Author: Heikki Vesanto

Now that we have downloaded some OS OpenData, we can look into working with it.

Loading .csv data into PostGIS was surprisingly difficult, but can be done in a number of ways. This post will cover doing it using a .vrt (virtual raster) file.

In this example we are using Ordnance Survey and ultimately Royal Mail: Code-Point Open data. This can be found from OpenData and is a CSV point file for UK postcodes.

First we need to modify the header file provided with Code-Point:

I have deleted the short codes and replaced them with sensible headers. You should only have one line in your header file.

Firstly the files are provided split up into a number of different files. We can combine all of the .csv files using the cat command in Linux.

cat *.csv > codepoint.csv

So this will combine all of the individual .csv files into the codepoint.csv file. Your header file should be the top line.

So now we can look at the data using ogrinfo, part of the gdal suite.

We create a virtual raster definition file with our X and Y columns, and projection defined:

 

     

        codepoint.csv 

        wkbPoint 

        EPSG:27700 

         

     

So now we can run “ogrinfo” on codepoint.vrt:

ogrinfo -ro -al -so codepoint.vrt

Result:

So we can see that there was an error opening the codepoint.csv file itself but the .vrt worked fine. This is probably down to a memory issue on my part. So your mileage may vary. I tried again with just one postcode area and it worked fine (ab postcode area .csv was named codepoint.csv):

So I need to find a more memory friendly way to do this. So I will load the postcode files one at a time, appending them to any data that is already loaded.

So first I need to add the header row to the top of each file. The cat command worked really well last time so lets try that.

Rename the header file to .txt. So it will be called Code-Point_Open_Column_Headers.txt and consists of only one row with our desired column headers.

Write a bash script that adds the header file to the beginning of each .csv file:

#!/bin/bash 

# vesanto 

################################## 

echo " ******************************* " 

echo " Add a header to codepoint" 

echo " ******************************* " 

for codepointFiles in *.csv 

do 

Echo $codepointFiles 

cat Code-Point_Open_Column_Headers.txt >> $codepointFiles.csv 

cat $codepointFiles >> $codepointFiles.csv 

echo "Done" 

done

Run the file:

Bash cat_command.sh

Delete all of the .csv file (not the .csv.csv files!)

And we rename .csv.csv to .csv:

for i in *.csv.csv; do mv "$i" "${i/.csv.csv}".csv; done

Then we can create the .vrt files for each csv file:

So we want to create the equivalent of for each csv file:

 

     

        codepoint.csv 

        wkbPoint 

        EPSG:27700 

         

     

So we can do this using another bash script:

#!/bin/bash

# vesanto

##################################

echo " ******************************* "

echo " Create OGR .vrt file"

echo " ******************************* "



for codepointFiles in *.csv

do

echo $codepointFiles



fileN=$codepointFiles

layerName=${fileN%????}



echo '' >> $codepointFiles.vrt

echo '    ' >> $codepointFiles.vrt

echo '        '$codepointFiles'' >> $codepointFiles.vrt

echo '        wkbPoint' >> $codepointFiles.vrt

echo '        EPSG:27700' >> $codepointFiles.vrt

echo '        ' >> $codepointFiles.vrt

echo '    ' >> $codepointFiles.vrt

echo '' >> $codepointFiles.vrt



echo "Done"



done

And finally we can load the files using a final bash script (this could be done by looping through the files as well):

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost' port='5432'  user='postgres' password='postgres'" ab.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" al.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ba.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" bb.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" bd.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" bh.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" bl.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" bn.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" br.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" bs.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" b.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ca.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" cb.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" cf.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ch.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" cm.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" co.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" cr.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ct.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" cv.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" cw.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" da.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" dd.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" de.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" dg.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" dh.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" dl.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" dn.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" dt.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" dy.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ec.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" eh.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" en.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" e.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ex.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" fk.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" fy.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" gl.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" gu.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" g.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ha.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" hd.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" hg.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" hp.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" hr.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" hs.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" hu.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" hx.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ig.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ip.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" iv.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ka.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" kt.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" kw.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ky.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" la.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ld.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" le.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ll.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ln.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ls.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" lu.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" l.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" me.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" mk.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ml.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" m.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ne.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ng.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" nn.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" np.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" nr.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" n.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" nw.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ol.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ox.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" pa.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" pe.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ph.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" pl.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" po.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" pr.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" rg.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" rh.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" rm.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sa.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" se.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sg.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sk.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sl.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sm.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sn.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" so.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sp.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sr.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ss.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" st.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" s.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sw.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" sy.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ta.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" td.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" tf.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" tn.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" tq.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" tr.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ts.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" tw.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ub.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" wa.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" wc.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" wd.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" wf.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" wn.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" wr.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ws.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" w.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" wv.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" yo.vrt

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -update -append -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname='os_open' host='localhost'  port='5432' user='postgres' password='postgres'" ze.vrt

So the ogr2ogr command is:

ogr2ogr -nlt PROMOTE_TO_MULTI -progress -nln codepoint -skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no -f PostgreSQL PG:”dbname=’os_open’ host=’localhost’ port=’5432′ user=’os_open’ password=’os_open'” source_file

Explained:

-nlt | PROMOTE_TO_MULTI, creates it as a multipart geometry, not important for points

-progress | Shows a progress bar

-nln codepoint | The name of the layer in the database, so because we are appending data to the first csv file loaded this is important.

-skipfailures -lco PRECISION=no | Personal preference

-f PostgreSQL PG:”dbname=’os_open’ host=’localhost’ port=’5432′ user=’os_open’ password=’os_open'” | Destination, so the details of your PostGIS database (see setting up PostGIS for help).

The latter commands also have the -append tag, which means they will be appended to the first one loaded.

Excellent. Though this was a bit intensive. Doing this in QGIS would have been a lot easier. However this can now be scripted and automatically run just by replacing the original .csv input files allowing for an easy update of the data when a new Cope-Point dataset is released.

Sources:

http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/150

The Ordnance Survey have begun to release their data as free to use. I think this is great, and despite what some say, I think the selection is good as well. I can see why MasterMap and AddressBase, their flagship products still cost money, there are some significant costs associated with producing them.

There is however still a bit of a barrier of entry, into using OS OpenData. This guide will hopefully make downloading the data a little bit easier.

OS OpenData needs to be ordered from:

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendatadownload/products.html

There is no cost, but a valid e-mail address is required.

For my purposes I started with OS Street View® and OS VectorMap™ District for the whole country.

You will receive an e-mail with the download links for the data. Unfortunately these are individual links since the data is split up into tiles. 55 tiles in total for the whole of the UK, so we want some way to automate the download of these links.

In comes curl, made by some nice Swedes. curl is a command line tool which will download the link provided.

Attempt number 1:

curl http://download.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/open/OSSTVW/201305/ITCC/osstvw_sy.zip?sr=b&st=2013-10-03T18:51:25Z&se=2013-10-06T18:51:25Z&si=opendata_policy&sig=YOUR_UNIQUE_CODE_HERE

Result:

[1] 20182 

[2] 20183 

[3] 20184 

[4] 20185 

[2]   Done                    st=2013-10-03T18:51:25Z 

vesanto@hearts-lnx /data/OS $ ResourceNotFoundThe specified resource does not exist. 

RequestId:54953719-5e43-4791-aa60-51dee61f27ac 

Time:2013-10-03T19:20:04.3403546Z

Not quite there, missing the quotes:

curl 'http://download.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/open/OSSTVW/201305/ITCC/osstvw_sy.zip?sr=b&st=2013-10-03T18:51:25Z&se=2013-10-06T18:51:25Z&si=opendata_policy&sig=YOUR_UNIQUE_CODE_HERE'

Which was a success, but it started downloading the file into the terminal (ctrl+c stopped it):

So we need an output file as well:

curl 'http://download.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/open/OSSTVW/201305/ITCC/osstvw_sy.zip?sr=b&st=2013-10-03T18:51:25Z&se=2013-10-06T18:51:25Z&si=opendata_policy&sig=YOUR_UNIQUE_CODE_HERE' -o osstvw_sy.zip

Success:

To run this in bulk, just format the commands in LibreOffice (Excel) and create a simple shell script.

Copy the commands into a file and then:

sh the_file_containing_your_commands

To load the downloaded data into PostGIS, see my previous post on loading data into PostGIS.

Also a few tips for newer users of OS OpenData:

They are all in the British National Grid Projection (EPSG:27700). Watch out for this in QGIS. Version 1.8 used the 3 parameter conversion while 2.0 uses the 9 parameter. This means that if you created data in QGIS 1.8 and are now using 2.0, your data may not line up if you have “on the fly” CRS transformation turned on. To fix this just go into the layer properties and re-define the projection as British National Grid (EPSG:27700) for all the layers.

If you are working with Raster data you need to copy the .tfw files into the same directory as the .tif files. The .tfw (tiff world files) tell the .tif image where they should be in the world.