Import Sets

GPT imports data into GIS layers. A GIS layer is a group of instances of similar type that have coordinates and meta data describing the instance.

These instances, such as cameras, are generally referred to as “Features” in the GIS terminology.

The features that eventually compose a layer are collected from multiple files.

In GPT, we call the collection of files that compose a layer Import Set.

From the Import Sets page the user can:

Create new import sets (check Create a New Import Set for more info)
Create new templates (check Templates for more info)

For every existing import set, quick action buttons allow the user to:

Modify the import set basic details
Refresh the status of the import set - This button allows to process the first file contained in the import set folder, in order to populate some of the import set fields for feature filtering, attributes refinement and enhancements.
Delete the import set

Options 1 and 3 are also applicable for templates.

In addition, the import sets table provides an overview on the status of each import set. In particular:

How many processable files it contains
How many entities (this info is only available if the import set was processed at least once)
How many new/modified files (since the last time the import set was processed)
Time and date of the last time the import set was processed

Create a New Import Set

When creating an import set, the user must give it a unique name and specify what type of files this import set contains.

Important

Import set’s name cannot contain blank spaces.

When defining a new import set the user must select the folder that contains the import set data.

Important

Before creating the new import set, it’s mandatory to create the data folder on the GPT server. Every folder can be associated to maximum one import set.

GPT allows to select from a drop-down of values, corresponding to the folders that exist in the GPT installation directory, under “Projects/[PROJECT NAME]/data”.

Every import set can process only files of a given type. Mixed file types are not allowed.

Supported files are:

CAD drawings (.dwg)
Excel tables (.xlxs)

Optionally the user can also do one of the following:

Define if the import set should inherit enhancements from an existing template (check Templates for more info)
Define if the import set should be initialized as a copy of another existing import set
Specify on which GIS layer the import set data will be published. This is a useful feature, especially when the same assets are organized in different file types, thus they are processed via different import sets. Specifying the output layer, the user can force GPT to publish the data on the same GIS layer.

Note

Once the import set is created, things such as the import set file types, its folder and target layer, can no longer be modified.

As soon as the user confirms the import set creation, GPT pre-processes the content of the import set folder. This is why the Refresh icon starts spinning.

During this time, the user is not allowed to perform other operations such as deleting or running import sets.

File Name Filter

On every import set, the user can specify an advanced file name filter, consisting of comma separated strings (case sensitive). The strings are used to select a subset of the import set files: only those whose file name contains at least one of the specified strings will be processed by GPT.

On this page the user is informed about the number of processable files that GPT found in the selected folder. This number excludes all files contained in the import set folder whose name doesn’t match the filter.

Note

If the selected folder is empty or the applied filter makes it empty, the user will be warned.

Filter Features

For every import set, it is possible to specify some filters, to avoid importing into GIS unnecessary content.

The filter features section allows to do just that. In this section the user can specify what features will ultimately be imported in GIS.

In particular, the user can define a set of rules, which will be interpreted as linked via the AND operator.

The rules allow to:

Filter by layer type - This filter only applies to CAD files. It allows to import only the features which belong to a user defined set of layers, and disregard the others. Here the user is presented with a dropdown list of available layers, based on the content of the first file of the import set folder. Optionally the user can manually type a layer name in case it is not available in the dropdown. This might happen when the files of the import set don’t have the same layers.
Filter by shape type - This filter only applies to CAD files. It allows to import only the features which have a specific shape (polygon, polyline, point, annotation).
Filter by attribute value - This filter allows to import only the features for which a given attribute has a specific value.

In all above cases, the options for the filter condition can be one of: “equal to”, “not equal to”, “one of” or “not one of”.

Attributes Enhancement

Often it is required to enrich the original data, adding missing attributes that provide useful information to those that will consume the data via GIS server.

This is the objective of the Enhancement section. In this section the user can define new attributes that will be added to the features of the import set.

Once defining a new attribute, the user must specify its name and type (short integer, long integer, float, date or string).

A new attribute can be:

Static -> The value of the new attribute is defined by the user once and for all. All features will have the same value in the new attribute.
Dynamic -> The value of the new attribute is different for every feature. In this case the attribute’s value can be computed in two different ways:
1. Using a regular expression to extract the value from another attribute
2. Using a regular expression to extract an ID from another attribute, and use the ID as a lookup value in an external file, also referred to as “translation file”, that contains the actual value.

In the second case, the translation file must be a CSV file that the user must position on the GPT file system, in the folder “projects/[PROJECT NAME]/prov/config”.