Where are my GIS attributes? (part 1)

One of our Technical Specialists posed a great question to me this week:  

"Where are my GIS attributes?"

If you have played with Autodesk Project Galileo, then you know by now that you can import all sorts of GIS, 3D model and even LandXML data to create an infrastructure model.  Galileo creates a cool model with some great tools for changing the appearance and even sketching data... but every time the schema for the attribute data behind the model is the same!

To get you this technology preview, we had to make some choices about what we would deliver first.  We focused on experience, import, and look-and-feel.   We also managed to squeeze in a few extras, such as the ability to change the schema of a model when you first create it!  (At the moment you are not able to change the schema of a model after it is created.)

When you select File-->New or click the icon to create a new model on the startup page, you see a dialog box in which you have the option to select a schema mapping file for the new model.  We use a simple XML Schema document to structure the classes and some of the attributes of the model schema.  

How to do it

The first thing that you'll need is a sample schema file.   I've attached a sample xml file (alx_schema.alxst) and included the XSD document in case it is useful to you.

When you open the alx_schema.alxst file in a text editor, you'll see something like this:

(Hint: Click to enlarge images in this post.)

In the highlighted section, you can create custom Classes (groups of the same asset type) with their own attributes.  In this example, I'm going to do a carbon footprint visualization so I've created a custom type of BUILDINGS called C_STUDY_BUILDINGS and another type called NON_STUDY_BUILDINGS.  The C_STUDY_BUILDINGS class has custom attributes, but the NON_STUDY_BUILDINGS class will use the default attributes.

I then launch Project Galileo and create a new file.  In the "New City" dialog, I have the option to load my custom schema:

An empty model is created and now I can import data.

I import a simple building footprints data set and I see my two buildings classes in my class definition:

I pick C_STUDY_BUILDINGS because the imported dataset has my carbon analysis attributes.

During the mapping step, I can see my new attributes and map fields into them from the incoming FDO data set:

I map fields appropriately and then I click "Finish" and my data are imported.

Now is the fun part.  As I poke around the interface, I can see that my new classes appear in the Model Explorer:

My custom attributes appear in the properties inspector:

(Note that had I been a little smarter, I would have added the attributes into the <DISPLAY> section of the schema XML file and I would have had a prettier title and order than "Empty.")

And I can even do things like set up subsets and highlight colors in the Model Explorer to begin to do visual analysis with my custom attributes.

So... To answer the question... That is where the GIS attributes went.