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GRASS GIS 7.2.0RC1 released

We are pleased to announce the first release candidate of GRASS GIS 7.2.0

What’s new in a nutshell

This is the first release candidate of the upcoming major release GRASS GIS 7.2.0.

The new GRASS GIS 7.2.0RC1 release provides more than 1900 stability fixes and manual improvements compared to the stable releases 7.0.x.

hexagons_python_editorAbout GRASS GIS 7: Its graphical user interface supports the user to make complex GIS operations as simple as possible. The updated Python interface to the C library permits users to create new GRASS GIS-Python modules in a simple way while yet obtaining powerful and fast modules. Furthermore, the libraries were significantly improved for speed and efficiency, along with support for huge files. A lot of effort has been invested to standardize parameter and flag names. Finally, GRASS GIS 7 comes with a series of new modules to analyse raster and vector data, along with a full temporal framework. For a detailed overview, see the list of new features. As a stable release series, 7.2.x enjoys long-term support.

Binaries/Installer download:

Source code download:

More details:

See also our detailed announcement:

https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/Grass7/NewFeatures (overview of new 7 stable release series)

First time users may explore the first steps tutorial after installation.

About GRASS GIS

The Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (https://grass.osgeo.org/), commonly referred to as GRASS GIS, is an Open Source Geographic Information System providing powerful raster, vector and geospatial processing capabilities in a single integrated software suite. GRASS GIS includes tools for spatial modeling, visualization of raster and vector data, management and analysis of geospatial data, and the processing of satellite and aerial imagery. It also provides the capability to produce sophisticated presentation graphics and hardcopy maps. GRASS GIS has been translated into about twenty languages and supports a huge array of data formats. It can be used either as a stand-alone application or as backend for other software packages such as QGIS and R geostatistics. It is distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). GRASS GIS is a founding member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

The GRASS Development Team, October 2016

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New GRASS GIS 7.2.x stable release branch created

Towards the new stable release series

As of 24 May 2016, a new stable release branch was created for the upcoming GRASS GIS 7.2 release. This new branch includes all the many improvements which have been implemented in the former development version 7.1.svn.

What is a branch? In simple words, it is a kind of directory in the software development server (SVN in our case) in which no more development but only bugfixing happens. From a release branch, new stable releases are created and published.

The actual branches in the GRASS GIS project are:

  • very old stable: releasebranch_6_4 (used for bugfixing and to publish stable GRASS GIS 6.4.x releases) – very low release frequency (started in revision r34936)
  • old stable releasebranch_7_0 (used for bugfixing and to publish stable GRASS GIS 7.0.x releases) – perhaps one last release upcoming (branch started in revision r59487 but development already started in Apr 2008 in r31142)
  • new stable releasebranch_7_2 (used for bugfixing and to publish stable GRASS GIS 7.2.x releases) – upcoming series of stable releases (branch started in revision r68500)
  • trunk (used for development, with pseudo-name 7.3.svn) – under heavy development

Note to SVN users

The trunk branch with pseudo-name 7.1.svn has become 7.3.svn due to the creation of the new 7.2.svn release branch. You can simply continue to update from SVN, the version will be automatically updated.

If you used to work with the 7.0.svn release branch, consider to download the new 7.2.svn release branch, either from the weekly source code snapshot (here) or from the SVN server directly (here).

About GRASS GIS

The Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (https://grass.osgeo.org/), commonly referred to as GRASS GIS, is an Open Source Geographic Information System providing powerful raster, vector and geospatial processing capabilities in a single integrated software suite. GRASS GIS includes tools for spatial modeling, visualization of raster and vector data, management and analysis of geospatial data, and the processing of satellite and aerial imagery. It also provides the capability to produce sophisticated presentation graphics and hardcopy maps. GRASS GIS has been translated into about twenty languages and supports a huge array of data formats. It can be used either as a stand-alone application or as backend for other software packages such as QGIS and R geostatistics. It is distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). GRASS GIS is a founding member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

The GRASS Development Team, May 2016

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Fun with docker and GRASS GIS software

GRASS GIS and dockerSometimes, we developers get reports via mailing list that this & that would not work on whatever operating system. Now what? Should we be so kind and install the operating system in question in order to reproduce the problem? Too much work… but nowadays it has become much easier to perform such tests without having the need to install a full virtual machine – thanks to docker.

Disclaimer: I don’t know much about docker yet, so take the code below with a grain of salt!

In my case I usually work on Fedora or Scientific Linux based systems. In order to quickly (i.e. roughly 10 min of automated installation on my slow laptop) try out issues of GRASS GIS 7 on e.g., Ubuntu, I can run all my tests in docker installed on my Fedora box:

# we need to run stuff as root user
su
# Fedora 21: install docker 
yum -y docker-io

# Fedora 22: install docker
dnf -y install docker

# enable service
systemctl start docker
systemctl enable docker

Now we have a running docker environment. Since we want to exchange data (e.g. GIS data) with the docker container later, we prepare a shared directory beforehand:

# we'll later map /home/neteler/data/docker_tmp to /tmp within the docker container
mkdir /home/neteler/data/docker_tmp

Now we can start to install a Ubuntu docker image (may be “any” image, here we use “Ubuntu trusty” in our example). We will share the X11 display in order to be able to use the GUI as well:

# enable X11 forwarding
xhost +local:docker

# search for available docker images
docker search trusty

# fetch docker image from internet, establish shared directory and display redirect
# and launch the container along with a shell
docker run -v /data/docker_tmp:/tmp:rw -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix \
       -e uid=$(id -u) -e gid=$(id -g) -e DISPLAY=unix$DISPLAY \
       --name grass70trusty -i -t corbinu/docker-trusty /bin/bash

In almost no time we reach the command line of this minimalistic Ubuntu container which will carry the name “grass70trusty” in our case (btw: read more about Working with Docker Images):

root@8e0f233c3d68:/# 
# now we register the Ubuntu-GIS repos and get GRASS GIS 7.0
add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntugis/ubuntugis-unstable
add-apt-repository ppa:grass/grass-stable
apt-get update
apt-get install grass7

This will take a while (the remaining 9 minutes or so of the overall 10 minutes).

Since I like cursor support on the command line, I launch (again?) the bash in the container session:

root@8e0f233c3d68:/# bash
# yes, we are in Ubuntu here
root@8e0f233c3d68:/# cat /etc/issue

Now we can start to use GRASS GIS 7, even with its graphical user interface from inside the docker container:

# create a directory for our data, it is mapped to /home/neteler/data/docker_tmp/
# on the host machine 
root@8e0f233c3d68:/# mkdir /tmp/grassdata
# create a new LatLong location from EPSG code
# (or copy a location into /home/neteler/data/docker_tmp/)
root@8e0f233c3d68:/# grass70 -c epsg:4326 ~/grassdata/latlong_wgs84
# generate some data to play with
root@8e0f233c3d68:/# v.random n=30 output=random30
# start the GUI manually (since we didn't start GRASS GIS right away with it before)
root@8e0f233c3d68:/# g.gui

Indeed, the GUI comes up as expected!

GRASS GIS 7 GUI in docker container

GRASS GIS 7 GUI in docker container

You may now perform all tests, bugfixes, whatever you like and leave the GRASS GIS session as usual.
To get out of the docker session:

root@8e0f233c3d68:/# exit    # leave the extra bash shell
root@8e0f233c3d68:/# exit    # leave docker session

# disable docker connections to the X server
[root@oboe neteler]# xhost -local:docker

To restart this session later again, you will call it with the name which we have earlier assigned:

[root@oboe neteler]# docker ps -a
# ... you should see "grass70trusty" in the output in the right column

# we are lazy and automate the start a bit
[root@oboe neteler]# GRASSDOCKER_ID=`docker ps -a | grep grass70trusty | cut -d' ' -f1`
[root@oboe neteler]# echo $GRASSDOCKER_ID 
[root@oboe neteler]# xhost +local:docker
[root@oboe neteler]# docker start -a -i $GRASSDOCKER_ID

### ... and so on as described above.

Enjoy.

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GRASS GIS 6.4.5RC1 released

GRASS GIS logoAfter months of development a first release candidate of GRASS GIS 6.4.5 is now available. This is a stability release of the GRASS GIS 6 line.

Source code download:
https://grass.osgeo.org/grass64/source/
https://grass.osgeo.org/grass64/source/grass-6.4.5RC1.tar.gz

Binaries download:
https://grass.osgeo.org/download/software/#g64x

To get the GRASS GIS 6.4.5RC1 source code directly from SVN:
svn checkout https://svn.osgeo.org/grass/grass/tags/release_20150406_grass_6_4_5RC1/

Key improvements:
Key improvements of the GRASS GIS 6.4.5RC1 release include stability fixes (esp. vector library), some fixes for wxPython3 support, some module fixes, and more message translations.

See also our detailed announcement:
https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/Release/6.4.5RC1-News

First time users should explore the first steps tutorial after installation:
https://grasswiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Quick_wxGUI_tutorial

Release candidate management at
https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/Grass6Planning

Please join us in testing this release candidate for the final release.

Consider to donate pizza or beer for the next GRASS GIS Community Sprint (following the FOSS4G Europe 2015 in Como):
https://grass.osgeo.org/donations/

Thanks to all contributors!

About GRASS GIS

The Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (https://grass.osgeo.org), commonly referred to as GRASS GIS, is an Open Source Geographic Information System providing powerful raster, vector and geospatial processing capabilities in a single integrated software suite. GRASS GIS includes tools for spatial modeling, visualization of raster and vector data, management and analysis of geospatial data, and the processing of satellite and aerial imagery. It also provides the capability to produce sophisticated presentation graphics and hardcopy maps. GRASS GIS has been translated into about twenty languages and supports a huge array of data formats. It can be used either as a stand-alone application or as backend for other software packages such as QGIS and R geostatistics. It is distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). GRASS GIS is a founding member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

The GRASS Development Team, April 2015

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Video: GRASS GIS development visualization from 1999 to 2013

Watch how the community based GRASS GIS 6.4 software development evolved! You can see how the individual contributors modify and expand the source code – click screenshot for Youtube video:

GRASS GIS 6.4 development visualization from 1999 to 2013 (with soundtrack)

  • Dec 29, 1999: GRASS GIS 5.0 is being stored in an online source code repository in December 1999…
  • Dec 02, 2000: The developers work on all parts of the code…
  • Jan 15, 2002: Working on the future GRASS GIS 5.1 release
  • Nov 25, 2002: Starting GRASS 5.1 development with code restructuring
  • Jun 14, 2004: GRASS GIS 5.7 released in June 2004
  • Nov 09, 2004: Source code restructuring to get a better directory layout (all other developers waiting…)
  • Nov 09, 2004: … thousands of files are modified in this operation …
  • Nov 10, 2004: All developers resume their activities after the restructuring
  • Jan 10, 2005: Preparing the GRASS GIS 6.0.0 release…
  • Apr 09, 2005: GRASS GIS 6.0.0 published, release branch being split off from trunk for easier maintenance
  • Feb 22, 2006: Release of GRASS GIS 6.0.2 and new source code refactoring startedApr 05, 2006: Heavy development activity in trunk (development branch) …
  • Oct 25, 2006: GRASS GIS 6.2.0 released in October 2006
  • Apr 10, 2007: Preparing the GRASS GIS 6.2.2 release…
  • Jun 16, 2007: GRASS GIS 6.2.2 released in June 2007
  • Nov 01, 2007: Raster and vector modules being actively maintained…
  • Apr 02, 2007: New graphical user interface development speeding up (wxGUI)
  • Feb 20, 2008: Copyright statements prettified in many files
  • May 31, 2008: New GRASS 6 development branch being split off from trunk (which becomes GRASS 7)
  • Jun 10, 2008: Developers moving over to new branch
  • Feb 23, 2009: GRASS 6.4 release branch split off from GRASS 6 development branch
  • Apr 03, 2009: GRASS GIS 6.4 preparations starting…
  • Feb 24, 2010: Intense maintenance in GRASS 6.4 release branch
  • Sep 15, 2010: GRASS GIS 6.4.0 released in September 2010
  • Apr 12, 2011: GRASS GIS 6.4.1 released in April 2011
  • Jun 27, 2011: GRASS GIS 6.4.svn matures for the upcoming 6.4.2 release
  • Aug 16, 2011: Intense maintenance in GRASS 6.4 release branch (GRASS GIS 7 development not shown here)…
  • Feb 19, 2012: GRASS GIS 6.4.2 released in February 2012
  • Nov 13, 2012: Backporting graphical user interface bugfixes from GRASS GIS 7 to GRASS GIS 6.4
  • Apr 17, 2013: Further maintenance in GRASS 6.4 release branch
  • Jul 10, 2013: Fixing odds ‘n ends for the new stable release
  • Jul 27, 2013: GRASS GIS 6.4.3 released in July 2013

The corresponding timeline is also available at
https://grass.osgeo.org/home/history/releases/

THANKS TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS!
https://grass.osgeo.org/development/

Rendering: Markus Neteler
Audio track editing: Duccio Rocchini & Antonio Galea

Music:
Le bruit peut rendre sourd – Track 6/18 Album “Sensation electronique” by Saelynh (CC-BY-NC-ND) https://www.jamendo.com/en/track/1236/le-bruit-peut-rendre-sourd

Software used:
Gource software: https://code.google.com/p/gource/ (GPL)
OpenShot video editor: https://www.openshotvideo.com/ (GPL

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News in GRASS GIS 7

GRASS GIS, commonly referred to as GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System), is the free Geographic Information System (GIS) software with the longest record of development as FOSS4G community project. The increasing demand for a robust and modern analytical free GIS led to the start of GRASS GIS 7 development in April 2008. Since GRASS 6 more than 10,000 changes have been implemented with a series of new modules for vector network analysis, image processing, voxel analysis, time series management and improved graphical user interface. The core system offers a new Python API and large file support for massive data analysis. Many modules have been undergone major optimization also in terms of speed. The presentation will highlight the advantages for users to migrate to the upcoming GRASS GIS 7 release.

See the slides:


neteler2013_foss4g_cee_romania_news_grassgis7

 

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4th GRASS GIS Community Sprint: Exciting achievements

The GRASS GIS community is delighted to present the outcome of the 4th Community Sprint that took place in a warm and sunny Prague, Czech Republic, from July 12 to July 18, 2013. The event happened after the Geoinformatics conference at the Czech Technical University in Prague. The Community Sprint was once more a creative gathering of both long-term and new developers, as well as users.
This meeting was held in the light of 30 YEARS OF GRASS GIS!

30 YEARS OF GRASS GIS!
We wish to cordially thank the Department of Mapping and Cartography, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague for hosting and technical support. In particular, we gratefully acknowledge our association sponsors OSGeo  and FOSSGIS e.V., and many individual donors: Peter Löwe, Andrea Borruso, Massimo Di Stefano, Alessandro Sarretta, Joshua Campbell, Andreas Neumann, Jon Eiriksson, Luca Casagrande, Karyn O Newcomb, Holger Naumann, Anne Ghisla, Helena Mitasova and Lubos Mitas, Dimitris Tamp, Mark Seibel, Markus Metz, and Tawny Gapinski. These financial contributions were used to cover costs such as meals and to help reducing travelling and accommodation expenses for participants with far arrival who came on own expenses.

Developers and users who joined the event came from various countries like Italy, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Sri Lanka/France, USA and Germany.
The Community Sprint focused on:

  • testing/bugfixing of the upcoming GRASS 7 version,
  • backporting new functionalities to the stable GRASS 6.4 series,
  • testing/bugfixing related to Mac OS X, MS-Windows and Linux,
  • presenting and developing the new Temporal GIS Algebra in GRASS 7,
  • connecting GRASS 7 with the planetary science software ISIS,
  • discussing integration with rasdaman.org software, a powerful multidimensional raster processor,
  • creating 3D vector test data for 3D interpolation,
  • discussing vector conflation,
  • discussing Bundle Block Adjustments,
  • presenting the state of image processing in GRASS 7, and discussing its future,
  • improving documentation, with focus on image processing and Temporal GIS Algebra,
  • developing/refactoring and bugfixing several wxGUI’s components,
  • further developing customizable wxGUI Toolboxes concept,
  • improving translation in Polish and Romanian languages,
  • fixing v.krige in GRASS7 and proposing merge with the recently developed v.kriging module,
  • meeting between Google Summer of Code 2013 mentor and students.

A lot of topic oriented discussions happened among small groups of participants: for more detailed information, please visit the Wiki pages at https://grasswiki.osgeo.org/wiki/GRASS_Community_Sprint_Prague_2013 and the related discussion page at https://grasswiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Talk:GRASS_Community_Sprint_Prague_2013

About GRASS GIS
The Geographic Resources Analysis Support System, commonly referred to as GRASS GIS, is an Open Source Geographic Information System providing powerful raster, vector and geospatial processing capabilities in a single integrated software suite. GRASS GIS includes tools for spatial modeling, visualization of raster and vector data, management and analysis of geospatial data, and the processing of satellite and aerial  imagery. It also provides the capability to produce sophisticated presentation graphics and hardcopy maps. GRASS GIS has been translated into about twenty languages and supports a huge array of data formats. It is distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). GRASS GIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

GRASS GIS Development Team, July 2013

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Stable GRASS GIS 6.4.3 released

GRASS GIS 6.4.3 released – Birthday release for 30 years of GRASS GIS
https://grass.osgeo.org

30 YEARS OF GRASS GIS!

We are pleased to announce the release of a new stable version of GRASS GIS. This release fixes bugs discovered in 6.4.2 version of the program and adds a number of new features. This release includes over
830 updates to the source code since 6.4.2. As a stable release series, the 6.4 line will enjoy long-term support and incremental enhancements while preserving backwards-compatibility with the entire GRASS 6 line.

Key improvements of this release include some new functionality (assistance for topologically unclean vector data), major speedup for some vector modules, fixes in the vector network modules, fixes for the wxPython based portable graphical interface (attribute table management, wxNVIZ, and Cartographic Composer). A number of new modules have been added for processing LANDSAT and MODIS satellite data, and a new vector statistics module is also introduced. Many new symbols and north arrows are available, and the user will find an improved and easier to use wizard for creating custom project locations with precise map projection and datum support. Community-contributed add-on modules are now more easily and robustly installed from an online archive. Other major developments include enhancements to the Python scripting library and numerous software-compatibility fixes and translation updates. Important is the enhanced portability for MS-Windows (native support, fixes in case of missing system DLLs). And we welcome Romanian as our twenty-fourth language!

Source code download:

Binaries download:

  • … further packages will follow shortly.

To get the GRASS GIS 6.4.3 source code directly from SVN:
svn checkout https://svn.osgeo.org/grass/grass/tags/release_20130727_grass_6_4_3/

See also our detailed announcement:

https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/Release/6.4.3-News

First time users should explore the first steps tutorial after installation.

Video of GRASS GIS 6.4 development visualization from 1999 to 2013 (with soundtrack)

GRASS GIS 6.4 development visualization from 1999 to 2013 (with soundtrack)

About GRASS GIS

GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) is a free and open source Geographic Information System (GIS) software suite used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, graphics and map production, spatial modeling, and 3D visualization. GRASS GIS is currently used in academic and commercial settings around the world, as well as by many governmental agencies and environmental consulting companies. GRASS GIS can be used either as a stand-alone application or as backend for other software packages such as QGIS and R geostatistics. It is a founding member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

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GRASS GIS 6.4.3RC4 released

Fourth (and last) release candidate of GRASS GIS 6.4.3 with improvements and stability fixes
A fourth release candidate of GRASS GIS 6.4.3 is now available.

Source code download:

Binaries download:

To get the GRASS GIS 6.4.3RC4 source code directly from SVN:
 svn checkout https://svn.osgeo.org/grass/grass/tags/release_20130710_grass_6_4_3RC4/

Key improvements of this release include some new functionality (assistance for topologically unclean vector data), fixes in the vector network modules, fixes for the wxPython based portable graphical interface (attribute table management, wxNVIZ, and Cartographic Composer), fixes in the location wizard for Datum transform selection and support for PROJ.4 version 4.8.0, improvements for selecting the Python version to be used, enhanced portability for MS-Windows (native support, fixes in case of missing system DLLs), and more translations (esp. Romanian).

See also our detailed announcement:
 https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/Release/6.4.3RC4-News

First time users should explore the first steps tutorial after installation.

Release candidate management at
https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/Grass6Planning

Please join us in testing this release candidate for the final release.

Consider to donate pizza or beer for the upcoming GRASS GIS Community Sprint in Prague:
Thanks to all contributors!
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Support the upcoming GRASS GIS Community Sprint with a (micro)donation!

Have you been using GRASS GIS within your company or for your daily tasks? Would like to express your satisfaction and give something back to these terrific software developers to make them even happier during the July’s GRASS GIS Community Sprint in Prague?
Sure – so don’t think twice and support the developers with a (micro)donation!
Please contact Markus Neteler (neteler@osgeo.org – GRASS GIS PSC Chair) for further details.
Wait – it is also possible to buy a round of beer for the developers with a quick click using the PayPal “Buy [pizza/beer/…] Now” button below: (… more pizza & beer for the developers)

About the Community Sprint

A “Community Sprint” is a get-together for members and supporters of GRASS GIS and related OSGeo projects to make decisions and tackle larger problems. Developers and contributors are donating their valuable time, so appreciate direct or in-kind funding made available for the sprint meeting to cover out-of-pocket expenses. All of the work that takes place at the community sprint will be directly contributed back into the GRASS GIS project to the benefit of everyone who uses it.
See the outstanding results from 2011, and 2012!
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