1wxGUI(1) GRASS GIS User's Manual wxGUI(1)
2
7 wxGUI is a native Graphical User Interface (GUI) for GRASS GIS. Its
8 main features include displaying geographical data in 2D and 3D, call‐
9 ing GRASS GIS modules, and interacting with data.
10 Overview
12 The GUI is composed of three main components:
13 • The Layer Manager includes map layer management, integrated
15 command-line prompt, and command output window tab.
16 • The Map Display Window integrates basic tools for zooming, pan‐
18 ning, data querying, and map elements (north arrows, barscale,
19 etc.). Each display window is associated with its own set of
20 map layers in the layer manager. The user may start multiple
21 map displays during a session. The map layers for each display
22 are grouped under different tabs in the Layer Manager.
23 • Module dialogs enable running GRASS modules that can be
25 searched and launched via Tools tab.
26 Layer Manager
28 The Layer Manager provides an interactive graphical interface for cre‐
29 ating and managing GRASS displays. There is a toolbar to manage dis‐
30 played map layers, a layer tree frame in which map layers for display
31 are organized, a command output window tab, and interactive command
32 line prompt. On Linux and Windows platforms, the layer manager also has
33 a menu bar with a set of pull-down menus for all GRASS GIS functions
34 (analysis, file I/O, GIS configuration and management); on a Mac, the
35 GRASS functions menu is at the top of the screen.
36 Figure: Layer Manager screenshot on Ubuntu
37 The top left button of the toolbar opens a new Map Display Window. Each
39 map display has a unique set of layers to display and region settings.
40 Other toolbar buttons add layers of different types for display in the
41 selected map display window. There are additional buttons for saving or
42 opening workspace file, and others.
43 Map layers are listed in the window frame below the toolbar. Layers can
45 include raster and vector maps, vector labels, and commands (where any
46 GRASS command can be written). Layers are displayed as arranged in the
47 layer tree: the bottom layer is displayed first and the top layer is
48 displayed last, as if the layers were a series of stacked overlays.
49 The check box to the left of each layer makes it active or inactive for
51 display. Only active layers are displayed/redisplayed when the display
52 button is pressed. Layers can be organized into groups; entire groups
53 can be activated or deactivated for display. Layer tree composition can
54 be saved to a workspace file and opened in subsequent sessions, restor‐
55 ing all layers and their display options.
56 A right mouse click on a layer or left clicking the button to the right
58 of the layer opens a dropdown menu with options to remove or rename the
59 layer (not the actual map), change its display properties (d.rast and
60 d.vect options such as color, symbol, etc.), show its metadata (r.info,
61 v.info) or attributes, if applicable.
62 A left mouse double click on a layer opens GUI for its display options
64 These options are those for the d.* command for each layer type
65 (d.rast, d.vect, or d.grid, for example).
66 Layer Manager Toolbar
68 Â Start new map display
69 Opens a new map display and creates empty layer tree tab in Layer
70 Manager.
71 Â Create new workspace
73 Removes all layers from the layer tree and creates a new, empty
74 tree where new layers can be added.
75 Â Open existing workspace file
77 Opens an previously saved workspace file, containing a set of dis‐
78 play layers and their option settings.
79 Â Save current workspace to file
81 Saves current set of layers and their options to a workspace file.
82 Â Load map layers into workspace
84 Loads selected raster or vector maps into current layer tree.
85 Â Add raster map layer
87 Adds raster map to layer tree, see d.rast.
88 Â Add various raster map layers (RGB, HIS, shaded relief...)
90 Opens a dropdown menu that allows user to select to:
91 Â Add 3D raster map layer
93 Adds 3D raster map to layer tree.
94 Â Add RGB raster layer
96 Combines and displays three raster maps defined as red, green, and
97 blue channels to create an RGB color map, see d.rgb.
98 Â Add HIS raster layer
100 Combines and displays two or three raster maps defined as hue, in‐
101 tensity, and (optionally) saturation channels to create a color
102 map, see d.his.
103 Â Add shaded relief raster map layer
105 Adds shaded relief raster map layer, see r.relief and d.shade.
106 Â Add raster arrows layer
108 Adds map of raster cells with directional arrows drawn. Arrow di‐
109 rection and length are determined by separate aspect/directional
110 map and (optional) slope/intensity map, see d.rast.arrow.
111 Â Add raster numbers layer
113 Adds map of raster cells with numbers representing the cell values,
114 see d.rast.num.
115 Â Add vector map layer
117 Adds a vector map layer, see d.vect.
118 Â Add various vector map layers (thematic, chart...)
120 Opens a dropdown menu that allows user to select to:
121 Â Add thematic area (choropleth) map layer (for all vector
123 types)
124 Adds layer for thematic display values from a numeric attribute
125 column associated with a vector map. Options include: thematic dis‐
126 play type (graduated colors or point sizes), methods for creating
127 display intervals, SQL query of attribute column to limit vector
128 objects to display, control of point icon types and sizes, control
129 of thematic color schemes, creation of legend for thematic map, and
130 saving the results of thematic mapping to a ps.map instructions
131 file for later printing, see d.vect.thematic.
132 Â Add thematic chart layer (for vector points)
134 Adds layer in which pie or bar charts can be automatically created
135 at vector point locations. Charts display values from selected col‐
136 umns in the associated attribute table. Options include: chart
137 type, layer and attributes to chart, chart colors, and chart size
138 (fixed or based on attribute column), see d.vect.chart.
139 Â Add group
141 Adds an empty group. Layers can then be added to the group.
142 Â Add grid or vector labels overlay
144 Opens a dropdown menu that allows user to select to:
145 Â Add overlay grids and lines
147 Adds layer to display regular grid (for all locations) see d.grid
148 Â Add labels layer for vector objects (from existing labels file)
150 Add a layer of text from a labels file for vector objects created
151 with the v.label module. A labels file can also be created with a
152 text editor, see d.labels.
153 Â Add geodesic line layer
155 Add layer to display geodesic line for latitude/longitude locations
156 only, see d.geodesic
157 Â Add rhumbline layer
159 Add layer to display rhumblines (for latitude/longitude locations
160 only), see d.rhumbline.
161 Â Add command layer
163 Adds a layer in which a GRASS GIS command or command list can be
164 entered. For a command list use the semi-colon (";") symbol as a
165 separator. For example:
166 d.rast soils;d.rast -o roads;d.vect streams col=blue
167 Note that when an option of the command contains spaces, you need
168 to "escape" them with the backslash (’\’) character, for example:
169 d.text text=Population\ density
170 Â Delete selected layer
172 Removes selected map layer or map layer group from layer tree.
173 Â Edit vector maps
175 Opens vector digitizer to allow editing selected vector map.
176 Â Show attribute table
178 Opens attribute table manager for selected vector map.
179 Â Import raster or vector data
181 Â Import raster data
183 Import selected raster data into GRASS using r.in.gdal and load
184 them into current layer tree.
185 Â Link external raster data
187 Link selected external raster data as GRASS raster maps (using
188 r.external) and load them into current layer tree.
189 Â Set raster output format
191 Define external format for newly created raster maps (see r.exter‐
192 nal.out for details)
193 Â Import vector data
195 Import selected vector data into GRASS using v.in.ogr and load them
196 into current layer tree.
197 Â Link external vector data
199 Link selected external vector data as GRASS vector maps (using
200 v.external) and load them into current layer tree.
201 Â Set vector output format
203 Define external format for newly created vector maps (see v.exter‐
204 nal.out for details)
205 Â Raster Map Calculator
207 Launches Raster Calculator GUI front-end for r.mapcalc.
208 Â Graphical Modeler
210 Launches graphical modeler to create models and run them.
211 Â Georectifier Tool
213 Launches GCP Manager to create, edit, and manage Ground Control
214 Points.
215 Â Cartographic Composer
217 Launches Cartographic Composer to create interactively hardcopy map
218 outputs.
219 Â Show GUI settings
221 Opens dialog to change GUI settings.
222 Â Show help
224 Opens GRASS manual.
225 Map Display Window
227 The map display window includes toolbar that can be docked and undocked
228 from the window, a map canvas where a map composition of one or more
229 layers is displayed, and a statusbar with information about the geo‐
230 graphic region of the maps displayed.
231 Figure: Map Display screenshot on Ubuntu
232 Each Map Display Window has a unique layer tree (in the layer manager)
234 and geographic region setting. At the top of the window is a toolbar
235 with buttons to manage the map in the display (render, erase, zoom and
236 pan), for query and and analysis (distance measurement, profile, and
237 histogram creation), to overlay map elements onto the display (scale,
238 north arrow, legend, and custom text), and to export or print the dis‐
239 play.
240 In the statusbar, the user can choose to display the geographic coordi‐
242 nates under the cursor, current geographical region extent, computa‐
243 tional region (including graphical visualization in map display), map
244 display geometry (number of rows, columns, resolution) and map scale.
245 Checking the render button in the statusbar will cause the map display
246 to update automatically any time a map is added to, removed from, or
247 changed in its layer tree.
248 It is important to note that zooming in any display will have no effect
250 on the ’computational region’ setting (set with g.region). Only by se‐
251 lecting the ’Set current region to match display’ item in the zoom menu
252 (in the map display toolbar) will the current display extents be copied
253 to the computational region extents.
254 Map Display Toolbar
256 Â Re-render display
257 Re-renders all active map layers regardless of whether they have
258 changed or not, see d.redraw.
259 Â Erase display
261 Erases the currently selected map display to a white background,
262 see d.erase.
263 Â Pointer
265 Select arrow cursor for map display.
266 Â Select features from vector map
268 Interactively select features from given vector map. Selection can
269 be stored to a new vector map, see v.what and v.extract.
270 Â Query raster/vector maps
272 Query selected raster, RGB raster (all three map channels will be
273 queried), or vector map(s) using the mouse. Map(s) must be selected
274 before query. Vector charts and thematic vector maps cannot be
275 queried. The results of the query will be displayed in a dialog.
276 See r.what, v.what.
277 Â Pan
279 Interactive selection of a new center of view in the active display
280 monitor. Drag the pan cursor while pressing the left mouse button
281 to pan. Panning changes the location of the region displayed but
282 not the size of the area displayed or the resolution. Panning does
283 not affect the computational region for other GIS processes, see
284 g.region.
285 Â Zoom in
287 Interactive zooming with the mouse in the active display monitor.
288 Drawing a box or just click with the mouse (left button) and
289 zoom-in cursor causes the display to zoom in so that the area de‐
290 fined by the box fills the display. The map resolution is not
291 changed. Clicking with the zoom-in cursor causes the display to
292 zoom in by 30%, centered on the point where the mouse is clicked.
293 Zooming resets the display region extents (both size and location
294 of area displayed). It does not affect the computational region for
295 other GIS processes, see g.region.
296 Â Zoom out
298 Interactive zooming with the mouse in the active display monitor.
299 Drawing a box or just click with the mouse (left button) and
300 zoom-out cursor causes the display to zoom in so that the area dis‐
301 played shrinks to fill the area defined by the box. The map resolu‐
302 tion is not changed. Clicking with the zoom-out cursor causes the
303 display to zoom out by 30%, centered on the point where the mouse
304 is clicked. Zooming resets the display region extents (both size
305 and location of area displayed). It does not affect the computa‐
306 tional region for other GIS processes, see g.region.
307 Â Zoom to selected map(s)
309 Set zoom extent based on selected raster or vector maps. Zooming
310 resets the display region extents (both size and location of area
311 displayed). It does not affect the computational region for other
312 GIS processes, see g.region.
313 Â Zoom to computational region extent
315 Set zoom extent based on the current computational region extent,
316 see g.region.
317 Â Return to previous zoom
319 Returns to the previous zoom extent. Up to 10 levels of zoom back
320 are maintained, see g.region.
321 Â Various zoom options
323 Opens a dropdown menu that allows user to:
324 • Zoom to default region
326 • Zoom to saved region. Zooms to previously saved named region.
328 • Set computational region extent from display. The computa‐
330 tional region (the mapset’s WIND file) is set to match the cur‐
331 rent display extent (does not change the resolution), see g.re‐
332 gion.
333 • Set computational region extent interactively. The computa‐
335 tional region is set simply by drawing a box with the left
336 mouse button on Map Display.
337 • Set computational region from named region. This option
339 doesn’t affect display zoom.
340 • Save display geometry to named region
342 • Save computational region to named region
344 Â Analyze menu
346 Opens a dropdown menu with:
347 Â Measure distance
349 Interactive measurement of lengths defined with the mouse. The
350 length of each segment and the cumulative length of all segments
351 measuered is displayed in the command output window frame. Lengths
352 are measured in the current measurement unit. Double-click to
353 switch off measuring.
354 Â Measure area
356 Interactive measurement of area defined with the mouse. Area is
357 measured in the current measurement unit. Double-click to switch
358 off measuring.
359 Â Profile surface map
361 Interactively create profile of a raster map. Profile transect is
362 drawn with the mouse in map display. The profile may be of the dis‐
363 played map or a different map. Up to three maps can be profiled si‐
364 multaneously.
365 Â Create bivariate scatterplot of raster maps
367 Interactively create bivariate scatterplot of raster maps.
368 Â Create histogram of raster map
370 Displays histogram of selected raster map or image in new window.
371 Â Create histogram with d.histogram
373 Displays histogram of selected raster map or image in new window,
374 see d.histogram.
375 Â Vector network analysis tool
377 See tool’s manual page.
378 Â Add overlay
380 opens a dropdown menu that allows user to
381 Â Add raster map legend
383 Adds layer to display with legend of selected raster map, see
384 d.legend.
385 Â Add scalebar
387 Adds layer to display a scalebar. Options include scalebar place‐
388 ment (using screen coordinates or a mouse), scalebar format, and
389 scalebar colors, see d.barscale.
390 Â Add north arrow
392 Adds layer to display a north arrow. Options include north arrow
393 placement (using screen coordinates or a mouse), north arrow style
394 and color, see d.northarrow.
395 Â Add text layer
397 Adds layer to display a line of text using default GRASS font (se‐
398 lected with d.font). Options include: text placement (screen coor‐
399 dinates); and text size, bolding, and color, see d.text.
400 Â Save display to graphic file
402 Save the visible image in map display to different raster graphic
403 formats.
404 Â Print map
406 Prints map on system native printer or PostScript device; saves
407 visible map display (including PostScript text and labels) to PDF
408 or EPS file.
409 Map display mode
411 Opens a dropdown menu for selecting different display mode
412 2D view
414 Normal GIS display. All active layers are composited and displayed
415 in 2D mode.
416 3D view
418 Experimental replacement for NVIZ. Displays all active layers in 3D
419 perspective using OpenGL. A new control panel opens to manage the
420 3D view. 3D view can be zoomed, panned, rotated, and tilted. The
421 vertical exaggeration of rasters and 3D vectors can be set. Various
422 color and lighten settings are possible. Not yet functional for
423 Windows platforms
424 Vector digitizer
426 Puts display into vector digitizing mode and opens a new digitizing
427 toolbar. The user can digitize a new vector map or edit an existing
428 map.
429 Raster digitizer
431 Puts display into raster digitizing mode and opens a new digitizing
432 toolbar. The user can digitize a new raster map or edit an existing
433 map.
434 Keyboard short-cuts
436 Layer Manager
437 Ctrl+Tab
438 Switch ’Layers’ and ’Console’ tab
439 Ctrl+Q
441 Quit
442 Ctrl+R
444 Render map in all map displays Workspace
445 Ctrl+N
447 Create new workspace
448 Ctrl+O
450 Load workspace from file
451 Ctrl+S
453 Close workspace Layers
454 Ctrl+Shift+L
456 Add multiple raster or vector map layers to current map display
457 Ctrl+Shift+R
459 Add raster map layer to current map display
460 Ctrl+Shift+V
462 Add vector map layer to current map display
463 Ctrl+W
465 Close current map display Console
466 Tab
468 Show command tooltips
469 Esc
471 Hide command tooltips
472 Ctrl+Space
474 Show auto-complete suggestions
475 Up/Down
477 List command history
478 Enter
480 Run command
481 Ctrl++
483 Increase font size (numerical keyboard plus key)
484 Ctrl+-
486 Decrease font size (numerical keyboard minus key)
487 Ctrl+mouse wheel
489 Increase or decrease font size
490 Map Display
492 F11
493 Fullscreen mode (toggle on/off)
494 Ctrl+W
496 Close map display
497 Ctrl+R
499 Render map (re-renders map)
500 F5
502 Render map (re-renders map)
503 Starting the GUI from command line
505 By default, the GUI is always started, but if only the command line
506 (shell) is running, the GUI can be also started manually using:
507 g.gui
508 If the wxGUI is not the default user interface, it can defined as de‐
509 fault by typing at the GRASS GIS command line:
510 g.gui -d wxpython
511 Alternatively, it may be defined in the main configuration file
512 ($HOME/.grass8/rc on GNU/Linux and macOS, %APPDATA%\Roaming\GRASS8\rc
513 on MS Windows) using the GUI variable set to wxpython (GUI: wxpython)
514 or by the environmental variable GRASS_GUI. To start with a previously
515 saved workspace file:
516 g.gui workspace=file.gxw
517 The user can also start GRASS from the shell command line with the
519 wxGUI specifying the --gui switch:
520 grass --gui
521 The GUI can be quit by selecting the ’File > Quit GRASS GIS’ menu item
523 which gives options to close only GUI or to quit GRASS GIS entirely if
524 GRASS GIS is running with a command line (a shell in a terminal appli‐
525 cation). Exiting the shell (typically by the exit command) ends the
526 GRASS session including any running GUIs.
527 Background information
529 wxGUI is a native Graphical User Interface (GUI) for GRASS GIS written
530 in Python using wxPython library.
531
533 wxGUI components
534 wxGUI module dialogs wxGUI toolboxes (menu customization)
535 See also wxGUI wiki page (especially various video tutorials), and
537 Quick wxGUI Tutorial.
538
540 Martin Landa, FBK-irst (2007-2008), Trento, Italy, and Czech Technical
541 University in Prague, Czech Republic
542 Michael Barton, Arizona State University, USA
543 Daniel Calvelo Aros
544 Jachym Cepicky
545 Markus Metz, Germany
546 Anna Kratochvilova, OSGeoREL, Czech Technical University in Prague,
547 Czech Republic
548 Vaclav Petras, OSGeoREL, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech
549 Republic
550 Stepan Turek, OSGeoREL, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Re‐
551 public
552 Tereza Fiedlerova, OSGeoREL, Czech Technical University in Prague,
553 Czech Republic
554 Matej Krejci, OSGeoREL, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Re‐
555 public
556 Icons created by Robert Szczepanek, Poland (Git repository)
557 Main index | Topics index | Keywords index | Graphical index | Full in‐
559 dex
560 © 2003-2022 GRASS Development Team, GRASS GIS 8.2.0 Reference Manual
562GRASS 8.2.0 wxGUI(1)