Geo Plugin
A Geo Plugin is a module that can automatically obtain geo-data from a web service and can convert and interpret the data such that it can be used in a Project. One or more Geo Plugins of the same type can be defined in a Project Template. When a Project Template is used to create a new Project, the Geo Plugins that are active are executed. They then obtain the data and convert and interpret it and apply it to the new Project. A Geo Plugin specializes in one type of data and multiple types of data are supported.
Types
A Geo Plugin can be used to import the following types of data:
| Geo Plugin type | Feature type | Effect | Configurations |
|---|---|---|---|
| AREA | Vector | Adds Areas. | Geolink:
|
| BUILDING | Vector | Adds Buildings, except roads. | Function
Geolink:
|
| ROAD | Vector | Adds Buildings, specifically roads. | Function
Geolink:
|
| TERRAIN_HEIGHT | Grid | The elevation model is updated with data from all sources. Data from earlier sources take precedence over later sources. | Source(s) |
| WATER_BOTTOM | Grid | The elevation model is updated with data from all sources, but only in location with a Water Terrain. Data from earlier sources take precedence over later sources. | Source(s) |
Configuration
When a Geo Plugin is created, a number of additional configurations can be entered to define how the source data is to be interpreted. Note that the availability of different configuration options are related to the kind of data the Geo Plugin is configured to import.
- Layer id
- If the data source structures its data in multiple layers of features, which layer should be used.
- CRS
- If the data source does not define its CRS properly, or does not define a CRS at all, which CRS to use (instead).
- Name attribute
- Which Attribute's value should be used to name the imported features.
- Id attribute
- An Attribute which can uniquely identify features in the data source. This is used to detect duplicates of data being retrieved when the data from the data source must be retrieved in multiple passes. Some services also require this attribute for sorting their returned features. These services will return an error message when this attribute is not correctly configured. In that case the corresponding Geo Plugin will then not be able to process the data and will report that an error occurred.
Sources
- Main article: Project Source
Each Geo Plugin must obtain its data from a source. Sources are defined as Project Sources in the Tygron Platform. For vector data, only one source can be added per individual plugin. For grid data, multiple sources can be added.
Geo Link
- Main article: Geo Link
A Geo Link is a separate data object that can be used by a Geo Plugin. It provides a further specification of how the data from the web source is imported, and how to remap the Attributes.
For example, in the case of a Building Geo Plugin, when a feature has the attributes of a Geo Link required for a match, the feature 's geometry is used to add the new Building to the project with the function defined in the Geo Link. In case a feature matches with multiple Geo Links, the Geo Link with the highest configured priority is selected.
Notes
- When mapping Attributes, and importing a feature which has an Attribute targeted by the mapping, the imported Item will have only the mapped Attribute with the original Attribute's value, and not the original Attribute. Attributes which are not mapped are included with the Item as is.
- When a Geo Link uses multiple sources for grid data, only locations with NO_DATA values can be further enriched by following sources. Locations where the value is 0 will not be overwritten, as 0 can be a valid value.
