From data source to data view: A practical guide to uploading spatial data sets into MapX Thomas Piller UNEP/GRID Geneva I
Table of contents 1. Adding a new data source to MapX... 1 1.1 Method 1: upload module (GeoJSON only)... 1 1.2 Method 2: drag and drop... 5 2. Metadata structure... 9 3. Editing a data source in MapX... 11 4. Adding a data view in MapX... 12 5. Other tools related to views... 16 II
1. Adding a new data source to MapX Before adding a new data source to MapX, it is necessary to prepare your spatial dataset to be compatible with MapX. A GIS (geographic information system) software such as QGIS (cross platform, free & open source: https://www.qgis.org/en/site/) can be used to check the compatibility of your spatial dataset, to edit it and to convert it into another format if necessary. Here are the data formats supported by MapX: File format: GeoJSON (format recommended by MapX development team) ESRI shapefile (in a.zip archive) KML GPX (GPS exchange Format) Spatial reference system: WGS 84 (EPSG: 4326) (more information here: http://spatialreference.org/ref/epsg/wgs 84/) Geometry: the dataset must have a single type of geometry. Currently MapX supports the following geometries: point, line & polygon (no support for geometry collection or multi geometries, i.e. multipoint) MapX has two methods for adding a source which are described in details in this chapter: 1. Upload module: only compatible with GeoJSON 2. Drag and drop: compatible with all file formats mentioned above 1.1 Method 1: upload module (GeoJSON only) I. To add a new source to MapX, you must go to the platform: https://app.mapx.org II. Once in MapX, go to the relevant country for your data (1) click on the globe in the menu bar (2) in the window, select the relevant country. 1
III. To add a new source, go to the Toolbox from the menu bar: and click on add a source layer: IV. A window appears, click on Browse to select the GeoJSON to upload to MapX database. If you can t see your file, select All Files in the dropdown list at the bottom of the window. As a reminder, only GeoJSON can be uploaded in this way. Other formats supported by MapX (ESRI Shapefile, KML & GPX) will be compatible with this upload method in the future (presently they can only be added through the drag and drop function). 2
V. A progress bar indicates the status of the upload and displays a clear message when the upload is complete. VI. It is then necessary to fill in the metadata of the data source. There are several categories of information to be filled in. A complete list of metadata is available later in this document (see 2), but the MapX interface clearly describes what needs to be documented. VII. When all the metadata have been completed, the source can be saved by clicking on the Save button: VIII. Optional step: a new view can be directly created from a window. For this tutorial, don t do it, just press Finish at the bottom of the window. A message should appear on the screen to confirm that the process has been completed without issues. 3
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1.2 Method 2: drag and drop I. To add a new source to MapX, you must go to the platform: https://app.mapx.org II. Once in MapX, go to the country concerned by your data (1) click on the globe in the menu bar (2) in the window, select the relevant country. III. To add a new source, drag and drop your file from your computer to the map in MapX. IV. A progress bar indicates the status of the loading. 5
V. Once your file is loaded, it appears in the left panel on top of the list of views. Your data can be viewed on the map but a style cannot be associated with them. To add your dataset as a source to MapX (1) click on the view corresponding to your dataset (2) click on the Upload button. VI. It is then necessary to fill in the metadata of the source. There are several categories of information to be filled in. A complete list of metadata is available later in this document (see 2), but the MapX interface clearly describes what needs to be documented. VII. When all the metadata have been completed, the source can be saved by clicking on the Save button: 6
VIII. A progress bar indicates the status of importation. IX. Optional step: a new view can be directly created from a window. For this tutorial, don t do it, just press Finish at the bottom of the window. A message should appear on the screen to confirm that the process has been completed without issues. 7
X. Once your dataset has been imported into MapX database, it disappears from the left panel. 8
2. Metadata structure Text: textual description of the data using title, abstract and tags Title (multilingual): title you want to give to the source Abstract (multilingual): description of the dataset Keywords: keywords (or tags) help users discover your dataset. Please include terms that would be used by technical and non technical users. Attributes (multilingual): description of the attributes contained in the dataset Language: language(s) used in content Access: modality and restriction of access to the data Roles: roles allowed to read the data Temporal: description of the dataset using temporal references: periodicity, initial release, update and range Issuance: description of the data issuance Periodicity: frequency with which data is published or updated Release date: date of formal issuance Last update: date of the latest update Range: the temporal range of the data Check box: there is no time range for this data (yes/no) Start: temporal beginning of the data End: temporal ending of the data Spatial: description of the data using spatial reference: bounding box and spatial reference system (SRS) (automatically filled by MapX) Spatial reference system: description of the spatial reference system Code of the SRS: EPSG of the dataset URL to the SRS code definition: the title speaks for itself Bounding box: Spatial bounding box of the data using latitude and longitude Contact: information about people or organization related to this data Source: origin of the data and how to retrieve it Homepage: homepage (URL) for the data Sources: method to retrieve the data Check box: the URL contain a request to retrieve the data automatically (yes/no) 9
Url: URL to the dataset Licensing: Name and/or description of the license Annexes: URL to related documents such as technical information about a dataset Integrity: Evaluation of the data integrity with 16 questions (possible answers: I don't know/yes/partially/no). The questions are clearly explained in MapX user interface. 10
3. Editing a data source in MapX 1. To edit a source, go to the Toolbox from the menu bar and click on the Edit source button: 2. A window appears and allows you to update the metadata of a source. (1) select the desired source and update the metadata through the form, (2) save your edits by clicking on the Update button. You can erase a source from the database by clicking on the Delete button. Be careful this action is irreversible 11
4. Adding a data view in MapX 1. To add a view, go to the Toolbox from the menu bar and click on the Add view button: 2. In the window, (1) select the desired type of view (vector, raster (WMS/WMTS) or story map), (2) define the view title, (3) click on Create to validate. A message will confirm that everything went well. 3. The new view is now available in the left panel but it is empty. 12
4. To configure the view, click on it and then click on the Configure this view button: 5. A window appears, (1) select the source layer from the database, (2) select the source variable to display in the view, (3) define who can access this view in MapX, (4) define a/multiple class(es) which will allow to filter the view by the major data categories present in MapX. Classes in MapX Satellite imagery Extractive Development Social Politics Environment Energy Infrastructure Stress Other 6. At the bottom of this window, there is a summary of the selected variable. There is also the possibility of adding a mask to the layer. Once everything is done, click on the Update button. 13
7. The view is now configured. The selected source variable is displayed on the map when the view is activated but no style has been defined. 8. Create a style for the view by clicking on Set the style of the view button: 14
+ Rule: add a class in the legend Value: values defining the intervals of each class (see labels) Label: the labels will be displayed in the legend of the view in the left panel Color, opacity & size: each class can be set independently of each other s 15
5. Other tools related to views Zoom in or zoom out to all features of the view Reset the view Depending on the data type, filter by value, numeric value or/and date Transparency of the view can also be adjusted from this menu Display metadata for the source Display the name of the source in MapX database to access the raw data with QGIS Take a screenshot of the view. A Zip archive will be downloaded to your computer. It includes: 1. the map (PNG) 2. the legend (PNG & SVG) 3. the north arrow & the scale (PNG & SVG) 4. a KML file to view the data in Google Earth or QGIS Remove this view from MapX Share this view through a URL 16