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I have a printing/plotting question about a GIS communications network map. Our clients want to plot a large ARCH E map for their wall of a network map. The issue is the network map isn't legible when plotted from a geographically correct land base. Traditionally clients will redraw in AutoCAD so they can print the same size map and read it when printed. For example, instead of the width of a street being 50 feet, they will redraw it as 200 feet and move/redraw the other facility vectors accordingly. I'm looking to see if their is a solution out there that will automatically adjust/scale the map so it is legible when plotted. Since I haven't been able to find a solution, I have tried to attempt this with FME, but haven't been 100% successful. Adjusting the streets is easy and don't have any issues there. I have also had pretty good luck moving points from the original edge of the street to the new edge of the street. The part that I am trying to determine the best way to handle is any lines(cables in this case) that parallel a portion of the edge of the street.

I am using our own format but I believe the problem would exist in any format. I'm willing to translate to another format if their is a tool like ArcGIS, AutoCAD, or something else that solves the problem. Our clients want the geographic accuracy of the GIS but also the ability to have a CAD representation they can plot and read. I have attached a couple of images. The first, , is a pdf of the data from our format(this one isn't legible). The second, , is an example of what they want the map to look like. In this case they have redigitized it in AutoCAD. The third, , is one of my attempts to recreate it using FME. I'm getting close but not quite there. Trying to figure out a better way to handle the cables. I'm not going to share my workspace because it is a mess but if anyone has any suggestions, I can potentially pull out those necessary sections from my workspace or describe what I tried.

In summary, I am searching to see if their is a way to recreate the map programmatically using a GIS/CAD tool to prevent our clients from manually having to recreate it. FME would be another potential option. This is approximately a 16x23 mile area that they want to see plotted and the scale would have to adjust based on the size of the area.

Thank you in advance for any responses. Let me know what additional questions you have.

Spiller

There is a Displacer transformer that you can try (if you're not using it already) to move the cables to be adjacent to the widened streets. I think the MapTextLabeller will come in useful too for labelling (unless that's already taken care of in the CAD data).

As a cartographer I would say that there is a limit to what you can do programmatically and it may mean you'll have to make some sacrifices in the quality of the map.

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