Ward Maps

fraserredmond · #91

Google Earth always shows the aerial view, but there does seem to be a sneaky way to do what you want.

On the left of the screen you probably have a kml file loaded in the places list. If you right-click on one of the items in the list and choose Add->Polygon. Under Style-> Area you'll want it to be filled, and choose a colour other than white or yellow, or any of the other road-colours. Then before clicking ok you'll click on the map to mark in the points that surround the new area/polygon, then click ok.

sjpynes · #92

redzarf wrote:Mikerowaved sent me some sample output, that helped me track down a bug that only occurred when the country was the last column of the data - (Mikerowaved, was that the case for the data you had inputted? If not, can you send me the first couple of lines of your data - strip out any personal info.)

Attached is a new version.

Thanks for the updated version. It works wonderfully for me!

FYI, I was able to get the prior version to work in IE 7 by remarking out that section of the code causing the problem:
// try {
// netscape.security.PrivilegeManager.enablePrivilege("UniversalBrowserRead");
// } catch (e) {
// alert("Permission UniversalBrowserRead denied.");
// window.document.getElementById("statusMessage").value = "Failed

";
// return;
// }

It's not elegant, but it was very interesting to use the program.

sjpynes · #93

redzarf wrote:Mikerowaved sent me some sample output, that helped me track down a bug that only occurred when the country was the last column of the data - (Mikerowaved, was that the case for the data you had inputted? If not, can you send me the first couple of lines of your data - strip out any personal info.)

Attached is a new version.

I've now played with it a bit and have the following thoughts that may be helpful if you develop it further:

1. It appears that the KML file that is produced contains a reference to a style id of "blueicon" for each placemark, however it appears that "blueicon" is never actually defined within the file.
2. Some posts in this forum have suggested the addresses are too close togehter, and perhaps that could be helped by scaling down the size of the "pushpin" image.
3. To do this I experimented inserting an additional box in the web page with this code (my insertion bolded):

</ul>

<b>Icon Scale: </b><input type="text" size=2 id="IconScale" name="IconScale" value="1">
</td></tr></table>

and then using the newly created "IconScale" value to define the scaling of the icon in the previoiusly un-undefined "blueicon" style id (my insertion bolded):

window.document.getElementById('csvOutput').value = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<kml xmlns=\"http://earth.google.com/kml/2.0\">\n<Document>\n<name>" + window.document.getElementById("WardName").value + "</name>\n<Style id=\"blueicon\">\n <IconStyle>\n <scale>" + window.document.getElementById("IconScale").value + "</scale>\n </IconStyle>\n</Style>\n<Folder>\n<name>Locations</name>\n<open>1</open>\n";;

4. This makes the default value for the icon scale 1 and if you want it to appear smaller you can change the value in the box to something like ".5" (for half the size). If you, as the author of the program, wanted to do such a thing, you could include this new variable and value in the defaults that are used, etc.

Thanks for creating such a helpful program.

fraserredmond · #94

sjpynes wrote:I've now played with it a bit and have the following thoughts that may be helpful if you develop it further:

Thanks, great suggestion, I've added it in, attached is v2.3 (the last two versions were both 2.1 - oops!)

I've also added another setting which will allow you to specify a field that can define the styleicon/styleurl or a specified icon (and still just default to blueicon if those are blank.)

The only reason for using blueicon is that is what David Ostler had used (my script was initially based on his), and is a default icon used by Google in some of their samples, so didn't need to be defined.

If anyone wants to come up with a few selections of the icons they think people would want I'm happy to add the ability to choose.

sjpynes · #95

redzarf wrote:Thanks, great suggestion, I've added it in, attached is v2.3 (the last two versions were both 2.1 - oops!)

Thank you for incorporating those additions.

I have another suggestion from working more with the program. The name labels for the placemarks always come out white - which for the arial view of our ward is hard to read. It would be great to show the labels in another color and be able to scale them as well. You could add another couple of text boxs so the user could input the label color (default to value ffffffff for white, i.e., ff00ffff for a bright yellow name label) and scale.

Text boxes:
<input type="text" size=9 id="LabelColor" name="LabelColor" value="ffffffff">
<input type="text" size=2 id="LabelScale" name="LabelScale" value="1">

Further definition of the style:
window.document.getElementById('csvOutput').value = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<kml xmlns=\">" + window.document.getElementById("WardName").value + "</name>\n<Style id=\"blueicon\">\n <LabelStyle>\n <color>" + window.document.getElementById("LabelColor").value + "</color>\n <scale>" + window.document.getElementById("LabelScale").value + "</scale>\n </LabelStyle>\n <IconStyle>\n <scale>" + window.document.getElementById("IconScale").value + "</scale>\n </IconStyle>\n</Style>\n<Folder>\n<name>Locations</name>\n<open>1</open>\n";;

Thanks again.

fraserredmond · #96

MLS-KML v2.4 attached with sjpynes' LabelStyle suggestions.

sjpynes · #97

redzarf wrote:MLS-KML v2.4 attached with sjpynes' LabelStyle suggestions.

Wow!

It works great. I created a map of all ward members using reduced size icons (.6) and slightly reduced names (.8) in yellow that were semi-transparent (8c00ffff). We can now use this to help us reorganize our Aaronic Priesthood fast offering collection routes. The ability in Google Earth to twist and tilt the image really help getting things organized effeciently.

Many, many thanks again.

gamoody · #98

redzarf wrote:MLS-KML v2.4 attached with sjpynes' LabelStyle suggestions.

I wish I had found these forums when I was first wrestling with mapping issues. I ended up modding the Ostler Python script to do what I wanted. Still not entirely happy with it as I have found Google Earth/Maps to be the least reliable for correct lat/long. In case anyone is interested in it I have tried to attach it here. After seeing some of the other ideas, I may work on it again or scrap it and use someone else's. At least now I know where to look first for a solution next time.

bibnib-p40 · #99

Ok, so I've stumbled upon this forum. I'm not an IT person (counsellor if you're really interested), so I don't understand a lot of what is discussed on here.

I REALLY like the possibilities of this mapping stuff that I can see you guys discussing in the forum, but is it at all possible for a non-computer type of person to do this? I can download Google Earth and play around with it, but I don't know anything about the coding that it seems you have to do in order to create the ward maps.

Is this a realistic possibility for me, or should I just wait until the Church releases something that will be easier for use by priesthood leaders?

I'm currently serving as a stake president and our stake covers a VERY large area...boundaries are often confused, so something like this would be very helpful for us.

Anyhow, looking forward to your thoughts on whether or not someone without computer skills could use the mapping "thingo" that you smart guys have created.

Thanks,

Ian

fraserredmond · #100

bibnib wrote:Is it at all possible for a non-computer type of person to do this?

No, it shouldn't be any harder than posting to a forum and installing Google Earth

Try downloading, unzipping, and running the file I'd attached a few posts above.

Once its opened in your browser theres instructions over on the side, the hardest step is probably going to be getting hold of the data from your clerks/LUWS

Feel free to send me a private message if you run into any difficulties.

Tech Forum

Ward Maps

MLS-KML v2.3 - two new features

MLS-KML v2.4

My simple addition

New guy

KML is not just for geeks :-)