gvSIG Desktop Quickstart — OSGeoLive 16.0 Documentation

gvSIG Desktop Quickstart — OSGeoLive 16.0 Documentation
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Note
This project is only included on the OSGeoLive virtual machine disk (VMDK)
gvSIG Desktop Quickstart
gvSIG is a Geographic Information System (GIS), that is, a desktop application
designed for capturing, storing, handling, analyzing and deploying any kind of
referenced geographic information in order to solve complex management and
planning problems. gvSIG is known for having a user-friendly interface, being
able to access the most common formats, both vector and raster ones. It
features a wide range of tools for working with geographic-like information
(query tools, layout creation, geoprocessing, networks, etc.), which turns
gvSIG into the ideal tool for users working in the land realm.
Contents
Start gvSIG and create a view
Define the projection of your view
Add layers to the view
Configure the view display
Zoom into a region
Change how the layers look
Make a polygon transparent
Change the symbology of a vector layer
Remove the fill symbol and changing the border color
Change the labelling of a vector layer
View the result
Add an overview or locator
Select towns within a region
Select the region
Open the Selection by layer tool
Select the towns contained within a region
Deselect the polygon so you can see what has happened
Export selected features to a new shapefile
Select the output file format
Select the output file name
Reference system
Export options
View the result
Create a new map
Work with the map
Save your project or exiting gvSIG
Install an add-on
Open the add-ons manager
Find an add-on
Finish the installation
Add an OpenStreetMap layer
View the result
Add a WMTS layer
Select a server
Select one of the available layers
Select image format and reference system
What next?
Note
If gvSIG user interface becomes unresponsive, try
Alt
to open
the file menu for example. User interface should work again, then. This
bug only happens in the gvSIG distro for OSGeoLive. It doesn’t appear
in a normal gvSIG installation.
Note
Note for version gvSIG 2.3.1: To load raster files the user must
have write permission in the folder where the file is. Otherwise the
application will ask for a valid folder (with write permission). Since
the “user” user doesn’t have write permission in the “data” folder, it
will be necessary to select, when asked, a folder where the user does
have write permission, like for example, “/home/user”.
Start gvSIG and create a view
Select gvSIG from the application menu,
Geospatial ‣ Desktop GIS ‣ gvSIG desktop
. The application usually takes about a minute to startup.
By default gvSIG opens with an empty project file with the ‘View’ document
type selected. However, on OSGeoLive, gvSIG has been configured to
start with a default project. Click on the
New Project
button or go to
File ‣ New Project
. When prompted, you can select
Discard Changes
as we won’t be using the last project.
Click on the
New
button to create a view. It will be opened automatically.
Define the projection of your view
Select
View ‣ Properties
For the
Current projection
, click on the
button.
This will open the
New CRS
dialog.
Using the dropdown list for
Type
, select EPSG.
Enter the EPSG code for the Coordinate Reference System. For this example
we are using EPSG=4326, which is the WGS84 2D Geographic Projection. Then
click on the
button. This will list the selected CRS in the table
below the search input field.
Select
OK
to return to the
View Properties
dialog. The EPSG code is now 4326 and that the map units have changed to degrees.
Select
OK
to return to the
Project Manager
The view window consists of three zones.
(2) The top-left cell contains a list of vector or raster layers being used in
the view (i.e. Table-of-Contents).
(3) The bottom-left cell displays the extent of the main view over a selected
vector file.
(4) The right cell is the main display area where raster and vector data is
rendered.
Add layers to the view
Click on the
Add layer
icon in the main toolbar to open the
Add layer
dialog.
Select
Add
in the
Add layer
dialog. By default the first tab is
File
so the
Open
file dialog will appear.
Drill down to the
/usr/local/share/data/natural_earth2/
directory.
Select the files as shown in the picture.
Note
By default all formats are shown so we can select both vector and raster files at a time by keeping pressed the
CTRL
key.
Click on the
OK
button to return to the
Add layer
dialog.
Click on the
OK
button on the
Add layer
dialog to return to the view.
Configure the view display
Click on the
Maximize
icon for a better viewing of the data.
The size of the Table-of-Contents column can be adjusted using the mouse to
help see long file names.
In case the raster layer is on the top it should be moved manually to the bottom.
Zoom into a region
By default the
Zoom in
tool is selected on the main toolbar.
Use the mouse pointer to draw a bounding box around South-east Australia.
Do this by selecting the top-left corner of the bounding box, holding
down the left-mouse-button, and dragging the bottom-right corner of
the bounding box over the selected area. Release the left-mouse button once
you have the approximate area defined.
Change how the layers look
Make a polygon transparent
Select the
ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces.shp
layer using the
left-mouse-button and click again with the right-mouse-button.
Select the
Properties
submenu.
The
Layer properties
dialog box will appear.
Change the symbology of a vector layer
Select the
Symbols
tab at the top of the
Layers properties
dialog.
Select
Choose symbol
button so the
Symbol selector
dialog appears.
Remove the fill symbol and changing the border color
Uncheck the
Fill color
box so the polygons are transparent.
Click on the
close to
Border color:
Choose white as color.
Click on the
OK
button to return to the
Symbol selector
dialog.
Click on the
OK
button to return to the
Layers properties
dialog.
Change the labelling of a vector layer
Select the
Labelling
tab at the top of the
Layers properties
dialog.
Change the text attributes to those shown on the image, then click on the
Accept
button.
View the result
Note that this is a very basic view showing a point, a line and a polygon vector
file superimposed over a raster file. It is just as easy to have an aerial
photograph or Digital Terrain Model as a backdrop to your vector data, or
to show other vector data stored in different formats.
Add an overview or locator
Select
View ‣ Locator setup
Click on the
Add layer…
button.
Within the Add layer window, click on the
Add
button.
Select the
HYP_50M_SR_W.tif
layer.
Click on the
Open
button to return to the Add layer window.
Click on the
Ok
button and close the Configure locator window.
Now we can easily know where the view is located in the world.
Select towns within a region
Select the region
Select the
ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces.shp
layer using the
left-mouse-button.
Select the
Select by point
icon in the main toolbar.
Click the polygon representing the State of New South Wales. The polygon will
go yellow or some other colour depending on your user preferences.
Open the Selection by layer tool
Select the
ne_10m_populated_places.shp
layer using the left-mouse-button.
Select
Selection ‣ Select by layer
to open the
Selection by Layer
dialog
Select the towns contained within a region
Change the first selection criteria using the dropdown boxes on the left-hand
side of the
Selection by Layer
dialog as shown in the picture.
Change the second selection criteria as shown in the picture.
Click the
New set
button to select towns within the selected polygon.
Select the
Cancel
button in the
Selection by Layer
dialog to return
to the view.
Deselect the polygon so you can see what has happened
Select the
ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces.shp
layer using the left-mouse-button.
Select the ‘Clear selection’ icon in the main toolbar.
You can now see that only those towns within New South Wales are selected.
Export selected features to a new shapefile
Select the output file format
Select the
ne_10m_populated_places.shp
layer using the left-mouse-button.
Select
Layer ‣ Export to…
to start the export.
Select
Shape Format
Click on
Next
Select the output file name
Choose a folder and type the file name.
Click on
Open
and then on
Next
Reference system
Choose the option
Original (EPSG:4326)
in order to keep the reference system of the view.
Click on
Next
Export options
Choose the option
Selected features
in order to export only the towns of
New South Wales.
Click on
Export
View the result
The new layer has been added to the view.
In order to check that the export was ok set the original file as invisible.
Only the towns of New South Wales should be shown.
Create a new map
Select the
Map
document type in the
Project Manager
Click on the
New
button to create a map.
A new window is shown, where you can select the view to insert on the Map.
Select the only view that you have and press
Accept
The map will appear with the view selected.
Work with the map
Additional elements like a scale and north arrow can be added to the map
using the icons in the main toolbar or with the submenus in the
Map
menu.
The map can be printed or exported to PDF or Postscript for incorporation
into other works.
Select the
Close window
icon to return to the
Project manager
Save your project or exiting gvSIG
Projects can be saved for use later by using the
File ‣ Save as…
menu option, or
Projects can be exited or closed by using the
File ‣ Exit
menu option.
Install an add-on
Open the add-ons manager
Select
Tools ‣ Addons manager
. After a while, the
Install package
window will appear.
Within the
Install package
window, select the option
Installation from URL
Choose the repo URL shown in the picture.
Click on the
Next
button.
Find an add-on
At the add-ons manager we can find plugins and symbol libraries.
Type ‘Forestry’ in the
Fast filter
text box.
Check the add-on called
Symbols: Forestry
(it’s a symbol library).
Click on
Next
Finish the installation
Click on
Start downloading
Then click on
Next
Finally click on
Finish
Although the new message indicates that a restart is needed, for symbol libraries it’s not necessary. We only have to restart when we install plugins.
Add an OpenStreetMap layer
Now we are going to add OpenStreetMap cartography. Within a new view, in EPSG 3857, click on the
Add layer…
button.
Choose the
OSM
tab.
Select ‘Mapnik’ from the available layers.
Click on
Ok
View the result
A new layer has been added to the view. Just doing zoom over a region we could see
the detailed Open Street Map data.
Add a WMTS layer
WMTS is an evolution of WMS OGC standard based on tile management.
Select a server
Within a view, click on the
Add layer…
button.
Choose the
WMTS
tab.
Choose the URL shown in the picture.
Click on
Connect
Click on
Next
Select one of the available layers
Select one of the available layers (e.g. bluemarble)
Click on
Add
Click on
Next
Select image format and reference system
Select
image/jpeg
as image format.
Select
EPSG:4326
(notice that the view must have the same SRS. If not then
cancel, change it and start again).
Click on
Accept
A new layer has been added to the view.
What next?
User manuals
Courses and tutorials
Learning gvSIG in 30 minutes
gvSIG Blog
Suomen kieli
Hungarian
Italiano
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