Software

eric (software) – Wikipedia

eric (software) – Wikipedia

eric is a free integrated development environment (IE) used for computer programming. Since it is a full featured IE, it provides by default all necessary tools needed for the writing of code and for the professional management of a software project.

I want to start using python for more projects but while Geany IDE is pretty good I wish I had an IDE with better autocomplete and documentation built in. 

Xfce 4.12, One Week Away

XFCE 4.12 is a refinement of what could be considered the most conservative, but modern desktop environment. After trying out Cinnamon, I was unhappy with the performance and stability, and went back to XFCE.

My one gripe about XFCE is it continues to be GTK+2 based, so you sometimes have issues with GTK+3 apps not using the new themes.

Not Very Helpful

Very helpful program error in QGIS 2.2: “Warning! Exception thrown — bad_alloc”. It continued working fine after that, as whatever couldn’t find memory space managed to work without it.

However, when you compile a piece of software with debugging flags off, your not supposed to get messages about exceptions being thrown, as normal people have no idea what the heck an exception is or what they can do about it (not much).

A Script to Make Pretty Political Google Maps

A while back I wrote I script for converting and styling KML files from ERSI Shapefiles, like you might download or export form a program like Quantum GIS. It requires you have the web programming language PHP 5 installed, along with the ogr2ogr command.

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This program extensively uses the PHP/DOM model, to read and write the XML file. I am not an expert programmer — it’s a hobby, but I am very happy with the results. You might consider using the LATFOR data and Census TIGER/Line for this if your a New York State resident.


#!/usr/bin/php -q
<?php
// POLITICAL STYLING FOR KML
// Converts a Shapefile with Election Results in Percentage
// 
// Input:
//      File_Title = Title for KML Name Field (as Seen in Google Maps)
//      District_Name = Field with District Name In It
//      Percent_as_Decimal = Election Result with Percent. 
//      0.00 - 0.49 = Shade of Red
//      0.50 = White
//      0.50 - 1.00 = Blue
//      Shapefile_Name = Path to Shapefile
//
// Output:
//      Google Maps KML File, Nicely Styled

if (!isset($argv[4])) {
        echo "usage: php politicalKML.php [File_Title] [District_Name] [Percent_as_Decimal]  [Shapefile_Name]\n";
        exit;
}

// required fields
$fileTitle = $argv[1];
$nameField = $argv[2];
$percentField = $argv[3];

// filename
$filename = $argv[4];
$KMLfileName = substr($filename,0,-4).'.kml';

// convert shapefile to kml using ogr2ogr
system("ogr2ogr -f \"KML\" -sql \"SELECT * FROM ". substr($filename,0,-4)." ORDER BY $fileTitle ASC\" $KMLfileName $filename -dsco NameField=$nameField -dsco DescriptionField=$percentField");

// load our new kml file
$doc = new DOMDocument();
$doc->load($KMLfileName);

// first let's replace the name field with a nicer one
$oldnode = $doc->getElementsByTagName('name')->item(0);
$node = $doc->createElement('name', $fileTitle);
$doc->getElementsByTagName('Folder')->item(0)->replaceChild($node, $oldnode);

// delete schema field to save space
$oldnode = $doc->getElementsByTagName('Schema')->item(0);
$doc->getElementsByTagName('Folder')->item(0)->removeChild($oldnode);


// load each placemark, search for maximum — used for making color judgements
foreach ($doc->getElementsByTagName('SimpleData') as $data) {
        if( $data->getAttribute('name') == $percentField) {
                $max[] = abs(substr($data->nodeValue,0)-0.5);
        }
}

// maximum in the political race
sort($max); $max = array_pop($max);
        
// calcuate multiplier for each race
$multiple = 255/$max;

// load each placemark, then set styling and percentage description
foreach ($doc->getElementsByTagName('Placemark') as $placemark) {
        foreach ($placemark->getElementsByTagName('SimpleData') as $data) {
                if( $data->getAttribute('name') == $percentField) {
                        $value = $data->nodeValue;
                        $color = substr($value,0);
                }
        }
        
        // decide if we want to do this blue or red, and then calculate
        // the amount of color versus white
        
        // republican leaning
        if ($color <= 0.5) {
                $colorStr = sprintf('%02x', 255-floor(abs($color-0.5)*$multiple));
                $colorStr = "a0{$colorStr}{$colorStr}ff";
        }
        
        // democratic leaning
        if ($color > 0.5) {
                $colorStr = sprintf('%02x', 255-floor(abs($color-0.5)*$multiple));
                $colorStr = "a0ff{$colorStr}{$colorStr}";
        }
        
        if ($color == 0) {
                $colorStr = '00ffffff';
        }
        
        // stylize the node based on color
        $node = $doc->createElement('Style');

        $linestyle = $doc->createElement('LineStyle');
        $node->appendChild($linestyle);
        $linestyle->appendChild($doc->createElement('width', 0.1));
        $linestyle->appendChild($doc->createElement('color', 'ffffffff'));
        
        $polystyle = $doc->createElement('PolyStyle');
        $node->appendChild($polystyle);
        $polystyle->appendChild($doc->createElement('color', $colorStr));       

        $oldnode = $placemark->getElementsByTagName('Style')->item(0); 
        
        $placemark->replaceChild($node, $oldnode);
                        
        // delete extended data to save KML space
        $data = $placemark->getElementsByTagName('ExtendedData')->item(0);
        $placemark->removeChild($data);
        
        // update the description
        $oldnode = $placemark->getElementsByTagName('description')->item(0); 
        $node = $doc->createElement('description', 'Recieved '.($color*100).'% of the vote.');
        $placemark->replaceChild($node, $oldnode); 
}

// finally write to the file
$doc->save($KMLfileName);

// calculate size in MB
$filesize = filesize($KMLfileName)/1024/1024;
if ( $filesize < 10) {
        $zipCommand = "zip ".substr($KMLfileName,0,-4).".kmz $KMLfileName";
        system($zipCommand);
        
        $kmzfilesize = filesize(substr($KMLfileName,0,-4).".kmz")/1024/1024;
        echo "KMZ is " .sprintf('%01.2f', $kmzfilesize)." MB, while the KML file is ".sprintf('%01.2f',$filesize)." MB.\n"; 
}
else {
        echo "Woah Horsey! The produced file is greater then 10 MB, at a size of ".sprintf('%01.2f',$filesize)." MB uncompressed. You need to simply your polygons before proceeding, otherwise Google Maps won't be able to read it. \n";
}

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Why I Like Mapping

Doing GIS Mapping has become quite the hobby of mine. Especially when it comes to generating maps of public lands, I am endlessly fascinated by exploring the lands that we, the public own.

rentny

Rendering maps is mostly about loading layers, and zooming in. Yet, the effort to put together a map teaches you a little bit about the land you are rendering and its features. Mapping can teach you about a land where you have never been before, and prepare you and interest you in a future trip.there. Mapping requires you to pay attention to the landscape, correcting invalid data, and trying to create the best possible presentation of the landscape’s natural and man-made features.

Mountains

Even when you’ve never been on a piece of land, making a map can teach you much about the landscape and how it’s laid out. A map can tell you many details both by the features on the map and the implied features that you calcuate based on the relation of one land form to another piece of land.

Another Choppy Day on the Lake

A map makes it possible to better understand a piece of land, without ever putting a foot on it. While maps aren’t always accurate, and sometimes they can be confusing on an unfamiliar piece of land, they do provide context. Maps are a great source of exploring the unknown and unfamiliar.