/*! \mainpage Geo::GDAL

\section index_version Version

These pages document the development version of the GDAL Perl API,
which is extended from the released versions APIs.

<a href="http://map.hut.fi/doc/Geo-GDAL-1.4/html/index.html">The
documentation for the version 1.4 API.</a>

<a href="http://map.hut.fi/doc/Geo-GDAL-1.5/html/index.html">The
documentation for the version 1.5 API.</a>

<a href="http://map.hut.fi/doc/Geo-GDAL-1.6/html/index.html">The
documentation for the version 1.6 API.</a>

<a href="http://map.hut.fi/doc/Geo-GDAL-1.7/html/index.html">The
documentation for the version 1.7 API.</a>

\section index_intro Introduction

The Geo::GDAL modules are the Perl bindings to the GDAL/OGR
library. The modules allow you to access and manipulate from Perl all
geospatial data that the installed GDAL library is configured to
read/write.

This documentation covers mainly the syntax of the bindings. For more
in-depth documentation see the main documentation of <a
href="http://www.gdal.org/">GDAL</a> and <a
href="http://www.gdal.org/ogr/">OGR</a>.

Some arguments are optional and have a default value. This is
illustrated like this:

SomeMethod(arg1, arg2 = 4);

arg1 is a required argument.

arg2 may be left out and if left out, will get the value 4 (in this
case).

Only the last argument or arguments can be optional.

In some cases a method can be called in a traditional way and with
named arguments (i.e. with a hash):

\code
$object->method(1, 2, 3);
$object->method(number=>1, param=>2, other=>3);
$object->method({number=>1, param=>2, other=>3});
\endcode

Note especially the difference between the second and the third
versions. In some cases the named arguments must be given in an
anonymous hash.

In some cases a method may behave differently depending on the
parameters that it gets:

\code
$object->method($hashref); # a method called with a reference to a hash
$object->method($arrayref); # a method called with a reference to an array
\endcode

In some cases a method may examine the context in which it is called,
and behave differently:

\code
$object->method();
$return = $object->method(); # method called in scalar context
@return = $object->method(); # method called in list context
\endcode

Many of the methods may throw an error, which can be caught by putting
the call into eval{}; and then examining the contents of $@.

\section class_methods_vs_object_methods Class methods vs object methods

Some methods are class methods and some methods are object
methods. Object methods are always invoked for objects, i.e.

\code
$object->method();
\endcode

while class methods are invoked either as methods

\code
Geo::GDAL::Class->method();
\endcode

or as subroutines

\code
Geo::GDAL::Class::subroutine();
\endcode

The disctinction between class methods and subroutines is subtle but
often important. The method invocation passes the class name as the
first argument while the subroutine invocation does not. Thus
constructors (new and create) must be called as class methods.

\section index_exceptions Exceptions

Geo::GDAL uses the Perl exception mechanism in such a way that
exceptions that are classified in GDAL as failures or fatal errors
trigger a Perl exception, and an exception that is classified as a
warning triggers a Perl warning.

Perl exceptions can be caught by \a eval() and Perl warnings can be
caught by signal '__WARN__'. Examples:

\code
use Geo::GDAL;
eval {
    $point = Geo::OGR::Geometry->create(WKT=>"POINTXX(1 1)");
};
print STDERR "Error: $@";
\endcode

Prints:
\code
Error: RuntimeError OGR Error: Unsupported geometry type
\endcode

\code
use Geo::GDAL;
BEGIN { $SIG{'__WARN__'} = sub {  print STDERR "Warning: @_"; } }
Geo::GDAL::Driver('GTiff')->Create('x',10,10,1,'Byte',{a=>'b'});
\endcode

Prints: 
\code
Warning: Driver GTiff does not support a creation option at site/lib/Geo/GDAL.pm line 771.
\endcode

\section index_footer Note

This documentation is generated from files within the GDAL
distribution (directory swig/perl) with a tweaked version of <a
href="http://www.bigsister.ch/doxygenfilter/">Perl Doxygen Filter</a>
with Doxygen.

*/
