EDINA newsline
March 2008: Volume 13 Issue 1
Ordnance Survey has announced that the popular Land-Line.Plus® mapping dataset, which accounts for around 45% of the OS data files downloaded from Digimap, will be withdrawn on 30 September 2008. Digimap will cease to deliver Land-Line.Plus data in August 2008.
OS MasterMap® Topographic Layer is the replacement dataset; it has been offered by Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection since September 2007. Two OS MasterMap layers are available: Topography and Integrated Transport Network (ITN).
EDINA is now encouraging Digimap users to take OS MasterMap Topography instead of Land-Line.Plus data wherever possible. The new data is richer and more versatile than Land-Line.Plus. With the right tools, it is also easier to use.
OS MasterMap data is provided from Digimap in GML format, a standard, human-readable, format based on XML. The latest versions of ArcGIS and MapInfo are able to view this data directly; there are also new tools which make importing the data a straightforward process.
In addition to proprietary tools available, such as ESRI's Productivity Suite for ArcGIS and MapInfo’s built-in data translator, there are two free data translators.
Dotted Eyes have released a special 'Digimap Edition' of their commercial product which will translate OS MasterMap data from the EDINA Digimap service to formats recognised by GIS software. It is available free of charge to Digimap users from the Dotted Eyes website (see link below).
OSM2MIF is also freely available to Digimap users from the Bodleian Library Map Room website (see link below). This software will convert OS MasterMap GML data for use in MapInfo.
Instructions on how to download OS MasterMap data are included in the Digimap help pages. Instructions in the use of the data translators referred to here are also provided.
Further assistance in making the transition from Land-Line.Plus to OS MasterMap can be found on the EDINA website.