How to use GIS data with Repast

GIS support has been updated for this version of Repast

The main classes you need to know about are in the following packages:

anl.repast.gis
anl.repast.gis.data
anl.repast.display

For an example of creating and modifying agents from Shapefile data, see <http://masmas.rnajlis.com/Slugis/slugis.html>

For an example of creating agents from code, as well as just putting up a shapefile as a visible layer, see anl.repast.gis.adaptors.openmap.demo#GisAgentsSampleModel.java,
as well as  anl.repast.gis.adaptors.openmap.demo#PointAgent.java, anl.repast.gis.adaptors.openmap.demo#CircleAgent.java, and anl.repast.gis.adaptors.openmap.demo#URLRasterLocation.java


How To Use:

There are two general classes of tasks that need to be handled for Repast to work with a GIS.  One is reading and writing data.  The other is working with the GIS to coordinate the display of the GIS with updates to ABMS data.  In the Repast-GIS integration, these tasks are generally broken up into two different classes, a data class, and a display class. 

The data class allows data to be read into Repast from the GIS, and written out from Repast into a GIS format.  Agents can easily be created from GIS data.
There are two data classes: GeotoolsData, and OpenMapData

There are two main GIS systems for use with Repast, ESRI ArcMap and OpenMap
There are two display classes EsriDisplay, and OpenMapDisplay


You need to use the correct data class for the display class.

Using ESRI ArcGIS

Creating and Writing Agents from a Shapefile:

First one has to create an appropriate agent class. this can be done by subclassing DefaultGeotoolsAgent, or by creating a class that implements the GeoToolsAgent interface.


 In order to create a list of agents from Shapefile data, one has to specify functions in the agent class which correspond to the fields in the Shapefile data.  Similarly, in order to update the Shapefile data based on the agents, a corresponding function has to be specified in the agent class.  For example, if there is a field in the Shapefile data called Landuse, the agent would need functions called setLanduse() and getLanduse() in order to read and write this data field.  The setLanduse() function allows the data from the Shapefilefile to be set in the agent, and the getLanduse() function allows the data from the agent to be used in updating the Shapefile data file (See the SluGIS model <http://masmas.rnajlis.com/Slugis/slugis.html>

After the class has been created, you need to get a list of them (one agent for each feature in the shapefile).  This can be done with the GeoToolsData#createAgents() function

GeotoolsData geotoolsData = GeotoolsData.getInstance();

ArrayList agentList = new ArrayList();

agentList.addAll(geotoolsData.createAgents(Agent.class, SluGISOM.datasource));  // here Agent.class refers to the GisAgent class specified (here in the Agent.java file)

Now you have a list of agents.  If you specified the get and set Landuse functions, each agent in the list would have had the Landuse value set by the Landuse field in the dbf associated with the shapefile.


To write out the agents to a datasource, you can use the write Agents command:

first, you might want to sort your list of agents (if you have changed the order):

geotoolsData..sortGisAgentsByIndex(agentList);

then write the data:

geotoolsData..writeAgents(agentList, datasource);

you can also interrogate data, which means to look into a shapefile and see what fields it contains.  The interrogate function returns an array of type FieldNameAndType

FieldNameAndType[]  nameTypes = geotoolsData.interrogate( SluGISOM.datasource);

for (int i=0; i<nameTypes.length; i++) {

   System.out.println("interrogate " + i + " field name: " + nameTypes[i].getFieldName() + " type : " + nameTypes[i].getFieldType());

}

When you create the agents, each agent also gets an Geometry object called the_geom.  This stands for Geometry object from the Java Topolgy Suite <http://www.vividsolutions.com/jts/jtshome.htm> which is used by GeoTools <www.geotools.org>.   The Geometry class is the base class for geographic geometry objects, that is, objects that describe the geographic locations of the points and lines (arcs) of the geographic object.  Depending on the type of geometry object, you will want to cast the Geometry object to the class appropriate for the data type:

for example, in order to cast a Geometry object in an Agent class to a MuliPolygon, you might use code such as the following:

    public void setthe_geom(Geometry the_geom) {

        this.the_geom = (MultiPolygon)the_geom;

    }

Displaying Agents with ArcMap:

In order to display GeotoolsAgents with ESRI ArcMap:

1. load the data into ArcMap.
2. run your model, either through AgentAnalyst, or Repast For Java.
3.  Write the data.  Make sure your rewrite the file to the same location, as ArcMap will look for the same file when it refreshes (you can also save to alternate locations if you wish)
4. After the data has been written, you can tell Esri ArcMap to refresh

EsriDisplay esriDisplay  = ESRIDisplay.getInstance();

esriDisplay.updateDisplay();

calling updateDisplay with no parameters assumes a standard setup, with Refresh.exe located at c:\\agent_analyst\\Refresh\\Refresh.exe

Refresh.exe is the executable used to tell ArcMap to refresh its display

you can also call updateDisplay with the path to a different location specified.  Note the use of double backslashes though.  (thus you could call esriDisplay.updateDisplay("c:\\my_folder\\"); if you had Refresh.exe installed in c:\my_folder

Using OpenMap

Creating and Writing Agents from a Shapefile:

First one has to create an appropriate agent class. this can be done by subclassing DefaultOpenMapAgent, or by creating a class that implements the OpenMapAgent interface.


 In order to create a list of agents from GIS data, one has to specify functions in the agent class which correspond to the fields in the GIS data.  Similarly, in order to update the GIS data based on the agents, a corresponding function has to be specified in the agent class.  For example, if there is a field in the GIS data called Landuse, the agent would need functions called setLanduse() and getLanduse() in order to read and write this data field.  The setLanduse() function allows the data from the GIS file to be set in the agent, and the getLanduse() function allows the data from the agent to be used in updating the GIS data file (See the SluGIS model <http://masmas.rnajlis.com/Slugis/slugis.html>

After the class has been created, you need to get a list of them (one agent for each feature in the shapefile).  This can be done with the OpenMapData#createAgents() function

OpenMapData omData = OpenMapData.getInstance();

ArrayList agentList = new ArrayList();

agentList.addAll(omData.createAgents(Agent.class, SluGISOM.datasource));  // here Agent.class refers to the GisAgent class specified (here in the Agent.java file)

Now you have a list of agents.  If you specified the get and set Landuse functions, each agent in the list would have had the Landuse value set by the Landuse field in the dbf associated with the shapefile.


To write out the agents to a datasource, you can use the write Agents command:

first, you might want to sort your list of agents (if you have changed the order):

omData.sortGisAgentsByIndex(agentList);

then write the data:

omData.writeAgents(agentList, datasource);

you can also interrogate data, which means to look into a shapefile and see what fields it contains.  The interrogate function returns an array of type FieldNameAndType

FieldNameAndType[]  nameTypes = omData.interrogate( SluGISOM.datasource);

for (int i=0; i<nameTypes.length; i++) {

   System.out.println("interrogate " + i + " field name: " + nameTypes[i].getFieldName() + " type : " + nameTypes[i].getFieldType());

}

When you create the agents, each agent also gets an OMGraphic object.  This stands for OpenMapGraphic.  It is one of the base classes used in OpenMap for displaying GIS graphics.  There are a number of classes you need to know about in order to use OpenMap graphics classes.  OMGraphic has already been mentioned. EsriGraphic is an interface for any OMGraphic that will be used with a Shapefile.  Three classes that implement the EsriGraphic interface and extend OMGraphic are EsriPoint, EsriPolygon, and EsriPolyLine.

Depending on the type of OMGraphic object, you may want to cast the OMGraphic object to the class appropriate for the data type:
for example, in order to cast an OMGraphic object in an Agent class to a point from an shapefile, you might use code such as the following:

public void setOMGraphic(OMGraphic omg) {

        if (omg instanceof EsriPoint) {

            this.point = (EsriPoint)omg;

        }

    }

As you will see, some of the functions in the OpenMapData class can use an OMGraphic, while othere require an EsriGraphicList. This is the case because there are some special characteristics of EsriGraphics and EsriGraphicsLists that are sometimes needed (mainly the ability to get the extents).  There is a function

buildEsriGraphicList(Collection gisAgents) 

this function will build an EsriGraphicsList from a Collection of GisAgents.  This can be useful when a function requires an EsriGraphics list, but you have a collection of Agents that have OMGraphics.

NOTE:  It is possible to convert some OMGraphics to EsriGraphics.  The code will try to convert them, but not all can be converted.  If you want OMGraphics that can be used as EsriGraphics, it is advised that you use only the EsriGraphic types (EsriPoint, EsriPolygon, and EsriPolyLine).  EsriGraphics are useful for writing out data to Shapefiles.  Furthermore, it is possible to convert some OMGraphic objects to EsriGraphic objects.  For instance, an OMPoint cna be converted to an EsriPoint by using the function EsriPolygon#convert(OMPoly omPoly) which will return an EsriPolygon.  Furthermore, an OMCircle cna be converted to an OMPoly by using the function EsriPolygonList#onvert(OMCircle omCircle,  Projection proj), this OMPoly can then be converted to an EsriPolygon.  Relevant classes in the OpenMap API to look at are: EsriPolygon, EsriPolygonList, EsriPoint, EsriPointList, EsriPolyline, EsriPolylineList.

Displaying Agents with OpenMap

In oder to display OpenMapAgents with OpenMap


1. your Shapfile data must be in decimal degree coordinates, OpenMap does not handle pre-projected data.
2. create the agents and add them to a list (as shown in the section on Data)
3. create a new instance of OpenMap Display:

    OpenMapDisplay omDisplay = new OpenMapDisplay();       

2. Add the agents to a layer:

    omDisplay.addlayer(gisAgents, "AgentLayer");

3. Update Agents.  After changes have been made to the agents, you can update the layer containg them:

    omDisplay.updateLayer(gisAgents, "AgentLayer");  

Using The OpenMap Display

Somtimes when you start up OpenMap it can be hard to find your data.  This is because OpenMap has opened with a world view, but you data does not occupy that much space.  To focus the display on your data you can use the Views>>GoOverData file menu.





Agents displayed in OpenMap will display a tooltip when the mouse is moved over it. The tooltip text is based on the gisPropertyList returned from the GisAgent.  The gisPropertyList is used here as follows:  the list is expected to consist of a pair of strings for each entry.  The first element is the name to be display ("land use" in the example below) and the second element is the name of a a function ("getLanduse")








This image shows a number of different agent types: The smaller ones use EsriPoints for their graphics, the larger use OMCircles.  The EsriPoints can be written to a shapfile, while the OMCircles cannot. 

You can view the properties of an agent (these are the same properties as shown in the tooltip.

Agents can be moved.  make sure that the cursor is an arrow.  Also, make sure that the layer you want to modify is on top (use the Edit layers option under the layers menu to change the relative position - top to bottom - of layers.  Right click on the agent you want to move, you will get the popup menu.  Choose move agent.  The left click wherever you want to move it.  (Mac users note, this seems to require an external mouse - I don't know why.  hopefully this will change with future version of OpenMap).










in this image there is no option to move the agents because they are polygons.  polygons cannot be moved.

Some useful links: