The Path File

To make a PIP move on SOS, you simply have to attach a path file to a PIP so that the PIP will automatically move as the dataset is animating. The path file is a simple csv (comma-separated value) file where each line in the file consists of three fields.

frame#,lat,lon
frame#,lat,lon
frame#,lat,lon
frame#,lat,lon
.
.
.

As the dataset is animating, the PIP will be moved to the lat,lon coordinate location that corresponds to the current frame being shown on SOS.

Important (please read):

• There should be no column labels or other extraneous data at the top of the csv file
• Each line of the csv file must have exactly three numerical values separated by a total of two commas
• Each field can only be a numerical value (ex. 10,-25.0,32). There should be no letters or special characters in any of the fields. The first field, which is the frame number, should only be an integer (no decimal point)
• If your latitude or longitude data has directional labels such as N, E, S, or W, the labels should be removed and the S and the W values should be converted to their negative number representations (ex. “25°S” should be converted to -25)

A dataset’s default start frame number is 0 (not 1). So, if you want your PIP to show up on the very first frame of the dataset, the first frame number in your csv file should be 0.

A moving PIP will not be displayed until it reaches the first frame number in the csv file, and it will disappear after the last frame number in the csv file. So, for example, if your dataset has 600 frames of data, and in your csv file, the first frame# you specify is 100, your moving PIP will not show up until the dataset animation reaches frame 100. Similarly, if the last frame# in your csv file is 400, your moving PIP will disappear when the animation reaches frame 400.

There does not have to be a corresponding lat,lon location for every frame in the dataset. There can be gaps in the frame numbers. In the following example, there are no coordinates for frames 214 through 224.

212,25,172
213,26,173
225,43,176
226,44,175
227,45,170

This means that when the dataset reaches frame number 213, the moving PIP will remain at location 26,173 until the animation reaches frame number 225, at which time the PIP will be moved to location 43,176.