Installation and Setup
This document will guide you to install Cassini and all its dependencies on your machine.
Installing with Docker
A Docker is a tool that is used to automate the deployment of applications in lightweight containers so that applications can work efficiently in different environments in isolation. Docker is a tool that is used to automate the deployment of applications in lightweight containers so that applications can work efficiently in different environments in isolation. PDAL is Point Data Abstraction Library. It is a C/C++ open source library and applications for translating and processing point cloud data. It is not limited to LiDAR data, although the focus and impetus for many of the tools in the library have their origins in LiDAR. GDAL is a translator library for raster and vector geospatial data formats that is released under an MIT style Open Source License by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. As a library, it presents a single raster abstract data model and single vector abstract data model to the calling application for all supported formats. It also comes with a variety of useful command line utilities for data translation and processing.
First you will need to install Docker is a tool that is used to automate the deployment of applications in lightweight containers so that applications can work efficiently in different environments in isolation.
To check if Docker is a tool that is used to automate the deployment of applications in lightweight containers so that applications can work efficiently in different environments in isolation.
This should print the version of Docker is a tool that is used to automate the deployment of applications in lightweight containers so that applications can work efficiently in different environments in isolation.
Then you can use Cassini by replacing the cassini
command with:
On the command prompt:
On Powershell:
So for example, if your terminal is in a directory with a LiDAR file named tile.laz
, you can run:
On the command prompt:
On Powershell:
The first time you will use the command, it will download the nicorio42/cassini Docker is a tool that is used to automate the deployment of applications in lightweight containers so that applications can work efficiently in different environments in isolation.
For convenience, you can define a cassini
function that will wrap the docker command:
First open Powershell as an admin user and authorize script execution:
Then open Powershell and execute:
This will create a PowerShell profile (the equivalent of a .bashrc in Powershell) if it doesn’t exist yet. Then execute the following command to edit this PowerShell profile:
Add the following PowerShell function in your profile script and save it:
Open your
.bashrc
file:Then add this function
Open your
.bashrc
file:Then add this function
Then you will be able to use the cassini
command:
To update Cassini to the latest version, pull the latest nicorio42/cassini image:
Installing with Conda
Installing PDAL and GDAL
Cassini uses the PDAL is Point Data Abstraction Library. It is a C/C++ open source library and applications for translating and processing point cloud data. It is not limited to LiDAR data, although the focus and impetus for many of the tools in the library have their origins in LiDAR. GDAL is a translator library for raster and vector geospatial data formats that is released under an MIT style Open Source License by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. As a library, it presents a single raster abstract data model and single vector abstract data model to the calling application for all supported formats. It also comes with a variety of useful command line utilities for data translation and processing. LiDAR (an acronym of “light detection and ranging” or “laser imaging, detection, and ranging”) is a method for determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. The shapefile format is a geospatial vector data format for geographic information system (GIS) software. It is developed and regulated by Esri as a mostly open specification for data interoperability among Esri and other GIS software products. The shapefile format can spatially describe vector features: points, lines, and polygons, representing, for example, water wells, rivers, and lakes. Each item usually has attributes that describe it, such as name or temperature.
The easiest way to install PDAL is Point Data Abstraction Library. It is a C/C++ open source library and applications for translating and processing point cloud data. It is not limited to LiDAR data, although the focus and impetus for many of the tools in the library have their origins in LiDAR. GDAL is a translator library for raster and vector geospatial data formats that is released under an MIT style Open Source License by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. As a library, it presents a single raster abstract data model and single vector abstract data model to the calling application for all supported formats. It also comes with a variety of useful command line utilities for data translation and processing. Miniconda is a minimal installer for Conda, an open-source package management system and environment management tool. It provides a lightweight version of the Anaconda distribution, containing only Conda and its dependencies, allowing users to install additional packages as needed. Miniconda is ideal for users who want to maintain a smaller footprint and greater control over their Python environments.
These three commands quickly and quietly install the latest 64-bit version of the installer and then clean up after themselves. To install a different version or architecture of Miniconda for Windows, change the name of the
.exe
installer in thecurl
command.After installing, open the “Anaconda Prompt (miniconda3)” program to use Miniconda3. For the Powershell version, use “Anaconda Powershell Prompt (miniconda3)”.
These four commands quickly and quietly install the latest M1 macOS version of the installer and then clean up after themselves. To install a different version or architecture of Miniconda for macOS, change the name of the
.sh
installer in thecurl
command.After installing, initialize your newly-installed Miniconda. The following commands initialize for bash and zsh shells:
These four commands quickly and quietly install the latest 64-bit version of the installer and then clean up after themselves. To install a different version or architecture of Miniconda for Linux, change the name of the
.sh
installer in thewget
command.After installing, initialize your newly-installed Miniconda. The following commands initialize for bash and zsh shells:
After following these instructions, the conda
command should be available in you terminal. To check that everything worked:
This should print the version of the conda program.
Then create a new miniconda environment named cassini
with pdal and gdal installed:
Everytime you will open a new terminal and want to use Cassini, you will have to activate this environment:
Downloading Cassini executable
Download the binary file corresponding to your Operating System:
Decompress it and copy the cassini executable where you want to use it on your machine.
If you want to make the cassini
command globally available on you machine, you can follow this tutorial.