Help Converting CSV file to KML

[sumrhome1]

You said: "Download the boundary KML files available in CDOL and import them into Google Earth"

Where do we find these "KML" files? (ie: what/where is "CDOL")

You also said to import school boundaries into google maps. I've only found our school boundaries as pdf files. Is it possible to import pdf files into google maps?

[johnshaw]

http://cdol.lds.org - it's the church directory, if you don't have access, you'll need a member of the Bishopric or clerks/execsec to download it for you.

You can import the pdf's as layers in google maps, yes, it's been a while, you might need to convert it to an image, but I don't think so.... add it as a layer and then you can use the transparency slide bars to make it visible when needed, and invisible when not needed.

[sumrhome1]

I've been working on this all afternoon and I cannot find a way to import the kmz boundary files into google earth. Nor can I figure out how to move the google map created by BatchGeo from google maps to google earth. You indicate I should use the tools available in google earth but I can't find anything that implys 'overlay' or 'import'. I would be grateful for any further advice.

[jdlessley]

None of the files are imported but rather opened. Go to File > "Open...". By using the places and layers panes to select what data you would like to display from the opened files you can leave the opened files as is or combine them by saving what you have opened and displayed. Google Earth help will provide some understanding.

[sumrhome1]

Thank you, that did it. Now, two last questions...

How do I overlay or import pdf files? I've figured out how to do so with tif, gif, jpeg, etc. type images but nothing for pdf and when I do, can it be moved around and resized so boundary sizes match?

Second question, how do I open the map batchgeo created in google earth? It is online and not saved to my computer. Do I 'import' it using the url?

I so appreciate your patience with me. Thank you. You've been a great help.

[johnshaw]

you should be able to download the batchgeo KML file to your desktop so you can use the same method as the cdol files - see below, if you've saved the map, scroll all the way to the bottom

batchgeo.jpg

(10 KiB) Downloaded 139 times

As for the pdf file, if you can't find a way to do it specifically, you might just need to convert it to an image - you might need to capture it in a screen capture, or if Adobe had the ability to open the pdf and save it as gif or jpeg, unfortunately, I'm not at a computer that has either adobe or google earth.

[RossEvans]

sumrhome1,

If you want precise school district boundaries as KML files, you might need to do some file conversion. Although KML/KMZ is becoming a popular format for map display, the most common format for disseminating map-layer files is still the shapefile (an industry standard that includes several files typically grouped into a single zip archive.) Shapefiles can be imported by almost any Geographic Information System (GIS), which Google Earth is not.

Shapefiles for school districts can be downloaded here from theU.S. Census website.

There a lots of ways to convert shapefiles to KML. You might try this free utility, Shp2kml. (I have never tried it myself. I usually just use my GIS application for such conversions.)

As for the membership layer, I am not sure what you gain by uploading your unit's private data to the BatchGeo website, whose geocoding is not even very accurate. You might be almost as well off by downloading the geocoded files from maps.lds.org as a CSV for the lat/lon values, as aebrown suggested above. Then you could use one of several common utilities to convert those files to KML format. (There are several free utilities for that, often named CSV2KML. Just Google that search term.) Of course, the geocoded membership files downloaded from maps.lds.org will only be fully accurate and complete if your ward clerks have done the intensive manual work to make them so. But with the exception of some glaring problems, such as members who move within their ward and don't get their locations updated, even the rough geocoding the clerks start with on the Church site may be almost as good as that at BatchGeo.com, and much more private.

It is not clear to me what your purpose is. After you get all these KML files into Google Earth, you can eyeball the overlays together. But Google Earth will not do any automated boundary analysis for you. It is basically just a visualizing tool.

[RossEvans]

Actually, I now recall that Google Earth is supposed to have school districts built in. You have to enable them to see the borders and labels because by default they are toggled off.

Within Google Earth's pane on the left of the screen called Layers, browse the hierarchy to More --> US Government --> US School Districts and enable the layer(s) you want. Your choice ares Unified School Districts, Secondary School Districts and Elementary School Districts. In my state, only the Unified School Districts layer seems to be populated.

[sumrhome1]

With your help, we now have the maps we need to begin our analysis.

You mention "automated boundary analysis" in a previous post. Is there a software package (other than that offered by the Church which requires the Clerk to manually enter codes to families) that provides such an analysis?

Thank you again.

[RossEvans]

You mention "automated boundary analysis" in a previous post. Is there a software package (other than that offered by the Church which requires the Clerk to manually enter codes to families) that provides such an analysis?

Sure there is. There is an entire family of software known as Geographic Information Systems -- GIS for short. This has been discussed on this forum several times over the years, for example in this long thread and this one. (Unfortunately, you can't just search for "GIS" here because the forum does not index three-character words.) GIS is essentially the marriage of mapping technology with a generic database application.

I do not mean that this is easy. The principal barriers to the use of GIS by local units are 1) cost and 2) learning curve. GIS is historically expensive and complex, but is becoming less so. (At least the free options such as QuantumGIS are improving). But if one is fortunate to possess such software and the related skills, automating boundary analysis or similar tasks is eminently feasible.

With the advances the Church has made in online mapping, perhaps someday there will be tailored GIS functionality built into the tools rolled out to local units for such tasks as boundary analysis. (There is plenty of GIS technology being used at headquarters.) But for now, you would mostly be on your own.

With the CSV exports from MLS, and some solution to the address-geocoding problem, it is quite possible to do automated analysis within a GIS application, benefiting from much greater flexibility than MLS offers. Even within our ward, we do a lot. (For example, we routinely gerrymander the ward into multiple fast-offering districts, balanced according to the demographics specified by the bishopric. And although unit boundaries are a stake responsibility, the task is essentially the same. Our bishop at least can anticipate the full demographic impact of various what-if scenarios assuming the stake were to redraw ward boundaries at X or Y.)