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<p>Randal,</p>
<p>Thanks for your post on QGIS to Shrug. I think you and I are
about the only people who use it. <br>
</p>
<p>I've notice that Adam Carnow, "<i>Community Evangelist</i>" for
ESRI bombards the list with marketing & advertising messages.<br>
</p>
So, it was just fantastic to hear from the other side!<br>
<br>
Rick<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/1/2018 12:06 PM, Rick Labs wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:1a8b360d-fa22-feca-0395-71880a8b0290@clbcm.com">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<p>Randal, All,<br>
</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up on QGIS 3.4. I downloaded it a few days
ago. Installed with zero bumps, zero configuration, and it runs
great. The version I was using was 2.18 LTR (Las Palmas), so
this is a <i>major </i>upgrade. (And I thought Las Palmas was
terrific!)<br>
</p>
<p>Version 3.0 (staring 2018) brings Qt5 and <b>Python 3.</b>
Then there were minor releases after that bringing it to 3.4
LTR. Very impressive new features and functionality, and awesome
cartography! (See <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://gisgeography.com/qgis-3/" moz-do-not-send="true">https://gisgeography.com/qgis-3/</a>.)
Can't beat the price: <b>free</b>. <br>
</p>
<p>I'm a sporadic user of GIS for analytical projects vs. a
day-in-day-out mapper. The UI on QGIS remains quite smooth and
consistent through version changes. You can be away from it for
a few months, come back <i>and it still feels familiar.</i> The
developer group really focused on <i>usability</i>, and it
shows. <br>
</p>
***<br>
<p>Generally I find grinding relational table data is best done
early, and with other tools, outside of a GIS. I sequence in the
geo components and geo processing later, well after the
relational and other data has been thoroughly transformed. QGIS
works great for me. <br>
</p>
<p>For people doing one-off analytics out there, involving mashups
from various and sundry data sources, what software do you
prefer to "<i>mechanize</i>" your<b> Extract/Transform/Load</b>
(<b>ETL</b>) functions?</p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>Excel </b>(Data Connections, PowerQuery, PowerPivot, Data
Model, DAX functions, M language, "Get & Transform",
"PowerBI", etc. )</p>
<p><b>Talend Open Studio </b>(free/open source, 900
connections/transforms supplied in a library you string
together)<b><br>
</b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/talend-studio/"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://sourceforge.net/projects/talend-studio/</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://community.talend.com/" moz-do-not-send="true">https://community.talend.com/</a></p>
<p><b>Just use a SQL database</b> with connectors and one-off
hand code for the rest<br>
using scripting (Python, VBA, Javascript)<br>
using traditional languages (C++, Java)<br>
using some functional language (OCaml, F, Haskel...) <br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Any opinion on any of those, or any other packages you use for
ETL, most appreciated!<br>
</p>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Rick<br>
</p>
--
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Richard J. Labs, CFA, CPA
CL&B Capital Management, LLC
Phone: 315-637-0915
E-mail (preferred for efficiency): <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:rick@clbcm.com" moz-do-not-send="true">rick@clbcm.com</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Richard J. Labs, CFA, CPA
CL&B Capital Management, LLC
Phone: 315-637-0915
E-mail (preferred for efficiency): <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:rick@clbcm.com">rick@clbcm.com</a>
Mailing address: 408B Holiday Harbour, Canandaigua, NY 14424</pre>
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