Importing map objects from flat files - Security Center 5.12

You can create or update map objects by importing them from a flat file. The new map objects can be automatically linked to Security Center entities by their name or GUID.

1. From the Map designer task, open the map into which you want to import the map objects.
2. Click File > Import > Map objects.
3. In the file browser that opens, select the file you want to import and click Open.
   The Import map objects dialog box opens, listing the property fields read from the file.

   
4. Configure the settings of each field read from the file.
   Each field is characterized by the following:

   Name

   Name of the field read from the file.

   Type

   Field data type. The possible values are:

   String

   An alphanumeric string.

   32 bit integer

   An integer in the range -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647.

   64 bit integer

   An integer in the range -9.223372x10¹⁸ to 9.223372x10¹⁸

   Floating point number

   A floating point number.

   Boolean

   A Boolean value expressed as 1 or 0, or a string containing one of the following: "True", "False", "true", "false", "T", or "F".

   Security Center entity

   A GUID representing the internal ID of a Security Center entity.

   Binary - file

   String containing the path to a file on disk. It can be an image file containing an icon or a Well-Known-Text (WKT) file containing the definition of a polygon.

   Function

   Standard map object property assigned to that field. If a field is not needed, leave this column blank. The standard map object properties are:

   Latitude, Longitude

   These two functions must be assigned together. The Latitude and Longitude fields define the position of the map object on the map.

   Location

   This function is equivalent to the Latitude and Longitude functions. They are mutually exclusive. A field assigned to the Location function must contain a string in the format {"Latitude": n.nnnn, "Longitude": n.nnnn}.

   ID

   GUID of the Security Center entity represented by this map object. This function must correspond to the Security Center entity data type.

   Name

   Name of the Security Center entity represented by this map object.

   Entity type

   Type of the Security Center entity represented by this map object. This function must correspond to String data type. The value of the field must correspond to one of the Security Center entity type in English. For example, "Camera" for a camera entity, "Door" for a door entity, and so on.

   Elevation

   Elevation of the map object. Not all map object types require an elevation.

   Map object specific property

   This function is used to define the less common properties that are not shared by all map object types. If you select this function, you must define the map object property in the next column.

   Map object property

   Specific map object property assigned to that field. If you set the Function of the field to Map object specific property, you must select a value here. Otherwise, you can leave this column blank.

   Make sure that the selected field Type corresponds to the map object property you select. For example, if you select the Image property, the data type must be set to Binary - file.

5. Click Map object type and select how the Import tool is going to determine the map object types.
   If you select a specific map object type, such as Camera or Door, the Import tool expects to find a Security Center entity can be linked to the map object, and the properties that go along with the map object type. If it cannot find an entity in your system that matches the data in a file entry, that entry is skipped. If your file contains map objects of different types, you can use this method to import only one type of map objects and skip all the rest.

   If you select Automatic, you must have enough information in your file for the Import tool to determine the map object type. This is how the Import tool determines the map object type based on the data found in a file entry:

   1. Look for an ID field. If there is one, find the entity whose GUID corresponds to this ID.

      If the entity exists, the map object type and name is taken from the entity, and the entity is linked to the map object.

   2. If there is no ID field, look for a clue in the Name field.

      If a single match is found, the map object type and name is taken from the entity, and the entity is linked to the map object.

   3. If there is no Name field, skip the file entry.
   4. If there are multiple entities matching that name, look for a clue in the Entity type field.

      If a single match is found, the map object type and name is taken from the entity, and the entity is linked to the map object.

   5. If there is no Entity type field, look for a clue from the list of map object specific properties.

      For example, the presence of a Show field of view property suggests that we are looking for a camera.

      If a single match is found, the map object type and name is taken from the entity, and the entity is linked to the map object.

   6. If the tool determines that the map object is not linked to a Security Center entity, such as an image, a text, or a shape, create the map object as such.
   7. If no clue is found, skip the file entry.

   NOTE: After the Import tool determined what the map object type is, it only looks at the properties that are relevant to that map object type. All other properties are ignored. If compulsory properties are missing, the file entry is skipped.
6. Click Import.
   Depending on the number of entries in your file, the operation might take a while. When the import process completes, the number of map objects added, the number of map objects updated, and the total number of entries found in the file, are indicated in a message box.
7. Click OK to accept the changes.
   The map zooms to a level where all the imported map objects can be shown in a single view.
8. Click Save ().