Extract custom locations

Available with LocateXT license.

When you extract locations from documents and text, they are examined for spatial coordinates. A point is created in the output feature class to represent each coordinate found. Custom locations can be defined to associate a place name with a spatial coordinate. When custom locations are defined and turned on, a point is created in the output feature class to represent each custom location found in the documents and text as well.

For example, you may have text that includes place names, such as the following about the history of bridges in the Niagara region:

Before the 1840s, you could only cross from New York to Upper Canada by boat, including the Maid of the Mist, which took tourists past the American Falls and near the base of the Horseshoe Falls, before landing them on the opposite shore. The Lewiston Suspension Bridge was completed in 1851, and in 1855, the Niagara Suspension Bridge was completed. The Niagara Suspension Bridge was the first of its type: a suspension bridge with an upper deck for railway trains, and a lower deck for carriages and people. Over time, heavier trains required it to be replaced by the Steel Arch Bridge, which was later renamed the Whirlpool Bridge. Between 1848 and 1941, 15 bridges were constructed across the Niagara River, a few of which stand today: the Peace Bridge, the International Railway Bridge, the Rainbow Bridge, the Michigan Central Railway Steel Arch Bridge, the Whirlpool Bridge, and the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge.

A custom location is defined by associating text with a spatial coordinate. Current and historical places, and natural features and structures can all be defined as custom locations in a custom location file (.lxtgaz).

When you have a general idea of the content of a set of documents, tailoring a custom location file for that set of documents can be helpful. Historic documents often reference places and structures that have been renamed and do not appear on modern maps, and many features in a wider area can share a name or part of a name. Limiting the custom locations in a file to the features in a specific area can help produce better results from those documents, for example, by identifying the specific Steel Arch Bridge across the Niagara River instead of many similar structures with similar names that exist in the region.

If you have a custom location file you want to use, add it to the Custom Location Files list, activate the file, and turn on the custom locations toggle. The next time you extract locations, points representing locations defined in the custom location file are added to the output feature class.

1. Open the Extract Locations pane.
2. Turn on the custom locations toggle.
3. Access the Custom Locations tab.
4. Add the custom location file (.lxtgaz) you want to use to the Custom Location Files list, if it is not already present.
5. Activate the custom location file.
6. Extract locations to a map layer.

The custom location file will be used when documents are scanned. If the defined locations are found when scanning the input documents or text, points are created representing those locations in the output feature class.

Turn on or turn off custom locations

When the custom locations toggle is turned on, the custom locations defined in the active custom location file are used to scan documents and text and evaluate their content. If the content includes text that matches a custom place name, a point is created in the output feature class to represent that location. When the custom locations toggle is turned off, place names are not extracted as locations, even if they are present in the input documents or text.

1. In the Extract Locations pane, click the Properties tab.
2. Turn on or turn off the custom attributes toggle.
   • Click the Options tab , and click the Custom locations toggle.
   • Click the Extract attributes tab , click the Custom Locations tab, and click the Create features from custom locations toggle.

   Click a toggle that is off to turn it on . Click a toggle that is on to turn it off .

Access the Custom Locations tab

Access the Custom Locations tab to activate a custom location file, create a custom location file, or manage your custom location files.

1. In the Extract Locations pane, click the Properties tab.
2. Do one of the following to access the Custom Locations tab:
   • Click the Options tab , and click the arrow next to the Custom locations toggle.
   • Click the Extract locations tab , and click the Custom Locations tab.

Define a custom location

A custom location is defined by providing the following pieces of information:

• Location name—Text representing a place name. When you extract locations from input documents and text, the content will be examined to see if this place name exists. A place name is required.
• Case sensitive—A Boolean value indicating whether a case-sensitive comparison will be used to determine if the location name matches content from the input documents and text. The default value is false, that is, a case-sensitive comparison will not be used.
• Always use fuzzy match—A Boolean value indicating whether fuzzy matching should always be used to determine if the location name matches content from the input documents and text. The default value is false, that is, fuzzy matching will not be used.
• Location coordinate—A spatial coordinate that represents the place name. When custom locations are turned on, a custom location file is active, and the place name is matched to content from the input documents and text, this point is created in the output feature class to represent the custom location. A spatial coordinate is required.

Spatial coordinates can be provided in any coordinate format supported by the Extract Locations pane: decimal degrees format; degrees decimal minutes format; degrees, minutes and seconds format; Universal Transverse Mercator format; and Military Grid Reference System format. Each custom location in a custom location file can be defined using a different spatial coordinate format. If the coordinate typed is not recognized as a valid spatial coordinate, the cell in the table will have a red border and the custom location will be considered invalid.

Custom location file properties

The custom location file, as a whole, has a few properties that affect how all spatial coordinates defined in the file are evaluated. These properties are set on the Custom Location File Settings dialog box. These settings do not affect how coordinates found in the input documents and text are evaluated, or how content is extracted to the output feature class; the custom location file's properties do not have to match these other settings.

• Coordinate system—You can specify the coordinate system with which all spatial coordinates in the custom location file are associated. This coordinate system does not have to match the coordinate system of the input documents or the output feature class. By default, the coordinates are handled as if they were defined based on the GCS_WGS_1984 coordinate system. If you know coordinates were collected based on a different coordinate system, click the Select coordinate system button and click the correct coordinate system.
• Use comma as decimal separator—By default, all spatial coordinates in the custom location file are expected to use a period (.) or a mid-dot (·) as the decimal separator. If the spatial coordinates provided have numbers that use commas as the decimal separator, check the Use comma as decimal separator option. The computer's regional settings are not used to control this setting.
• Interpret as longitude, latitude—When coordinate pairs are provided without symbols or directional notations, the correct spatial location is likely to be produced if one number is between 0 and 90 and the other number is between 90 and 180. If both numbers are between 0 and 90, it is more difficult to determine the correct location. Because latitude-longitude is such a strong convention in geography, coordinate pairs where both numbers are between 0 and 90 are evaluated in this manner by default, in other words, where the first number is a value on the y-axis, and the second number is a value on the x-axis. However, coordinate pairs are often provided as x,y combinations in other disciplines, such as mathematics. Check the Interpret as longitude, latitude option if you prefer for any ambiguous coordinate pairs stored within the custom location file to be evaluated as x,y combinations instead, that is, where the first number is a longitude and the second number is a latitude.

1. Create a custom location file or edit a custom location file.

   The Custom Location File dialog box appears.

2. Click the Settings button at the top of the Locations table.

   The Custom Location File Settings dialog box appears.

3. Click the Coordinate System drop-down list or the Select coordinate system button and click the coordinate system associated with the spatial coordinates defined in the custom location file.
4. Check Use comma as decimal separator if the spatial coordinates defined in the custom location file have numbers in which commas are used as the decimal separator.
5. Check Interpret as longitude, latitude if ambiguous spatial coordinates defined in the custom location file are specified as longitude-latitude coordinates instead of latitude-longitude coordinates.
6. Click OK.

Add a location

When the Custom Location File dialog box first appears, it is immediately ready to add new locations to the custom location file. Type information in the empty row at the bottom of the table to define your new custom location.

When adding a new location, press Escape to undo the place name or coordinates you typed in a specific cell in the table. Press Escape twice to clear all information from a new row you added to the table. If you do not want to save any of your changes, click Cancel to close the dialog box without saving them.

1. Create a custom location file or edit a custom location file.

   The Custom Location File dialog box appears.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the Locations table.

   A new, empty row is available at the bottom of the table for defining a new location.

3. Double-click the cell in the empty row in the Location Name column, and type a place name. Press Tab to advance to the next column.
4. If a case-sensitive match should be used to evaluate input content, check the check box in the Case Sensitive column or press the spacebar. Press Tab to advance to the next column.
5. If fuzzy matching should always be used to evaluate input content, check the check box in the Always use Fuzzy Match column or press the spacebar. Press Tab to advance to the next column.

   Learn about fuzzy matching

6. Double-click the cell in the Location Coordinate column and type the spatial coordinate associated with this place name.
7. Press Enter to add the new place to the Locations table as a custom location.

   The file name at the top of the dialog box appears in italic text with an asterisk (*) to indicate that your changes have not been saved. The value in the Precision column is updated automatically to reflect how precisely the new spatial coordinate represents the custom location on the ground.

   If the value provided in the Location Coordinate column is not recognized as a spatial coordinate, the cell will be outlined in red, and a red exclamation point will appear in the box to the left of the row, indicating the custom location is invalid.

8. Click Save to add the custom location's definition to the custom location file.
9. If any custom locations are invalid, a warning message appears, indicating the invalid custom locations will not be saved to the custom location file.
   • Click OK to save all valid custom locations to the custom location file. The invalid custom locations will not be saved. This information will be lost when the Custom Location File dialog box is closed if the locations are not fixed and saved.
   • Click Cancel to close the warning message without saving your changes to the custom location file. Correct the invalid custom locations, then save your changes.
10. Click Close to stop editing the custom location file.

Tip:

One way to define a series of custom locations is to type place names first, and enter the spatial coordinates after. Type a place name in the Location Name column, press Enter, and repeat this process to add several rows to the Locations table containing only place names. Then, for each custom location, you can paste a spatial coordinate in the Location Coordinate column from an external source.

For example, navigate to the geographic feature in a map, right-click the feature, and click Copy Coordinates. You can keep the Custom Location File dialog box open while you work with the map. Double-click the appropriate cell in the Location Coordinate column and press Ctrl+V to paste the spatial coordinate that was copied from the map view.

Edit a location

To edit an existing location on the Custom Location File dialog box, select its row in the Locations table and start editing its content. If you start editing a location and do not want to save your changes, cancel them—this closes the dialog box without saving your changes.

1. Create a custom location file or edit a custom location file.

   The Custom Location File dialog box appears.

2. Double-click a cell in the Location Name column to edit a place name. Type a new value, then press Enter.
3. Check the check box in a cell in the Exact Case column to change this setting, if appropriate.
4. Check the check box in a cell in the Always use Fuzzy Match column to change this setting, if appropriate.
5. Double-click a cell in the Location Coordinate column to edit a spatial coordinate. Type a new value, then press Enter.

   The value in the Precision column is updated automatically to reflect how precisely the new spatial coordinate represents the custom location on the ground.

6. Click Save to update the custom location's definition in the custom location file.
7. Click Close to stop editing the custom location file.

Copy a location

Sometimes a geographic feature can be referred to by multiple names, particularly over time. If you are processing documents that include firsthand accounts from different time periods, you may want to define a set of custom locations where different place names are associated with the same spatial coordinate.

1. Edit a custom location file.

   The Custom Location File dialog box appears.

2. Click the box to the left of the row that defines the custom location you want to copy.

   The row is selected in the table. This ensures you will copy the correct spatial coordinate.

3. Double-click the cell in the Location Coordinate column and type the spatial coordinate associated with this place name.
4. Select the text that defines the spatial coordinate, for example, by pressing Ctrl+A.
5. Copy the text that defines the spatial coordinate, for example, by pressing Ctrl+C.
6. Scroll to the bottom of the Locations table.

   A new, empty row is available at the bottom of the table for defining a new location.

7. Double-click the cell in the new, empty row in the Location Coordinate column and paste the text that defines the spatial coordinate, for example, by pressing Ctrl+V.
8. Press Enter to add the new place to the Locations table as a custom location.

   The file name at the top of the dialog box appears in italic text with an asterisk (*) to indicate that your changes have not been saved.

9. Double-click the cell in the empty row in the Location Name column, and type the place name associated with the copied coordinate. Alternatively, repeat steps 3 through 6 to copy a place name from another custom location and paste it in this cell in the empty row.
10. Check the check box in the Case Sensitive column in the empty row, if appropriate.
11. Check the check box in the Always use Fuzzy Match column in the empty row, if appropriate.
12. Click Save to add the new custom location to the custom location file.
13. Click Close to stop editing the custom location file.

Remove locations

To remove a location from a custom location file, first edit the file. Select the row in the Locations table that defines the location you want to remove, and click the Remove button at the top of the table, or press Delete. You can also remove multiple locations from a custom location file at once following the steps below.

1. Create a custom location file or edit a custom location file.

   The Custom Location File dialog box appears.

2. Click the box to the left of the row that defines the custom location you want to remove.

   The row is selected in the table.

3. Press Ctrl or Shift.
4. Repeat step 2 to select the other locations you want to remove.
5. Click the Remove button at the top of the Locations table, or press Delete.
6. Click Save to update the custom location's definition in the custom location file.
7. Click Close to stop editing the custom location file.