Smart Search

This article contains instructions on using the Smart Search to perform intelligent custom queries on any supported Open Dataset you utilize in a project. Smart Search significantly promotes the accuracy, efficiency, and effectiveness of discovering Open Data information for the Smart Site Plan Platform. By creating a query using our simple yet intelligent GUI, our users can dynamically view and download tailored data on the map. This feature is only available for Team Subscriptions or higher.

Getting here

The Smart Search is located in multiple locations for easy access to our users. This functionality automatically shows if you have an Open Data source turned on that supports querying.

• To the right of Smart Site Plan’s Search Bar.
• At the top of the Open Data container.
• In a selected Open Data result’s container. Selecting Smart Search here will quickly enable querying for the specific source.

Context Title/Menu

At the top of the Smart Search container, the context title can be found to help our users identify and/or switch between supported Open Data sources. If multiple Open Data Sources are active (and support), a context menu will be shown to perform Smart Search quickly.

• Context Title shows the name of the Open Data source active for Smart Search.
• Context Menu gives users a quick method to change between supported Smart Search sources easily.

Query Builder

Gives users access to a simple, intelligent, and customizable GUI creator to discover and download tailored data on the map. Below helps identify and use this feature to its utmost capabilities.

1. Begin by selecting a Property for the source. The options in this dropdown are dynamic to the source that you are performing the Smart Search on.
2. This example has selected OBJECTID as the property.
   • Selecting Shape Area (polygons) or Shape Length (polylines) will give users an additional option for units. Note that this option is dynamic and might not exist depending on the source being searched.
3. Then, select an Operator for the rule. Below identifies each of the available options. Depending on the Property selected, the Operator options will change. The two types of Operators are Text or Number. For this example, OBJECTID is a number value field that would use Number Operators.
   • Text Operators: Equal to, Not equal to, Contains, Not contains, Starts with, and Ends with.
   • Number Operators: Equal to, Not equal to, At least, At most, Greater than, Less than.
4. After a Property and Operator have been selected, input the value of interest. A good way to know what types of values are queryable is to click on an entity on the map. For this example, the value 155474 will be used.
   • Although this example uses the OBJECTID as the queryable property, clicking an entity on the map can discover property values to help you create accurate searches. If I wanted to find parcels with only an ORDINARY type, I would choose PARCE_TYPE as the Property and Equal to as the Operator with ORDINARY as the value.
5. If you would like to have more than one condition, click the Add button below the first rule. A new rule will automatically be added using the statement OR. If you prefer to use AND, click the OR button and change it to AND.
   • In this example, we will look for Shape Area of at least 20,000 Sq Ft and PARCEL_TYPE equal to ORDINARY.
6. If you would like to combine multiple AND statements with OR statements, we recommend the usage of groups. To add a new group, click on + icon at the bottom of the query creator. A new group will automatically be added using the statement OR. If you prefer to use AND, click the OR button and change it to AND.
   • In this example, we will look for (Shape Area of at least 20,000 Sq Ft and PARCEL_TYPE equal to ORDINARY) OR PIN equal to 0363 06 0103. Taking advantage of using groups gives users the ability to bring order to their queries.
7. After you have created a query that will, in theory, help you fine-tune and locate data on the map, click Perform Search.
8. The entities that are bright yellow make up your results from Smart Search. If you move your map around, you should continue to see new yellow entities pop in. This uses your query and dynamically adds and removes entities in your screen view to help you quickly and efficiently find data you are interested in.
9. If you would like to download to save these newly found entities, please follow the Download Visible Results section.

Download Data/Save to Layers

Once you have finished creating the query using the Query Builder section, you can begin downloading the data found on the map.

1. After you have clicked Perform Search, entities will start showing up depending on your location and query options. In order to begin downloading the information you have queried, at least 1 entity must be present on your screen in yellow. The three types of shapes are Point, Line, and Polygon. If your Download Visible Results does not have a value in the parentheses, then change your screen extents until you find entities. Note that the query you created may also prevent entities from showing up.
   • Notice that there are 50 available entities to download. Moving your screen extents can change this number since only what is on your screen is downloadable.
2. If you are satisfied with the entities in yellow and on your screen extents, click Download Visible Results.
3. Select Shapefile, GeoJSON, CSV, or KML to download this data directly to your local storage.
4. Choose Save to Layers if you would like to convert this data to Layers. This is the best option if you have no interest in hosting the data and want the power to create, add to it, edit or share it freely.
   • Once you have clicked Save to Layers, the data will be saved, and then the button will be replaced with View in Layers.
   • Clicking View in Layers will navigate you to our Layers and toggle the new layer created with the queried entities you found.
     • Important Note: You can continue Saving to Layers from the same source, and the layer in Layers will grow. Do not worry; the duplicates on your screen will be removed as the layer grows if there is an overlap. This technique is great if you have an existing layer to that you want to add this data, rename the layer the same as the Open Data source’s title (in this case, Parcels) and restart the Saving to Layers. 

Reset Search

Comes in handy if you are performing large queries and would like to reset the container to its default state quickly. Click Reset Search and then select OK to put your container to its default state.

Search History

After performing a search, the user gets access to the Search History. This feature gives users the ability to retrieve previously completed searches through a single click. To help our users with organization and simplicity, Search History is organized by time of last use, and if the source has the same title and URL, we replace it. This is to help keep the search history clean by not having duplicate queries.

Operators