by Don Murray, President of SAFE Software

1. Integrating CAD and GIS with
Spatial ETL

2. Overview
 What is Spatial ETL?
 Quick look at two CAD-GIS Case Studies
 CAD-GIS Common Themes

3. What is Spatial ETL?
Extract Transform Load
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4. Why Spatial ETL?
 Significant proliferation of different spatial data
formats and types
– Hundreds of formats, with more added each year
– Multiple types of data stored in multiple systems
– Unique data model requirements for each application
 Traditional approaches to data translation and
data model manipulation are not viable
– Complex, inefficient and time-consuming
 Increasing pressure for access to spatial data
– More users, beyond traditional GIS users
– Expectations of real-time custom data views, 24x7
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5. Format Proliferation

6. Data Convergence
ranslate from one
format to another
ransform into the data
model you need
ntegrate different data
types at once
eliver data to users in
the structure & format

7. Transformation is Key
 CAD <->GIS needs transformation
 Need ability to change data model
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8. Spatial ETL
Safe Overview 8

9. #1 Use of Spatial ETL
CAD GIS
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10. Case Study: Enstar Natural Gas
Company
 Organization
– Provides natural gas service to 340,000 customers in Alaska
 Problem
– Migrating large volumes of AutoCAD drawings to GIS-based
mapping system in very short timeframe
 Solution
– Read and extract information from “group” entities in
AutoCAD files and load them into a geodatabase
– Perform file mapping and geo-referencing to leverage key
semantic and context information from drawings
 Results
– Information in CAD files no longer inaccessible
– Time savings through a repeatable data conversion framework
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11. Case Study: Gulf Power
 Organization
– Provides electricity to 372,000 customers in Florida.
 Problem
– Moving CAD data into seamless database. Stitching of tiles and
resolving quality issues in an automated approach where possible.
 Solution
– Resolved gaps in lines. Joined linework together.
– Mapped CAD entities to new GIS entities
– Used Proximity to associate annotation with linear features.
 Results
– Fast and accurate data translation
– Detailed translation statistics reported as files are processed and
moved to the new system
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12. CAD <-> GIS
Common Themes
 CAD and GIS represent information
differently
– The representation must be changed to effectively move
data from one environment to another
CAD
GIS
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13. CAD <-> GIS
Common Themes
 CAD Annotation <-> GIS Attributes
– Must be able to move this between the systems.
– Use Proximity to associate annotation with features
– Often there is no explicit link in the CAD data.
CAD
GIS
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14. CAD <-> GIS
Common Themes
Quality Assurance
– What are the issues with the existing data that are going
to cause problems in new system?
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15. CAD <-> GIS
Common Themes
Quality Assurance
– Automated data cleanup is often possible.
Before - GAP
After – GAP Removed
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16. CAD <-> GIS
Common Themes
Quality Assurance
– Automated data cleanup not always possible.
2 Internal Points
0 Internal Points
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17. CAD<->GIS
Common Themes
 Connectivity Cleanup
– Build connectivity for linear networks
representing water, gas, etc.
Before
After
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18. CAD<->GIS
Common Themes
 Deciphering layer codes, colors, linestyles,
etc.
– E.g. 2 lane paved roads are on layer 4, color
red, solid line of thickness 3.
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19. Summary
 GIS and CAD data represent information
differently
 To effectively communicate data must be
restructured to fit the tool being used
 Spatial ETL is all about restructuring the
data to fit the tool and user consuming the
data
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20. Thanks
 If you would like more information please
stop by our booth at the show or
 Contact me at dcm@safe.com
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