LINZ has taken part in the development of LandXML, an industry-driven XML format that eases the exchange of data during the land planning, civil engineering and land survey processes.
Developed in consultation with software developers, vendors and the civil engineering and surveying industries, LandXML incorporates the data elements required by Landonline.
"Surveyors can extract approved survey data from Landonline as an XML file to use in your survey software," says Joanne Head, Business Analyst at LINZ. "XML is a simple mark-up language that can be used to store and transfer information between parties.
"The LandXML schema elements and attributes included in the extracted file are recognised and allow the data to be edited in your software. Then you can create an XML file for the new survey and import it into Landonline."
All this means you spend less time typing in data into Landonline fields – using XML-compliant survey software amounts to significant time savings because the survey software and Landonline can automatically populate the data.
"Depending on the software you're using, you'll still need to do some editing," Joanne says. "The LandXML schema doesn't map to every field in Landonline. But, as an example, I used XML files for testing the latest Landonline release. Through importing an XML file, I cut down the time for entering data from an hour to five minutes."
LINZ has been working with software developers to ensure they are creating compliant files and making full use of all the elements in LandXML.
Joanne recommends you talk to your software vendor about using LandXML. Follow the LandXML link for more detailed information.