We upgraded to Carlson 2013 a few weeks back and I finally had a few minutes to test the utility to export to Google Earth. We've been tying our work into HARN and CORS for about 12 years now and I've done my best to add the outer boundary of every job into a single CAD drawing I named "LIS", or Land Information System (I couldn't bring myself to call it GIS). I exported the drawing to a KML file today and it dropped right into Google Earth. Each boundary is in a layer named for its job number for quick indexing. The layer names ported right into G.E. so I can click on a line and immediately see what job number the line derives from. Very slick. Furthermore, I've been dabbling with local projections for about five years. Carlson now supports local projections, so I can have a 5000,5000 system (properly set up as a local projection) and go straight to G.E. with no intermediate projection (ie UTM or SPC). Geometry is lining up incredibly well with the imagery. Color me impressed.
This is a subdivision we did in '06. From selecting the linework I see it is from job no. D06-042
> a single CAD drawing I named "LIS", or Land Information System (I couldn't bring myself to call it GIS).
Shawn,
I've been working with Global Mapper to do the same thing. I call it a SIS (Survey Information System)...or a BIS (Boundary Information System)...or my favorite...SEX (Survey Extracted data)...
I have hyperlinks that when one clicks on the boundary it leads ME to the record survey (PDF) and the job folder (with scans of the record documents and MY field notes) and YOU to my CONTACT INFORMATION.
The 'metadata' contains all of my CYA notes and contact information. I use this KMZ as both a data reference system and a Marketing tool.
DDSM
Very impressive results. For posterity and benefit of others, the KML (or KMZ) results can also be published to a web-friendly (and subsequently smart-phone friendly) format via the Google Maps interface. To accomplish this, perform the following:
1. Upload a KML file into a publicly accessible folder on your organization's web-server or to a public folder of a file-hosting service such as http://www.dropbox.com . A basic DropBox account is free and a sample Carlson KMZ file is hosted in a public folder ( https://www.dropbox.com/home/Public ) at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30460571/CarlsonSoftware.kmz .
2. Open a web-browser and navigate to http://maps.google.com and then paste the full URL created in the step above into the Google Maps Search control as shown in the example below:
The contents of the KML (or KMZ) file should display in the web-friendly Google Maps application. A link to the resultant map can be generated through the application button shown below:
3. Share this link with clients or staff which permits them to access your KML (or KMZ) content via a web-browser without the need to have or use the Google Earth application (which might also come in handy when out in the field when all you have with you is a smart-phone).
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Ladd Nelson
I don't have a smart phone, but my wife does. I was about to attempt emailing the KMZ file to her and see if she could open it on her Android phone... ultimately able to navigate in the field. I see this as a future deliverable to some clients. Obviously it is a little scary, easily enabling the client to use a smart phone to walk out their property, but we have always made references on plats, and dimensioned the surveys so that the user of our maps could find themselves on the property relative to their boundary.
That's a very good feature, this google option. Quick question: On my desktop application, the waypoint "old" appears to be off by 70 metres (based on the ruler of google earth). What causes that? On a different subject, the new location will require a bit of work. Looks like a nice little town, Maysville.
>Quick question: On my desktop application, the waypoint "old" appears to be off by 70 metres (based on the ruler of google earth). What causes that?
That problem comes from the author (me) using and expecting the Google Earth From/To navigation feature to properly geocode the placemark position and not double-checking the results at the street level. You're quite correct though that the position was off... I've updated the KMZ file in my DropBox account with a more accurate location.
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Ladd Nelson
:good:
