Archive for the 'KML' Category  

Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is the geospacial data format popularized by Google Earth and Google Maps.

Middle Road Development

Adam December 3rd, 2007

Just over the hill from me are two new development projects in Middlebury, the “Lodge at Otter Creek” retirement community and the other is an upscale residential neighborhood.

For those who are interested in the extent of the development, I’ve biked the new roads and recorded their positions via GPS:


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Middle Road KML

KML Joiner

Adam August 29th, 2007

As of a few days ago, I am now able to generate KML versions of Flickr photosets for viewing in Google Earth/Maps. With that taken care of, I also want to easily combine these KML documents of images together with other KML files that show additional information, such as paths traveled, points of interest, etc.

To accomplish this task, I have written a new script, the KML Joiner that will combine any KML documents on the web together into a single (referenced) KML document. (try it out)

More Detail: for those interested in KML
The resulting document is a collection of network links, each of which points to one of the KML URLs specified. Doing this rather than combining their text together into a static KML document prevents style collisions as well as allows changes in the source data to propagate to the combined document.

Refresh intervals can optionally be specified for every source document allowing for a server-friendly combination of static data with rapidly changing data. By default, no refresh interval is specified, making the linked documents load only once when first accessed.

Example:

View the KML Joiner with fields filled in that generates the map below.


View Larger Map

The map above is of the trip mentioned in a previous blog post, but this time the data sources (1. a static KML file with the path and house placemark, 2. a dynamic KML document generated with my Photo set to KML script) joined together with the KML Joiner script instead of manually put together with a text editor.

Usage:
You are welcome to use this script hosted on my site, or you can download it and run it on your own computer/webserver.

This script is available under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later. (Source Code)

Please post any suggestions for fixes or changes. Thanks!

Flickr Photo Set to KML

Adam August 23rd, 2007

One of the things I (and others) have found lacking when working with geotagged images on Flickr, is the inability to retrieve a “photo set” (Flickr’s take on a slideshow) as a KML document that can then be displayed in GoogleEarth, GoogleMaps, or other geo-browsers. Flickr provides some KML links and GeoRSS feeds, but these are either limited to 20 items or can only be pointed at tags or users’ photo-streams, not a particular photo set.

To fill this niche, I present a small script I wrote to generate a KML file from the geotagged photos in a set:

Photo Set to KML     (try it out)


Features:

  • Generate a KML file from a Flickr photo set
  • Directly open the KML file in Google Maps
  • Choose what size image to include in the placemark description for each photo.
  • Optionaly draw a path (line) from photo to photo ordered in one of several ways: by date taken, by date uploaded, by set order. Useful for making a quick and dirty map of a trip.

Examples:

  • KML / GoogleMaps – A nice set of graphitti in Toronto.

    View Larger Map
     
  • KML / GoogleMaps – A set of photos from a trip I took around Turkey, with lines drawn chronologically. Since this is a large set that causes GoogleMaps to time-out, I’ve downloaded the KML file and then re-uploaded it to my website. This is the method I recommend for large photo sets.

    View Larger Map
     

You are welcome to use this script hosted on my site, or you can download it and run it on your own computer/webserver. If you would like to run it yourself, please be aware of the following…

System Requirements:

This script is available under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later. (Source Code)

Updates::

  • 2007-08-27
    • Now uses htmlspecialchars() to clean titles instead of htmlentities(), the latter of which was causing excessive translation of German characters. Thanks Stefan Geens, for pointing this out.
    • Form now generates valid XHTML 1.0 strict.
    • Now can use image thumbnails instead of camera icons. Thanks for the idea Nicolas Hoizey.
  • 2007-08-24
    • Now escapes ampersands in titles and descriptions. Thanks Jesse for pointing this out.

    Future Improvement Ideas::

    • Add an option for icon size.
    • Add options for custom icon/path styles. I’m not sure whether to give several options, or just provide a field for a block of arbitrary KML style-markup.