GeMS/community

Discussion about the GeMS geologic map database schema

hsnellen

@hsnellen

LindaTedrow

@LindaTedrow

I would like to modify the GeMS_CreateDatabase_Arc10.1.py to add a couple of fields to existing feature classes. Does anyone know where in the code to do this?

2 replies

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

Silly question, is GeMS 2.0 or something like 2.0xx?

6 replies

Amber Wittner

@awittner

@ethoms-usgs has there been discussion on versioning format(s)? I am most used to Semantic Versioning, but overall approach should be evaluated. see: https://medium.com/swlh/automatic-semantic-versioning-by-using-gitversion-9e22edecb116 The community could really use a set standard. It's going to become more and more important for everyone to easily understand which version(s) (if they use both arcmap and pro) they use and what version is most up to date. More so...when rGeMS grows into using the Git Space.

1 reply

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

@ethoms-usgs was anyone at CDEFG able to get you access to an SDE?

7 replies

Jacque

@stub0035

GeMS Training -- Hi Everyone, I was looking forward to seeing everyone at DMT last summer but COVID. This year is a new ball game and a new start for many. It will be a new start for our geologists here in Minnesota. They do not now what GeMS is and I have the wonderful opportunity to train them all. I have a few questions to other surveys as to what they have done to train their Geo's. Have you trained your entire survey at once or have you broken up any training for specific groups such as bedrock geo's vs surficial geo's? What seemed to work best in your training and what didn't work well? Does any survey have a good power point presentation that they would like to share for reference? Thank you for any recommendations and or references. Cheers!

8 replies

Evan Thoms

@ethoms-usgs

Hi everyone. Just a brief announcement that I have pushed changes to the ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro toolbox repos that include the new geologic names check tool for verifying unit names against Geolex. Make a copy of the old one before you download the new in case I botched the merge.

Evan Thoms

@ethoms-usgs

After some discussion with the GeMS team, I should recommend that you consider this a soft release and that items or content could change before the official public notice.

Lainey L

@LLeBlanc110

24 replies

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

1 reply

Hi, has anyone tried uploading to the NGMDB using the new form? None of us can make accounts it says

Caroline Rose

@cmrRose

As I prepare for next Monday's CDEFG webinar presentation, what are your questions about capturing Quaternary and/or surficial features in the GeMS schema?

LindaTedrow

@LindaTedrow

Hello all. I am looking for examples of GeMS databases to help with discussions with coworkers, does anyone have good examples? Especially would like to see some examples of datasources.

3 replies

mjohnsonIGWS

@mjohnsonIGWS

@ethoms-usgs - Hi Evan. I downloaded the latest version and I am getting an error with the validation tool I believe the issue has something to do with the metadata.txt file not being written. I have attached a screen shot of my error. I tried to see if something with pathing was causing the issue but didn't see anything.

2 replies

Jacque

@stub0035

Hello Everyone. Has anyone had issues running the DMU to .docx tool? I run it on my GeMS geodatabase and it creates a docx file that is corrupt and can't be opened. When I'm finally able to open the file it just has title 'Description of Map Units' and nothing else. Am I missing something or is that what it's supposed to do? Thanks for your help!

4 replies

Evan Thoms

@ethoms-usgs

Just a note that there are new versions of the toolboxes at the repos. v2.5 for ArcGIS Pro and v1.5 for ArcMap. The tools will now perform a check to see if you are using the most recent version. If not, a warning message appears in the geoprocessing results though the tool will still run. If you are offline or Github can't be reached for some reason, you will get a warning that the version could not be verified.

LindaTedrow

@LindaTedrow

Has anyone had success with running the Geologic Names Check tool? I am getting a FUNNY message about the sanity of installing numpy 8-).
RuntimeError: The current Numpy installation ('C:\Users\ltedrow\AppData\Local\Temp\arc8A5B\_MEI204362\numpy\init.pyc') fails to pass a sanity check due to a bug in the windows runtime. See this issue for more information: https://tinyurl.com/y3dm3h86

3 replies

Evan Thoms

@ethoms-usgs

Announcing some changes to the repos.

We decided that saving binary files and files that were not being versioned at gems-resources was not a good use of GitHub and was just another site to have to maintain, so I copied all files and links (and added more) to the Resources section of the NGMDB GeMS page and will, eventually, delete gems-resources.

There is now a badge called 'gems online documentation' at the top of each readme that links to an excellent HTML version of the GeMS standard document that was prepared by Megan James from the South Carolina Geological Survey. She will maintain this in the SCGS GitHub hive. Thank you, Megan!

Lainey L

@LLeBlanc110

Looking for advice or recommendations on Key Beds: I've been compiling geologic maps into a 1:100,000 scale GeMS geodatabase and I'm having issues with Key Beds. This area has several very narrow <100ft thick beds that I've assigned line type 'Key bed' or 'Key bed along thrust fault' in my ContactsAndFaults feature class. I see now that there's an as-needed feature class MapUnitLines. Selecting those key beds and loading them into this new feature class is simple enough, but now I will break the topology rules because they'll overlap with the same ContactsAndFaults lines - which I needed to build my polygons from those lines. After making the polygons from the ContactsAndFaults, I could delete those key bed lines from my CAF, but would the thrust faults and the contacts still need to be mapped? Unless the MapUnitLines would serve as the contact line, then you would still need to show a thrust fault...would it suffice to just have the MapUnitLines located coincidentally with those thrust faults, but not overlapping? Also, if I got rid of them from the CAF then they wouldn't need to be defined in the glossary, which may make things less clear for the reader. Anyways, any insight or discussion about how your org. handled this situation would be much appreciated. See y'all at DMT!

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

Does the topology in cross sections matter for GeMS compliance (i.e., is it checked by the toolbar) @ethoms-usgs and @hsnellen

1 reply

Trish-MBMG

@Trish-MBMG

Does anyone have standard values for the MapUnit field? Would it make sense to use standard map unit abbreviations to represent each geologic age (which each have its own special age symbol using the FGDCGeoAge font). When converting legacy data, its not always clear if a map unit abbreviation such as Trg is a Triassic or Tertiary unit. Map unit abbreviations starting with a P are also problematic – P can represent Paleogene, Paleozoic, Permian, Pennsylvanian, Precambrian, or Proterozoic. Yikes! Age information can often be inferred from the correlation chart or metadata for legacy data, and of course GeMS has age info in the DescriptionOfMapUnits.

I'd love to start a discussion on this. Anyone have interest?

5 replies

kalexander-wgs

@kalexander-wgs

Can someone explain what should be entered in the FossilForms field in the Fossil feature class and how it is different from the MaterialAnalyzed field?

1 reply

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

Screenshot 2021-08-23 at 10.33.24 AM.png

I do not have information Epochs or below, but for Periods and Eras, I would recommend the following table

Trish-MBMG

@Trish-MBMG

1 reply

I cant figure out how to put a picture in a reply, but here is the results for age abbreviations.

Rosemary

@RosieUtah

Has anyone had issues with the USGS Metadata Wizard tool lately? When I run it in ArcMap or ArcCatalog, I get an error about not being able to find the right version of Python.

So then I try it in Pro and I get an error about missing parentheses. I just downloaded it again to see if something had changed, but no luck. Note, I'm running this after running the GeMS FGDC Metadata Step 1 tool. Thoughts are appreciated!

Here is the text of the error:

Errors and warnings
File "C:\Users\rfasselin\Desktop\Tickville_metadata\fort-pymdwizard-master\ArcToolbox\USGS_MetadataTool.py", line 683
print message
^
SyntaxError: Missing parentheses in call to 'print'. Did you mean print(message)?
Failed to execute (MetadataWizard).

1 reply

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

@lbroes I realized the reason I couldn't find my powerpoint of the GeMS tutorial was that I didn't make it as a powerpoint. Here is the PDF

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

USGS Geologic Map Schema Tutorial by AZGS.pdf

1 reply

LindaTedrow

@LindaTedrow

Looking for a fresh copy of USGS Symbols2.style. Could someone please point me in the right direction.

In today's CDEFG meeting, Jen asked for me about printing a style file. I missed this. I have downloaded the Style Dump Add-In. After restarting computer twice, it is trying to work; but not really. Does anyone in the "community" have experience or tips for using this?

1 reply

Rosemary

@RosieUtah

Hi all, has anyone noticed that there isn't an option to build a feature class called MapUnitLines in the Pro toolbox?

Also, what does your survey do with bathymetric lines that aren't part of the basemap?

Finally, what does your survey do with points like adits, gravel pits, mines, oil seeps, prospects, shafts, sinkholes, springs, swamps, and/or volcanic cones?

We are trying to button down some of the final elements on our maps for conversion -- your thoughts and opinions would be valuable to us!

2 replies

SGoodingWV

@SGoodingWV

Hi all, Sarah G from WV survey here. I am wondering how have other surveys/users handled the plunging fold axis FGDC symbol in the GeMS schema? I have tried putting both FGDC codes (for example Plunging Anticline: 05.01.01 for the fold axis itself, and 05.10.05 for the secondary plunge arrow symbol) separated by a comma in the Symbol field. When I applied the style file (the newer one from South Carolina) it recognized everything except these values with the two symbol codes. I am very new to ArcPro (and GeMS) so hopefully I've missed something simple! Should I be using a different delimiter than a comma? Should I put the secondary symbol code into another attribute field? "Symbol_2" for example, and symbolize using 2 fields? TIA for anyone who can help!

2 replies

LindaTedrow

@LindaTedrow

@SGoodingWV @SGoodingWV

LindaTedrow

@LindaTedrow

Hello Sarah G in WV, Linda from Idaho here. The way we handled the plunging fold symbol was to use feature class geologic points with a rotation angle. We call it a line decoration. One confusing thing that I found in the FGDC symbol book was somethings look like the symbol is describing a line with a decoration but the symbol is for a point. i.e. plunging anticline 05.10.05 is the point ate the end of the fold.

Lainey L

@LLeBlanc110

Trish-MBMG

@Trish-MBMG

Hi Sarah G from WV, Trish from Montana here. The Montana survey (and also the Alaska survey) use what we call FGDC compound codes to handle plunge arrows. Essentially, two FGDC codes are combined into a single code that is stored in the Symbol field. This sounds similar to what you (Sarah) are doing with the Symbol_2 field, except that it is stored in one field instead of two.
I like this system because the decoration is part of the line symbol so it doesn’t require splitting a line or adding a “fake” orientation point at the end of a line.
Here is a screenshot from our symbol documentation excel table, which is a table that explains the symbols found in our Montana GeMS style file.
Alaska uses the same system and they have a publication that features their style file, documentation table, and a short report. Here is the link: https://dggs.alaska.gov/pubs/id/30584

Rosemary

@RosieUtah

Hi all, Rosemary in Utah here. We have run into a map that has orientation points that don't have inclination (dip angle) values. That said, the points still convey important information so we don't want to remove them from the map.

Since we're not allowed to leave the value <NULL> in the "inclination" field of the OrientationPoints feature class, we're wondering how others handle this. We thought -99 might be a good option but are not sure if that will throw an error with the validation script just like <NULL> would.

Interested to hear your thoughts!

3 replies

Rosemary

@RosieUtah

Hi again, everyone!

Random geodatabase question here: when you use the "Load Data" tool and you load data, all the features are given a unique identifier by Arc. Then, when you edit that attribute table, specifically, when you remove records, the unique identifiers don't re-calculate to be sequential.

Is there a quick and easy way to re-calculate these ids? Is there a reason these geodatabases are set up so they don't automatically recalculate?

Thanks for your help!

4 replies

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

@ethoms-usgs Just to clarify this. But if we generate the validation report and it says we have topographic errors, then we go in and use the native ESRI error checker and mark some of the valid errors as exceptions - e.g., hanging faults - and then we re-run the tool, then in principal the report should say no errors correct?

3 replies

Evan Thoms

@ethoms-usgs

Hi all,
just a quick notification that I have finally posted a metadata tool for ArcGIS Pro and would appreciate some of you trying it out to see if it needs any tweaks. It is in version 2.7.0 and is ready for download at the repository. It is called 'Build Metadata'. There is a little bit of parameter help embedded in the tool as well as a new section in the wiki

15 replies

Andrew Zaffos

@aazaff

Hi All, is there a community consensus on digits for FGDC symbols in Symbols field - i.e., 1.1.1 or 01.01.01 in GeMS?

1 reply

Evan Thoms

@ethoms-usgs

Hi all,
for the adventurous, there is a new branch at the Pro repo called xs-update that contains a new version of the cross section tool. Before I merge it with the main branch, I would appreciate some feedback. Note that this code is two or three releases behind the most recent on the master branch, so just use it for the cross section tool and don't replace your existing toolbox. Thanks!

8 replies

chhalsted

@chhalsted

@ethoms-usgs I am routinely getting errors from the Translate to Shape ArcPro tool. I've isolated the errors to non-ascii characters, like the em dash, greater than or equal to, less than or equal to, and plus minus, in my DescriptionOfMapUnits table. I noticed that you appeared to handle this in lines 224-228 of the Python script but these were commented out in place of line 229. When I comment out line 229 and uncomment 224-228 the tool runs successfully. Could lines 224-228 be reinstated in the next version?

2 replies

Evan Thoms

@ethoms-usgs

New jupyter notebook in the notebooks branch of the ArcGIS Pro repo where I show how you can programmatically add symbols to a Pro style file (have to credit to Jimmy Knowles who outlined the basic worklow in an ESRI community post). I added a point symbol for every CMYK color in the FGDC style so that I can symbolize map unit label points or station points with the same color being used for a particular map unit in the map.

New Make Polygons tool coming soon.

Lainey L

@LLeBlanc110

One of our mappers was having difficulty making his strat log and stumbled upon a resource for FGDC geologic patterns produced by Daven Quinn. The geologic patterns are available in SVG and PNG formats and are available here- https://davenquinn.com/projects/geologic-patterns/. Just thought I'd put this out there for anyone else (like me) that didn't know it existed.

Rosemary

@RosieUtah

Has anyone tried using the GeMS toolbox with the latest version of Pro (3.0). One of our GIS analysts upgraded to 3.0 and is getting an error:

ERROR 000576: Script associated with this tool does not exist.

I want to make sure it's on our end and not an issue with the tool or script for some reason. Thanks!!

3 replies

Evan Thoms

@ethoms-usgs

@LLeBlanc110, speaking of software, I got a notice a few weeks ago from the British Geological Survey announcing that they are discontinuing development and maintenance of BGS Groundhog, the program they used to develop their 3D model of the UK. The final version is now free to download and use at all license levels, which includes the capability of 3D modelling. Something to consider if you are interested in a cheap way to develop your 3d datasets.

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