codefordenver/denver-sustainability

###Building a Sustainable Denver

######A php/MySQL project that displays buildings on a map and color codes them based on their level of commitment to sustainability.

At present, everything is written in HTML and Javascript (with JQuery) with a little bit of Mustache templating thrown in. MaterializeCSS is used to provide a sliding drawer and bubbling buttons. AJAX calls are made to get the map markers and details for the buildings.

#####Running/Editing Locally The most basic setup requires only a web browser and text editor. By default, the database and services are on a remote server. If you want to install things locally, you will need to get PHP and MySQL running.

#####Geohashes Geohashes are a way to succinctly express a location. Where you might use 16 characters to describe the location of a building footprint using a lat/lng pair, you can get the same accuracy using an 8-character geohash. This is important if you want to load 6000 points in one go. They can also help with fast algorithms for location comparisons/etc. You can find a good illustration of these codes here: http://geohash.gofreerange.com/

If you are describing a lot of buildings really close to each other, you can use a compression algorithm to take advantage of this proximity. The following is the algorithm I used to encode our dataset:

1. Sort the geohashes in alphabetical order
2. Print the first 5 characters of the first geohash
3. For each geohash that starts with these 5 letters, print the next three letters in it.
4. Our buildings are going to be one of 6 different types, so let's add a number representing the type after each partial hash (this will allow us to display the correct icon).
5. When a geohash is reached that contains a different 5 characters, print a flag character (i.e., '~') followed by the number of characters in the prefix that differ (n), followed by the last n characters in the next 5 character prefix.
6. Return to step 3 and repeat until last hash is coded in this manner.

#####Database A simple MySQL database that contains a row for each building and corresponding rows for certifications and strategies associated with the building. There is a dump file in the backup_database folder. You can install the schema and data by using the Import function in your MySQL tool of choice. There is a file in the php folder called config.php that contains constants for the database host, username, password, and database name.

#####File Structure path | description ---- | ----------- index.html | Has the map view. Here users can see the map and get stats on buildings in Denver. Some stuff is broken out into the html and js folders info.html | Has the about us information. faq.html | Has the FAQ Section, and information about how to submit scores. simpHTTP.py | Use this script as a local server to host the website while you are working on new contributions. backup_database/ | Dump of the mysql database html/ | Some of the page content (sometimes using Mustache templates). For example, bottom_drawer_splash.html is the splash screen that appears in the bottom drawer when you first open the page. images/ | The marker images, header images, certification badges, etc. js/ | A lot of the mapping and decoding logic is in here. Third party libs are in the lib folder. php/ | Contains files that access database and grab building data. If you want to do a local install, change the BASE_URL javascript variable in index.html to point to localhost. Change config.php to match your db params. styles/ | CSS for page. /lib contains third-party libs.