Using the data
Once you have completed the download procedure, the data will be saved to your computer’s hard drive as a ZIP Archive.
The attached document describes how you should un-zip the data, make sense of the structure of the extracted archive and import the principle data formats supplied by LAARC into your chosen software package.
All of the data made available by LAARC has, where possible, been migrated to open standard formats. This means that it can be accessed by virtually any appropriate software package. Obviously, given the vast diversity of software applications available, it is impossible to produce detailed instructions for the importation of data into all products.
Instead, this document is primarily concerned with those products that are mostly commonly used by our depositors; namely the Microsoft Office family, AutoDesk’s AutoCad and ESRI’s ArcView GIS application. These instructions do, however, have more generic application and should enable the user, with reference to ‘Help’ functions and manuals, to import the downloaded data into their chosen software.
Download our guide to Using Data (PDF, 2.37MB).
Data structures and code schema
A number of the digital data files available for download have prescribed file structures, and contain coded data. As these data files have been created between the 1980s and the present day, the code schema have inevitably changed overtime. It is therefore important to make sure that there is as tight a chronological fit as possible between data and documentation. Consequently, documentation on code schema is arranged according to the following major divisions:
- Pre 1992
- Post 1992
- Current
Please click on the links to the left to access the code schema documentation.
