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gsherman e1e7735543 updated documentation for 0.1 release 
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<h3>Version 0.1 (Moroz)</h3>
<a name="N1001E"></a><a name="Introduction"></a>
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<h3>Introduction</h3>
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<div class="section">
<p>Quantum GIS (QGIS) is designed to be a Geographic Information System (GIS)
built for Linux/Unix. QGIS currently offers basic support for vector, raster, and database formats.</p>
<div class="frame note">
<div class="label">Note</div>
<div class="content">The latest version of this document can always be found at <a href="http://qgis.sourceforge.net/docs/userguide.html">http://qgis.sourceforge.net/docs/userguide.html
</a>
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<a name="N1002E"></a><a name="Current+Features"></a>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
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<h3>Current Features</h3>
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<div class="section">
<ul>
<li>Support for spatially enabled PostgreSQL tables using PostGIS</li>
<li>Support for ESRI shapefiles and other vector formats support by the OGR library</li>
<li>Identify features</li>
<li>Display attribute table</li>
<li>Select features</li>
<li>Persistent selections</li>
<li>Save projects</li>
<li>Support for raster formats supported by the GDAL library</li>
<li>Change vector symbology (single, graduated, and continuous)</li>
<li>Display raster data such as digital elevation models, aerial photography or
landsat imagery</li>
<li>Change raster symbology (grayscale, pseudocolor and multiband RGB)</li>
<li>Export to Mapserver map file</li>
</ul>
</div>
<a name="N1005C"></a><a name="Getting+Started"></a>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
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<h3>Getting Started</h3>
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<div class="section">
<p>This section gives you a quick overview of running QGIS and examining data
available on the QGIS web page.
</p>
<a name="N10065"></a><a name="Installation"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
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<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>Installation</h4>
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<p>Installation of QGIS is documented in the <a href="install.html">Installation Guide</a>.
</p>
<a name="N10073"></a><a name="Sample+Data"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
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<h4>Sample Data</h4>
</td><td></td>
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<p>If you do not have any GIS data, you can obtain a dataset for Alaska (which will be used as the
basis for the examples and screenshots provided in this document) from the
<a href="http://qgis.sourceforge.net/qgis_sample_data.tar.gz">the QGIS web site</a>
</p>
<a name="N10080"></a><a name="Starting+QGIS"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
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<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>Starting QGIS</h4>
</td><td></td>
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<p>
Assuming the QGIS is installed in the PATH, you can start QGIS by typing:
<span class="codefrag">qgis</span>.</p>
<p>
In addition, you can start QGIS by specifying one or more datafiles on the commandline. For example,
assuming you are in your data directory, you could start QGIS with two shapefiles and a raster file set to
load on startup:
</p>
<p>
<span class="codefrag">qgis ak_shade.tif alaska.shp majrivers.shp </span>
</p>
<p>
<img alt="QGIS Load Data On Start" src="images/qgis_load_data_on_startup.png"></p>
<div class="frame note">
<div class="label">Note</div>
<div class="content">Your window decorations (title bar, etc.) may appear different depending on your operating system
and window manager</div>
</div>
<a name="N1009C"></a><a name="The+QGIS+main+window"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
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<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>The QGIS main window</h4>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
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<p>
When QGIS starts, an empty window is displayed as shown below.
<img alt="QGIS Main Window" src="images/qgis_mainwindow01.png">
</p>
<p>The QGIS main window is divided into five areas:</p>
<ol>
<li>The menu bar</li>
<li>The tool bar</li>
<li>The map legend</li>
<li>The map view</li>
<li>The status bar</li>
</ol>
<p>These five parts of the main QGIS are described in more detail in the following sections</p>
<a name="N100C1"></a><a name="The+QGIS+menu+bar"></a>
<h4>The QGIS menu bar</h4>
<p>The menu bar provides access to various QGIS features using a standard windows
heirachical menu.</p>
<p>The File Menu:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<img alt="Open Project" src="images/open.png"> - Open a previously saved project.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Save Project" src="images/filesave.png"> - Save the current project.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Save Project As" src="images/filesaveas.png"> - Save project under a new file name.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Export to mapserver" src="images/mapserver.png"> - Export your current project as a mapserver
map file. Note that not all mapserver features are available in the exported mapfile.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Exit" src="images/exit.png"> - Exit the QGIS application.</li>
</ul>
<p>The View Menu:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<img alt="Add Postgis Layer(s)" src="images/gis_add_pg_layer.png"> - Add one or more layers
stored in a PostgreSQL/Postgis geodatabase to the map view.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Add Vector Layer(s)" src="images/gis_add_vector_layer.png"> - Add one or more layers
stored on disk as shapefiles to the map view.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Add Raster Layers" src="images/gis_add_raster_layer.png"> - Add one or more raster layers
to the map view. </li>
</ul>
<p>The Tools Menu:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<img alt="Plugin Manager" src="images/connect_no.png"> - This opens a dialog
that allows you to manage (load and unload) which plugins are used in QGIS.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Check Version" src="images/checkversion.png"> - This option connects
over the internet to the QGIS server to find out what the latest available version is. No
personal data is sent to the QGIS server.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Preferences" src="images/configure.png"> - Global configuration options
for the QGIS application.</li>
</ul>
<p>The Help Menu:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<img alt="Contents" src="images/contents.png"> - This opens the help documentation
you are reading right now!.</li>
<li>
<img alt="QGIS Home" src="images/package_network.png"> - Clicking this menu option will
take you to the QGIS internet home page using your preferred browser.</li>
<li>
<img alt="SourceForge Home" src="images/sf.png"> - This will take you to the Sourceforge.net
project page for QGIS. </li>
<li>
<img alt="About" src="images/icon_small.png"> - Click here to find out some useful information
about the current version of QGIS you are using. If you want to frighten yourself silly, take a
look at the Contributors tab to see all the hardworking elves behind the QGIS effort. </li>
</ul>
<a name="N1013D"></a><a name="The+QGIS+toolbars"></a>
<h4>The QGIS toolbars</h4>
<p>QGIS has toolbars that provide quick access to commonly used functions. These are:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<img alt="New Project" src="images/filenew.png"> - Start a new QGIS project. If you
already have a project ope, you will be asked if you would like to save the existing one first.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Open Project" src="images/open.png"> - Open a previously saved project.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Save Project" src="images/filesave.png"> - Save the current project.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Save Project As" src="images/filesaveas.png"> - Save project under a new file name.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Add Postgis Layer(s)" src="images/gis_add_pg_layer.png"> - Add one or more layers
stored in a PostgreSQL/Postgis geodatabase to the map view.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Add Vector Layer(s)" src="images/gis_add_vector_layer.png"> - Add one or more layers
stored on disk as shapefiles to the map view.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Add Raster Layers" src="images/gis_add_raster_layer.png"> - Add one or more raster layers
to the map view. </li>
<li>
<img alt="Reload" src="images/reload20x20.png"> - Reload the current map view (refreshes display)</li>
<li>
<img alt="Zoom In" src="images/zoomin.png"> - Zoom in the map display by dragging a rectangle</li>
<li>
<img alt="Zoom Out" src="images/viewmag-.png"> - Zoom out of the map display by dragging a rectangle.
Dragging a small rectangle will zoom out a long way, dragging a large rectangle will zoom out a little way.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Zoom Full Extent" src="images/gis_view_all.png"> - Zoom out until all features in all map layers
are visible.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Zoom to Selected" src="images/gis_zoom_to_selected.png"> - Zoom to fit all selected features in the
map view.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Pan" src="images/gis_pan.png"> - Pan in the map display area.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Zoom to Previous" src="images/back20x20.png"> - Zoom to last extents.</li>
<li>
<img alt="Identify" src="images/gis_identify.png"> - Show information about a feature (applies only to vector data).</li>
<li>
<img alt="Select Features" src="images/select_features.png"> - Select features in the map display (applies only to vector data).</li>
<li>
<img alt="Show Attributes" src="images/table.png"> - Show the attribute table for the selected layer (applies only to vector data).</li>
</ul>
<a name="N101B0"></a><a name="The+QGIS+map+legend"></a>
<h4>The QGIS map legend</h4>
<p>The map legend area is used to set the visibility and z-ordering of layers.
Z-ordering means that layers listed nearer the top of the legend are drawn over
layers listed lower down in the legend. The checkbox in each legend entry can be useed
to show/hire that layer.</p>
<a name="N101BA"></a><a name="The+QGIS+map+view"></a>
<h4>The QGIS map view</h4>
<p>This is the 'business end' of QGIS - maps are displayed in this area! The map
displayed in this window will depend on the vector and raster layers you have chosen
to load (see sections that follow for more info on this). The map view can be panned (shifting
to focus of the map display to another region), zoomed in and out, and supports various other
actions as described in the toolbar description above.</p>
<p>The map view and the legend are tightly bound to each other - the maps in view
reflect changes you make in the legend area.</p>
<a name="N101C7"></a><a name="The+QGIS+map+status+bar"></a>
<h4>The QGIS map status bar</h4>
<p>The status bar shows you your current position in map coordinate (e.g. meters or decimal
degress) as the mouse pointer is moved accross the map view. </p>
</div>
<a name="N101D3"></a><a name="Working+with+vector+data"></a>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h3>Working with vector data</h3>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="bottom-left-thick"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right-thick"></td>
</tr>
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<div class="section">
<a name="N101D9"></a><a name="Loading+vector+data"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>Loading vector data</h4>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="bottom-left"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>To load one or more shapefiles, click on the Add Layer button
<img alt="Add Layer" src="images/gis_add_vector_layer.png">. </p>
<p>The <em>Select one or more layers to add</em> dialog box will be displayed.
<img alt="Select layers" src="images/add_layer_dialog.png"></p>
<p>Navigate to the directory where the shapefiles reside. Select one or
more files and click ok to load them.</p>
<p>When QGIS loads a layer, it assigns a random color to it as shown
below.</p>
<p>
<img alt="Shapefiles loaded into QGIS" src="images/loaded_shapefiles.png">
</p>
<p>
Obviously QGIS's choice of colors is not very pleasing in this case.
</p>
<a name="N101FF"></a><a name="Changing+Symbology"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
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<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>Changing Symbology</h4>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
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<td class="bottom-left"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right"></td>
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<p>
To make the layer more appealing, open the Layer Properties
dialog by right-clicking on a layer name
in the table of contents (left side of the QGIS window) and
selecting <em>Properties</em>.
</p>
<p>If you like, change the display name of the layer by editing
the <em>Display name</em> field.</p>
<p>
<img alt="Layer Properties" src="images/qgis_vector_layer_properties.png">
</p>
<p>Click on the <em>Legend</em>
tab to display the current symbols used for the layer</p>
<p>
<img alt="Display name" src="images/qgis_vector_layer_properties1.png"></p>
<p>Click on the <em>Outline color</em> and <em>Fill color</em>
and select a new color from the color chooser. You can also change the
line width if desired.</p>
<p>
<img alt="Changing colors" src="images/qgis_vector_layer_properties2.png">
</p>
<p>After making the changes, click Ok to apply the changes to
the layer. Note that the alaska layer has been renamed to Alaska and the
color has been changed to a light green:</p>
<p>
<img alt="Changing colors" src="images/qgis_vector_layer_properties3.png">
</p>
<a name="N1023F"></a><a name="Identifying+a+Feature"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>Identifying a Feature</h4>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="bottom-left"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right"></td>
</tr>
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<p>QGIS provides a useful tool (<img alt="Identify" src="images/gis_identify.png"> - the 'identify' tool) that allows you to click on a vector feature (
point, line or polygon) and view information about that feautre. The information displayed is
retrieved from the Postgres database (in the case of Postgis layers) or from the .dbf file
associated with the shapefile you are insecting.</p>
</div>
<a name="N1024E"></a><a name="Working+with+raster+data"></a>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h3>Working with raster data</h3>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="bottom-left-thick"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right-thick"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="section">
<a name="N10254"></a><a name="What+is+raster+data%3F"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>What is raster data?</h4>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
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<td class="bottom-left"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right"></td>
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</table>
<p>Raster data in GIS are matrices of discrete cells that represent features on, above or below the earth's surface. Each
cell in the raster grid is the same size, and cells are usually rectangular (in QGIS they will always be rectangular.
Typical raster datasets include 'remote sensing' data (such as aerial photography and satellite imagery) and modelled data
(such as an elevation matrix).</p>
<p>Raster data typically do not have an associated database record for each cell (unlike in vector data where it is normal
for each feature to have an associated database record).</p>
<p>In GIS, a raster layer would have geopositioning data associated with it which will allow it to be positioned
correctly in the map display to allow other vector and raster data to be overlayed with it. QGIS, can read this
geopositioning data to facilitate properly displaying map overlays.</p>
<a name="N10264"></a><a name="Raster+formats+supported+in+QGIS."></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>Raster formats supported in QGIS.</h4>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
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<p>QGIS supports a number of different raster formats. Currently tested formats include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Arc/Info Binary Grid</li>
<li>Arc/Info ASCII Grid</li>
<li>Grass Raster</li>
<li>GeoTIFF</li>
<li>Spatial Data Transfer Standard Grids (with some limitations)</li>
<li>USGS ASCII DEM</li>
<li>Erdas Imagine</li>
</ul>
<p>Because the raster implmentation in QGIS is based on the GDAL abstraction library, orther raster formats implemented
in GDAL are also likely to work, but have not yet been tested. See
<a href="http://remotesensing.org/gdal/formats_list.html">the GDAL Raster Formats page</a> for more details.</p>
<a name="N1028D"></a><a name="Loading+raster+data+in+QGIS"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
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<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>Loading raster data in QGIS</h4>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
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<p>Raster layers are loaded either by clicking on the <img alt="Load Raster" src="images/gis_add_raster_layer.png"> icon
or by selecting the View-&gt;Add Raster Layer menu option. More than one layer can be loaded at the same time
by holding down the Control key and clicking on multiple items in the file dialog.</p>
<a name="N1029B"></a><a name="Symbolisation+and+properties+for+raster+layers"></a>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h4>Symbolisation and properties for raster layers</h4>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="bottom-left"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Symbolisation of raster layers is achieved by right clicking on a raster layer legend entry and choosing 'properties':
on the popup menu that appears:</p>
<p>
<img alt="Raster Properties Popup" src="images/qgis_raster_popup_properties_selected.png">
</p>
<p>On the properties dialog for rasters you will see there are three tabs:</p>
<a name="N102AE"></a><a name="The+general+properties+tab"></a>
<h4>The general properties tab</h4>
<p>
<img alt="Raster Properties Popup" src="images/qgis_raster_properties_general_tab.png">
</p>
<p>The legend tab displays basic information aboug the selected raster - including its
dimensions (in pixels) and its display name in the legend.</p>
<a name="N102BF"></a><a name="The+symbology+properties+tab"></a>
<h4>The symbology properties tab</h4>
<p>
<img alt="Raster Properties Popup" src="images/qgis_raster_properties_symbology_tab.png">
</p>
<p>QGIS supports three forms of raster layer:</p>
<ul>
<li>Single Band Grayscale Rasters</li>
<li>Palette Based RGB Rasters</li>
<li>Multiband RGB Rasters</li>
</ul>
<p>From these three basic layer types, eight forms of symbolised raster display can be used:</p>
<ol>
<li>Single Band Grayscale</li>
<li>Single Band Pseudocolor</li>
<li>Paletted Grayscale (where only the red, green or blue component of the image is displayed)</li>
<li>Paletted Pseudocolor (where only the red, green or blue component of the image is displayed, but using a pseudocolor algorithm)</li>
<li>Paletted RGB</li>
<li>Multiband Grayscale (using only one of the bands to display the image)</li>
<li>Mulitiband Pseudocolor (using only one of the bands shown in pseudocolor)</li>
<li>Multiband RGB (using any combination of three bands)</li>
</ol>
<p>QGIS has the capability to invert the colours in a given layer so that light
colors become dark (and dark colors become light). Use the 'Invert Color Map' checkbox
to enable / disable this behaviour.</p>
<p>QGIS has the capability to display each raster layer at varying transparency levels. Use
the transparency slider to indicate to what extent the underlying layers (if any) should
be visible though the current raster layer.</p>
<p>QGIS has the capability to restrict the data displayed to show only cells whose values are
within a given number of standard diviations of the mean for the layer. This is useful
when you have one or two cells with abnormally high values in a raster grid that are having a
negative impact on the rendering of the raster. This option is only available for pseudocolor
images.</p>
<a name="N10303"></a><a name="The+raster+statistics+properties+tab"></a>
<h4>The raster statistics properties tab</h4>
<p>
<img alt="Raster Properties Popup" src="images/qgis_raster_properties_statistics_tab.png">
</p>
<p>This tab displays statistics about each band in the current raster layer. Statistics are
gathered on a 'need to know' basis, so it may well be that a given layer's statistics have
not yet been collected.</p>
<p>Statistics for a layer are gathered when pseudocolor rendering is selected and the 'apply'
button is pressed.</p>
<div class="frame note">
<div class="label">Note</div>
<div class="content">Gathering statistics for a layer can be time consuming. Please be patient while
QGIS examines your data!</div>
</div>
</div>
<a name="N1031C"></a><a name="Creating+a+QGIS+mime+type"></a>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h3>Creating a QGIS mime type</h3>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
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<td class="bottom-left-thick"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right-thick"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="section">
<p>If you are a KDE user, you can create a mime type that associates GIS files with QGIS. This is useful
because it allows you to click on a shapefile (for example) in konqueror and the file will be loaded in a
new instance of QGIS.
</p>
<p>
</p>
</div>
<a name="N10329"></a><a name="Acknowledgments"></a>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="10" width="9"></td><td>
<h3>Acknowledgments</h3>
</td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="bottom-left-thick"></td><td bgcolor="#a5b6c6"></td><td class="bottom-right-thick"></td>
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</table>
<div class="section">
<p>Hosting for the QGIS project is generously provided by Sourceforge.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://sourceforge.net/"><img alt="SourceForge.net Logo" height="31" src="http://sourceforge.net/sflogo.php?group_id=55820&type=1" width="88"></a>
</p>
<p>Please see the Help-&gt;About-&gt;Contributors for a list of people who have donated their time to the QGIS project.</p>
</div>
<p align="right">
<font size="-2">by&nbsp;Gary Sherman,&nbsp;Tim Sutton</font>
</p>
</div>
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