Hello! This sounds very interesting, but the devil is in the details, I suppose. For example, you can't just "deliver" a PostGIS database. This needs further explaination and this explaination may vary for different platforms. So the experience will definitly not be like what you described.
As far as I know, there is some kind of demonstrational show for R modules. Maybe you can script something like that. This would bear an advantage, as it could serve as an example for users interested in scripting. I also think it burdens the plugin developers, since they have to take care of an up-to-date demonstrational dataset as well. You might have to inform the user to download new versions of the sample-datasets, as the functionality of a plugin changes or develops. I therefore think it won't work as a package on most Linux distributions, since most maintainers wouldn't update it as often as necessary. Volker Am Dienstag 05 Oktober 2010, 04:34:43 schrieb Noli Sicad: > Hi Pierre, > > This is very good idea. > > I myself don't deal with raster data at this moment, hence, all those > plugins dealing with raster is no use to me at this moment. > > (Cross posted to Qgis developer) > > Let see the developers feedbacks on your suggestions. > > Noli > > On 10/5/10, Pierre Chevalier Géologue <pierrechevalierg...@free.fr> wrote: > > Hello, > > > > I start another thread, based on the discussion about time manager > > dataset. > > > > Noli Sicad claviota: > >> Very good point. Probably you can have 2 versions with data and > >> without data. I suggest that probably you can put a link, a button to > >> get the sample data in one of the plugin widgets. These are all > >> suggestions to improve usabilities of the qgis plugins in general. > > > > Yes, I plussoie beaucoup. I agree, in a more proper language. > > > >> Some of QGIS plugins are hard to figure out if you don't have a properly > >> data to work on. And most of the users, have no real use of the plugin > >> at the time the plugin is announced and just like to see how it works. > > > > Yes. And this is particularly true in GIS software. > > If you look at R, for instance, they provide datasets that can be > > accessed so simply. It is excellent, because you are able to *really* > > play with data in a matter of seconds, literally. > > > > For instance, in R, all you have to do is: > > contour(10 * (1:nrow(2 * volcano)), 10 * (1:ncol(2 * volcano)), 1.5 > > > > * volcano, pretty(range(volcano))) > > > > To get, in ONE line, a contour map from a volcano in New Zealand. > > > > Similarly, to get a perspective view of the same data: > > persp(10 * (1:nrow(2 * volcano)), 10 * (1:ncol(2 * volcano)), 1.5 * > > > > volcano, theta = 140, phi = 30, scale = FALSE, axes = FALSE, shade = > > 0.5, border = NA) > > > > > > In fact, the variable 'volcano' seems to directly contain a whole > > dataset. No need to do any file/open or anything. > > > > Another example with another dataset provided with R, 'iris': > > pairs(iris[1:4], main="Edgar Anderson's Iris Data", pch=21,bg = > > > > c("red", "green3", "blue")[unclass(iris$Species)]) > > > > > > In my humble opinion, this solution is extremely effective, from the > > end-user-beginner point of view. > > Now, back to qgis: there is already the Alaska dataset, also the grass > > spearfish dataset. > > > > > > I would be in favour of compiling a "state-of-the-art" complete dataset, > > so that users can play immediately with it, and get a good feeling about > > softwares. Not only plug-ins, but the whole thing. This could be a sort > > of standard, a base on which any GIS newbie could rely on to make his > > own dataset: just erase all example data, and fill with your own, and > > you're up and running. > > > > Such a dataset has, of course, to be free (freedom), it may have data > > > > such as: > > - an srtm dem, > > - a topo map, > > - gpx data, > > - satellite imagery > > - a scanned geological map (sorry, "je prêche pour ma paroisse" > > > > => if someone > > > > knows the English > > > > translation, go on and translate ;) > > > > ), > > > > - a scanned pedological map, > > - a set of pictures taken from the ground, geotagged, > > - buildings as vectors, > > - roads as vectors, > > - "field occupation" (occupation du sol, in French: not sure about > > > > translation) as vectors, > > > > - a postgis database, > > - an sqlite database, > > - a mysql (forgot about postgis equivalent, sorry) database, > > - a whole grass dataset, > > - etc, etc. (unlimited) > > > > Then, any plug-in developer should add to this dataset some sample data. > > > > I think such a sample dataset should be: > > - well-structured (state of the art => so that the GIS newbies can > > > > inherit from the experience/errors from senior users), > > > > - small, in terms of size: this way, when a user tries some features, > > > > it doesn't run for hours or colonize the whole user's RAM, > > > > - available separately from the software itself (regarding issues > > > > mentioned during the initial discussion); if it was for instance a linux > > package, it could be something like qgis-sample-data. > > > > > > The "spearfish" dataset could well be a base for such an exercise. Or > > Alaska. > > Or anything else. There was a "Doncaster" totally fake dataset, provided > > with GDM (geological package): it was invented, by mixing different data > > from various places, mangling data. > > > >> I hope if it will be in python plugin repository soon. I just like to > >> try it. > > > > If such a solution was adopted, then every plugin developer should add > > relevant data in the sample data set. Or, maybe, publish on the > > repository a small dataset, which would make the complement of the > > existing whole dataset? > > > > Your opinions? Silly ideas? Utopia?... > > > > A+ > > Pierre > > > > -- > > _________________________________________________________________________ > > ___ Pierre Chevalier Géologue EI > > > > Mesté Duran > > 32100 Condom > > > > Tél+fax : 09 75 27 45 62 > > > > 05 62 28 06 83 > > > > 06 37 80 33 64 > > > > Émail : pierrechevaliergeolCHEZfree.fr > > icq# : 10432285 > > skype : pierre.chevalier1967 > > http://pierremariechevalier.free.fr/pierre_chevalier_geologue > > > > _________________________________________________________________________ > > ___ > > _______________________________________________ > Qgis-user mailing list > Qgis-user@lists.osgeo.org > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user _______________________________________________ Qgis-user mailing list Qgis-user@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user