New to Shape Files

[gene_denny]

I'm looking for some basic info on the use of a few shape files and am not able to find that magic post that explains it to me.  I've been using Alteryx for quite some time but primarily for blending, so I could really use some help.  My questions are two-fold.

I have the attached three files which show the boundaries for each of 5 high schools.  I want to be able to do two things with them if possible:

1.  Through Alteryx, layer these polygons over a map of the city of Des Moines, IA, and

2.  Export that map, with the polygons, into a file which could be then used by Tableau as, perhaps, and background map.

I've tried several of the spatial tools in Alteryx and I'm getting nowhere.  I gotta be honest, I don't even know where to start.  Anyone want to have a little fun and show me what's possible?

[gene_denny]

These were created by an outside source.  They come from our school district's school bus routing software.  I have had issues with getting them to respond, which is what brought me here originally.

[gene_denny]

The product is called Edulog, or Education Logistics.

I don't mean to imply that the company is unresponsive, just that finding the right people to answer questions regarding the shape files has been challenging due to the time of year.

[CharlieS]

I've figured out that this is a UTM coordinate system and can get Alteryx to render the polygons. The problem is that they're in the wrong location. As soon as I can figure out the projection zone settings and get this in the right place, we'll be set. It seems like it should be in zones 13N-15N, but it keeps putting it in the Pacific Ocean south of Mexico. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Transverse_Mercator_coordinate_system

Was there not a .PRJ file associated with the Shape file you received? When I save a .shp from Alteryx, a SHP, SHX, DBF, and PRJ file are produced. Alteryx could read this file directly, or we could view that PRJ file in a text editor to get the relevant information.

[gene_denny]

Thanks for all this work so far, Charlie.  Unfortunately, no they did not provide a prj file nor have I received one since requested several days ago.

[gene_denny]

Assuming we are able to either obtain the prj file or figure out the "zero" point we need, is Alteryx capable then of producing a file which can be used as a background map in Tableau?  For example, a .tms file or similar?  I've done quite a bit of work with custom maps in Tableau before, but the files were always provided to me.  At one point, even The Information Lab in the UK provided me with a map source file.

[EricM]

Hi @gene_denny and @CharlieS, 

I enjoy a good projection problem so I wanted to take a shot at this. After trying a few UTM projections which clearly weren't correct, I landed on Iowa State Plane South - does this screenshot appear to draw the polygons in the correct locations? 

Attaching the example workflow as well.  

[gene_denny]

Getting closer!

Here's a link on Tableau Public for a map I created by hand several years ago.  If you change the school level to High School, it should match what we have in these shape files.  I have additional shape files for the elementary and middle schools.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/gene.denny#!/vizhome/SchoolBoundaryChanges012914/SchoolBoundaries...

[EricM · Accepted solution]

@gene_denny, 

Awesome, I think this should do it - Iowa State Plane South in Feet - does this look about right? 

[gene_denny]

That looks great!  I've got to upgrade my Designer to .4 so I can open up your workflow.  Can that now be put into a format that Tableau can use as a background map?

[EricM]

@gene_denny, 

Yes, once you have the projection issue fixed you should be able to use Alteryx to write out the data to a spatial format that is supported by Tableau (I think I read somewhere in this thread that Tableau can now use .shp format directly, which is awesome).  

If you are having trouble with the workflow version, here is the projection info I used. You can set up your input tool to specify this projection: 

1. Select the input tool 

2. Select Projection under the Options list

3. Under Find Projection, search for NAD 1983 State Plane Iowa South FIPS 1402 FEET