Diversity Gazetteer

Tutorial Query

To search for data in the database, use the query section in the left part of the window. To select the query conditions, click on the button in the top panel. A window as shown below will open.

With the Maximal number of results you can limit the packet size that should be retrieved from the server. For a slow connection to the database server choose a low value (e.g. 100 as set by default).

Select the desired entries of

• Name
• Longitude / Latitude / Distance (km)
• Place type
• Project
• Language
• Place ID
• Name ID

Click OK to close the window. According to the example above your query conditions will look like this:

Operators: Press the button to open the operator dropdown list and choose an appropriate operator for your query:

• “~”: Like - The search string is part of the item.
• “=”: Equal - The search string matches the item exactly.
• “<”: Less than - All results less than the search string.
• “>”: Greater than - All results greater than the search string.

Name: Enter the name of the place you are searching for in the adjacent text box. The results are depending on the operator.

Longitude: Enter the longitude for the desired places. Only numerical input allowed.

Latitude: Enter the latitude for the desired places. Only numerical input allowed.

Distance: Enter the distance regarding longitude and latitude. Depending on the operator all items will be displayed which are inside or outside the distance. Only numerical input allowed.

Place type: Choose from a list of possible entries. Select the type of place you are looking for. “—” means all kind of types.

Language: Choose from a list of possible entries. Select the language which is assigned to the place. If there are no results, set the language to “—” (all languages or no language assigned).

Project: Choose from a list of possible entries. Select your current project. “—” means all projects.

Place ID: Enter the place ID for the desired places. Only integer numbers allowed.

Name ID: Enter the name ID for the desired places. Only integer numbers allowed.

After all query conditions are set, click on the button to start the query. In the resultlist all places will be displayed which matches your query and the selected maximal number of results.

Diversity Gazetteer

Tutorial - query results

Pressing the button will display all places in the list box which matches the query conditions and the selected maximal number of results:

The entries consist of name ID, name, place type and coordinates (if any). If no coordinates are available, the entry is shown in gray. In case the entry describes a complex geography (e.g. a country polygon, a river line string etc.), the coordinates represent the “envelope center” of the shape.

The indices of the currently displayed database entries are shown in the header of the list box, as well as the total number of entries. The first line in the list box also contains the indices and may be used to display all entries in total.

Pressing the button will display the next set of entries (according to maximal number of results). The indices will change accordingly.

Pressing the button will display the previous set of entries (according to maximal number of results). The indices will change accordingly.

Pressing the button will add the next set of entries (according to maximal number of results) to the ones already displayed in the list. The indices will change accordingly.

Pressing the button will clear the list box and the query conditions.

The button is designed as a toggle button, which has 2 states. Pressing the button will switch the GISEditor display mode between “View” and “Edit”. If the mode is set to “Edit”, the button will appear as and the map window will be extended by its control panel.

Diversity Gazetteer

Tutorial - show places

Tutorial - show places

The results list box displays the current set of places found by the database query. To show a certain place on the map, just double click at the entry. Due to the coordinates of the place the map will be adjusted to this area and build up. Depending on the internet connection and the map server this can take some seconds. A message box will pop up to advice the user to wait, until the map is complete:

When all tiles of the background map are drawn, press OK to continue. Then the online map will be scanned and the place will be shown on the map. If the coordinates are single positions, markers will be set. If the coordinates describe areas or line strings, the appropriate geometrical objects are drawn. The information area above the map lists the details of the place (name ID, name, place ID, place type, coordinates as well as more names and hierarchy, if available).

A double click at the first line shows all places currently listed in the results box. The information area will not show specific details, but moving the mouse over a place on the map displays the details in a tool tip.

If a place hierachy has been defined, it is shown in the hierarchy list box. Due to historical reasons there might also be a hierarchy text entry for the place, which is displayed beneath the hierarchy, if it is available. Below the place names are displayed, which are one level under the current place in the hierarchy tree, if there are any. By clicking on an entry of the upper or lower hierarchy list the current place can can be switched to that one. If you have administrator permissions, the hierarchy and the hierarchy text entry can be modified.

Since version 1.4.2.0 multiple languages and place types are supported for a place name. If there is more than one language or place types entry assigned, the additional ones are diplayed beneath the preferred entry.

Press the button to display all parameters for a place name stored in the database at a glance in a separate window.

Diversity Gazetteer

Tutorial - edit places

If the user has administrator rights for the dataset, the , and items are displayed in the toolbar. Additionally the , and buttons will appear in the info area.

The user then may edit the name of the place using the text box. The item turns to red to notify the user that the changes need to be saved by pressing this item before going to another place. The assigned geographical objects may also be edited or changed using the Edit mode of the GIS Editor and saved by pressing the item. To add a new place to the gazetteer, create a geo object within the GISEditor, enter a description and subsequently press the item to put it into the database. The user may delete a name entry by pressing the item. To add a new name for the current place just type it into the Name text box and press the button aside. This button is only enabled, if the name has been edited.

To create or change the places hierarchy select an entry and switch ON the toggle button. Search and select an entry using the query results list box to assign it as the parent place for the one which is displayed in the info area. The tool tip of the list box will change accordingly. As soon it has been assigned the toggle button will switch OFF again. If no entry should be assigned the button may be released by pressing it again. If the place is part of the hierarchy the button is enabled and may be pressed to remove the assignment of the parent for the current place. This will cut off the upper part of the place’s hierarchy tree.

Appropriate message boxes will pop up for changing or editing the name and hierarchy of a place to prevent changes by mistake. If there are multiple places selected, these buttons will not be functional.

If there are more than one name entries for the current place, all names are shown in a list box right of the selected name. The user may switch to another name of the list by double clicking it. One of the name entries may be assigned as the preferred name for the current place. This can be done by left clicking it. A message box will be shown to ensure that the assignment should be made. The preferred name then will appear in red color in the list.

At the right side of the information area there are 2 list boxes. The first shows the projects which are assigned to the current name, the second shows the other projects which are not assigned. The administrator may assign or remove projects to the name by selecting a project and clicking on an appropriate arrow button to shift it to the opposite box. Alternatively he may easily shift the project by double clicking on it.

If the assignment of the projects has been changed, the button turns to red to notify the user that the changes need to be saved before going to another place. Otherwise the changes will be lost.

Diversity Gazetteer

Tutorial - add places

If the user has administrator rights for the database, the symbol is shown in the tool bar. Then the user may add new place entries to the database using the GISEditor. A background map and geographical objects may be created or imported, e.g. from ArcView shape files. These shapes are often very big and do not match the restrictions of MS SQL Geography Objects as used in the database, so there are several save options, which can help to avoid problems for the import:

One major restriction of MS SQL Geography Objects is, that polygon lines must not overlap. This is frequently the case on multiple polygons within one geographical object, e.g. the outlines of neighbouring countries. To avoid this, multiple polygons may be split up to single polygons, which can be saved either as separate place entries (with the drawback that the collection will be disbanded) or as one geographical collection (which keeps the togetherness of the elements).

Big ArcView shapes often contain millions of coordinates, which may cause out of memory errors when they are converted to a geographical data object. This can be avoided by successively saving the samples of the GIS editor to the database. Precondition for that is, that a big shape file is split into single geographical objects (samples) already when reading it by the GIS Editor. To do this the appropriate check box of the GIS Editor Settings has to be checked:

If you create a new place using the GIS Editor, be sure to enter a description in the “Text” field before you add it to the sample list. Clicking the symbol of the tool bar will save the samples of the GIS Editor according to the save options and will use the sample descriptions as the place names. If the samples are split into multiple entries, an index is appended to the name.