Soooo, I notice that my post-survey work flow needs some tuning up. Specifically, I see that I haven't converted my recent survey DWG to PDF files on a consistent basis. I like to do this so that research is easier, and I can access the PDF's without having to use autocad.
I also have a 14 year old sitting around this summer doing nothing. So I thought I'd combine those two things and get my techno-nerd(y) son to do that work.
Then, I thought, maybe there is something out there that I could have him do at the same time that would help later for office work.
Maybe the files could be geo-coded by address ?
Or other?
Maybe they could be mapped somehow?
maybe available online for field review??
I don't know what I don't know about, so I thought I'd toss it out there to see what others "do" or "plan to do" with this kind of stuff.
I do LOTS of boundary work, and have records going back to 95 or so. I'd like to come up with a process that will be useful now and in the future.
any tips appreciated!
Andy
Google Earth is a poor man's GIS. Create a kmz of your jobs. If you have a recent version of Carlson you can even export the lines and monument symbols from your boundary surveys.
Sounds like you are trying to build a database. Set up a database and you could search by all sorts of fields, such as, address, client, section/town/range, etc.
What I had planned to do when I was still doing boundary work was to export just the boundary line and Job number of every boundary survey to one geo-referenced dwg file. I could then look at a location and see the jobs I needed to pull a file on.
I never did it, it was just a plan.
James
here is what I have...
A seat of Google Earth Pro.
Lots of scanned PDF's of older surveys
Lots of CAD files that could be exported into a PDF File
A HUGE database of my projects, including all the usual data in fields.
I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck when I create the new PDF's from the cad files.
I really like Google earth Pro, but it sure seems to be a hog when it comes to system resources.. I don't want to put a bunch into it and have it crashing all the time.
here is what I have...
Just rent some cloud space from the NSA:-P
I wouldn't do anything that I was planning to use long term based on a software package that I have no control over. Sure Google Earth is great but will it be there in a compatible format in 20 years? Or will any CAD program be there in 20 years that today's data will be compatible with tomorrow's version on Windows umpty-ump?
PDF's will mostly likely be able to be read 20 years from now - but are you sure?
I don't know all the answers, but my job index is on quad sheets with enlarged maps in built up areas. Yeah, that's old fashioned but I bet I'll be able to still look at the maps 20 years from now.
That's my very cynical, unhumble opinion.
I can never find the thumbs up button ...
QGIS. On your own machine(s). Make up your own SQL table for parcel numbers, addresses, client names, PLSS designations, job numbers, etc. Runs on Mac/Windows/Linux. Import your county GIS parcel layer and then overlay your own georeferenced work.
edit: seem to recall that QGIS renders and prints PDFs quit nicely
I agree, but I've also got to make it so my office can run the software... unless I just end up doing everything!
Mass storage...
I know this is a little aside of your questions, but Whatever you do, you need backups of everything! Onsite + offsite. This information is the core of your business. It's gold. Consider storing both raw and exported (PDF) data. Storage is dirt cheap when one considers the alternatives...
Look at PogoPlug for your cloud storage. I have a couple TB on PogoPlug for the last year or so, and like their service.
It may sound a little crazy at first, but look at ZFS for a NAS or SAN. There are free and open source versions on BSD, so you don't have to put your life in hock to afford Solaris on multiple cores. ZFS deduplication + compression can really shrink certain types of data on disk (at the cost of RAM and processor usage), so it may be well worth it..
Main thing is that ZFS is engineered to be SAFE for big $$ data over the long haul. It relies on hardware redundancy and several layers of software checks against bit rot and other sources of data decay in mass storage. It's bedrock for your critical data on HDD and tape. CERN uses ZFS. B-)
Mass storage...
Thanks!! Good tips.
One of the projects on my long-range to-do list is to buy a document scanner and convert as much of the paper in my correspondence file folders as I can to PDFs. I think I could easily cut the number of file cabinets in half. (I only have 4, but my office is so small that regaining the floor space of 2 file cabinets would be very signficant.)
The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 is about $425 and gets rave reviews. You could buy one and put your 14-year-old to work scanning file contents and storing the information as PDFs. You'd want to think through the file naming and location scheme, but once set up the work would be pretty straightforward.
yes, good idea. I wanted to think it though before I turn him loose. Hence the asking of advice.
I did find that in the google placemark, you can add a "Link" to a PDF on the server. so you could pick the placemark, see all the record data from the spreadsheet and have a hot link to the pdf for printing.
I suppose if you are starting out with a DB or spreadsheet, it's not like losing everything if Google suddenly closes shop. (unlikely)
> I suppose if you are starting out with a DB or spreadsheet, it's not like losing everything if Google suddenly closes shop. (unlikely)
On the other hand, KML is just a format-specific XML file, readable with any text editor. (KMZ is just a zipped KML.) In the event that Google Earth were to disappear and your chosen replacement application wasn't able to read a KML/KMZ, any programmer worth his salt could quickly cobble together a converter.
PDF question
Will work for beer and seafood, Andy.
Seriously a good question and good ideas here.
PDF question
> Will work for beer and seafood, Andy.
>
> Seriously a good question and good ideas here.
Here is a pic of the test data... not all projects mapped, just checking formatting, etc. Hey, come on down, I have beer AND seafood!
PDF question
Nice coverage in some of those blocks........looks like some future surveys might be done on both sides already.
PDF question
It will be even more impressive when I get all the data included. This was just a chunk to test the GE pro geocoding.