AZTool

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Current versions

Download AZTool (Current version 1.0.3 25/8/11)

- The zip file contains the latest AZTool executable, along with a sample dataset (shapefile), parameter file (.xml), command script (.bat) and description of the tool and parameters in a Word doc. Start with the Readme.txt file!

- Note that full paths need to be specified in the AZTool parameter (.xml) file. The sample .xml file is set up to run from the c:AZT_Demo directory. If you are installing or running AZTool from any other location you will need to specify the full pathnames in the .xml file.

- Note that AZTool does not have a full GUI front-end. The options for the program are instead driven by the .xml parameter file. This makes it more flexible and allows it to be used in batch mode (using the .bat file) for larger jobs.

Download AZTImporter (Current version 1.0.1 20/10/10)

- Data are provided to AZTool in a bespoke format which is based on ArcInfo coverage polygon and arc attribute tables (.pat and .aat). Input files may be comma or tab delimited, but not fixed format. A Shapefile to .pat/.aat convertor (AZTImporter) is provided here which does not require an ESRI licence. This tool takes an ESRI Shapefile containing polygon data, and generates .aat and .pat files in the format required by AZTool. Again, start with the Readme file!

- The outputs are comma delimited, and headers are included in the .pat attribute file. An AZM_ID attribute is added that is the FID of each feature: this corresponds to the ID used in the .aat contiguity file. The AZM_Area attribute is also added, containing the area of each polygon.

- A row for an External Polygon is generated, but is assigned an ID one greater than the last FID value of the data rather than 0 as would be the case if genuine ArcInfo coverage attribute tables were used. The area value for the External Polygon is set to -1 to flag it as such.

Previous versions

Download AZM

AZM (Automated Zone Matching) is a tool for automated zone design which predates AZTool. It implements automated zone design on a set of zones described by polygon and arc attribute tables exported from Arc/Info or generated by users' own programs. It will optimize the match between two zonal systems, or the aggregation of a set of building blocks into a new set of tracts with a range of user-controlled design parameters. This download is provided here for historical interest.

The program is described more fully in: Martin D (2003) Extending the automated zoning procedure to reconcile incompatible zoning systems, International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 17, 181-196 https://doi.org/10.1080/713811750