Jeff Jensen Notes on Windows

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Jeffery J. Jensen, PE
Adjunct Professor

University of Nevada Las Vegas
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
4505 S Maryland Pkwy
Box 454015
Las Vegas NV 89154-4015

Email: jefferyjjensen@gmail.com
Mobile: 702-327-9294

Windows Vista - 64 bit

Following applications will NOT run on 64bit Vista
- Autodesk MapGuide Studio 2009
Following application will run on 64bit Vista
- Google Earth Pro
- UltraEdit

Microsoft Windows Tips

A delay may occur before the contents of a folder are displayed in the Windows Explorer Folders pane in Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP (Microsoft Article ID 873414). Need to send your email address (jjensen at gisengineering dott com)to Microsoft before they give you the link to download. Note, this fix is already included with Microsoft Windows 2003 Server, Service Pack 2.
- Another recommendation - disconnect network drives and floppy disk (Why Windows Explorer pauses and how to fix it)
Open Windows Explorer at root level (c:\)
- explorer /e,/select,c:\
- Results - Windows Explorer
Clean install of Windows Vista using upgrade DVD
- Microsoft doesn't recommend installing Vista Upgrade on a blank hard drive. If you do using the steps on the internet ( Perform a Clean Install with a Vista Upgrade Disc), it still will not work after 60 days and get an error message saying you've done a clean install using an Upgrade DVD. (workaround is from the command prompt type slmgr -rearm which will run a script. Then msdt which will prompt you to enter a passkey 5597519171. Just call Microsoft techsupport at 800-642-7676 using case# 1059585569.
- Best solution, have WinXP or another Vista version installed, then at the desktop perform a custom windows vista upgrade install. This will move all the previous OS install into a directory called windows.old which can be deleted after install. So in the end, you have a clean install.
Unable to write to a CD when using Windows Write CD Wizard
- When using another program such as Nero, able to write to a CD
- When using Windows Write CD Wizard, get an error message, try the following tip from geekstogo.com/forum
- regsvr32 ole32.dll
Start Windows Desktop from the command line
- mstsc

Microsoft Office

Download Office Web Components - Office 2003 Add-in

Web Scraper

Web Scraper from www.velocityscape.com in Scottsdale Arizona
Support: Craig Quiter at sales@velocityscape.com or craig@velocityscape.com
contact Dave for pricing. Typically costs around $2000 to build a fully website data extraction.

Microsoft Windows Powershell

Download
- Windows PowerShell 2.0
Newsgroup: microsoft.public.windows.powershell
Windows PowerShell Owner's Manual
PowerShell comments start with "#"
PowerShell version 2 - multi-line comments <# #>
Cmdlets = Command-line Tools which are specific to PowerShell
cmdlets are case-insensitive, so Get-Alias is the same as get-alias
List of Command Lets (Cmdlet): get-command | more (to improve the readability of the output could pipe it to Format-List then to more). get-command | format-list | more
List of Alias or nicknames for cmdlets: get-alias | more (just console commands being mapped to windows powershell cmdlets)
- CD = Set-Location. For example, CD C:\WINDOWS is the same as Set-Location C:\WINDOWS
- more = Out-Host -paging. Allows you to view output one page at a time
Use the ";" semicolon to enter multiple commands on one line
PowerShell variables all start with $, for example $a = 1 will set the variable a=1, to use the variable, called it with $a.
get-childitem c:\pictures -recurse | Invoke-Item "c:\program files\exiftool\exiftool.exe"
$a = (get-childitem c:\pictures -include *.tif -recurse | ForEach-Object { $_.FullName }); Invoke-Item "c:\program files\exiftool\exiftool.exe" $a
Get-Help About_pipeline
Associative arrays are a compact data structure for storing a collection of keys and values where each key is paired with a value (see Get-Help about_associative_array). hash table is a lookup table of names and values
- $months = @{1 = "Jan"; 2 = "Feb"; 3 = "Mar"}; Write-Host $months[2] # should return Feb, can use single or double quotes, must have space between = operator, can have multiple data types.
- Note, a hash table is great if you only need to keep track of two items (e.g. ID and Month). When dealing with more than one item you'd probably need to use a disconnected recordset (see Windows PowerShell Tip of the Week - Working with Custom Objects)
- Accessing Values in an Array

Working with files and folders

Get-ChildItem cmdlet - similar to the dir DOS command
- To return all files and folders below this directory using the Get-ChildItem cmdlet.
  - Get-ChildItem "C:\Documents and Settings\jjensen" -recurse
- Will retrieve all the TIFF images in the "Documents and Settings" folder and its subdirectories.
  - Get-ChildItem "C:\Documents and Settings\" -include *.tif -recurse -force
- This will return the fullpath and filename for each and every file in the current directory and its subdirectories.
  - Get-ChildItem . -recurse | ForEach-Object { $_.FullName }
- To return all the TIFF images
  - Get-ChildItem "C:\Documents and Settings\" - recurse | Where-Object {$_.name -like "*.tif"}
  - (see where-object cmdlet)
  - Get-Help Get-ChildItem -detailed | more
- To list the properties of the Get-ChildItem
  - get-childitem *.txt | format-list *
    This will return all the properties of the .txt files in the current directory
  - get-childitem *.txt | format-list name
    This will only return the name property of the *.txt files
  - get-childitem *.txt | format-list BaseName
    This will only return the basename, for example if the fullname is C:\Hello.txt then basename = Hello
  - BaseName property is not available in PowerShell version 1
  - see Format-List - how to determine the properties of an object
New-Item Cmdlet to create files and folders
- How to create a new file
  - New-Item c:\scripts\new_file.txt -type file
- How to create a new directory/folder
  - New-Item c:\scripts\newfolder -type directory # creates a new folder
- How to create a new text file and add a string to it
  - New-Item c:\scripts\new_file.txt -type file -value "add this text to the file" # creates a new file and adds this text string.
Move-Item cmdlet
- Windows DOS command move is used to move and rename files and directories. This cmdlet only moves files, need to use the Rename-Item cmdlet to rename files.
- How to move all the zip files into the test directory
  - Move-Item c:\scripts\*.zip c:\test
Rename-Item cmdlet
- Windows DOS command move is used to move and rename files and directories. This cmdlet only renames the files, need to use the Move-Item cmdlet to move files.
- Rename-Item c:\scripts\test.txt new_name.txt
- Get-Help Move-Item -full | more
Get-Content cmdlet - used to concatenate files
- cat, gc, and type are predefined aliases for the Get-Content cmdlet
  - similar to the UNIX cat command:
    - cat misc1.txt misc2.txt misc3.txt > allmisc.txt
  - similar to the DOS copy command:
    - copy misc*.txt allmisc.txt
  - another example:
    - copy misc1.txt + misc2.txt + misc3.txt allmisc.txt
- Get-Content misc1.txt,misc2.txt,misc3.txt > allmisc.txt
- Get-Content -Path misc1.txt, misc2.txt, misc3.txt > allmisc.txt
- How to concatenate all the misc*.txt files into one file called allmisc.txt
  - Get-ChildItem misc*.txt | Get-Content >allmisc.txt
- see Shay Levi $cript Fanatic post on Windows PowerShell Discussion Group on 4/21/2008
- How to count the number of lines in a text file (see Using the Get-Content Cmdlet from Microsoft TechNet)
  - Get-Content c:\test.txt | Measure-Object
  - wc -l test.txt # UNIX equvalent command

Invoke-Item cmdlet

way to run an executable file or open a file from within Windows PowerShell
Invoke-Item c:\windows\system32\calc.exe # opens Calculator

Script Files

Invoking Scripts
- PS C:\> .\scriptname.ps1
- "Invoking Scripts. Now that we have our first script in place, we can go ahead and invoke it. First, let's see how PowerShell looks for files to invoke: all it does is look in the PATH environment variable, and interestingly enough, the current folder is not in the system PATH. That means that invoking a script in the current folder will require you to prefix it with the path, so the command in our case becomes .\hello-world.ps1. That will look familiar if you come from a UNIX background where a shell would not include the current folder in its PATH variable." (Pro Windows PowerShell by Hristo Deshev, p. 140)

Windows PowerShell Associative Arrays, Hash Tables, and CSV Files

How to use CSV Files in PowerShell
- example books.csv file
  ID,Author,Title
  1,"Dr Seuss",Sneetches
  2,"Collins","Good to Great"
  3,Bolles,"What Color is Your Parachute"
- $books = Import-CSV books.csv # should assign the table to the variable
- $books # will return the table to the screen
- $books | Get-Member # will return the Property Names (ID, Author and Title)
- $books | Where-Object {$_.Title -match 'Good to Great'} # will return a record with the header
- $books | Select-Object Author # will return a column or field, the Author header and values (Author, Dr Seuss, Collins, Bolles)
- $books | Foreach-Object {$_.Author} # will return just the Author values (Dr Seuss, Collins, Bolles)
- $books | Where-Object {$_.Author -eq "Collins"} | Select-Object Title # will return header and value (Title, Good to Great)
- $books | Where-Object {$_.Author -eq "Collins"} | Foreach-Object {$_.Title} # will return just
- $books[1].Title # will return Good to Great, remember PowerShell arrays are zero based
- $books[-1].Bolles # will return the last array value, which is Bolles. Problem with this method is you don't always know the array index value the value (Good to Great)
- See Import-CSV Cmdlet in Windows PowerShell 2.0 CTP2

Windows Powershell and Aliases

Get-Alias pwd
- Get-Location

Windows Powershell - Special Characters and Variables

Special Characters
% is an alias for the ForEach-Object
- dir | ForEach-Object { $_.Length } # recommended in scripts
- dir | % { $_.Length } # this is Perl looking format is discouraged
? is an alias for the Where-Object
- "Error 2","John","Mike","Error 5" | Where-Object {$_ -like "Error*"} # should return Error 2 and Error 5
- (see Pro Windows PowerShell by Hristo Deshev p. 57)
`n New Line
- Write-Host "Hello Jeff `n Hello World"
For more information see Get-Help About_Special_Characters
Automatic Variables
- $_ keeps a reference to the current object. contains the current object in the pipeline object. You can use this variable in commands that perform an action on every object or selected objects in a pipeline. Perl syntax
- For more information see Get-Help About_Automatic_variables
- To list al the variables in your Windows PowerShell session, type get-variable (see get-help about_shell_variable)

PowerShell and ZIP files

PowerShell script to unzip many files

PowerShell - Execute a Script Block

& is used to execute the script block variable
For more information see Get-Help About_Script_Block

How to determine the properties of an object

Get-ChildItem *.tif | Format-List *
"Format-List is one of the core cmdlets you will use time and again. For example, if you use the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to look at the properties of the Win32_LogicalDisk class, you will receive a minimum listing of the default properties of the class.... Although in many cases this behavior is fine, there are times when you may be interested in the other properties of the class. The first thing to do when exploring other properties that may be available is to use the wildcard *." (Windows PowerShell Scripting Guide by Ed Wilson, p. 18)

/n software and Windows Powershell

NetCmdlets only works for Powershell v1.0 (as of 15 March 2008)
/n software setup steps
- Download NetCmdlets from /n software or UNLV (NetCmdlets.zip)
- Example Registration: Serial# NCP1AP-1MAC-FFF-H1235, Key# CDVM-3MK9-HX7R, NodeID JK5PM0A4
- Either enter the above values into the windows registry (using RegEdit) or download the following registry text file (keys.reg)
How to change PowerShell execution policy
- Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
- For more info see Get-Help about_signing |more
How to create a Windows PowerShell profile that applies to all users and all shells, just type:
new-item -path $env:windir\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\profile.ps1 -itemtype file -force
(see gettingStarted.rtf p. 34)

PowerShell Scripting Guidelines

Windows PowerShell Scripting Guide by Ed Wilson
- Indent standard nested blocks two spaces (ibid p. 634)
- Vertically line up curly brackets (ibid)
- Break each pipelined object at the pipe. Leave all pipes on the right. (ibid)
- Use the Write-Progress cmdlet for scripts that take more than one or two seconds to run. (ibid)

Uninstalling Windows PowerShell 1.0

Click Start, click Run, type appwiz.cpl then click OK
click to select the Show updates check box
In the currently installed programs and updates list, click Windows PowerShell(TM) 1.0 and then click Remove
follow the instructions to remove the following entry: Windows PowerShell(TM) 1.0.

Help, Support and Newsgroups

Windows PowerShell Cmdlet Help Topics
Microsoft Discussion Group microsoft.public.windows.powershell
- username: jefferyjjensen@gmail.com password: Normal
Windows PowerShell Blog
Versions
- Windows PowerShell V2 CTP 1,2,3 (CTP=Community Technology Preview)
ADO
- ADO Programmer's Guide
- data.ado
Scripting Clinic
Script Center Home
VBScript - Working with Databases
Microsoft Windows 2000 Scripting Guide
scripting.wsh
Windows Script Host
Download Windows Script Host 5.6
scripting.vbscript
scripting.jscript

Searching using Findstr.exe Windows Command Prompt

findstr notes
- /i ignores case
- /s recursive search, that is will search subdirectories
- /m prints only the file name if a files contains a match
- additional help see "Command-line reference" under Windows Help and Support (hit F1 key at the desktop to bring it up)
How to find all PDF files which have the keyword CatBallou (1965 movie staring Jane Fonda)
- findstr /i /s /m "catballou" c:\*.pdf
How to find all PDF files which have the keywords Cat Ballou
- findstr /i /s /m /c:"Cat Ballou" c:\*.pdf
- Note, when testing a PDF file by adding and removing the keywords, it appears when I delete keywords, they are still stored in the PDF. If I save the PDF as another name, then the removed keyword doesn't show up in the search.

Searching using Select-String cmdlet in Windows PowerShell

Notes on Select-String
- By default, Select-String is not case sensitive
- Select-String generates a MatchInfo object with detailed information and properties such as Filename and Line. To find the properties of a MatchInfo object type:
  select-string -path test.txt -pattern "test" | get-member | format-list -property *
  Should return the following names: Equals, GetHashCode, GetType, ToString, Context, Filename, IgnoreCase, Line, LineNumber, Matches, Path, and Pattern
How to search for Title, Author, Subject in the PDF properties
- Select-String -path c:\backup\*.pdf -pattern "Author(Jeff Jensen)"
- Select-String -path c:\backup\*.pdf -pattern "Subject(Restrictions)"
- Select-String -path c:\backup\*.pdf -pattern "Title(Recorders CC&R)"
How to search for keywords in a PDF file
- Select-String -path c:\backup\*.pdf -pattern "Cat Ballou"
How to search for custom name value properties in a PDF file. Let name=city and value=Las Vegas
- Select-String -path c:\*.pdf -pattern "city(las vegas)" -simplematch
- If running in a script, tricky part is passing the "string" to search for, have 3 options
  - # assign the "string to a variable
    $str = 'Las Vegas'
    find /i $str c:\*.pdf
  - # escape the double quotes
    find /i `"Las Vegas`" c:\*.pdf
  - # wrap the double quoted "string" in single quotes
    find /i '"Las Vegas"' c:\*.pdf

Notes on Ultra Edit Text Editor

Search and Replace

Tab Settings

Problem: when entering computer code into a webpage, the browser will intepret the elements. As a workaround, recommend entering the code in a <TEXTAREA> XHTML element. This now creates two problems: 1) unable to individually stylize a portion of the code and 2) tab lengths will be intepreted with 8 characters of spacing, thus your tidy code now looks a little sloppy with the long tabs.
To solve problem 2), replace tabs with spaces using the following UltraEdit configuration
To set, use the Menu Toolbar, Advanced -> Configuration...

Safe Software's FME

ArcGIS Data Interoperability

Transformers supported by ArcGIS Data Interoperability

KML using FME

Vision or Desire - use Google Map as an Internet Map Server with the following abilities
- Ability to turn on/off layers/groups
- Ability to display GIS tabular attribute data (fields) in Google Earth/Map
- Ability to display multiple features in a Google Map kml file (e.g. drainage study points, traffic study points, drainage easement polygons and so on)
  - Will need to use the NetworkLinks. Network link simply points to another KML file.
  - Using Network Links Effectively
  - Network Link tutorial on Frank Taylor's gearthblog
- Ability to display large amounts of data
  - Often get the error message: could not be displayed because it is too large
  - Need to use a combination of NetworkLinks and Regions
- Ability to symbolize the features
- Ability to add hyperlinks
- Lastly automate this for easy updates
- Region-Based Network Links
  - Course Level - Entire Clark County
  - Medium Level - Assessor Books
  - Fine Level - Assessor Sections
  - Google Earth Plugin will zoom to the Course Level. Zoom in, then the Course Level will disappear and the Medium Level will appear. Zoom in further and the Medium Level will disappear and the Fine Level will appear. To display GIS data, will need to tile the data by section. Then will need an ability to display multiple kml files at this Fine Level. For example, kml file of drainage studies, kml file of water lines, kml file of school attendance zones, etc.
How to convert an ESRI shapefile to KML/KMZ
KML Folders - How to group features in a KML
- Example, I have various engineering studies such as traffic studies, drainage studies and geotechnical studies. I want to group them together so I can easily turn on/off all the traffic studies.
How to add hyperlinks in a KML
How to merge several smaller KML files into a large one
- The KML reader and writer are designed to simultaneously handle multiple KML files in the same translation. By default, the KML writer assumes that each feature sent to the writer should be written to the root file/document. To write a feature to an alternate document, the feature must have a kml_document attribute that contains the filename of the destination file/document.
- KML Document Specification, p. 20
- The kml_document and kml_parent format attributes are designed to be used in conjunction with each other. That is, to add a Placemark feature to the folder "A" in document "other.kml", the feature needs to have the following attribute values: kml_document="other.kml" and kml_parent="A"
- KML Document Specification, p. 21
How to symbolize a KML - see KMLStyler transformer
How to display GIS attributes (fields) in the KML balloon descriptor using FME - see KML Extended Data
How to workaround this error message: could not be displayed becuase it is too large

Notes on KML and FME

How to convert shapefiles (.shp) to KML

Goal: create a KML file which supports hyperlinks. Using the basic shp to kml conversion in FME, if the URL is rather complex, FME will incorrectly parse the link. Also if you want to display a friendly link name, will need to perform the steps below:
KML description_raw_text = FME kml_description_raw_text
Use the FME Workbench Transformer - AttributeCreator to create a new field called kml_description_raw_text (optional step)
Use the FME Workbench Transformer - Concatenator to append <A HREF> tags to the kml_description_raw_text field
FME Workbench: shape2kml21offsites.fmw

How to convert shapefiles (.shp) to KML using Network Links and Regions

Problem: Google Earth and Map cannot display very large datasets. To get around this, need to create Regions (not supported in Google Earth) and Network Links. This is very similar to tiled aerial photo images (e.g. Las Vegas NV will tile aerial photos by one square mile and use an index - raster image catalog - to give the impression the images are mosaicked together into one seamless image).
Then you need a link to the individual subset kml files, this is similar to a raster image catalog. Note Google Map doesn't support Regions as of June 2008 but the team is working on it.
RBNLs require 2 KML files: 1) the KML index which contains the level of detail and bounding box info and 2) the tiled data which doesn't have any view/zoom/display restrictions so if you add one of these tiled kml files, will be visable at any scale.
Region Based Network Links (RBNLs)
- Step 1: create KML Index Dataset
  - KML will contain the bounding box for the tiled features/images: kml_latlonaltbox_east, north, south and west
  - This file is just like a raster image catalog
  - Necessary KML Attributes
    - kml_id
    - kml_link_href
    - kml_latlonaltbox_altitude_mode
    - kml_latlonaltbox_min_altitude and max_altitude
    - kml_lod_min_lod_pixels and max_lod_pixels
    - kml_lod_min_fade_extent and max_fade_extent
    - kml_link_refresh_mode = onRegion
    - kml_latlonaltbox_east, north, south and west
- Step 2: create KML Tile Folder
  - If features are in one shapefile, will need to break up or tile into smaller sizes
  - KML contains all the styling and symbology
  - does NOT contain any level of detail or bounding box tags
To create smaller subset of KML files, use the feature type NetworkLink and fanout by feature type
The master index must include the NetworkLink bounding box. NetworkLink destination features must be named NetworkLink in the Destination Data properties, Feature Type Name field
"When your data is projected onto the screen, it must occupy an area of the screen that is greater than <minLodPixes> and less than <maxLodPixels> in order to be visible. Once the projected size of the Region goes outside of these limits, it is no longer visible, and the Region becomes inactive" (Working with Regions)
For maxLodPixels, it specifies -1, which has the special meaning "active to infinite size." Without this specification, the entire hierarchy might never be triggered. Prepare the KML files under Preparing Your Data for a Super-Overlay
Can use relative paths with NetworkLinks
kml_link_href = http://faculty.unlv.edu/jensen/kml/regions/16201.kml
kml_id = 16201 (BOOKSEC)
kml_latlonaltbox_altitude_mode = relativeToGround
kml_latlonaltbox_min_altitude = 0
kml_latlonaltbox_max_altitude = 3000
kml_lod_min_lod_pixels = 1200
kml_lod_max_lod_pixels = -1
kml_lod_min_fade_extent = 20
kml_lod_max_fade_extent = 20
kml_link_refresh_mode = onRegion
kml_latlonaltbox_east = ELongXmax field (create using ArcMap field calculator)
kml_latlonaltbox_north = NLatYmax field (create using ArcMap field calculator)
kml_latlonaltbox_south = SLatYmin field (create using ArcMap field calculator)
kml_latlonaltbox_west = WLongXmin field (create using ArcMap field calculator)
Examples
- ccsectsubdfeaturebbox.html will show the subdivisions in Clark County NV. Problem is when you zoom in, features will disappear even though the max level of detail is set to -1 (zoom to infinite). The problem could be 1) the shapefile used to create the kml was a multipart feature (one record for several features, e.g. Hawaii islands), 2) the bounding box was set to the extent of the feature which might be to restrictive. Possible work arounds is to use the bounding box for the entire section, see if this helps.
  - Solution - problem is the bounding box was to restrictive. It is not a good idea to have a bounding box for each and every feature. Better to have a RBNL KML index for an area such as Township Range and Section, which then points to a tiled KML dataset which contains many features. Thus resulting in a smaller RBNL KML index and better organization of the tiled kml features.
- Problem - when using the random color generator for subdivisions, will have multiple parcels in the subdivision and want to color the same. When there are hundreds of subdivisions, the only solution I can think of is to create multipart features. Need to check if this will work. Example of the problem is the Ten Oaks subdivision at the NW corner of Oakey and Tenaya.
  - Solution - FME and KML will support multipart features. So when using a random color to symbolize polygons, if the Hawaii islands are a multipart feature (one record for many polygons) then FME KMLStyler will use the same color for the Hawaii islands.

KML Extended Data

How to display GIS attributes (fields) in the KML balloon descriptor using FME
Option 1: FME KML conversion, by default FME converts all the GIS attribute data into an Extended Data - <Schema> <SimpleField> <SimpleData>
- Problems: how do you control the parsing of URLs, unknown how to create a friendly URL link and keep Google Earth from incorrectly parsing the URL
Option 2: Extended Data - Untyped Name/Value pairs
- Step 1: use the Attribute_Creator transformer to create 3 named fields:
  - kml_data{0}.name = HTE
  - kml_data{1}.name = STUDY
  - kml_data{2}.name = URL
- Step 2: use the Attribute Copier transformer to assign values from the attribute fields
  - kml_data{0}.value = HTE shapefile attribute field
  - kml_data{1}.value = StudyName shapefile attribute field
  - kml_data{2}.value = URL_DSNET2 shapefile attribute field
- Step 2a: if you want to display a friendly name such as UNLV instead of the exposing the entire URL, such as www.unlv.edu, use the concatenator transformer by enclosing the URL in the <A HREF=""></A> tags
- Step 3: in the output Feature Type Properties, Format Attribute tab, expose the kml_data{}.name and kml_data{}.value fields. Note will need to type in the value 3 next to kml_data{}.name and .value to expose all 3 elements
- The KML Balloon Descriptor should appear similar to this, as displayed in Google Earth Pro
  - Balloon descriptor with a friendly link name
- FME denotes a list structure with curly braces, e.g. kml_data{0} or kml_data{1}
- Example from Dave Campanas with Safe Software Inc. m_shp2kml21offsites-namevalue2.zip
Option 3: HTML and kml_description_raw_text
References: FME and KML Extended Data, Google Developer Guide - Extended Data
Balloon Descriptor
- To include To here - From here driving directions in the balloon, use the $[geDirections] tag. To prevent the driving directions links from appearing in a balloon, include the <text> element with some content, or with $[description] to substitute the basic Feature <description>. (see KML Reference - BalloonStyle)

How to Label Features in KML file

There is no label for polygons or lines in Google Earth. Can only label points.
Workaround is to add a placemark with no icon (icon scale = 0) and use the placemark's label. Note, will not be able to click the placemark to bring up the Balloon Descriptor if the icon scale is 0 (smallest size I was able to get to work is 0.2). You can still use the ctrl+left mouse click to bring up the Balloon Descriptor for a feature, just note this sometimes behaves radically, where it will bring up the Balloon Descriptor for a feature you didn't click.
kml_name <name> is the attribute which is used to label points.
kml_label is used to stylize the kml_name
See KML Developer Support discussion by ManoM in Google Groups
Information Point Icons - are a mechanism that allows polygons to be "clickable" within the Google Earth interface. By default, polygons displayed in Google Earth are only selectable via the left-hand navigation tree (or ctrl+left mouse click on the polygon) to bring up the balloon descriptor. If, however, the polygon is part of an aggregate that in turn contains a point geometry element, Google Earth will display an icon that the user can select to pop up the description bubble.

Descriptor Ballon

kml_name - title of the ballon
kml_description_raw_text - ballon text
kml_balloon_color (KMLStyler - Balloon Background Color)
kml_balloon_opacity (KMLStyler - Balloon Background Opacity)
kml_balloon_text_color (KMLStyler - Balloon Text Color)
kml_balloon_text_opacity (KMLStyler - Balloon Text Opacity)
kml_balloon_style_text (KMLStyler - Balloon Text (Plain))
kml_balloonstyle_raw_text (KMLStyler - Balloon Text (HTML)))
kml_balloonstyle_bgcolor <BalloonStyle><bgColor>
kml_balloonstyle_text_color <BalloonStyle><textColor>
"To prevent the driving directions links from appearing in a balloon, include the <text> element with some content, or with $[description] to substitute the basic Feature <description> (see KML Reference)

KML Folders - How to group features

FME Workbench has 2 options to put features into separate folders
Option 1 - Fanout
Option 2 - Create Folder Features
- Step 1 - create a destination feature type with the same KML document called Folder
- Step 2 - set the KML dataset name to kml_document
- Step 3- FME workbench will look similar to this
- See FME FAQ - KML Folders

KMLStyler and FME

Multigeometry - Create both Polygon and Information Point Icon
- FME KML Doc The KML writer will create an information point icon if the feature has an icon specified. This can be done one of two ways: 1) The icon name of path can be specified as a defined parameter (Feature Type Properties in Workbench) or 2) The icon name or path can be specified using the kml_icon attribute.
Transparency
- fme_fill_opacity is a floating value between 0.0 to 0.1. Will be converted to a kml_polystyle_color attribute, IF there is a corresponding fme_color attribute
FME Workspace Transformer which reads an Excel spreadsheet, convert to spatial data and finally write a Google KML file.

How to Symbolize KML file

Desired Outcome: 1) symbolize a point shapefile with different marker symbols based on an attribute value in the shapefile database, 2) group features by an attribute value, 3) support hyperlinks and 4) label the point feature
Step 0: using the Clark County Offsites Point Layer (offstdy0508ll.shp), ensure using geographic coordinates, Lat/Long, WGS84.
Step 1: use the FME wizard to setup the Published Parameters to convert from shapefile to KML. Then add the AttributeFilter Transformer followed by the KMLStyler Transformer. Assign a symbol and color based on the offsite type (Subdivision, Commercial, Parcel Map):
- Subdivision (color=yellow)
  - with Full Offsites (symbol = D2 a square)
  - with Grading (symbol = D6 a square with an x in it)
  - with Paving (symbol = D5 a square with a smaller square in it)
- Commercial (color=red)
  - with Full Offsites (symbol = D2 a square)
  - with Grading (symbol = D6 a square with an x in it)
  - with Paving (symbol = D5 a square with a smaller square in it)
- Parcel Map (color=brown)
  - with Full Offsites (symbol = D2 a square)
  - with Grading (symbol = D6 a square with an x in it)
  - with Paving (symbol = D5 a square with a smaller square in it)
Step 2: use Concatenator Transformer to modify the URL
Step 3: Link attributes to the KML fields of kml_name and kml_description_raw_text
Solution
- Download shapefile and FME workbench (.fmw) dataset: shape2kml21offsitesSymbols.zip

Batch Deploy

File -> Batch Deploy
creates a .bat and .tcl translation file, both are required to run batch.
execute by either typing filename.bat or fme filename.tcl
Would be nice if FME could be used to create a standalone .exe file which does the translation

element cannot contain any <Document> elements.

FME KML Writer
KML Element Attribute	KML Element	FME	Description
kml_document	<Document>		<Document> element is a container element for <Folder>, <Placemark>, <GroundOverlay>, <ScreenOverlay>, <PhotoOverlay> and <NetworkLink>. KML has two container element types: <Folder> and <Document>, which in many ways are functionally equivalent. For practical purposes, the KML writer assumes that each KML file has a single <Document> root element, which cannot contain subsequent <Document> elements. Furthermore, the KML writer also assumes that each <Folder>
Common element attributes to all fixed schema feature types with exception of Style and StyleMap
kml_id	@id
kml_name	<name>
kml_visibility	<visibility>
kml_open	<open>
kml_address	<address>
kml_phone_number	<phoneNumber>
kml_snippet	<Snippet>		element value written without xml entity encoding
kml_description	<description>
kml_description_text	<description>		completely overrides any text provided by FME
kml_description_raw_text	<description>		Element value written without xml entity encoding
kml_style_url	<styleUrl>
kml_atom_author_name	<atom:author>
kml_atom_author_email	<atom:email>
kml_atom_link_href	<atom:link href-"@">
kml_atom_link_rel	<atom:link rel="@">
LookAt - defines a simpler virtual camera for viewing features
KML Element Attribute	KML Element	FME	Description
kml_lookat_heading	<LookAt><heading>
kml_lookat_tilt	<LookAt><tilt>
kml_lookat_altitude	<LookAt><altitude>
kml_lookat_range	<LookAt><range>
kml_lookat_latitude	<LookAt><latitude>
kml_lookat_longitude	<LookAt><longitude>
Region elements can be added to any feature, and describe an area of interest defined by a bounding box, and either a altitude or a specified Level of Detail (LoD) extent. (see FME Readers and Writers)
KML Element Attribute	KML Element	FME	Description
kml_latlonaltbox_altitude_mode	<LatLonAltBox><altitudeMode>
kml_latlonaltbox_min_altitude	<LatLonAltBox><minAltitude>
kml_latlonaltbox_max_altitude	<LatLonAltBox><maxAltitude>
kml_latlonaltbox_north	<LatLonAltBox><north>
kml_latlonaltbox_south	<LatLonAltBox><south>
kml_latlonaltbox_east	<LatLonAltBox><east>
kml_latlonaltbox_west	<LatLonAltBox><west>
kml_lod_min_lod_pixels	<Lod><minLodPixels>
kml_lod_max_lod_pixels	<Lod><maxLodPixels>
kml_lod_min_fade_extent	<Lod><minFadeExtent>
kml_lod_max_fade_extent	<Lod><maxFadeExtent>
Placemark elements contain vector geometry that is displayed within Google Earth. (see FME Readers and Writers)
KML Format Attribute	KML Element	FME	Description
kml_common_style			unique string which identifies the common style
kml_icon			either a name of an icon or path to an icon
kml_create_info_point			forces the creation of an aggregate point containing the original feature geometry and a point. Used for creating Placemarks that are clickable but styled using an external style element
kml_target_style
kml_target_style_normal			Contains the id of an associated style element that should be active when the placemark is not active. If specified kml_target_style_highlight must also be specified. Will result in the creation of the appropriate StyleMap element
kml_target_style_highlight			contains the id of an associated style element that should be active when the placemark is highlighted on mouse-over. If the specified kml_target_style_normal must also be specified. Will result in the creation of the appropriate StyleMap element
GroundOverlay. (see FME Readers and Writers)
LatLonBox - Specifies where the top, bottom, right, and left sides of a bounding box for the ground overlay are aligned. Not required for writing rasters that are appropriately georeferenced. A <GroundOverlay> element must contain a <LatLonBox> element that defines the bounding box of the overlay. If the ground overlayu feature has a raster geometry, these FME attributes will be automatically populated using the feature's bounding box.
FME KML Element Attribute	KML Element	FME	Description
kml_latlonbox_north	<LatLonBox><north>
kml_latlonbox_south	<LatLonBox><south>
kml_latlonbox_west	<LatLonBox><west>
kml_latlonbox_east	<LatLonBox><east>
kml_latlonbox_rotation	<LatLonBox><rotation>

Tech Support

FME User Central
email: support@safe.com, upload files: ftp://ftp.safe.com/incoming need to supply the following
- serial# S0804A0210
- version and build number of FME
- source and destination dataset
- FME workspace

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