1variables(1) Grass User's Manual variables(1)
2
6 There are two types of variables:
7 environment variables,
9 GRASS gisenv variables.
11 Any setting which needs to be modifiable by a GRASS program (e.g. MONI‐
12 TOR) has to be a GRASS variable.
13
15 GRASS maintains some settings in a number of files on the system. They
16 are detailed below.
17
19 Setting environment variables depends on the shell being used:
20 Bash: export VARIABLE=value
21 or
22 Csh: setenv VARIABLE value
23
25 To get personal BASH shell definitions (aliases, color
26 listing option, ...) into GRASS, store them in:
27 $HOME/.grass.bashrc
28 To get personal CSH shell definitions (aliases, color
30 listing option, ...) into GRASS, store them in:
31 $HOME/.grass.cshrc
32
34 Use "g.gisenv" within GRASS. This permanently predefines GRASS vari‐
35 ables in the .grassrc6 file.
36 Usage:
38 g.gisenv set="VARIABLE=VALUE"
40 It looks unusual with two equals signs, but g.gisenv serves dual duty
43 for getting and setting GRASS variables.
44 If the user just specifies a variable name, it defaults to "get" mode.
46 For example:
47 GRASS ~> g.gisenv GRASS_GUI
49 text
50
53 [ To be set from the terminal shell or startup scripts ]
54 GISBASE
56 directory where GRASS lives. This is set automatically by the startup
57 script.
58 GISRC
60 name of .grassrc6 file. GISRCRC defines the system wide value while
61 in a GRASS session.
62 GRASS_ADDON_PATH
64 [grass startup script]
65 allows to specify additional paths to local GRASS modules extra to
66 standard distribution
67 GRASS_ERROR_MAIL
69 set to any value to send user mail on an error or warning that hap‐
70 pens while stderr is being redirected.
71 GRASS_GNUPLOT
73 [i.spectral]
74 program to use for plotting "gnuplot" data
75 GRASS_HEIGHT
77 [d.mon]
78 defines the height of GRASS monitor, see also GRASS_WIDTH
79 GRASS_HTML_BROWSER
81 [init.sh, d.m]
82 defines name of HTML browser
83 GRASS_INT_ZLIB
85 [libgis]
86 If the environment variable GRASS_INT_ZLIB exists, new compressed
87 rasters will be compressed using zlib instead of RLE compression. Such
88 rasters will have a "compressed" value of 2 in the cellhd file.
89 Obviously, decompression is controlled by the raster's "compressed"
90 value, not the environment variable.
91 GRASS_MESSAGE_FORMAT
93 [various modules]
94 Maybe set to either "standard" or "gui" (normally GRASS takes care)
95 GRASS_MOUSE_BUTTON
97 [various modules]
98 swaps mouse buttons for two-button or left-handed mice. Its value has
99 three digits 1, 2, and 3, which represent default left, middle, and
100 right buttons respectively. Setting to "132" will swap middle and right
101 buttons. Note that this variable should be set before a display driver
102 is initialized (e.g., d.mon x0).
103 GRASS_PAGER
105 [various modules]
106 Maybe set to either "less" or "more"
107 GRASS_PERL
109 set perl with path
110 GRASS_TCLSH
112 [nviz]
113 set tclsh shell name to override 'tclsh'
114 GRASS_TERM
116 lib/init/grass-xterm-wrapper
117 set to any value (e.g. rxvt, aterm, gnome-terminal, konsole) to sub‐
118 stitute 'x-terminal-emulator' or 'xterm'
119 GRASS_UI_TERM
121 set to any value to use the terminal based parser
122 GRASS_VERSION
124 reports the current version number (used by R-stats interface etc);
125 should not be changed by user
126 GRASS_WIDTH
128 [d.mon]
129 defines the width of GRASS monitor, see also GRASS_HEIGHT
130 GRASS_WISH
132 [d.m, nviz]
133 set wish shell name to override 'wish'
134 GRASS_GLX_PBUFFERS
136 [nviz]
137 set to any value to enable the use of OpenGL Pixel Buffers
138 GRASS_GLX_PIXMAPS
140 [nviz]
141 set to any value to enable the use of OpenGL Pixmaps
142 List of selected GRASS PNG driver environment variables
144 [ These variables control the function of the PNG Driver. ]
145 GRASS_PNGFILE
147 name of PNG output file
148 GRASS_WIDTH
150 defines the width of GRASS monitor, see also GRASS_HEIGHT
151 GRASS_HEIGHT
153 defines the height of GRASS monitor, see also GRASS_WIDTH
154 GRASS_BACKGROUNDCOLOR
156 defines the background color of the image created by the PNG driver
157 GRASS_TRANSPARENT
159 if "TRUE", the image created by the PNG driver will have a transpar‐
160 ent background
161 GRASS_PNG_COMPRESSION
163 compression level of PNG files (0 = none, 1 = fastest, 9 = best)
164 GRASS_TRUECOLOR
166 if "TRUE", the PNG driver generates a true-color image
167 GRASS_PNG_AUTO_WRITE
169 tells the PNG driver to write the image to a file whenever a client
170 disconnects, rather than waiting until you stop the monitor
171 GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE
173 tells the raster library to use its built-in PNG driver rather than
174 connecting to an external monitor process using sockets. If GRASS_REN‐
175 DER_IMMEDIATE=TRUE is set, there is no need to run "d.mon start=PNG"
176 List of selected internal GRASS environment variables
178 [ These variables are intended for internal use only by the GRASS soft‐
179 ware to facilitate communiction between the GIS engine, GRASS scripts,
180 and the GUI. The user should not set these in a GRASS session. They
181 are meant to be set locally for specific commands. ]
182 GRASS_OVERWRITE
184 [all modules]
185 toggles map overwrite.
186 With 0 maps are protected (default),
187 With 1 maps with identical names will be overwritten.
188 This variable is automatically created by g.parser so that "--o" option
189 will be inherited by dependant modules as the script runs. Setting
190 either the GRASS_OVERWRITE environment variable or the OVERWRITE gisenv
191 variable detailed below will cause maps with identical names to be
192 overwritten.
193 GRASS_REGION
195 [libgis]
196 Override region settings, separate parameters with a ";". Format is
197 the same as in the WIND region settings file. Otherwise use is the same
198 as WIND_OVERRIDE.
199 WIND_OVERRIDE
201 [libgis]
202 It causes programs to use the specified named region (created with e.g.
204 "g.region save=...") to be used as the current region, instead of the
205 region from the WIND file.
206 This allows programs such as gis.m to run external commands on an
207 alternate region without having to modify the WIND file then change it
208 back afterwards.
209
211 [ Use g.gisenv to get/set/unset/change them ]
212 DEBUG
214 [entire GRASS]
215 sets level of debug message output (0: no debug messages)
216 g.gisenv set=DEBUG=0
217 DM_FORM_MODE
219 [d.m]
220 sets default form mode (txt or gui)
221 g.gisenv set=DM_FORM_MODE=txt
222 GISDBASE
224 initial database
225 GIS_LOCK
227 lock ID to prevent parallel GRASS use,
228 process id of the start-up shell script
229 GRASS_DB_ENCODING
231 [d.what.vect/forms library]
232 encoding of query form (utf-8, ascii, iso8859-1, koi8-r)
233 GRASS_GUI
235 either "text" or "tcltk" to define non-/graphical startup
236 LOCATION
238 full path to location directory
239 LOCATION_NAME
241 initial location name
242 MAPSET
244 initial mapset
245 OVERWRITE
247 [all modules]
248 toggles map overwrite.
249 With 0 maps are protected (default),
250 With 1 maps with identical names will be overwritten.
251 Example: g.gisenv set="OVERWRITE=0"
252 You can force an overwrite for an individual command by adding "--o"
253 to the command:
254 r.in.gdal --o output=existing_map ...
255
257 $HOME/.grassrc6
258 stores the GRASS variables (but not environment variables)
259 $HOME/GIS_ERROR_LOG
261 If this file exists then all GRASS error and warning messages are
262 logged here. Applies to current user. To generate the file, use:
263 touch $HOME/GIS_ERROR_LOG
264 $GISBASE/GIS_ERROR_LOG
266 If this file exists then all GRASS error and warning messages are
267 logged here. Applies to all users. (proper write permissions must be in
268 place)
269 Note: Error and warning messages encountered while using the GUI menus
271 are not logged.
272 SEE ALSO
274 g.gisenv
275 Last changed: $Date: 2006/09/20 06:09:43 $
277 Help Index
279GRASS 6.2.2 variables(1)