Provided by: grass-doc_7.8.2-1build3_all 
NAME
r.what - Queries raster maps on their category values and category labels.
KEYWORDS
raster, querying, position
SYNOPSIS
r.what
r.what --help
r.what [-nfricv] map=name[,name,...] [coordinates=east,north] [points=name] [null_value=string]
[output=name] [separator=character] [cache=integer] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet]
[--ui]
Flags:
-n
Output header row
-f
Show the category labels of the grid cell(s)
-r
Output color values as RRR:GGG:BBB
-i
Output integer category values, not cell values
-c
Turn on cache reporting
-v
Show the category for vector points map
--overwrite
Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help
Print usage summary
--verbose
Verbose module output
--quiet
Quiet module output
--ui
Force launching GUI dialog
Parameters:
map=name[,name,...] [required]
Name of existing raster map(s) to query
coordinates=east,north
Coordinates for query
points=name
Name of vector points map for query
Or data source for direct OGR access
null_value=string
String representing NULL value
Default: *
output=name
Name for output file (if omitted or "-" output to stdout)
separator=character
Field separator
Special characters: pipe, comma, space, tab, newline
Default: pipe
cache=integer
Size of point cache
Default: 500
DESCRIPTION
r.what outputs the category values and (optionally) the category labels associated with user-specified
locations on raster input map(s). Locations are specified as geographic x,y coordinate pairs (i.e., pair
of eastings and northings); the user can also (optionally) associate a label with each location.
The input coordinates can be entered directly on the command line via coordinates parameter, or
redirected via stdin from an input text file, script, or piped from another program (like v.out.ascii).
Coordinates can be given also as a vector points map (points).
If none of the above input methods are used and the module is run from the terminal prompt, the program
will interactively query the user for point locations and labels.
Each line of the input consists of an easting, a northing, and an optional label, which are separated by
spaces. In interactive mode, the word "end" must be typed after the last pair of input coordinates.
r.what output consists of the input geographic location and label, and, for each user-named raster map
layer, the category value, and (if the -f label flag is specified) the category label associated with the
cell(s) at this geographic location.
EXAMPLES
Input coordinates given as an option
The module’s coordinates parameter can be used to enter coordinate pairs directly. The maximum number of
pairs will be limited by your system’s maximum input line length (e.g. 4096 characters).
g.region raster=landuse96_28m,aspect -p
r.what map=landuse96_28m,aspect coordinates=633614.08,224125.12,632972.36,225382.87 -f
633614.08|224125.12||2|Low Intensity Developed|209.5939|209 degrees ccw from east
632972.36|225382.87||15|Southern Yellow Pine|140.7571|140 degrees ccw from east
Input coordinates given as a vector points map
Coordinates can be read from existing vector points map by specifying points option. Other features than
points or centroids are ignored. Example: query North Carolina county number for each community college:
g.region raster=boundary_county_500m -p
r.what map=boundary_county_500m points=comm_colleges
145096.859150|154534.264884||39
616341.437150|146049.750884||51
...
Input coordinates given as a vector points map with cats
Coordinates can be read from existing vector points map by specifying points option. Other features than
points or centroids are ignored. Using the v flag you can get also the cat for each feature. Example:
query North Carolina county number for each community college:
g.region raster=boundary_county_500m -p
r.what map=boundary_county_500m points=comm_colleges -v
1|145096.859150|154534.264884||39
2|616341.437150|146049.750884||51
...
Input coordinates given as a vector points map, output into CSV file
Coordinates can be read from existing vector points map by specifying points option. Other features than
points or centroids are ignored. The output is stored in a CSV file including header row. Example: query
North Carolina county number for each community college:
g.region raster=boundary_county_500m -p
r.what map=boundary_county_500m points=comm_colleges \
separator=comma output=result.csv -n
cat result.csv
easting,northing,site_name,boundary_county_500m
145096.859150,154534.264884,,39
616341.437150,146049.750884,,51
410595.719150,174301.828884,,71
...
Input from a text file containing coordinates
The contents of an ASCII text file can be redirected to r.what as follows. If we have a file called
input_coord.txt containing the whitespace separated coordinates and optionally labels, the resulting
raster map values are extracted:
cat input_coord.txt
633614.08 224125.12 site 1
632972.36 225382.87 site 2
r.what map=landuse96_28m,aspect < input_coord.txt
633614.08|224125.12|site 1|2|209.5939
632972.36|225382.87|site 2|15|140.7571
Input from standard input on the command line
Input coordinates may be given directly from standard input (stdin), for example (input data appears
between the "EOF" markers):
r.what map=landuse96_28m,aspect << EOF
633614.08 224125.12 site 1
632972.36 225382.87 site 2
EOF
633614.08|224125.12|site 1|2|209.5939
632972.36|225382.87|site 2|15|140.7571
echo "633614.08 224125.12" | r.what map=landuse96_28m,aspect
633614.08|224125.12||2|209.5939
Input coordinates piped from another program
The input coordinates may be "piped" from the standard output (stdout) of another program. In the next
example, vector point coordinates are piped from the v.out.ascii module.
v.out.ascii comm_colleges separator=space | r.what map=boundary_county_500m
145096.8591495|154534.26488388|1|39
616341.4371495|146049.75088388|2|51
410595.7191495|174301.82888388|3|71
...
Output containing raster map category labels
Here we use the -f label flag to enable the output of category labels associated with the raster cell(s),
as well as values (categorical maps only).
r.what -f map=landuse96_28m,aspect << EOF
633614.08 224125.12 site 1
632972.36 225382.87 site 2
EOF
633614.08|224125.12|site 1|2|Low Intensity Developed|209.5939|209 degrees ccw from east
632972.36|225382.87|site 2|15|Southern Yellow Pine|140.7571|140 degrees ccw from east
NOTE
The maximum number of raster map layers that can be queried at one time is 400.
TODO
• Fix 400 maps limit
SEE ALSO
r.category, r.report, r.stats, r.series, r.univar, v.what, v.what.rast, v.what.vect
AUTHOR
Michael Shapiro, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
Vector point input added by Martin Landa, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
SOURCE CODE
Available at: r.what source code (history)
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© 2003-2019 GRASS Development Team, GRASS GIS 7.8.2 Reference Manual