OpenJUMP
ComparingOpenJump
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OpenJump Compared to uDig and QGIS on OS X:
If I could have the editing capabilities of OpenJump, the GUI of uDig, and the PostgreSQL & Grass tools of QGIS… I’d be a real happy map maker! The deeper I dig into OpenJump, the more I realize how little I was able to do with uDig & QGIS.
I think OpenJump, like Grass, is just too intimidating at introduction time, especially for non-programmers, which is why people seem to gravitate towards uDig and QGIS in larger numbers. If you are one of those people, especially on OS X where so few tools exist, then you just have to jump in and give OJ a try… you won’t regret it. This open source GIS package is a diamond in the rough, absolutely.
OpenJump GUI:
uDig GUI:
QGIS GUI:
Note: the above screenshots may shows some plug-in buttons or modified placement of certain elements within the GUI’s, therefore do not represent what is seen immediately after installing and opening the applications.
Latest stable releases/versions:
| OpenJump | openjump-1-2-D.zip | 10.5 MB | 08-16-2007 |
| uDig | udig-1.1-RC14.macosx.carbon.ppc.zip | 52 MB | 02-08-2008 |
| QGIS | qgis-0.9.2rc1.dmg | 55.6 MB | 02-13-2008 |
Installation & execution process:
OpenJump:
1. Double-click openjump-1-2-D.zip to unzip
2. Move ‘openjump-1-2-Dwin’ folder to /Applications folder.
3. Open Terminal application
4. In Terminal, type: cd Applications/openjump-1-2-Dwin/bin and press return to switch to the directory.
5. In Terminal, type: sh openjump.sh and press return to luanch OpenJump.
Note: OpenJump does not have a .app file extension, therefore the application version may not be seen or found via Finder. Instead of double-clicking on a .app executable, the user must execute a Perl script using the UNIX command ‘sh’ which is a shell script that essentially launches the Java Jar file(s) located in the /lib/ directory of the OpenJump folder.
uDig:
1. Double-click udig-1.1-RC14.macosx.carbon.ppc.zip to unzip
2. Move ‘udig’ folder to /Applications folder.
3. Open Terminal application
4. Double-click on udig.app
Note: uDig has a .app extension, and therefore behaves similar to most other OS X native .app executables. However, in Finder(or Finder > Get Info) the udig.app shows version 3.3 of the Eclipse Development Platform, instead of the actual uDig build/version number, which in this case should be udig-1.1-RC14.
QGIS:
1. Double-click qgis-0.9.2rc1.dmg to install
2. drag ‘qgis0.9.2rc1.app’ to /Applications folder.
3. Double-click on qgis0.9.2rc1.app
5. In Terminal, type: sh openjump.sh and press return to luanch OpenJump.
Note: QGIS has a .app extension, and therefore behaves similar to most other OS X native .app executables. In Finder(or Finder > Get Info) the qgis0.9.2rc1.app shows version 0.9.2rc1-Ganymede(8079).
Summary: QGIS has the best OS X installer. However, it is still lacking a 100% correct and complete install according to Apple’s guidelines, wherein the .dmg merely and only opens up access to the .app, which the user must drag-and-drop to the /Applications folder. Both QGIS and uDig installs include double-click application icons, whereas OpenJump requires the user to use the Terminal application, typing sh openjump.sh in order to launch the application.
OpenJump, should have a .pkg installer, so that a ‘Receipt’ is placed in the /Library/Receipts folder, and install/uninstall is automated and folders/files are written/copied to their correct locations on the user’s hard drive.
UDig and OpenJUMP are written in Java, QGIS in C++ and QT.
OpenJump developers use NetBeans, Eclipse or any other open source or licensed IDE, which means it’s not dependent on Eclipse, QT, or any other IDE for that matter, as is the case with uDig and QGIS.
uDig developers use ‘Eclipse’ exclusively as it’s IDE.
QGIS developers use ‘Qt’ exclusively as it’s IDE.
In my opinion, I think OpenJump should attempt to use XCode/Interface Builder for OS X builds, so the install process, and actual user experience is as similar to a native OS X application as is possible. Here are some suggestions as to how to improve OpenJump for OS X as it relates to the installation:
-Do away with the sh.openjump.sh script in the Terminal window., and have a genuine OS X .app executable.
-Also, make sure the version and build numbers are correctly written to the .app file, so users may reference this, and so other 3rd party software may do the same.
-Make sure the installation is a package installer(.pkg), so it writes to the Library/Receipts folder, and so all of OpenJump’s folders and files get written to the correct location. I would not suggest doing a .dmg that merely opens a .app file, for the user to drag. Anyways, this is not practical, unless of course, OpenJump takes and moves the /bin and /lib folders inside of the actual .app file, in which case the latter option is acceptable, but still not the preferred route.
-Also, make sure it has an easy Uninstall option, wherein the user need only run the same installer package to be given the option to uninstall, just as they are given the option to install. I would suggest not installing an uninstall script/file, as that just creates more folder clutter.
-Installer should check to make sure the system has what it needs(Java), and if it doesn’t, it should direct the user to d/l and install the respective files(s), again, all part of the installer.
Launching the application for the first time.
OpenJump Features:
Application Window/GUI:
-The visual drag indicator is cramped by the coordinates, meaning the coordinates overflow atop the visual drag indicator on the lower right portion of the window.
BUG: If the Minimize button is clicked on the upper left of the OpenJump application window, the application crashes, and must be re-launched.
Also, all of the following menus from the Menubar should comply to OS X standards, wherein they do not contain Icons, but instead, they contain text and the Apple shortcut keys, as is shown the following example image. the purpose of icons is for the actual workspace, placing a visual representation of what can otherwise be found in the textual menubar
As you can see in the following 3 images, the application menu on the menu bar is showing the l o n g Java name of; com.vividsolutions.jump.workbench.JUMPWorkbench, whereas it should simply be showing OpenJump. The long name is both ugly and hogs a considerable amount of the menubar.
Skins:
Default:
-The above screenshot shows the GUI at 648×480. Ideally, the user should use OpenJump at 1024×768.
-This skin places the Menubar in the normal OS X location… the top of the screen.
Motif:
-The above screenshot shows the GUI at 648×480. Ideally, the user should use OpenJump at 1024×768.
-This skin places the Menubar on the OpenJump window itself.
Metal:
-The above screenshot shows the GUI at 648×480. Ideally, the user should use OpenJump at 1024×768.
Menubar:
Menubar with Plug-ins installed:
Plug-ins should be listed in a specific Menubar, such as a ‘Plug-ins’ menu, instead of being added directly to the main menubar itself, as this creates real estate problems, much the same way as does the long Java name as described above.
OpenJump Menu:
File Menu:
BUG: Using the Default Skin, the ‘Save Dataset As’ does not work. Metal and Motif Skins do not create this error.
Edit Menu:
(info coming soon).
View Menu:
(info coming soon).
Layer Menu:
(info coming soon).
Tools Menu:
(This is actually where OpenJump shines over uDig and QGIS, namely as it relates to the type of editing tools and processes/transformations that are available to the user. info coming soon.).
Customize Menu:
-When the Options sub-menu is clicked, it opens up the Options window fine, but this window does not display the lower right ‘drag’ indicator, for users to re-size the window, however, if the user clicks on that corner and drags, it does indeed work. So this is a visual fix that is needed. This same problem appears throughout most of the application, and should be fixed.
-the Extension Manager > Install features do not work. It is not possible to install the geometry converter, histogram tool, or coordinate transformation extensions. It ends in ‘error in opening zip file(Zip exception)’ with the following info:
java.util.zip.ZipException: error in opening zip file
at java.util.zip.ZipFile.open(Native Method)
at java.util.zip.ZipFile.
-Under Beantools menu, all listings after New Layer do not work.
Window Menu:
-If the Clone window menu item is clicked, the application will throw the wait indicator for as long as 5 minutes, even for simple layers. Also, when the clone viewport opens, the scroller does not work, and of course there is no layers pane(not sure if this s intentional or not).
-Output window and Log seem to be one in the same, thus should be consolidated.
Help Menu:
-Even though a Help menu selection exists, oddly enough there is no Help link or help documents.
Right-click Menu:
Editing Toolbox:
-Here are some Quicktime movies showing each of the Editing Tools in action:
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Delete_Vertex_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Linestring_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Point_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Polygon_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Rectangle_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Insert_Vertex_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Move_Vertex_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Scale_Selected_Items_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Select_Features_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Select_Linestrings_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Select_Parts_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Snap_Vertices_Tool.mov
Snap Vertices To Selected Vertex Tool – DOES NOT WORK!
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Split_Lines_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Node_Lines_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Constrained_Polygon_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Constrained_Linestring_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Constrained_Circle_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Constrained_Arc_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Constrained_Move_Vertex_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Rotate_Selected_Item_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Select_One_Item_Tool.mov
http://ericJarvies.com/openjump/movies/Draw_Circle_With_Given_Radius_And_Center_Tool.mov
Plugins:
These work:
-The above plugins are plug and play for the most part.
These do not:
-Perhaps some of the above plugins work, or are made for Windows only, or have one problem or another, or require configuration beyond just copying them to the plugins folder. I’ll report more detail as I progress.
Here is an image that shows the GUI for the BshEditor4Jump plugin:
BshEditor4Jump(and others) created by Michaël Michaud.
Videos:
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/BUG-Garbage_Collecting_Doesnt_Work_Well.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/BUG-Shows_Menu_And_Icons_Disapearing.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/Change_Default_Skin_To_Metal_Skin.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/Change_Styles_Color_Theming.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/Open_Shapefile.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/Tools-Query-Simple_Query-Extract_Record_And_Make_New_Layer.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/Tools-Query-Spatial_Query-Extract_Records_That_Intersects_And_Make_New_Layer.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/Tools-Query-Spatial_Query-Extract_Records_Within_And_Make_New_Layer.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/extract_Multiple_Polygons_From_Single_Source_Layer_Into_Each_Their_Own_New_Target_Layer.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/extract_Multiple_Polygons_From_Single_Source_Layer_Into_Each_Their_Own_New_Target_Layer_Video_2.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/We_Need_A_Command_Key_On_OSX_BADLY.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/Cant_Copy_And_Paste_On_OSX.mov
http://ericjarvies.com/openjump/movies/
work in progress… more to come.
Eric Jarvies