1variables(1) Grass User's Manual variables(1)
2
6 There are two types of variables:
7 shell environment variables,
9 GRASS gisenv variables.
11 There are a number of shell environment variable groups:
12 PNG driver
14 PS driver (PostScript)
16 variables for direct rendering
18 variables for internal use
20 Any setting which needs to be modifiable by a GRASS program (e.g. MONI‐
21 TOR) has to be a GRASS gisenv variable.
22
24 GRASS maintains some settings in a number of files on the system. They
25 are detailed below.
26
28 Setting environment variables depends on the shell being used:
29 Bash: export VARIABLE=value
30 or
31 Csh: setenv VARIABLE value
32 or
33 Cmd.exe (Windows): set VARIABLE=value
34
36 To get personal BASH shell definitions (aliases, color
37 listing option, ...) into GRASS, store them in:
38 $HOME/.grass.bashrc
39 To get personal CSH shell definitions (aliases, color
41 listing option, ...) into GRASS, store them in:
42 $HOME/.grass.cshrc
43
45 Use "g.gisenv" within GRASS. This permanently predefines GRASS vari‐
46 ables in the .grassrc6 file.
47 Usage:
49 g.gisenv set="VARIABLE=VALUE"
51 It looks unusual with two equals signs, but g.gisenv serves dual duty
54 for getting and setting GRASS variables.
55 If the user just specifies a variable name, it defaults to "get" mode.
57 For example:
58 GRASS ~> g.gisenv GRASS_GUI
60 text
61
64 [ To be set from the terminal shell or startup scripts ]
65 GISBASE
67 directory where GRASS lives. This is set automatically by the startup
68 script.
69 GISRC
71 name of .grassrc6 file. GISRCRC defines the system wide value while
72 in a GRASS session.
73 GRASS_ADDON_PATH
75 [grass startup script]
76 allows to specify additional paths to local GRASS modules extra to
77 standard distribution.
78 GRASS_ADDON_ETC
80 [libgis, g.findetc]
81 specify paths where support files (etc/) may be found external to
82 standard distribution.
83 GRASS_BATCH_JOB
85 defines the name (path) of a shell script to be processed as batch
86 job.
87 GRASS_ERROR_MAIL
89 set to any value to send user mail on an error or warning that hap‐
90 pens while stderr is being redirected.
91 GRASS_GNUPLOT
93 [i.spectral]
94 program to use for plotting "gnuplot" data
95 GRASS_GUI
97 either "text" or "tcltk" to define non-/graphical startup. Can also
98 specify the name of the GUI to use, e.g. "gis.m", "d.m" or "wxpython"
99 (wx name subject to change). Also exists as a GRASS gisenv variable
100 (see below). If this shell variable exists at GRASS startup, it will
101 determine the GUI used. If it is not defined startup will default to
102 the last GUI used.
103 GRASS_FONT_CAP
105 [g.mkfontcap, d.font, display drivers]
106 Specifies an alternative location (to $GISBASE/etc/fontcap) for the
107 font configuration file.
108 GRASS_HEIGHT
110 [d.mon]
111 defines the height of GRASS monitor, see also GRASS_WIDTH
112 GRASS_HTML_BROWSER
114 [init.sh, d.m, gis.m]
115 defines name of HTML browser. For most platforms this should be an
116 executable in your PATH, or the full path to an executable.
117 Mac OS X runs applications differently from the CLI. Therefore,
118 GRASS_HTML_BROWSER should be the application's signature, which is a
119 domain-like name, just reversed. ie: com.apple.Safari. To find an
120 application's signature, type the following in a Terminal (fill in the
121 path to the application you are interested in, for example: /Applica‐
122 tions/Safari.app):
123 grep -A 1 "CFBundleIdentifier" /path/to/application.app/Con‐
124 tents/Info.plist
125 The signature is the following the , without the bracketing tags.
126 GRASS_INT_ZLIB
128 [libgis]
129 If the environment variable GRASS_INT_ZLIB exists, new compressed
130 rasters will be compressed using zlib instead of RLE compression. Such
131 rasters will have a "compressed" value of 2 in the cellhd file.
132 Obviously, decompression is controlled by the raster's "compressed"
133 value, not the environment variable.
134 GRASS_MESSAGE_FORMAT
136 [various modules]
137 Maybe set to either "standard" or "gui" (normally GRASS takes care)
138 GRASS_MOUSE_BUTTON
140 [various modules]
141 swaps mouse buttons for two-button or left-handed mice. Its value has
142 three digits 1, 2, and 3, which represent default left, middle, and
143 right buttons respectively. Setting to "132" will swap middle and right
144 buttons. Note that this variable should be set before a display driver
145 is initialized (e.g., d.mon x0).
146 GRASS_PAGER
148 [various modules]
149 Maybe set to either "less" or "more"
150 GRASS_PERL
152 [Used during install process for generating man pages]
153 set perl with path
154 GRASS_RND_SEED
156 set random seed for r.mapcalc rand() function
157 GRASS_SH
159 [shell scripts on Windows]
160 Path to bourne shell interpreter used to run shell scripts
161 GRASS_TCLSH
163 [nviz]
164 set tclsh shell name to override 'tclsh'
165 GRASS_XTERM
167 lib/init/grass-xterm-wrapper
168 lib/init/grass-xterm-mac
169 set to any value (e.g. rxvt, aterm, gnome-terminal, konsole) to sub‐
170 stitute 'x-terminal-emulator' or 'xterm'. The Mac OS X app startup
171 defaults to an internal '$GISBASE/etc/grass-xterm-mac', which emulates
172 the necessary xterm functionality in Terminal.app.
173 GRASS_UI_TERM
175 set to any value to use the terminal based parser
176 GRASS_VERSION
178 reports the current version number (used by R-stats interface etc);
179 should not be changed by user
180 GRASS_WIDTH
182 [d.mon]
183 defines the width of GRASS monitor, see also GRASS_HEIGHT
184 GRASS_WISH
186 [d.m, nviz]
187 set wish shell name to override 'wish'
188 GRASS_NO_GLX_PBUFFERS
190 [nviz]
191 set to any value to disable the use of Pbuffers
192 GRASS_NO_GLX_PIXMAPS
194 [nviz]
195 set to any value to disable the use of GLX Pixmaps
196 List of selected GRASS PNG driver environment variables
198 [ These variables control the function of the PNG Driver. ]
199 GRASS_PNGFILE
201 name of PNG output file. If it ends with ".ppm" a PPM file will be
202 created.
203 GRASS_WIDTH
205 defines the width of GRASS monitor, see also GRASS_HEIGHT
206 GRASS_HEIGHT
208 defines the height of GRASS monitor, see also GRASS_WIDTH
209 GRASS_BACKGROUNDCOLOR
211 defines the background color of the image created by the PNG driver
212 GRASS_TRANSPARENT
214 if "TRUE", the image created by the PNG driver will have a transpar‐
215 ent background
216 GRASS_PNG_COMPRESSION
218 compression level of PNG files (0 = none, 1 = fastest, 9 = best)
219 GRASS_TRUECOLOR
221 if "TRUE", the PNG driver generates a true-color image
222 GRASS_PNG_AUTO_WRITE
224 tells the PNG driver to write the image to a file whenever a client
225 disconnects, rather than waiting until you stop the monitor
226 GRASS_PNG_READ
228 if "TRUE", the PNG driver will initialize the image from the contents
229 of $GRASS_PNGFILE
230 GRASS_PNG_MAPPED
232 if "TRUE", the PNG driver will map $GRASS_PNGFILE as its framebuffer,
233 rather than using memory; this only works with BMP files
234 List of selected GRASS PS driver environment variables
236 [ These variables control the function of the PS Driver. ]
237 GRASS_PSFILE
239 name of output file. If it ends with ".eps" an EPS file will be cre‐
240 ated.
241 GRASS_PAPER
243 sets the screen dimensions and margins to fit a standard paper size,
244 see also GRASS_WIDTH, GRASS_HEIGHT.
245 GRASS_WIDTH
247 defines the width of the screen, see also GRASS_HEIGHT
248 GRASS_HEIGHT
250 defines the height of the screen, see also GRASS_WIDTH
251 GRASS_TRUECOLOR
253 if "TRUE", the PS driver generates color output, otherwise mono‐
254 chrome.
255 GRASS_LANDSCAPE
257 if "TRUE", the screen is rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise so that
258 a "landscape" screen fits better on "portrait" paper.
259 GRASS_PS_HEADER
261 if "FALSE", the output is appended to any existing file, and no pro‐
262 log or setup sections are generated.
263 GRASS_PS_TRAILER
265 if "FALSE", no trailer section is generated.
266 List of selected GRASS environment variables for direct rendering
268 [ In addition to those which are understood by the PNG Driver, the fol‐
269 lowing variables affect direct rendering. ]
270 GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE
272 tells the raster library to use its built-in PNG/PS driver rather
273 than connecting to an external monitor process using sockets. If
274 GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE=TRUE is set, there is no need to run "d.mon
275 start=PNG"
276 GRASS_FONT
278 specifies the font as either the name of a font from $GIS‐
279 BASE/etc/fontcap (or alternative fontcap file specifed by
280 GRASS_FONT_CAP), or alternatively the full path to a FreeType font
281 file.
282 GRASS_ENCODING
284 the encoding to be assumed for text which is drawn using a freetype
285 font; may be any encoding know to "iconv".
286 List of selected internal GRASS environment variables
288 [ These variables are intended for internal use only by the GRASS soft‐
289 ware to facilitate communiction between the GIS engine, GRASS scripts,
290 and the GUI. The user should not set these in a GRASS session. They
291 are meant to be set locally for specific commands. ]
292 GRASS_OVERWRITE
294 [all modules]
295 toggles map overwrite.
296 0 - maps are protected (default),
298 1 - maps with identical names will be overwritten.
300 This variable is automatically created by g.parser so that the "--over‐
301 write" option will be inherited by dependant modules as the script
302 runs. Setting either the GRASS_OVERWRITE environment variable or the
303 OVERWRITE gisenv variable detailed below will cause maps with identical
304 names to be overwritten.
305 GRASS_VERBOSE
307 [all modules]
308 toggles verbosity level
309 0 - only errors and warnings are printed
311 1 - progress messages are printed (percent complete)
313 2 - all module messages are printed
315 3 - additional verbose messages are printed
317 This variable is automatically created by g.parser so that the "--ver‐
318 bose" or "--quiet" flags will be inherited by dependant modules as the
319 script runs.
320 GRASS_REGION
322 [libgis]
323 Override region settings, separate parameters with a ";". Format is
324 the same as in the WIND region settings file. Otherwise use is the same
325 as WIND_OVERRIDE.
326 WIND_OVERRIDE
328 [libgis]
329 It causes programs to use the specified named region (created with e.g.
331 "g.region save=...") to be used as the current region, instead of the
332 region from the WIND file.
333 This allows programs such as gis.m to run external commands on an
334 alternate region without having to modify the WIND file then change it
335 back afterwards.
336
338 [ Use g.gisenv to get/set/unset/change them ]
339 DEBUG
341 [entire GRASS]
342 sets level of debug message output (0: no debug messages)
343 g.gisenv set=DEBUG=0
344 DM_FORM_MODE
346 [d.m]
347 sets default form mode (txt or gui)
348 g.gisenv set=DM_FORM_MODE=txt
349 GISDBASE
351 initial database
352 GIS_LOCK
354 lock ID to prevent parallel GRASS use,
355 process id of the start-up shell script
356 GRASS_DB_ENCODING
358 [d.what.vect/forms library]
359 encoding of query form (utf-8, ascii, iso8859-1, koi8-r)
360 GRASS_GUI
362 either "text" or "tcltk" to define non-/graphical startup. Can also
363 specify the name of the GUI to use, e.g. "gis.m", "d.m" or "wxpython"
364 (wx name subject to change). Can also exist as a GRASS startup shell
365 variable. The gisenv setting defines what GUI GRASS will use the next
366 time it starts.
367 LOCATION
369 full path to location directory
370 LOCATION_NAME
372 initial location name
373 MAPSET
375 initial mapset
376 OVERWRITE
378 [all modules]
379 toggles map overwrite.
380 With 0 maps are protected (default),
381 With 1 maps with identical names will be overwritten.
382 Example: g.gisenv set="OVERWRITE=0"
383 You can force an overwrite for an individual command by adding "--o"
384 to the command:
385 r.in.gdal --o output=existing_map ...
386
388 $HOME/.grassrc6
389 stores the GRASS variables (but not environment variables)
390 $HOME/.grasslogin6
392 stores the DBMI passwords in this hidden file Only the file owner
393 can access this file.
394 $HOME/GIS_ERROR_LOG
396 If this file exists then all GRASS error and warning messages are
397 logged here. Applies to current user. To generate the file, use:
398 touch $HOME/GIS_ERROR_LOG
399 $GISBASE/GIS_ERROR_LOG
401 If this file exists then all GRASS error and warning messages are
402 logged here. Applies to all users. (proper write permissions must be in
403 place)
404 Note: Error and warning messages encountered while using the GUI menus
406 are not logged.
407 SEE ALSO
409 g.gisenv, g.parser
410 Last changed: $Date: 2008-04-15 19:10:05 +0200 (Tue, 15 Apr 2008) $
412 Help Index
414GRASS 6.3.0 variables(1)