Using gvNIX to create Map Based Application

Question

I am interested in creating a gvNIX/Roo application which shows the location of health facilities in Tanzania on a map. I am trying the tutorial available here . However my data is in the format shown below where my location data is in two columns ( southings and eastings ). The tutorial shows how to create three data types:

field geo --fieldName location --type POINT --class ~.domain.Owner
field geo --fieldName distance --type LINESTRING --class ~.domain.Owner
field geo --fieldName area --type POLYGON --class ~.domain.Owner

Am assuming I need the POINT data type to hold data on a health facility location but am not sure how to get the below 2 columns (southings and eastings) into a single POINT variable. Am pretty new to GIS as well. The data is as below (csv format):

outlet_name,Status ,southings,eastings,streetward,name_of_outlet 
REHEMA MEDICS,02,2.49993,32.89512,K/POLISI,REVINA
KIRUMBA MEDICS,02,2.50023,32.89503,K/POLISI,GEDION
KIRUMBA PHARMACY,02,2.50152,32.89742,K/POLISI,MAURETH
TULI MEDICS,02,2.48737,32.89686,KITANGIRI,TULI
JULLY MEDICS,02,2.53275,32.93855,BUZURUGA,JULLY
MAGOMA MEDICS,02,2.53181,32.94211,BUZURUGA,MAGOMA
MECO PHARMACY,02,2.52923,32.94730,MECCO,DORCAS
UPENDO MEDICS,02,2.52923,32.94786,MECCO,UPENDO
DORIS MEDICS,02,2.49961,32.89191,KABUHORO,DORIS
SOPHIA MEDICS,02,2.49975,32.89120,KABUHORO,ESTER
MWALONI PHAMCY,02,2.56351,32.89416,MWALONI,ESTER
SILVER PHAMACY,02,2.51728,32.90614,K/KILOMERO,WANDWATA
KIBO PHARMACY,02,2.51688,32.90710,MISSION,MARIAM

Thanks

Answer 1

You need to transform your coordinates to WKT format (Well Known Text) in order to insert them in a column in your database (a postgresql database with postgis support). In order to achieve this you need to follow these steps:

• Find the SRID of your coordinates reference system (CRS). That is, the identificator which define your coordinates system. Otherwise, your points won't match the real coordinates. You'll need the SRID in the last step.
• Transform your data to WKT. The data needed for inserting the points is in the southings and eastings columns (I suppose they are equal to latitude and longitude, that are the most common used), so you'll need to transform these columns in one single column with WKT format. eg for your first row of data: Point(32.89512 2.49993) . Note the space between them and the switch between the numbers.
• Proceed with the inserts with SQL syntax, but using postgis functions. An example for your first row would be: INSERT into health_facilities (outlet_name, Status, streetward, location) VALUES ('REHEMA MEDICS', 02, 'K/POLISI', ST_GeomFromText('Point(32.89512 2.49993)', 4326)); . Where "4326" are the numbers of the SRID you have to find (supossing it is the most common -> EPSG:4326).

You can find more info here and here . Also there are several pages where you can check coordinates and transform them between diferent CRS, like this and this .