Moritz Lennert wrote: > > Understood. These python utilities draw to Python canvases, and so > > normally need the GUI to run. It may be possible for them to output to a > > graphic file too. But they are designed to work in a GUI environment > > rather than a command line environment. > > http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/faq.html#BATCHMODE > > > > I don't advocate ditching d.histogram. In fact, the *easiest* thing from > > my standpoint, would be to have a sophisticated and slick C-graphing > > module that I just had to call as a command and presto it creates a > > graphic file that I can pop into a canvas. But I have some understand of > > the complexity of writing this in C or anything else. That's why to use > > high level graphing tools to do this. > > We do have some C-code which exists. It's just a question of whether we > think that someone will take the time for updating that, or whether we > should profit of the efforts done for the GUI to just have the same > functions also available on the command line (with the additional > advantage of consistency). If python is a required dependency anyhow, I > don't have any religion about a module absolutely having to be in C if > the python version is just as good.
The issue isn't one of C versus Python. It's one of being able to run a command to generate a PNG/PS/PDF/etc file on a server versus only being able to generate graphics on a desktop system which is capable of running a GUI. It should be possible to use GRASS in a web application (whether CGI or AJAX or whatever), i.e. in a context where "import wx" is going to fail because there are no X libraries and/or no X display to connect to. IOW, using Python is fine; using libraries which require X (or Windows' GDI etc) isn't. IMHO, it's okay to use cairo, as the dependence upon X libraries is a build-time dependency (you can compile a version which only supports the PNG/PS/PDF file backends), and dependence upon an X display is a run-time dependency (it only needs a display to create an X drawing "surface"). OTOH, wxWidgets won't run without a display (AFAICT), even if you only wanted to render into an image then save it to a file. -- Glynn Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________ grass-dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-dev
