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GRASS GIS 6.2.2 released

The GRASS Development Team announces

GRASS GIS 6.2.2 released 16 July 2007

We are happy to announce that a new bugfix version of GRASS GIS has been released today. This release fixes a number of bugs discovered in the 6.2.1 source code. It is primarily for stability purposes and adds minimal new features. Besides bug fixes it also includes a number of new message translations and updates for the help pages.

This release is particularly important for Ubuntu users due to a number of Bourne shell script fixes. Other highlights include a new location creation GUI with EPSG search and further maturation of the GRASS 6 GUI, vector, and database code. These improvements have been backported from the GRASS 6.3 development branch where new development continues at a strong pace of approximately one code commit every hour, including major work being done on an all new cross-platform wxPython GUI.

The Geographic Resources Analysis Support System, commonly referred to as GRASS, is a Geographic Information System (GIS) combining powerful raster, vector, and geospatial processing engines into a single integrated software suite. GRASS 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 4D presentation graphics and hardcopy maps.

GRASS is currently used around the world in academic and commercial settings as well as by many governmental agencies and environmental consulting companies. It runs on a variety of popular hardware platforms and is Free open-source software released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

GRASS is a proposed founding project of the new Open Source Geospatial Foundation. In support of the movement towards consolidation in the open source geospatial software world, GRASS is tightly integrated with the latest GDAL/OGR libraries. This enables access to an extensive range of raster and vector formats, including OGC-conformal Simple Features. GRASS also makes use of the highly regarded PROJ.4 software library with support for most known map projections and the easy definition of new and rare map projections via custom parameterization. Strong links are maintained with the QGIS and R Statistics projects with integrated GRASS toolkits available for each.

Screenshots

Platforms supported by GRASS

GNU/Linux, Mac OS X/Darwin, Microsoft Windows (native using MinGW or with full UNIX support via Cygwin), Sun Solaris (SPARC/Intel), Silicon Graphics Irix, HP-UX, DEC-Alpha, AIX, BSD, iPAQ/Linux and other UNIX compliant platforms. GRASS runs on both 32 and 64 bit systems with large files (>2GB) supported by many key modules.

Software download/CDROM

The new source code is available now and binary packages for major operating systems will be published shortly.

For details on GRASS software capabilities please refer to: http://grass.itc.it/intro/general.php, the previous GRASS 6.0.0, GRASS 6.2.0, and GRASS 6.2.1 release announcements, and the Wiki collaborative help system.

What’s new in GRASS 6.2.2

(selected improvements)

  • System and Libraries:
    • DBMI/SQL parser: Add missing TIME support
    • DBF driver: Add missing SQL TIME support; fix semicolon problem
    • Sqlite driver: Add missing ‘date’ support; transactions to speed up ‘execute’; don’t crash with SQLITE_NULL
    • QGIS-GRASS DB bug: Fixes QGIS bug #448
    • geodetic datum: Enable geodetic datum for Krovak, fixed Slovakia Datum (hermannskogel)
    • libgis: Backport false easting/northing test
  • Graphical User Interface:
    • GIS.m GUI: Backport various enhancements, including: clickable layer buttons; more robust error handling; main window cosmetics; fix the lwidth bug; various typos; browsing for EPSG file not updating path to it fixed; browsing for new location path fixed
    • GUI menus: Remove non-functional font setting entries; other assorted fixes
    • GUI startup: Backport Michael Barton’s new EPSG code search tool
  • Modules/Scripts:
    • scripts: Backport various fixes; remove all Bashisms from Bourne scripts
    • d.labels: Backport fixes for rotated labels
    • d.vect: Nodes are displayed in topo mode
    • d.vect.thematic: Remove Bashisms
    • g.mremove: Fixed to work correctly from the GIS.m GUI
    • nviz: compilation fix for MacOSX
    • ps.map: Fix landscape mode. Fix map scaling when map projection is not measured in meters
    • r.contour: Fix segmentation fault
    • r.distance: Allow null distance for area in area
    • r.flow: 3D length fix; 64bit segfault fix
    • r.in.bin: Honour the -s flag for 2-byte and 4-byte data
    • r.in.wms: Fix a number of teething problems; remove bashisms
    • r.median: fix broken internal r.stats call
    • r.profile: Allow data from stdin, exit with error if coordinate request is outside the current region settings (was reporting bogus data)
    • r.proj bilinear: Fix inverted interpolation expression
    • r.reclass.area: Don’t leave the clump file behind, label support added
    • r.tileset: Fix break due to platform specific units parsing; Requires Bash
    • v.build.polylines: Build polylines out of a closed boundaries, remove doubled vertices at each node
    • v.clean snap tool: Remove doubled vertices
    • v.db.addtable: fixed error treatment when wrong SQL types were defined
    • v.dissolve: Dissolve common boundaries by attribute; fix for DBMI error if input map is specified with @mapset
    • v.in.ascii: Skip over blank lines without error, improve robustness
    • v.in.gns: fixed format incompatibility with current GNS format
    • v.in.gpsbabel: Attribute and point import fixed for tracks and routes; works with Mac OSX
    • v.in.region: Add additional vertex if necessary to ensure line segments don’t exceed 180 degrees longitude and wrap the wrong way around the world
    • v.lidar.*: Various fixes backported
    • v.lrs.*: fixes backported + new documentation
    • v.report: Backport fixes for RT bug #4459 and Wald bug #301
    • v.segment: Make the side_offset instruction functional
    • v.to.db: Repair the compactness formula parentheses to match actual formula
    • v.type: Wrap with a script so all combinations are allowed from the GUI menus
    • v.what: Allow multiple input coordinates

For a comprehensive list of changes see the full ChangeLog or the ChangeLog since 6.2.1.

For a complete list of commands available in GRASS 6.2.2 see the online manuals and the GRASS 6 module list.

We are always looking for testers, code developers, and technical writers to help us maintain and accelerate the development cycle. The GRASS GIS project is developed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (the GPL) in the open by volunteers the world over. GRASS differs from many other GIS software packages used in the professional world in that it is developed and distributed by users for users, mostly on a volunteer basis, in the open, and is given away for free. Emphasis is placed on interoperability and unlimited access to data as well as on software flexibility and evolution rate. The source code is freely available allowing for immediate customization, examination of the underlying algorithms, addition of new features, and fast bug fixing.

GRASS 6.2 release history:

  • GRASS GIS 6.1.0 technology preview released 11 August 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.0beta1 released 28 August 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.0beta2 released 30 August 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.0beta3 released 18 September 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.0RC1 released 26 September 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.0RC2 released 6 October 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.0RC3 released 24 October 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.0 released 31 October 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.1RC1 released 6 December 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.1 released 12 December 2006
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.2RC1 released 29 May 2007
  • GRASS GIS 6.2.2 released 16 July 2007

The GRASS Development Team