The Apache SIS visual application is currently used as a testing tools for checking SIS capability to read, transform and visualize data files. However we try to make it usable by non-developers too. Some details are given on the web site.

Build, installation and execution

Java and JavaFX must be preinstalled; the project does not bundle JavaFX for licensing reason. The development version can be built as below (replace PATH_TO_FX by the path to the directory where JavaFX has been installed. Do not forget to append the lib sub-directory):

mkdir SIS && cd SIS
export PATH_TO_FX=path_to_JavaFX/lib
git clone --branch geoapi-4.0 https://github.com/apache/sis
cd geoapi-4.0
mvn install
cd application/sis-javafx/
mvn package org.apache.sis.core:sis-build-helper:dist

If you accept the EPSG terms of use, the following option can be added to the mvn command: --activate-profiles non-free

The application will be packaged in target/distribution/apache-sis-2.0-SNAPSHOT.zip. Unzip that ZIP file in any directory.

Execution

Execute the following on the command-line, where <install dir> is the directory where apache-sis-2.0-SNAPSHOT.zip has been unzipped:

  • Linux / MacOS: <install dir>/apache-sis-2.0-SNAPSHOT/bin/sisfx
  • Windows: <install dir>\apache-sis-2.0-SNAPSHOT\bin\sisfx.bat

The first time that the application is launched, it will ask for the directory where JavaFX has been installed. It may be necessary to restart sisfx after providing this information.

An easier way will be provided if the application is bundled in an Apache SIS release, but JavaFX will still need to be preinstalled and the use of EPSG geodetic dataset will still need explicit user agreement, for licensing reasons.

Open files

Drag and drop some netCDF files in the explorer (the white area on the left side of main window). Multiple files or entire directories can be dragged. Opened files are listed and netCDF variables are shown below each file as a tree. Files can be closed with the contextual menu (click on a file with the right mouse button). The panel on the right side gives a summary of the selected file or variable; more information can be read in the “Metadata” and “Netcdf” tabs. The summary panel shows the data geographic area as a blue bounding box on a world map. In the example below, the geographic area crosses the anti-meridian (the meridian at ±180° of longitude), which causes the bounding box to be shown with two parts on each side of the map. Many (but not all) classes of the Apache SIS library are capable to handle such situation.

Explore data and metadata

Two kinds of information can be explored: the metadata and the data. The metadata provide information necessary for understanding the data. Metadata answer questions such as “what”, “where”, “when” and “how”. Apache SIS adopts the ISO 19115 — Geographic information — Metadata international standard as a universal structure for describing all data that the application can read, regardless data format. The content of selected file can be viewed by clicking on the “Metadata” tab.

Data can be viewed in two ways: either as an image, or as tabular values. Those two visualization modes are provided by “Visual” and “Data” tabs respectively.

More information:


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