Client Desktop layout

Ordinary GIS.lab client environment is shown below. Desktop layout is created by main panel, background with GIS.lab logo and in bottom part one can see also some basic system information.

Fig. 11 Basic GIS.lab client Desktop layout.

Main panel contains:

1. applications launcher

   list of all available applications, settings and log out menu

2. quick launcher

   home directory browser, launchers of the most frequently used applications

3. virtual desktops

   virtual desktops switcher and overview

4. running applications

   running applications list and switcher

5. keyboard layout

   available keyboard layouts switcher

6. battery

   battery status

7. chat

   messaging status

8. sound

   sound control and network status

9. time

   calendar and time information

GIS applications

GIS.lab comes with a bunch of preinstalled GIS applications and services. QGIS and GRASS GIS are two core components. QGIS is used for GIS project creation, data preparation, analysis and publication. GRASS GIS can be used for complex data analysis and manipilation. Due to preinstalled QGIS GRASS plugin GRASS tools can be accessed also using QGIS user interface.

Fig. 12 QGIS with preinstalled Natural Earth project.

Fig. 13 Powerful GRASS GIS in GIS.lab client environment.

Note

Most of applications are taken from standard Ubuntu repositories for Bionic distribution. Up-to-date GIS software packages are provided by GIS.lab PPA.

Beside QGIS and GRASS on desktop client many other GIS tools are preinstalled. See list below including version numbers.

Desktop apps

• QGIS 2.18

• GRASS GIS 7.4

• SAGA 2.3

Image processing

• OTB 6.6

• Monteverdi GUI

Geodatabase

• PostGIS 2.5 import/export (shp2pgsql and pgsql2shp) command line tools including OSM-related osm2pgsql and osm2pgrouting utilities

• SpatiaLite 4.3 command line and GUI tools

Libraries

• GDAL 2.3 raster and vector tools

• Proj.4 5.2 command line utilities

GeoPython

• Fiona

• GDAL Python bindings

• PyModis

• OTB Python bindings

• OWSlib

• QGIS Python bindings

• Rasterio

• SAGA Python bindings

• Shapely

• Sentinelsat

OSM

• JOSM editor

Common applications

GIS.lab brings a lot of useful applications for basic work.

Accessories

• Calculator - calculator

• KeePassX - secure personal data management

• Leafpad - plain text editor

• Screenshot - screen shots creator

Graphics

• GIMP Image Editor - raster images editor

• Inkscape - vector drawings editor

Internet

• Firefox Web Browser - Internet browser

• Pidgin Internet Messenger - GIS.lab chat client

Fig. 14 GIS.lab chat client.

Note

IRC server - To allow effective communication between all GIS.lab users without a need of internet connection, GIS.lab provides built-in IRC server and prepared #gislab chat room.

Multimedia

• VLC media player - video and media player

Office

• LibreOffice Calc - spreadsheet editor

• LibreOffice Impress - presentations editor

• LibreOffice Writer - text editor

Fig. 15 Office applications in GIS.lab.

System

• GIS.lab client informations - GIS.lab client informations summary important for technical support

Directory layout

Fig. 16 Directory layout.

Directory layout consits of traditional folders as Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and Templates. GIS.lab adds Project folder dedicated for storing user GIS projects. There are also four shared directories:

• Barrel - read and write access for all - ideal for quick sharing data, files between clients

• Booster - mounted part of client machine RAM - ideal for quick reading and writing data

• Publish - shared folder dedicated for GIS projects publication, see QGIS Server and Gisquick publication section for details

• Repository - read-only access for normal users - ideal for sharing permanent data

Logout

User must log out to correctly finish work with GIS.lab client by using Log out menu available from applications launcher.

Fig. 17 Log out of the GIS.lab Desktop.

Note

Client machine shut down is available only from login screen.