NAME

d.display - A menu-driven, highly interactive display program for viewing maps and producing final map products
(GRASS Display Program)

SYNOPSIS

d.display

DESCRIPTION

The GRASS program d.display is used to display maps on a graphics monitor and prepare final map products for printing. It is advisable to first run d.erase before each run of d.display to prepare the screen for graphics.

After invoking the command d.display, the DISPLAY MAIN MENU appears on the monitor. Options in this and subsequent d.display menus are selected through use of the pointing device (mouse). When the mouse cursor is over the desired menu selection, the user simply presses any button on the mouse.

d.display is a macro that allows the user to access a wide range of GRASS display functions in a menu-driven and highly interactive environment. Most of the functions accessible through d.display can also be run independently of one another by running the GRASS display (d.) commands listed in the SEE ALSO section, below. However, in many cases, these other d. commands give the user greater flexibility and make available more options than are available through the d.display menus. For example, the d.display label file option runs the d.label command using defaults. Users running d.label directly from the command line have the choice of stipulating specific label background and text colors, as well as text sizes and font types. Users running the label file option through d.display cannot specify these options; instead, default values are used (see d.label for default values used).

The d.display tool is best learned by playing with its options. Refer to the individual d. and other commands in the SEE ALSO section for a detailed examination of these functions.

NOTES

The user can also modify the current region settings from the DISPLAY MAIN MENU. Using the mouse, the user can choose to zoom in on a portion of the displayed raster map layer to create a smaller geographic region. Once the user has defined the corners of this area using the mouse, the smaller area is enlarged and replotted on the screen. The user can similarly choose to zoom out. In this case, the user uses the mouse to encompass that portion of the reduced map that the user wishes to make the current geographic region and display in the center of the screen. The larger map is then replotted and displayed. Finally, the user can enter geographic coordinates for the region's corners from the keyboard using the GRASS command g.region. This is done by selecting the type coordinates option.

The main menu also offers the user the option of hiding the main menu for ten seconds (hide menu for 10 seconds).

The d.display command must be run in conjunction with a program which converts the GRASS graphics commands generated by d.display to the graphics commands that the current device understands. This device will almost always be a graphics monitor. On most systems the user is required to start up this other program separately from (and prior to) d.display. In such cases, a locally-defined program, usually "monitor", is used (see your GRASS manager). (For example, on MASSCOMP machines, the d.mon program must be running in the foreground on the graphics monitor. On SUN machines, the d.mon program can be started from any terminal and run in the background.)

d.display sends program output to the current graphics frame (set, by default, to the full graphics screen unless modified by the user). You can use d.frame to create and choose a smaller display frame on the graphics monitor for use by d.display.

See the GRASS macro 3d.view.sh stored under $GISBASE/scripts for an example of how you can create a d.display-like macro using a shell script.

SEE ALSO

See 3d.view.sh or slide.show.sh under $GISBASE/scripts for examples of d.display-like macros.

d.3d d.colormode d.colors d.frame
d.label d.legend d.measure d.mon
d.rast d.scale d.sites d.vect
d.zoom g.region d.menu v.digit

AUTHOR

James Westervelt, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory

Last changed: $Date: 2002/01/25 05:45:32 $