Cross-posting for those who do not get notifications from GH. The discussion is happening in GH: https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues/1868 As the issue needs to be solved before 8.0 release, it would be nice to get the feedback till 26th of September. ------------------------------------------
The issue The term band reference was introduced with #63. There, perhaps, the word reference was referring to the fact that the text is referring to the band description stored in the file g.bands gives access to. However, now an arbitrary band reference can be stored for any raster map, i.e., it is more general than just bands from a predefined (or possibly in the future, registered) list of bands associated with particular sensors. The band references can now be used (optionally assuming #1866) to label any rasters (raster maps or bands) in an imagery group so that signatures are associated with given set of bands rather than just a fixed set of raster data. Going even further, the usage does not have to limited to image processing. For example, in modeling, standardized names such as topographic__elevation and sea_surface_air__temperature are used to describe inputs and outputs of models (see Landlab Standard Name Definitions and CSDMS Standard Names). Overall, band references quickly outgrew their original definition and there is a potential to have good name suggesting the potential use. At the same time, there is a potential for ending up with a cryptic term which is difficult to explain and difficult to link to its application. The issues with the current name are: The word band, although often used quite generally, might be tight too much to remote sensing and may overlap with other usages of the term. The word reference is the cryptic part. Name, label, band and id are words people may have different ideas about, but they generally be somewhat right. Reference, on the other hand, is a very special term, loaded for some, meaningless for others. The term band reference seems to be too long, resulting in modules and functions using different combinations of band and bandref in the interface instead of full band reference. Notably, bandref is not a word. The word band by itself may be too ambiguous. Interestingly, I don't think there is reference used as the only word, although that's really the noun in the term. Since the current system is not part of any release yet, now is the time to get it right. Naming options band label band name band tag band reference band id band identifier semantic label semantic name semantic tag standard variable name standard field name ... Expected resolution We decide on a name for what these things are and even if it stays as band references we are sure that that's how we want to call them. The usage is consistent in documentation and in the interface (option names, function names). Additional context We discussed this during the last call, but decided to open this as an issue to discuss this in written form and asynchronously. _______________________________________________ grass-dev mailing list grass-dev@lists.osgeo.org https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-dev