FAQ
Question: Is there a limit to how many sites I upload?
Answer: The .dbf file may be a maximum of 1 MB. Each upload is limited to a total of 100 sites.
Question: My file is over the limit. What should I do?
Answer:Delete unnecessary columns and rows and/or redefine the database range.
Question: What is geocoding?
Answer: Geocoding matches an address to an exact geographic location. In other words, geocoding allows you to locate an address on a map.
Question: How do I use cross streets to define a location?
Answer: If you don't know the house number of a location, you can define it using cross streets. Put both streets into the Street field separated by an ampersand (&) (ex: New York St. & Pine Ave.). Make sure you do not include a house number.
Question: What does the "Keep my formatting" checkbox do?
Answer: When you geocode an address, the Address Finder geocoding engine returns a coordinate pair and the address with which it corresponds. By default, this returned address will be used, overriding any typos you may have made. If you want your address formatting as is, without any corrections, then check the "Keep my formatting" checkbox and your text will be used as submitted.
Question: What exactly does the Address Finder geocoding engine "correct"?
Answer: Most commonly, the Address Finder geocoding engine corrects all street types to a USPS standardized format (e.g., Street becomes St). For a full list of these abbreviations, please visit the USPS Official Street abbreviations. The Address Finder geocoding engine also verifies that the city/state matches the ZIP Code and that the address (i.e., the house number and street name) exists in both. If the city/state does not match the ZIP Code and the address only exists in one location, the Address Finder geocoding engine will correct to the one containing the address. If both the city/state and the ZIP Code contain two different versions of the address, then the Address Finder geocoding engine will correct the ZIP Code to match the city/state.
Question: How does the Address Finder geocoding engine handle candidate matches?
Answer: If the Address Finder geocoding engine returns multiple possibilities (also known as candidate matches), it will use the first candidate.
Question: What is a shapefile (.shp)?
Answer: A shapefile is an open format published by ESRI that stores geometry and attribute information in a data set for spatial features such as polygons. Shapefiles support point, line, and area features. They can be created and edited using ESRI?s ArcGIS family of products such as ArcView.
Question: Why would I upload a polygon shapefile?
Answer: Uploading shapefiles to Business Analyst Online allows you to create reports and maps based on your own custom areas. Polygons established in other GIS applications to define areas such as customer trade areas, sales territories, and service area, can be easily shared as shapefiles with Business Analyst Online.
Question: What kinds of shapefiles can I upload?
Answer: You can upload a valid polygon shapefile containing one or more polygon features.
Question: What is a polygon?
Answer: A polygon is a closed, two-dimensional figure with at least three sides that encloses an area. It is used in GIS to describe spatial elements with a discrete area, such as parcels, political districts, areas of homogeneous land use, and soil types.
Question: What constitutes a valid polygon?
Answer: A valid polygon consists of one or more rings. A ring is a connected sequence of four or more points that form a closed, non-self-intersecting loop.
A polygon may contain multiple outer rings (e.g. to outline the islands in Hawaii). The order of vertices or orientation for a ring indicates which side of the ring is the interior of the polygon. The neighborhood to the right of an observer walking along the ring in vertex order is the neighborhood inside the polygon.
Vertices of rings defining holes in polygons are in a counterclockwise direction (e.g. the outline of the Great Salt Lake is a "hole" in the outer ring defining the state of Utah). Vertices for a single, ringed polygon are, therefore, always in clockwise order. The rings of a polygon are referred to as its parts.
Question: How do I specify the default label for my polygons?
Answer: The label is the name appearing on reports and maps to identify each of the polygons uploaded to the application. The default label is chosen from a field in the attribute table of the polygon shapefile. This field`s values must be unique. If you do not have a field that uniquely identifies each record in the table, you will need to add a field to the attribute table of that shape file and assign your own unique values. For example, you may want to add a Name or ID field.