.. comment out this Section (by putting '|updatedisclaimer|' on top) if file is not uptodate with release

************
Introduction
************

This chapter introduces SEXTANTE, the powerful geospatial analysis framework of
QGIS. SEXTANTE is a geoprocessing environment that can be used to call native
and third party algorithms from QGIS, making your spatial analysis tasks more
productive and easy to accomplish.

In the following sections we will review how to use the graphical elements of
SEXTANTE and take the most out of each one of them

Basic elements of the SEXTANTE GUI
==================================

There are four basic elements in the SEXTANTE GUI, which are used to run SEXTANTE
algorithms for different purposes. Choosing one tool or another will depend on
the kind of analysis that is to be performed and the particular characteristics
of each user and project. All of them (except for the batch processing interface,
which is called from the toolbox, as we will see) can be accessed from the
:menuselection:`SEXTANTE` menu item (you will see more than four entries. The
remaining ones are not used to execute algorithms and will be explained later in
this chapter).

* The SEXTANTE toolbox. The main element of the SEXTANTE GUI, it is used to
  execute a single algorithm or run a batch process based on that algorithm.

.. only:: html

   **Figure Sextante 1:**

.. _figure_toolbox_1:

.. figure:: /static/user_manual/sextante/toolbox.png
   :align: center
   :width: 15em

   SEXTANTE Toolbox |win|

* The SEXTANTE graphical modeler. Several algorithms can be combined graphically
  using the modeler to define a workflow, creating a single process that involves
  several sub-processes

.. only:: html

   **Figure Sextante 2:**

.. _figure_model:

.. figure:: /static/user_manual/sextante/models.png
   :align: center
   :width: 30em

   SEXTANTE Models |win|

* The SEXTANTE history manager. All actions performed using any of the
  aforementioned elements are stored in a history file and can be later easily
  reproduced using the history manager

.. only:: html

   **Figure Sextante 3:**

.. _figure_history:

.. figure:: /static/user_manual/sextante/history.png
   :align: center
   :width: 30em

   SEXTANTE History |win|

* The SEXTANTE batch processing interface manager. This interface allows you to
  execute batch processes and automate the execution of a single algorithm on
  multiple datasets.

.. _figure_batchprocess:

.. only:: html

   **Figure Sextante 4:**

.. figure:: /static/user_manual/sextante/batch_processing.png
   :align: center
   :width: 30em

   SEXTANTE Batch Processing |win|

Along the following sections we will review each one of this elements in detail.