3 replies to this topic

[Chaz1984]

Hi Folks, i'm Chaz

During the day i work for a local authority as a general GIS/Carto/Data management/tea boy etc. sort of role, but now i want to do some designing at home (as if i don't spend enough time staring at a screen).

Thing is, i'm very used to ESRI ArcGIS, however my personal budget doesn't extend to purchasing a copy of that for my home use. I'm looking for a free (or cheap) GIS software package where the editing environment is ESRI-esque, especially with regard to explicitly defining direction/length, deflection angle etc. whilst plotting features and preferably a line intersection tool.

Is there a suitable software package that springs to mind for this? I have already downloaded GRASS, QGIS and OpenJUMP and these either do not have these features or i haven't been able to find them.

Many thanks

Chaz

[SaultDon]

Thing is, i'm very used to ESRI ArcGIS, however my personal budget doesn't extend to purchasing a copy of that for my home use. I'm looking for a free (or cheap) GIS software package where the editing environment is ESRI-esque, especially with regard to explicitly defining direction/length, deflection angle etc. whilst plotting features and preferably a line intersection tool.

Check out the option of ArcGIS for Home Use: http://www.esri.com/...home/index.html

From the site:

For a $100 annual fee, the ArcGIS for Home Use 12-month term license includes full versions of the following software:

ArcGIS for Desktop Basic (ArcView)
ArcGIS 3D Analyst
ArcGIS Data Interoperability
ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst
ArcGIS Network Analyst
ArcGIS Publisher
ArcGIS Schematics
ArcGIS Spatial Analyst
ArcGIS Tracking Analyst

The license is about 100 bucks (US). This license allows you to use the program for non-commercial purposes.

QGIS sounds like it will do all you need as well. You need to enable extra features by browsing the plugin registry. CAD Tools (http://www.catais.org/qgis/cadtools/) might interest you in that regard.

If you have trouble finding a plugin to suit your needs, hit up the "user" mailing list: http://qgis.org/comm...ling-lists.html or checkout http://gis.stackexchange.com for results as well.

[antoniolocandro]

Just download QGIS 1.8, then check the following plugin CadTools, for this you have to go to Plugins - Fetch Python Plugins and then look CAdTOOLS, there you can check many plugins with all sort of functions. Also if you use twitter add your questions with the hashtag #qgis and you will certainly get input

ESRI for home use wont be useful as it is for non - commercial use

Regards

Hi Folks, i'm Chaz

During the day i work for a local authority as a general GIS/Carto/Data management/tea boy etc. sort of role, but now i want to do some designing at home (as if i don't spend enough time staring at a screen).

Thing is, i'm very used to ESRI ArcGIS, however my personal budget doesn't extend to purchasing a copy of that for my home use. I'm looking for a free (or cheap) GIS software package where the editing environment is ESRI-esque, especially with regard to explicitly defining direction/length, deflection angle etc. whilst plotting features and preferably a line intersection tool.

Is there a suitable software package that springs to mind for this? I have already downloaded GRASS, QGIS and OpenJUMP and these either do not have these features or i haven't been able to find them.

Many thanks

Chaz

[cn174]

Thing is, i'm very used to ESRI ArcGIS, however my personal budget doesn't extend to purchasing a copy of that for my home use. I'm looking for a free (or cheap) GIS software package where the editing environment is ESRI-esque, especially with regard to explicitly defining direction/length, deflection angle etc. whilst plotting features and preferably a line intersection tool.

Is there a suitable software package that springs to mind for this? I have already downloaded GRASS, QGIS and OpenJUMP and these either do not have these features or i haven't been able to find them.

Many thanks

Chaz

As SaultDon says below the ArcGIS for Home is a good option, but you can't start using it for commercial purposes. In UK it is £80 + VAT.

I think though it would be just as useful to download QGIS and all the plugins you need to get used to a different package - always useful for jobs not to be stuck with one software.