.. _osgeo4w_install:

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Installing libLAS using OSGeo4W
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:Author: Howard Butler
:Contact: hobu.inc at gmail dot com
:Date: 2/17/2011

This document describes how to install libLAS and its related :ref:`utilities <utilities>` 
using `OSGeo4W`_.  `OSGeo4W`_ is a collection of Windows packages that uses the `Cygwin`_ 
installer to manage package dependencies.  libLAS in its fully-featured form 
requires a number of dependencies, and these are all available via the OSGeo4W installer.

1) Obtain the `OSGeo4W Installer`_.  It is an executable that will run and 
   automatically download and install selected packages.  
   
    .. note::
        OSGeo4W does not currently provide any options to install in any other
        locations besides ``C:\osgeo4w``.

.. `OSGeo4W Installer`: http://download.osgeo.org/osgeo4w/osgeo4w-setup.exe

2) Choose "Advanced Install".  

    .. note::
        libLAS is not part of any default package grouping, and it must be
        installed individually.
        
.. figure:: ./images/osgeo4w-advanced-install.png
    :alt: Choosing the "Advanced" OSGeo4W install

3) Select liblas from the "Commandline_Utilities" dropdown

.. figure:: ./images/osgeo4w-select-liblas.png
    :alt: Selecting libLAS to install from the "Advanced" list tree

4) *Optional*: Select liblas-python from the "Libs" dropdown

5) Run the ``OSGeo4W Shell`` from Start-Programs-OSGeo4W

6) Execute the ``liblas`` command to set environment variables necessary to 
   support full libLAS operations.
   
    .. note::
        libLAS needs a number of environment variables set to do its business, 
        most notably the ones related to `GDAL`_ and `Proj.4`_ for 
        reprojection and coordinate system description.

.. figure:: ./images/osgeo4w-run-liblas-shell.png
    :alt: Running the libLAS subshell from OSGeo4W

7) Test ``lasinfo`` with your own data

.. figure:: ./images/osgeo4w-lasinfo-output.png
    :alt: Running lasinfo

.. _`OSGeo4W Installer`: http://download.osgeo.org/osgeo4w/osgeo4w-setup.exe
.. _`OSGeo4W`: http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo4w/
.. _`Cygwin`: http://www.cygwin.com/
.. _`GDAL`: http://www.gdal.org
.. _`Proj.4`: http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/