[Xastir] Making better looking maps

[Lee Bengston]

On 8/10/07, Stephen - K1LNX <k1lnx at k1lnx.net> wrote:
>
> That looks pretty good and gives me an idea of what to start with.
>
> I do have one question on the downloaded Tiger data. When I unzipped
> Tennessee for example, it created two directories, Polygons and Polylines.
> In the corresponding directories I see (I'll use my home county as an
> example):
>
> /usr/local/share/xastir/maps/static_maps/TN/Polygons
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1352805 2007-05-08 15:06 Carter_County.dbf
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1276956 2007-05-08 15:06 Carter_County.shp
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root   25156 2007-05-08 15:06 Carter_County.shx
>
> /usr/local/share/xastir/maps/static_maps/TN/Polylines
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  2534921 2007-05-08 15:04 Carter_County.dbf
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root      143 2007-05-08 15:04 Carter_County.prj
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1709364 2007-05-08 15:04 Carter_County.shp
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root   104580 2007-05-08 15:04 Carter_County.shx
>
> What is the difference between the Polygons and Polylines directory, if
> any?
> What file or files do I edit to start customizing colors, line widths,
> etc?
>

Polylines make up the linear data - roads, borders, etc.
Polygons are the bodies of water, parks, golf courses, etc.

The files to edit are actually the dbfawk files in the
/usr/local/share/xastir/config directory as opposed to the files in the maps
directories.  See
HowTo:DBFAWK<http://www.xastir.org/wiki/index.php/HowTo:DBFAWK>in the
Xastir Wiki.  As to which dbfawk files correlate to the Tiger 2006_SE
maps, I haven't had a chance to dig in and figure that out yet.  There's one
file named tgr2shppoly_2006.dbfawk, but since it's possible to download
either Tiger2006 or Tiger2006_SE maps, I don't know which map set uses it
based on just the file name.  Also I was expecting separate dbfawk files for
the polylines and polygons, but I can't tell from the naming if that is the
case.  Anyway, I'm thinking using dbfinfo on the dbf files for the polylines
and polygons will help figure out what patterns match up with which existing
dbfawk files.  If someone on the list knows which dbfawk file(s)
applies/apply to the Tiger2006_SE maps, that would speed things up.

Lee - K5DAT
Murphy, TX