The Service Area Editor (SAE) is used to view, create, maintain, and edit a service area. It is an important part of your Texas811 membership. At a minimum, members are required to update their map when new facilities are acquired or installed outside of their current service area. This allows us to keep a record of the area(s) in which you operate so we can accurately distribute locate tickets.

For assistance, please contact our GIS department at gis@help.texas811.org or 888-771-1877 option 3.

It is recommended that you log in to SAE after receiving the confirmation email to verify the changes.

GIS files uploaded to SAE must meet specific requirements.

Session

o Default tab that gives you access to different session-related tools and menus.

Find

o Allows to find a county, place, or zoom to a specific street or address.

History

o Allows you to view the history for any searches, sketches, and edits that you have performed.

Turn Off/On Reference Layer Visibility

o Allows you to turn your service area layer off and on.

Active Sessions

o When checked the dispatch code dropdown only displays codes that are currently in an active editing session.

Show Published

o When checked displays a read-only copy of the published service area on top of the current service area for the selected dispatch code.

Edit

o Start an editing session for the selected dispatch code.

Submit

o Submit saved service area updates to Texas811 for review.

Cancel

o Cancel the editing session.

Note

o Allows you to enter a note to be posted with your edits. Required for deletions of coverage area.

General

o Displays general information about the current editing session.

Activity

o Displays current editing session transition and action date/time information.

Edits

o Displays information about every individual geometry saved in the current editing session.

Map Tools are located above the map in the right-hand corner.

Zoom Slider

Located in the upper right-hand corner of the map. To zoom in, select the circle and drag to the left. To zoom out, drag to the right. The scroll feature on your mouse will also zoom you in and out of the map.

Pan the map

o This tool allows you to move the map in any direction. Select and drag the map in the direction you want to move it.

Identify map features

o This tool will provide the location's County, Place, Streets, and Parcel/address (if available). Click anywhere within the map for results.

Measure on the map

o This tool allows you to draw a type of measurement on the map. Single-click the area on the map where you wish to begin measuring, continuing to single-click along until you read the end of the measured area. Double-click to end measuring. If you have clicked on a point in error, use Ctrl+Z to undo or the Escape key to cancel. Click on the white X in the measurement box to remove a measurement from the map. Measurements are session specific and will not persist.

Draw an addition to the service area

o This tool allows you to add new areas to your service area. It also activates the Draw a Point, Line, Polygon, and Circle radius tool. Geometry drawn on the map while this tool is selected will displayed in green.

Draw a deletion to the service area

o This tool allows you to remove areas from your service area. Activates Draw a Point, Line, Polygon, and Circle radius tool. Geometry drawn on the map while this tool is selected will be displayed in red.

Draw a point on the map

o This tool allows you to Draw a Point geometry.

Draw a line on the map

o This tool allows you to Draw a Line geometry. When drawing a line, double-click to end your drawing.

Draw a Polygon on the map

o This tool allows you to draw a shape geometry. When drawing a polygon, double-click to end your drawing.

Draw a Circle on the map

o This tool allows you to draw a circle geometry.

Save Drawn Geometries

o This tool allows you to save drawn and uploaded shapes. It is activated when the Draw an Addition or Draw a Deletion tool is selected, or a shape has been drawn. This tool does not submit changes.

Clear Unsaved Geometry

o This tool allows you to clear all unsaved data.

Upload Full Replacement

o This tool allows you to upload a zipped Shapefile, KML, or GeoJSON file of your entire service area.

Load File

o This tool allows you to upload a zipped Shapefile, KML, or GeoJSON file to be added or removed from your service area. This tool is activated when the Draw an Addition or Draw a Deletion tool is selected.

Download Service Area

o This tool allows you to download a zipped Shapefile or GeoJSON file of your service area.

Zoom to Extent,

o This tool adjusts the map to show the full extent of your service area. If the current and published layers are depicted, the tool will zoom to the combined extent to allow for edit review.

Zoom to Point

o This tool will allow you to enter a GPS Coordinate in Decimal Degree format (i.e., Lat 32.9965 Long:-96.6976) to zoom to a location. It is recommended to use 4-5 decimal places in your entry for accuracy. You can set an optional label on the point location.

Map Layers

o This tool allows you to view alternate map layers for additional base map information.

Refresh Map

o The tool will refresh the map at any point.

Click Login at the top right of the Dashboard.

Click on Sign Out to sign out of the application as needed.

While Themes are configured, we recommend utilizing the Default theme.

Click on the Service Area Editor to start your viewer session. You will be presented with the full map view. Select a code from the drop-down to view the service area codes assigned to you. Users will only have access to codes for their organization, as requested and confirmed with Texas811 staff.

If you cannot see Service Area Editor or cannot view the appropriate codes, please contact the GIS team at Texas811 to have your account configured.

The system will begin processing your request and display Loading as the service area record is returned. When the service area is returned, the map will be updated to zoom to the extent of the code requested. The service area coverage will be displayed in transparent blue on the map. This coverage represents the service area with any pending (unpublished) edits.

Clicking on Show Published will display an additional overlay of the service area in transparent gold. This represents the coverage that is live in the application for ticketing purposes.

Select the Find tab to search for a particular County, Place, and Address. Select the County and Place from the drop-down menu and enter an address, if applicable.

Current Service Area – Includes all submitted or unpublished edits.

Published Service Area – Includes coverage area that is active in Texas811 ticketing.

GeoJSON files can be used and converted with most major GIS applications. For QGIS, compatibility may require a plugin. For ArcGIS compatibility you will need the Data Interoperability Extension in Desktop, or the JSON to Features tool in ArcGIS Pro.

Three types of processes can be performed:

Below are the types of changes that can be submitted:

Files must not contain more than 9500 records or exceed 20mb. If your file does not meet these requirements , please contact the GIS team at Texas811.

*Best Practice: Select Show Published to turn on your live Service Area which allows you to view your edits against the live data. *

Check the box to the left of Show Published.

Click Edit to start your editing session.

GIS files uploaded to SAE must meet certain requirements. Please refer to the File Upload Requirements within the documentation.

Note: A separate file is required for addition and deletion uploads. If you have additions and deletions, you must upload your deletions first, followed by additions.

GIS files uploaded to SAE must meet certain requirements. Please refer to the File Upload Requirements within the documentation.

Deletion of data may leave unwanted slivers in your service area. Please ensure that no slivers of data remain before submitting your update.

Once all deletions have been loaded, a reason for deletions MUST be provided using the Notes option. Reasons for deletions include:

If you have sold, are transferring assets, or need to remove all assets registered to the code, a Member Mapping Submission form is required, as more information is necessary to complete your request.

5. After all files have been loaded and verified, select Submit to submit your edits to the center.

After the updates have been submitted, you should receive a system-generated email. A Texas811 GIS Department technician will then review the updates submitted. A confirmation email will be sent once your update has been checked on our end. The confirmation email will inform you when your update(s) will be live/active in our system. It is recommended that you log in to SAE after your updates have been processed and published to verify the changes.

Note: Full Replacement should only be used if you wish to replace the existing database completely. GIS files uploaded to SAE must meet certain requirements. If you are uploading a large service area file, it may take a few minutes to load. Please refer to the File Upload Requirements within the documentation.

A Full Replacement requires you to specify a reason for any deletions. Please use the Note option to provide any relevant information. If you do NOT plan to delete any coverage areas, use the "Draw an Addition to the Service Area" tool instead. Be aware that Full Replacements with deletions may create unwanted gaps or slivers in your service area. Before submitting your update, ensure that no slivers of data are left behind.

After the updates have been submitted, you should receive a system-generated email.

A Texas811 GIS Department technician will then review the updates submitted. A confirmation email will be sent once your update has been checked on our end. The confirmation email will inform you when your update(s) will be live/active in our system. It is recommended that you log in to SAE after your updates have been processed and published to verify the changes.

It is recommended to use the manual editing method if your company does not have GIS data for your underground facilities.

To begin adding to your service area, click on the Draw an addition to the service area tool. Then select either the Draw a Point, Draw a Line, Draw a Polygon, or Draw a Circle tool.

Note: This should be used to add everything within an outlined area.

* The polygon MUST be at least 20 feet total in width.

To add polygons, click to start, then click at each point and double-click to end the polygon. As you draw, you will see the footage of the area as it is being drawn.

When the polygon is complete, the map will display the area in transparent green. Once the geometry has been saved, the addition will be shown in transparent blue.

To add lines, click to start, then click at each bend or curve and double click to end the line. As you draw you will see the footage of the area as it is being drawn.

When the line is complete, the area will be displayed in transparent green on the map. The system will automatically place a 300ft (600ft total) buffer on either side of the line. Once the geometry has been saved, the addition will be displayed in transparent blue.

To add points, click the area that you wish to add. The system will automatically place a 300ft buffer around the point. The area will be displayed in transparent green on the map. Once the geometry has been saved, the addition will be displayed in transparent blue.

To add circles, click the center of the area you wish to add, then drag out until the circle reaches the area or coverage needed. The area will be displayed in transparent green on the map. Once the geometry has been saved, the addition will be displayed in transparent blue.

To begin deleting from your service area, ensure that Show Published is enabled. Click on the Draw a deletion from the service area tool. Select the Draw a point, Draw a line, Draw a Polygon, or Draw a Circle tool.

Drawing deletions can result in unwanted slivers left in your service area, especially when drawing points or line deletions are made. To avoid this, it is recommended that deletions be made using the Draw a Polygon or Draw a Circle tool.

Note: This should be used to remove everything within an outlined area.

To delete polygons, click to start, then click at each point and double click to end the polygon. As you draw, you will see the area's measurements.

When the polygon is complete, the area will be displayed in transparent red on the map. Once the geometry has been saved, the deletions will be displayed in transparent yellow.

To delete lines, click to start, then click at each bend or curve and double click to the end the line. As you draw, you will see the area's measurements.

When the line is complete, the area will be displayed in transparent red on the map. The system will automatically place a 300ft (600ft total) buffer on either side of the line. Once the geometry has been saved, the deletions will be displayed in transparent yellow.

To delete points, click the area that you wish to remove. The area will be displayed in transparent red on the map. The system will automatically place a 300ft buffer around the point. Once the geometry has been saved, the deletions will be displayed in transparent yellow.

To delete circles, click the center of the area and drag until the circle encompasses the entire area you want to remove. The area will be displayed in transparent red on the map. Once the geometry has been saved, the deletions will be displayed in transparent yellow.

To delete unwanted slivers, select the Draw a deletion from the service area tool and then the Draw a Polygon tool.

Draw a deletion polygon around the slivers. The area will be displayed in transparent red on the map. Once the geometry has been saved, the slivers are removed.

After editing and saving, it's important to compare the current service area with the published version before submitting to Texas811. If your changes include any deletions, make sure there are no remaining slivers, and provide a note explaining the reason for the deletions.

Check the box to the left of Show Published.

The Published service area (before edits) is displayed in transparent gold on top of Current Service area (after edits).

The user has drawn areas to be added and deleted:

When the user saves, the areas drawn are added or removed from the Current service area.

The geometry that appears transparent gold is the visual effect of the Published and Current service area overlapping.

Note: You cannot be in an active editing session to view previous edits.

Select the desired time from the drop-down menu. The results will be provided for all edits submitted during this time and the user who submitted the edit.

Using the Edits tab, you will be able to view what edits were made during this session. The map will zoom to that change when clicking on the individual edit.

https://mapshaper.org

Drop, paste, or select file from folder.

Select Import.

Select Export in the upper right-hand corner. Export mapping in preferred mapping format.

Weblink for the QGIS download options webpage: https://www.qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html

In QGIS, load the GeoJSON file into the Layers Panel.

Right Click -> Save As

Select your preferred format from the Format dropdown list, browse and rename your file into your preferred folder, and select OK.

NOTE: Google Earth files are referred to as “Keyhole Markup Language [KML]”.

The file conversion is completed and is ready to be used in your preferred mapping application.

In ArcGIS Pro 2.7

Select Analysis ->Tools

Type GeoJSON in the search and select JSON to Features. Browse to your GeoJSON file.

Select your preferred output location and file name, choose Geometry Type: Polygon, and click Run.

The file conversion is completed and is ready to be used in your preferred mapping application.

Reference: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/2.7/tool-reference/conversion/json-to-features.htm

Open Google Earth Pro

Go to File -> Open

Select file type as All Files (*.*)

Click ‘Open’

Reference: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/2.7/tool-reference/conversion/json-to-features.htm

Using ArcGIS:
​https://support.esri.com/en/technical-article/000010389

Using QGIS:
​https://docs.qgis.org/testing/en/docs/user_manual/processing_algs/qgis/vectorgeometry.html#qgisdropmzvalues

Select “Find” tab.

From the drop-down select county and place. In the Search for locations box enter a street name or address. A list of suggested results will display as you type in the search box. Select appropriate street from results to zoom to area on map.