GRASS v. ArcView
Perhaps the most important difference between GRASS and ArcView is that GRASS is raster data software with vector data functionalities and ArcView is vector data software with raster data functionalities (through its Spatial Analyst raster extension). Both deal with raster data and allow map algebra operations, although GRASS has the most extensive image processing tools. ArcView (including extensions) is now a truly integrated raster/vector package in the sense that it allows the two domains/formats to interact directly i.e. without conversion to the raster format: you can for example produce data containing the cells in a raster map that fall within polygons in a vector map. GRASS can use vector data only to improve the visual display, and has no direct raster/vector integration.GRASS and ArcView both support many different import data formats, but the direct exchange of data between the two packages is not always possible.
Data formats supported by GRASS:
Raster: ASCII, ARC/GRID, E00, GIF, GMT, TIF, PNG, ERDAS LAN, Vis5D, SURFER (.grd)
Vector: ASCII, ARC/INFO ungenerate, ARC/INFO E00, ArcView SHAPE (with topology correction), BIL, DLG (U.S.), DXF, DXF3D, GMT, GPS-ASCII, USGS-DEM, IDRISI, MapInfo MIF, TIGER.
Data formats supported by ArcView:
ASCII, ArcInfo, AutoCAD (DXF and DWG), AutoCAD 2000 DWG, MicroStation (DGN and MSG), TIFF 6.0 (including GeoTIFF), VPF, ADRG, CADRG, CIB, NITF, MrSID, JPEG (JFIF), ERDAS IMAGINE, ERDAS LAN and GIS, BSQ, BIL, BIP, SunRaster files, BMP, TIN, GRID.
ArcView is run through the use of a Graphical User Interface, while GRASS has both a command line and Graphical User Interface. The command line version of GRASS was originally developed in a UNIX environment; an experimental Windows version of GRASS was released by Baylor and Hanover Universities. Nearly all of the tools available in GRASS are available in the Graphical User Interface. See for more information about GRASS: http://grass.itc.it/index2.html
Hope this helps?
BW,
Nicole
>Can anyone give me information on the free GIS software
>GRASS and its comparison to Arcview or Mapinfo?
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