THE PROJECT
Project Guide
About Project
Working Notes/Blog
Convert Census Files to SVG Maps
DEVELOPMENT ZONE
Utility Goals & Downloads
Cancer Alley
U.S Poverty: 1999
Census Tract Animation
SVG
Download SVG Viewer
SVG Collaboration
SVG on the Web
Download Directly
Conversion Utility 4/1/03
Utility code 4/1/03
Cancer Alley JavaScript 7/11/02
US Poverty JavaScript 1/1/03
Boundary Conversion Downloads:
1) CitizenMapmaker.exe
2) UTM2SVG.EXE
1) CitizenMapmaker.exe
2) UTM2SVG.EXE
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Click here to download the CitizenMapmaker utility (4/1/03; beta version 0.2)
Visual Basic developers: click here to download the source code for the above utility. |
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After you have downloaded the utility (CitizenMapmaker.exe),
load it by
doubleclicking on the filename wherever you happened to
save it. If it loads successfully, you will quickly see
an interface allowing you to identify a source file and
a target file. Select "Directions" if you need further
instructions on how to do this. |
| About this utility |
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Citizen Mapmakers is committed to popularizing
do-it-yourself SVG mapmaking among Internet users
generally and more particularly among non-profits and
public interest
groups. We would like to make it as easy as possible
for any Internet user to convert the many publicly
available ASCII/ungenerate boundary files into SVG
maps. The version now posted here (0.1) is designed to
work with U.S. Census Bureau Boundary files available
at this U.S. Census site.
Due to a peculiar programming issue (discussed on the
Source Code page), it is unclear yet whether it will work
with ASCII/ungenerate files from other sources. Over
time the goal is to include greater functionality in
the maps. By automating as many processes as possible,
mapmakers will be free to focus more on content
development. |
| List of successful and unsuccessful use (by operating environment) |
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Successfully used with: Probably works with any Microsoft Windows system that already happens to have the right .DLL or .OCX files installed. Does not work with Macintoshes. Please advise what operating environments should be placed in this list. Not expected to work in non-Windows environments. Any confirmation appreciated. Probably will not not work with any Microsoft Windows system lacking certain .DLL or .OCX files. We eventually hope to produce a cross-platform version of the utility. |
| What Next? |
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If you've got the utility working, you can see that it produces finely detailed
but simple boundary maps. For an idea of what it takes to develop the maps into
useful tools, consider some common components of SVG maps:
We will soon offer instructional material on how to add these features to the maps. In the meantime, you can study the SVG source code (and Javascript if included) that become available everytime you view an SVG map. You can also check out some of the many SVG resources on the web. |
| Download beta version 0.1 of UTM2SVG utility |
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After you have downloaded the utility (UTM2SVG.exe),
load it by
doubleclicking on the filename wherever you happened to
save it. If it loads successfully, you will quickly see
an interface allowing you to identify a source file and
a target file. Select "Directions" if you need further
instructions on how to do this. So that you have
more control over the naming of the id attributes of
the path elements, an option to enter a 'path id prefix'
is provided. For example, if you simply enter "P", then
the id will be "P" plus the number of the polygon. Eventually the goal is to incorporate this utility (and one that converts MapInfo MIF files) into a single Citizen Mapmaker utility. For more information on UTM coordinates check UTM, Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates. |
| Help Available on U.S. Census Products |
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Jim Castagneri, a geographer working with the U.S. Census Bureau, calls the utility converting Census boundary files to SVG a "cool idea" and has kindly offered to answer questions about Census products and geography. You may contact him at castagne@census.gov. |
| Contact: Mike McCullough at mm@CitizenComputing.org |
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Kindly advise if you succeed or fail in using a utility with any operating environments not listed above. |