mapset or location can be renamed or deleted.

Here I made two functions startup_location_exists which checks for demolocation and copy_startup_location which copy the simple location with some data into GRASS database. I have a problem with testing that.

I am not stuck here but need some feedback if the icons I suggested are good, reasonable or something entirely different is needed.

2) What am I going to achieve for next week?

I am gonna end up those above-mentioned PRs. It was decided that the startup screen is no longer used. It changed quite significantly the next GSoC steps. Now there are several issues related to the Data Catalog I am gonna address. They come from Next steps in GSoC and beyond video call, July 15, 2020 written by Vaclav Petras (see ​https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/wxGUIDevelopment/New_Startup#NextstepsinGSoCandbeyondvideocallJuly152020):

  • Check for gislock and other issues when deleting/renaming/editing mapset and location in catalog (​https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/801)
  • Add buttons to add new things: Import into current mapset (also as a context menu item on mapset, see below).
  • Add context menu items: Import into mapset (like in File), Export map (like in Layers)
  • An icon for creating the new database?
  • Deleting more than one location?

3) Is there any blocking issue?
No. It is not.

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