MLI Naming Convention 

Version 1.5 (work in progress)

Size restrictions ?

 Product  DSN (char)  Field (char)
 SDE  32  31
 ArcView3.2  10  10
 ArcGIS  Large   Large
 Geomedia  24  
     
 MS_SQLserver  Large  Large
 ORACLE  35  35 VCHAR(2)
     

The convention is derived from  various models:
      Manitoba Conservation, Minnesota DNR, PFRA, ESRI

The standard GIS feature name consists of four parts:

    1. Data theme/feature class (3 char)

    2. Dataset/feature name (>25 char)

    3. Feature Type (2 char)

    4. Scale class (1 char)

Data Theme/Feature Class Coding

General:

      The name should not be viewed as a replacement for metadata.

1.    The name should be as short as possible. ( 30-31 characters seems to be a limiting factor)
2.    Spaces should be replaced by "_"
3.    Coding blocks should be separated by "_".
4.    Abbreviations should be used wherever possible.   
5.    The data is considered to be within the boundaries of the Province of Manitoba.
6.    Four digit years should be used wherever possible. Dates should be in the format CCYY_MM_DD or CCYYMMDD.
7.    Leading zeros should be used in numeric series, if potential or existing values exceed current entry.
 

Data theme/Feature class:

1.    The name always begins with the 3 or 4 character class code.
2.    Special coding can be utilized to identify unique classes.

Dataset/Feature name:

1.    Use brief descriptive text to identify the contents of the feature class.
2.    If feature classes are the same but, vary by scale, time series or version, this differentiation goes last.

Dataset/Feature type:

1.    This should be last entry in the feature name. If it is a DSN, it will be followed by the feature type.


TABLES

1. Data Theme/Feature Class

3 char code ISO  Name  Description
  AGR  Agriculture  Agriculture
  BIO  Wildlife, fish etc  Wildlife, fish etc
  BDY  Boundary  Provincial boundaries, AG Regions, Conservation regions etc
BMP BAS  Base maps  20k, 50k, .5m, 1.0m, 2.0m
CAD PAR  Cadastral  Property mapping, township
DEM ELV  Digital elevation model  DEMs etc
DES ?  Designated areas etc.  Odds and ends - items on the landscape
  ENV  Environment  Sewage Lagoons, Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste sites
  GEO  Geology  Soils
  HYD  Hydrography  Water bodies, rivers & streams etc.
  HYP  Hypsography  Elevations etc.
  IMG  Imagery  Ortho photos etc
LBL ?  Label  Point features with text - splined
LUC LCV  Land Use/Cover  Classified Land use, forest cover etc
  REC  Parks etc  Parks etc
SRV SUR  Survey  Control points etc.
TOP ?  Topographic Mapping  Contours.
TPN    Toponymy  Toponymic (place names, etc.)
  TRN  Transportation  Roads, Railroads, Monorails, Subways etc.
TXT TSP  Text  Point features with text
  UTL  Utilities  Hydro Electric wires/cables, Telephone
       

   
   2. Feature Type/Geometry  

  Code

 Name  Description
     
GD  geodatabase  ESRI geodatabase
IM  image  Images (air photos etc)
LB  label  Labels and text
LN  line  Line features
NM  name  Place names etc. (text)
PL  polygon & line  Polygon and line features
PT  point  Single Point features
PY  polygon  Area features
RA  raster  Thematic raster datasets ( land use/cover tifs, scanned images)
MS  measures  Lines with measures
SYM  symbols  Symbols
TX  Text  Text and symbols


3. Scale Class (Collection scale)

 Code  Range  Name  Application  Notes 
         
S0  unknown    collection scale unknown  
S1  400K - 2000K  Province  summary data  least accurate
S2  80K - 400K  Planning  R.M. level mapping and planning  not good for location measurement
S3  10K - 80K  Resource  Watersheds/FMUs  good for location measurement
S4  > 10K  Site  Cadastral  most accurate

                        

 Example: Feature Class Names ( in sort order )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
                                                                     

C

 A D _ D L S _ L N                                                  

C

 A D _ D L S _ P Y                                                  
                                                                     

B

 D Y _ P R O V _ P Y                                                
B D Y _ P A R K _ P R O T _ A R E A _ P Y                            
                                                                     

L

 C V _ C E D A R _ L A K E _ 1 9 8 4 _ P Y                          

L

 C V _ C E D A R _ L A K E _ 2 0 0 1 _ P T                          

L

 C V _ C E D A R _ L A K E _ 2 0 0 1 _ P Y                          
                                                                     

T

 R N _ N A T _ R D _ N E  T _   V 0  1 _  P  Y                            

T

 R N _ N A T _ R D _ N E  T _   V 9  9 _  I  M                            

T

 R N _ N A T _ R D _ N E  T _   V 9  9 _  P  Y                            
                                                                     

 

1. Dataset Name - Extensions

 Code

 Name  Description
     
DXF  Autocad File  Autocad
DWG  Autocad File  Autocad
ECW  image/raster  Compressed Images (air photos etc)
GML  Geographic Markup  OGC compliant markup Language (Text)
GEO  Geographic Datbase  ESRI geodatabase
KML  Keyhole Markup Language  Google markup language (Text)
KMZ  Keyhole Markup Language  Google markup language (Text) - Compressed
SHP  Shape file  ESRI
SID  image/raster  Compressed Images (air photos etc)
TIF  image/raster  Images (air photos etc)
XML  Extensible Markup Language  Markup Language (Text)
     
TXT  Text  Ascii text
MET  Metadata  Text
     
ZIP  PkZip, WinZIP  Compressed data

 

Example: DSNs  ( in sort order )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
                                                                     

B

 D Y _ P R O V _ P Y _ S H P . Z I P                                
B D Y _ P A R K _ P R O T _ A R E A _ P Y _ S H P . Z I P            
                                                                     

C

 A D _ D L S _ L N _ S H P . Z I P                                  

C

 A D _ D L S _ P Y _ S H P . Z I P                                  
                                                                     

L

 C V _ C E D A R _ L A K E _ 1 9 8 4 _ P Y _ S H P . Z I P          

L

 C V _ C E D A R _ L A K E _ 2 0 0 1 _ P Y _ S H P . Z I P          
                                                                     

Other issues:

Graphic extensions ?

Should file/feature name be upper/lower case?

Other sources:
 http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html#af

index_naming_convention_abbreviation.html

Rev. 2010-07-30 09:24      U:\mli_data_warehouse\standards