Importing the geometry of a location from a KML file

REQUIREMENTS
Permission	Operation Administrator or higher
Connectivity	Online only

This document describes of to import the geometry for a new or existing location from a Google Earth KML file. This method can be used both for adding a geometry to a new location and changing the geometry of an existing location.

Background

While this document describes how to create a location in Google Earth and import it into the InfoEx system, it is also possible to export geometries in KML format in most other Geographic Information Systems (e.g.,ESRI ArcGIS, Q GIS). If geometries are exported from a high quality source, it is advisable to simplify the geometries to reduce the number of points included in the geometry to a reasonable number before importing them into the Infoex system. Having geometries with excessive numbers of points will unnecessarily slow down your InfoEx application.

ISSUE

The system currently does not support multi-geometries (i.e., multiple, separate polygons, lines or points associated with a single location). Workaround: Please contact Pascal Haegeli to discuss possible solutions. JIRA: -772 (Aug.13, 2013)

Step-by-step description

Creating a location geometry in Google Earth

1.

Fig. 1: Creating a line geometry for a ski run in Google Earth. Create the geometry for a location directly in Google Earth (Fig.1). See Location types and symbology for more information on supported location types and geometries.

2.

Fig. 2: Right-click menu in Google Earth. In Google Earth, right click on the location in the location catalog in the side bar of the application (Fig. 2) and select the 'Save Place As ...' menu item. This will open the standard 'Save as...' dialog window on your computer. Choose KML as the file format and save the file on your computer in a location of your choice. NOTE It is important that the location is visible in Google Earth (check box in the location catalog checked) when you save it and that you choose KML as the file format. The InfoEx system is not able to read 'KMZ' files, which is the default format for Google Earth files. NOTE If you have multiple location that you would like to upload, you can save them all on the same KML file. Organize your locations in a folder in Google Earth and right click on the folder to get to the 'Save Place As ...' option. This will save all of the geometries included in your folder in a single file.

Uploading the geometries to the InfoEx system

1.	Fig. 3: Details of ski run filled in before clicking on to load KML file. After you have entered the name and abbreviation of the new location on the left side of the location catalog screen in InfoEx system, click on above the Google Earth map (Fig. 3). This will open the regular window for opening a file on your computer. Navigate to the KML file that you saved in the previous step. Select the file and click on Open to import the file and closed the window. You will now return to the previous screen and the geometries of the KML file are displayed on the Google Earth right away. In addition, the name of the KML file now appears next to the row of buttons above the Google Earth map with its check box checked.
2.	Fig. 4: Confirmation message for selecting a location. Click on the above the top left corner of the map for the regular mouse cursor and click in the geometry you would like to select. This will open a small popup dialog with the name of the geometry in the KML file and Select Feature button (Fig. 4). Once you click the button, you will get a brief confirmation message that the geometry has been selected.
3.	Click on Add to add the new location to the catalog and return to the regular location catalog screen. NOTE Depending on the detail of the location geometry (i.e., the number of included points) and your internet connectivity, it might take a few second to upload the information and close the window.

Related documents

• Adding locations to the location catalog
• Creating the geometry of a new location using the available drawing tools
• Editing locations in the location catalog
• Editing the geometry of an existing location using the available drawing tools

Functionality tested by

• Dec. 22: Pascal Haegeli