Cool. If you're working with spreadsheets, you could import them to Google Spreadsheets and then either: 1) Publish the sheet (possibly not kosher for your data?) and use the Spreadsheets API JSON ouput (/public/values/) 2) Use my "Spreadsheets Converter" gadget to easily create JSON to then host on your server (Do Insert->Gadget->custom and then enter URL "http://pamelafox-samplecode.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/spreadsheetsconverter/spreadsheetsconverter.xml";)
Or just export to CSV and parse the CSV file... whatever floats your boat. On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 5:14 AM, Peter Batty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Pamela, that looks like a nice potential solution - I tried it with a sample > set of data similar to that which I saw in my canvassing, and it came up > with a reasonable looking route (and was quick). It will need a little bit > of coding to integrate with whatever they have now, but I guess that's true > of any solution. There is a basic file import here so it might be possible > to do something quick but a little clunky based on some manual file exports > and imports and a bit of spreadsheet manipulation or whatever. > > On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 2:24 PM, pamela fox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> Since they're already using the Google Maps API, they could try to >> adapt the javascript-ified TSP solver: >> http://gebweb.net/optimap/ >> >> Only works well for about 25 points though--but you could use >> pre-sorting to divide it up into 4 possible best clusters, and then >> apply the TSP solving on each of them. >> >> >> On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 4:10 AM, Jennifer Strahan >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > Hello Peter, Michael, Josh and Geowankers, >> > >> > Thanks for the detailed description of the problem and for the potential >> > solutions. >> > >> > Does anyone know if there already exists a tool that canvassers can >> > use? Peter is correct that time is of the essence so there isn't any >> > time to develop anything. Or, are there any folks in the group willing >> > to put in some volunteer time to quickly create something? >> > >> > Jennifer >> > >> > Peter Batty wrote: >> >> This is actually a (somewhat constrained) traveling salesman problem >> >> rather than requiring a point to point route, so Google Maps routing >> >> won't help you. pgrouting supports traveling salesman but I haven't >> >> used it and don't know what a practical number of points to handle is >> >> - traveling salesman is a complex problem of course. I was out >> >> canvassing for the xxxxx campaign recently (the number of x's is a >> >> clue, in my case at least :) !!), so was an end user of what I assume >> >> to be the same system here. Of course I immediately wondered about a >> >> better automated solution than they had also. >> >> >> >> I thought it was an interesting problem though so it's worth >> >> explaining it in a little more detail based on my experience. We went >> >> out in pairs, and were each given a package of paper sheets. The cover >> >> page had a printed Google map with markers indicating the houses we >> >> were to visit (this was the same map for both of us). Then behind that >> >> we had a set of printed sheets, one or more per street, listing the >> >> houses we needed to visit on each street in numerical order, with >> >> details about the person/people to talk to at that house. We were just >> >> visiting houses of known sporadic supporters and independents, so it >> >> was a subset of houses - in this case it would vary from maybe 1 to 4 >> >> out of every 10 houses. One canvasser had odd numbers and one even >> >> numbers, so you would do opposite sides of the street, so you had >> >> someone in the same general area for support. Often you would have >> >> more houses in a block on one side of the street than the other, so >> >> one person would get ahead of the other. In the area that we were >> >> canvassing, the blocks were long and thin, so we ended up walking >> >> along the blocks "lengthwise" as most of the addresses we had were on >> >> the north-south streets, but it was hard to tell if you were close to >> >> a house on one of the east-west streets (on a different page from the >> >> one that you were currently looking at). We ended up missing out some >> >> of these. In total we had 90 houses in the package, 45 each. >> >> >> >> So what we really wanted was to each have a list of our 45 houses in a >> >> suitable order for us to visit (as opposed to being listed street by >> >> street in numerical order), with a map showing the route. Doing the >> >> odd / even thing properly is an extra complication (i.e. taking 90 >> >> houses and coming up with two routes, which ideally keep the two >> >> people close to each other). The simplest initial solution to this >> >> would probably be to take all 90 houses, come up with the best route >> >> to all those, and then just split it into odd and even after doing >> >> that. If you got that working, then you could look at something >> >> cleverer. >> >> >> >> It seems as though for pgrouting you would need to have a reasonable >> >> street network, which you may or may not have. In some cases, >> >> especially if you had a pretty dense set of houses to visit, you might >> >> be able to get a reasonable solution just using the locations of the >> >> houses and ignoring streets altogether - but clearly in some cases >> >> this would not work well. >> >> >> >> A pragmatic short term solution might be a semi-interactive one - >> >> display the houses to visit on a map, let a user sketch a line >> >> visually with an approximate route, buffer around that and find all >> >> the houses close, and sort them appropriately based on that. And have >> >> the ability to highlight any houses that were not yet added to the >> >> route, etc. I suspect that for a short term solution (which is >> >> presumably what you need), given the challenge of getting a good road >> >> network, etc, this approach may be your best bet. It would need a bit >> >> of custom development though, unless someone happens to have something >> >> like that lying around. >> >> >> >> Cheers, >> >> Peter. >> >> >> >> On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 12:01 AM, Josh Livni >> >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> >> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> pgrouting if you have the street data in postgis would be one way. >> >> >> >> tho as long as they're drawing over google maps, why not insert a >> >> little javascript to use the gmaps api routing? >> >> >> >> -josh >> >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 1:03 AM, Jennifer Strahan >> >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote: >> >> >> >> Hello Geowankers, >> >> >> >> I'm forwarding this email from a colleague in hopes that >> >> someone will >> >> have some suggestions to pass on. >> >> >> >> Thanks for the help. >> >> >> >> Regards, >> >> Jennifer >> >> >> >> ps. I've stripped out political references.... that's why >> >> you'll see >> >> xxxxx campaign. >> >> >> >> -------- Original Message -------- >> >> Subject: GIS routing question >> >> Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:32:43 -0700 (PDT) >> >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >> CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >> References: >> >> >> >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >> >> <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Hi All >> >> >> >> My partner is working for the xxxxx campaign and was asked by >> >> the regional campaign office to look for computer-based >> >> routing solutions for canvassing. >> >> >> >> Nationally, all the campaign offices use a networked, >> >> web-browser-accessible database called VoteBuilder. It manages >> >> contacts and lets field coordinators define canvassing >> >> territories by drawing over a Google map. >> >> >> >> VoteBuilder doesn't construct a route for the canvassers-- >> >> that's up to them. In suburban neighborhoods with winding >> >> roads and cul-de-sacs it's almost impossible for them to come >> >> up with an efficient route that doesn't miss some of the >> >> households. >> >> >> >> Some of the local and regional offices have adopted software >> >> solutions for routing, but the techniques aren't being >> >> disseminated. >> >> >> >> I know there's an extension for ArcGIS to do routing. Is this >> >> the only solution? >> >> >> >> Thanks for any suggestions.. >> >> >> >> Louis >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Geowanking mailing list >> >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> >> http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Geowanking mailing list >> >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> >> http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Peter Batty - President, Spatial Networking >> >> W: +1 303 339 0957 M: +1 720 346 3954 >> >> Blog: http://geothought.blogspot.com >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Geowanking mailing list >> >> [email protected] >> >> http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Geowanking mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Geowanking mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking > > > > -- > Peter Batty - President, Spatial Networking > W: +1 303 339 0957 M: +1 720 346 3954 > Blog: http://geothought.blogspot.com > > _______________________________________________ > Geowanking mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking > _______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking
