We have been keeping a pin location of our jobs and soon to implement main control points in Google Earth but I??m trying to think long term there has to be a better way.?ÿ
Obviously I??m a beginner in GIS. I??ve seen what arc GIS can do with previous firms and it??s amazing but pricey for a small firm.
I would love to be able to do the following?ÿ
store a geographic location of all jobs-including job #, client, type of job
main control points?ÿ
boundary monuments we??ve tied in, for visual reference
abililty to import tax map and enviro shp files?ÿ
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I've heard good things about QGIS.?ÿ It's open source and free so it might be a good way to get started.
Check out Global Mapper ??ÿ
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I second the QGIS recommendation.?ÿ While I use it only sporadically, I'm very impressed with it's capabilities.?ÿ I'm not a GIS expert, but I'm under the impression that QGIS can handle all basic and many advanced GIS tasks. And the price can't be beat!
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??Like? to all QGIS comments
Tex,
I use Carlson GIS which is included in the Civil Suite package with the textual type data in MS Access database.
I create a job in Access with the job number (ie modayr (6 digit)), job name, client, completion date, sec, ts, range, drawing, crd file, gpsfile, other job reference numbers, acres, meridian, combined scale factor, update field (y/n), phone, note, state, county, and a unique identifier that's hidden. There could probably be a lot more fields, but that works for me OK. I create it when I commission the job, and after completion, I copy the points & boundary, section, quarter, ts lines, adjoiner lines etc, from the job and paste it to the original coordinates in the master drawing and create a block from the points and boundary, named the same as the job number. I then create a link from the block in the drawing to the database using the block name and the project number.
I do everything on state plane coordinates, and I have two drawings for the two states that I work in, MS and AL. While it isn't Arcstuff, it is pretty powerful, and I can do a lot with it. The main difficulty is keeping the thing up to date, Right now I'm behind. I need to spend a couple of weeks to catch up. It don't take a lot of time if I would just do it when I finish the job. I expect when I retire and get ready to sell my business, this will be worth more than my equipment, files, etc, but I have a lot of time in it.
Use QGIS as other said. I??m using it for exact same reason you are doing. Let me explain you how it works.?ÿ
1. I have a shp where a keep a polygon of each job I do. This shp file has all the field I need, date, job number, client, monuments used, job folder link..
2. I use qgisweb, free plugin from the Qgis repository, to publish my map in a webmap style. Then I can run this locally or upload this to my company website (protected by password)
3. From there I can click on any of the polygon I had in the first step and a popup window come up with all the info.
It is an awesome way to see all the jobs you??ve been working, although you need to be clear on what you want/need to have in this gis and stick to it.?ÿ
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Good luck and use the qGIS user manual, it has a lot of good examples.
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I use both Google earth and QGIS...?ÿ trying to migrate everything to QGIS since it's more stable than GE.?ÿ I seem to lose data in GE on a regular basis.?ÿ?ÿ
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PS?ÿ ?ÿLook into the Plugins for QGis..?ÿ eg.?ÿ There is one that will geocode an address database.?ÿ pretty slick.?ÿ?ÿ
