October 23, 2013 at 4:24 pm
The Dixie Flatline (10/23/2013)
Paul White (10/22/2013)
Successful summit - I hugged Gail 🙂Wildly successful summit: I got to have supper with Gail. Sorry I didn't get to say hello, Paul.
And here I thought you were going to mention you proved something about the south. :w00t::hehe::-D
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
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October 23, 2013 at 5:20 pm
wolfkillj (10/23/2013)
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/23/2013)
Koen Verbeeck (10/23/2013)
wolfkillj (10/23/2013)
I've published my first technical blog post. I'd appreciate any feedback from this group on both the technical aspects and the writing. Thanks, everyone!Nice blog post. Very good for a first one.
I don't work a lot with spatial data, but it's good to know I have to look out for approximate data types.
Look forward to your next post 🙂
Great example and explanation.
And good timing for me, as I am exploring some of the newer spatial stuff.
Thanks, Greg! As I mentioned in the post, I do a lot of work with geospatial data and have learned a TON about both the SQL Server implementation of the spatial data types and the underlying concepts. Working with geospatial data may be the "funnest" part of my job, in fact. What particular aspects of the spatial data functionality are you exploring? If there's a particular topic in that area that you'd like to read more about, I'm open to suggestions for future posts!
Currently I'm going to play around with Excel and the 2013 mapping with PowerPivot. At my previous job, we had mostly North American sales, with 2 sales orgs. One went by State, while the other zip / postal, but not necesarily by state. Mapping a zip / postal code for the whole globe seemed like you would have to pay for several services to get the data to map this to a better model. Something about what you have found for free sources would be of interest.
We had a current bookings process going into the cube that ran every 30 minutes, which I put into a map of North America in SSRS, which you could drill down to details for any state. Much more visual presentation than the normal grid. It also seems a more natural way to view the data. So something about what you have seen for reaction / adoption from your users might be good too.
October 24, 2013 at 12:49 am
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/23/2013)
wolfkillj (10/23/2013)
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/23/2013)
Koen Verbeeck (10/23/2013)
wolfkillj (10/23/2013)
I've published my first technical blog post. I'd appreciate any feedback from this group on both the technical aspects and the writing. Thanks, everyone!Nice blog post. Very good for a first one.
I don't work a lot with spatial data, but it's good to know I have to look out for approximate data types.
Look forward to your next post 🙂
Great example and explanation.
And good timing for me, as I am exploring some of the newer spatial stuff.
Thanks, Greg! As I mentioned in the post, I do a lot of work with geospatial data and have learned a TON about both the SQL Server implementation of the spatial data types and the underlying concepts. Working with geospatial data may be the "funnest" part of my job, in fact. What particular aspects of the spatial data functionality are you exploring? If there's a particular topic in that area that you'd like to read more about, I'm open to suggestions for future posts!
Currently I'm going to play around with Excel and the 2013 mapping with PowerPivot. At my previous job, we had mostly North American sales, with 2 sales orgs. One went by State, while the other zip / postal, but not necesarily by state. Mapping a zip / postal code for the whole globe seemed like you would have to pay for several services to get the data to map this to a better model. Something about what you have found for free sources would be of interest.
We had a current bookings process going into the cube that ran every 30 minutes, which I put into a map of North America in SSRS, which you could drill down to details for any state. Much more visual presentation than the normal grid. It also seems a more natural way to view the data. So something about what you have seen for reaction / adoption from your users might be good too.
For some open data options you may want to have a look at the following site. They may have a link to something that may help. The natural earth link under administrative looks promising.
http://freegisdata.rtwilson.com/
I'll check at work tomorrow and see if I can find some other options. Open street maps comes to mind, but I can't seem to locate decent download options for them at the moment.
October 24, 2013 at 3:51 am
SQLRNNR (10/23/2013)
The Dixie Flatline (10/23/2013)
Paul White (10/22/2013)
Successful summit - I hugged Gail 🙂Wildly successful summit: I got to have supper with Gail. Sorry I didn't get to say hello, Paul.
And here I thought you were going to mention you proved something about the south. :w00t::hehe::-D
Dixie flatline - arh some else from the Thread that I didn't manage to meet, I think? So that's another one to add to the Bucket List for next time.
Two hugs from Gail, plus a bonus one on behalf of Steve. Didn't have supper with Gail though!
Hugs also from Kimberly Tripp, Steve, Karla K (PASS), Lana M (PASS), Amy Lewis, Annabel (Red Gate) and Jen Stirrup - who was keeping the British end up!
A handshake and a hello Rodders from Paul White.
Not that I was counting hugs at all!
Rodders...
October 24, 2013 at 5:09 am
Speaking of maps and geospatial data, which is a better type of data to use? Raster or Vector?
October 24, 2013 at 5:23 am
mickyT (10/24/2013)
For some open data options you may want to have a look at the following site. They may have a link to something that may help. The natural earth link under administrative looks promising.http://freegisdata.rtwilson.com/
I'll check at work tomorrow and see if I can find some other options. Open street maps comes to mind, but I can't seem to locate decent download options for them at the moment.
Great list, wish I had stumbled across this a couple years ago.
Looks like a wide selection covering a lot of scenatios.
Thanks!
October 24, 2013 at 6:44 am
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/24/2013)
mickyT (10/24/2013)
For some open data options you may want to have a look at the following site. They may have a link to something that may help. The natural earth link under administrative looks promising.http://freegisdata.rtwilson.com/
I'll check at work tomorrow and see if I can find some other options. Open street maps comes to mind, but I can't seem to locate decent download options for them at the moment.
Great list, wish I had stumbled across this a couple years ago.
Looks like a wide selection covering a lot of scenatios.
Thanks!
Very cool - thank you for the link.
October 24, 2013 at 8:27 am
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/24/2013)
Brandie Tarvin (10/24/2013)
Speaking of maps and geospatial data, which is a better type of data to use? Raster or Vector?Reading this I would say vector.
Good listing of things to consider.
I think the better answer is "it depends." Of course, SQL Server's spatial data capabilities work with vector data only, so that may render the decision moot in a lot of cases.
If I had to translate the points in that article into recommendations for different use cases, I'd say this:
If you are analyzing the relationships between spatial objects (intersection, containment, distance, etc.) or mapping spatial objects on a "to scale" map, use vector data. You need the accuracy of location.
If you are analyzing or presenting continuous data (values that vary depending on location and area included, e.g., population density) and you have the capability, raster data may be an option.
That being said, just about all the things one would do with raster data can be done as well with vector data, although it may be more cumbersome and resource-intensive. The reverse is not true - raster data can't represent spatial objects like lines and points with complete accuracy.
Jason Wolfkill
October 24, 2013 at 8:49 am
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/23/2013)
wolfkillj (10/23/2013)
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/23/2013)
Koen Verbeeck (10/23/2013)
wolfkillj (10/23/2013)
I've published my first technical blog post. I'd appreciate any feedback from this group on both the technical aspects and the writing. Thanks, everyone!Nice blog post. Very good for a first one.
I don't work a lot with spatial data, but it's good to know I have to look out for approximate data types.
Look forward to your next post 🙂
Great example and explanation.
And good timing for me, as I am exploring some of the newer spatial stuff.
Thanks, Greg! As I mentioned in the post, I do a lot of work with geospatial data and have learned a TON about both the SQL Server implementation of the spatial data types and the underlying concepts. Working with geospatial data may be the "funnest" part of my job, in fact. What particular aspects of the spatial data functionality are you exploring? If there's a particular topic in that area that you'd like to read more about, I'm open to suggestions for future posts!
Currently I'm going to play around with Excel and the 2013 mapping with PowerPivot. At my previous job, we had mostly North American sales, with 2 sales orgs. One went by State, while the other zip / postal, but not necesarily by state. Mapping a zip / postal code for the whole globe seemed like you would have to pay for several services to get the data to map this to a better model. Something about what you have found for free sources would be of interest.
We had a current bookings process going into the cube that ran every 30 minutes, which I put into a map of North America in SSRS, which you could drill down to details for any state. Much more visual presentation than the normal grid. It also seems a more natural way to view the data. So something about what you have seen for reaction / adoption from your users might be good too.
Free sources of geospatial data (like shape files) would make a good blog post - I'll put that in the queue.
U.S. ZIP codes present a bit of a challenge because the Postal Service does not define them geographically. Rather, a ZIP code consists of a collection of delivery points (discrete addresses, basically). Various third parties market ZIP code shape files, but they must create them by geocoding all the addresses in a ZIP code and approximating the geographic boundary that encompasses all those addresses. I suspect that points (lat/long coordinates) that fall near these boundaries might be in different ZIP codes on different vendors' shape files.
The Census Bureau creates ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which assign each census block (a geographic area) to a ZIP code. Some addresses may have ZCTAs that differ from their ZIP codes because when a census block includes addresses that have different ZIP codes, the block is assigned to a ZCTA based on the majority ZIP code. As you might guess from the name, the Census Bureau uses ZCTAs to tabulate data by ZIP code. The Census Bureau provides free access to its ZCTA shape files.
Jason Wolfkill
October 24, 2013 at 10:08 am
There are also some zips as I recall used by the government that don't follow the normal expected pattern.
Normally, 1 for east, to 9 for west.
October 24, 2013 at 10:52 am
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/24/2013)
There are also some zips as I recall used by the government that don't follow the normal expected pattern.Normally, 1 for east, to 9 for west.
Starts with 0 in the NE
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October 24, 2013 at 1:16 pm
wolfkillj (10/24/2013)
Greg Edwards-268690 (10/24/2013)
Brandie Tarvin (10/24/2013)
Speaking of maps and geospatial data, which is a better type of data to use? Raster or Vector?Reading this I would say vector.
Good listing of things to consider.
I think the better answer is "it depends." Of course, SQL Server's spatial data capabilities work with vector data only, so that may render the decision moot in a lot of cases.
If I had to translate the points in that article into recommendations for different use cases, I'd say this:
If you are analyzing the relationships between spatial objects (intersection, containment, distance, etc.) or mapping spatial objects on a "to scale" map, use vector data. You need the accuracy of location.
If you are analyzing or presenting continuous data (values that vary depending on location and area included, e.g., population density) and you have the capability, raster data may be an option.
That being said, just about all the things one would do with raster data can be done as well with vector data, although it may be more cumbersome and resource-intensive. The reverse is not true - raster data can't represent spatial objects like lines and points with complete accuracy.
I agree, vector is most suitable for the majority of cases. However rasters do provide a means to do some very powerful and reasonably quick calculations.
A couple of things to remember with raster layers are:
They are inherently cartesian (flat and square) whereas the world is elliptical, Lat/Longs don't fit well into them and they are likely to be projected. Displaying them in other projections can be process intensive.
They can get very large very quickly, so picking the appropriate cell size (resolution) and coverage for their use is essential.
In the past I've used rasters to determine cut and fill volumes, growth rates and a couple of other similar calculations.
October 24, 2013 at 2:47 pm
mickyT (10/24/2013)
I agree, vector is most suitable for the majority of cases. However rasters do provide a means to do some very powerful and reasonably quick calculations.A couple of things to remember with raster layers are:
They are inherently cartesian (flat and square) whereas the world is elliptical, Lat/Longs don't fit well into them and they are likely to be projected. Displaying them in other projections can be process intensive.
They can get very large very quickly, so picking the appropriate cell size (resolution) and coverage for their use is essential.
In the past I've used rasters to determine cut and fill volumes, growth rates and a couple of other similar calculations.
Thanks for that insight, mickyT. What tool(s) did you use when working with raster data?
Jason Wolfkill
October 24, 2013 at 3:18 pm
wolfkillj (10/24/2013)
Thanks for that insight, mickyT. What tool(s) did you use when working with raster data?
Mostly I use ESRI's ArcGIS with the spatial analyst extension, however I have also use Safe's FME for this as well. FME is a spatial ETL tool that is extremely flexible, but doesn't do the visualization that well.
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