The Topobase Insiders

Oracle Data Import – Feature classes

In the previous posts, I explained how to enable a Topobase document for import with the Oracle data import tool (here) and how to link domains (here).  In this article you will see how to link feature classes.

The external Oracle schema SIMROSEWATER has the table WMAIN that stores the geometry and attribute data of the water pipes.  You will migrate the pipe attribute data to the table WA_PIPE in the Topobase schema (ATORAMIG).

Open the Oracle data import tool. Select the mapping definition that you created in the previous post, and click Edit. The Edit Mapping Definition window is displayed.

In the Feature Classes tab, select WMAIN under Source Feature Classes for SIMROSEWATER.  Select WA_PIPE under Final Feature Classes for ATORAMIG. Click Link feature classes to link the tables.

Now you will link the attributes.  Select the Feature Attributes tab. Note the columns of the WMAIN table on the left side and the columns of the WA_PIPE feature class on the right side.

It is recommended that you create all the columns that don’t exist in WA_PIPE by clicking Copy columns.  Once the new columns are created you can link columns automatically by clicking  Autolink.  In the Auto Link specify that you want to link the columns with the same name. 

Finally you can link manually the columns that were not linked by clicking Link attributes. 

 

Now you will link the columns that have a relation with a domain.  In the previous post you linked the SIMROSEWATER.MATERIAL table with the Topobase material domain (ATORAMIG.WA_MATERIAL_TBD). 

So you need to link the column MAT_CODE with ID_MATERIAL.  Select both columns and click Link attributes.  The attributes are linked; the application creates a function converting MAT_CODE  to a numeric value because the target column (ID_MATERIAL) is numeric.  Select the linked entry and click Edit properties on the right side

 

The Edit Properties window is displayed. Under Source Attribute or SQL Statement for SIMROSEWATER, replace the function with MAT_CODE. From the Select a linked Domain combo box, select the reference to the domain i.e.  2:MATERIAL.MAT_CODE -> WA_MATERIAL_TBD.ID.

Click Save.  The Properties of the link are updated, showing the relation to the domain.

Once all the feature classes and attributes are linked, you can execute the import.  In the next post you will see how to test and execute the Oracle Data Import tool.

Annotation Layers

For many years now, it's been a pet peeve of mine that you couldn't select a label unless the label point was also symbolized. For a Topobase label class, which is supposed to be just a label, this was especially annoying. Obviously, there are ways to make the label point unobtrusive and one soon gets used to selecting a label by using a window, but annotation layers don't have this problem.

First, a little explanation about how to create annotation layers. If you add layers manually using the Data Connect dialog, you have the opportunity to use Enhanced Stylization by clicking the little arrow on the right hand side of the Add to Map button.

Adding a label class, one that has a name ending in _TBL, results in the addition of an annotation layer. This even works if you use the Oracle provider. However, if you generate graphics with the default display model, there is no opportunity to specify enhanced stylization... until now.

The style for an annotation layer is meant for rendering text. One could, of course, add a standard label to the label, but that would be counterproductive.

The style editor for an annotation layer is similar to the standard label style editor, but adds expression builder support for editing the values and a choice of two types of text - MText and Plain.

If you like the behavior of annotations better than point labels, and are satisfied with the performance, you can make annotations the default for label classes by setting up a layer template.

A word of caution is in order, because this involves modifying the Topobase system tables.

Start by saving an annotation layer. The extension of this template file should probably be changed from .layer to .LayerDefinition. Move or copy the file to a location that is accessible by all users or is the same for all users.

Edit the template file with a text editor - it's XML - and only keep the LayerDefinition:

<LayerDefinition ... <LayerDefinition>

Then add a record to the TB_SETTINGS table in TBSYS - not the document TB_SETTINGS:

insert into tb_settings (id, user_id, itemthema, itemkey, itemvalue) values 
(tb_settings_s1.nextval, (select id from tb_user where username='TOPOBASE'),
'DISPLAYMODEL', 'PATHLABELTEMPLATE', '<filename>')

where the filename (itemvalue) is the name of the template file. The username should be adjusted if you aren't using TOPOBASE. Commit, and this template will be used for creating label feature classes.

Other possibilities for the itemkey are also possible. This can be very useful when generating display models for large data models, even if you don't keep the templates as the defaults. Here's a small table of the possible values.

ITEMKEY	Purpose
PATHLABELTEMPLATE	template file for Label classes
PATHPOINTTEMPLATE	template file for Point classes
PATHLINETEMPLATE	template file for Line classes
PATHPOLYGONTEMPLATE	template file for Polygon classes
PATHCOLLECTIONTEMPLATE	template file for Collection classes

If you just want Topobase to generate annotation layers and aren't too concerned with the actual style template, you can instead set an itemvalue of '1' for the itemkey 'ANNOTATIONFORLABELFC'. With this set, the default layer for label feature classes (whether they end in _TBL or not) are annotation layers.