3. Product Distribution Formats#

3.1. Overview#

The following entities are part of the National Road Network (NRN) Segmented view: Address Range, Alternate Name Link, Blocked Passage, Ferry Connection Segment, Junction, Road Segment, Street and Place Names and Toll Point.

The product is available in the following output file formats: SHP (ESRI™ Shapefile) and GPKG (OGC Geopackage).

3.2. Product Identification#

Name

National Road Network

Version

2.1

Date

2012-03-31

Standard

Data Product Specifications

Feature catalogue

Feature Catalogue

3.3. Distribution Formats Identification#

3.3.1. SHP – ESRI™ Shapefile#

Name

Shapefile

Version

01

Date

July 1998

Specifications

ESRI Shapefile Technical Description, an ESRI White Paper, July 1998

3.3.2. GPKG – OGC Geopackage#

Name

GeoPackage

Version

1.0.1

Date

January 2019

Specifications

https://www.geopackage.org/spec101/index.html

3.4. Distribution Files Identification#

3.4.1. SHP File Names#

The entities of the product distributed in SHP format are divided according to their geometrical representation. The name of the SHP files is structured accordingly:

NRN_<IDENTIFIER>_<edition>_<version>_<ENTITY>[_<MODIFICATION>].shp

Property

Description

NRN

Abbreviated title of the product.

<IDENTIFIER>

Code of a province or a territory corresponding to the dataset location. Possible codes are: AB, BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT.

<edition>

Dataset edition number.

<version>

Dataset version number.

<ENTITY>

Abbreviated entity name as defined in Jeux de données.

[<MODIFICATION>]

[] = Optional. Type of modification applied to the dataset entities and attributes in comparison to previous edition.

.shp

Extension of the main geometry file name.

There are also five other files associated with the main geometry file of an entity in SHP format:

  • an attribute file (.dbf for dBASE® file);

  • a projection file (.prj) which includes information about the reference system and the parameters of the cartographic projection;

  • an index file (.shx) containing the offset (relative position) for each record of the main geometry file;

  • two spatial index files for the geometrical data (.sbn, .sbx).

Examples:

File Name

Description

NRN_AB_4_0_ROADSEG.shp

Entity Road Segment for dataset of Alberta, edition 4, version 0.

NRN_AB_4_0_ROADSEG_ADDED.shp

Geometrical entities and/or basic attributes added to Road Segment in dataset of Alberta, edition 4, version 0.

3.4.2. GPKG File Names#

The entities of the product distributed in GPKG format are distributed as a single file, with the entities divided into layers according to their geometrical representation. The name of the GPKG file is structured accordingly:

NRN_<IDENTIFIER>_<edition>_<version>_en.gpkg

Property

Description

NRN

Abbreviated title of the product.

<IDENTIFIER>

Code of a province or a territory corresponding to the dataset location. Possible codes are: AB, BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT.

<edition>

Dataset edition number.

<version>

Dataset version number.

en

ISO code of the dataset distribution language.

.gpkg

File name extension.

Examples:

File Name

Description

NRN_AB_4_0_en.gpkg

All entities for dataset of Alberta, edition 4, version 0.

3.4.3. Metadata File#

There are four metadata files that are distributed with each dataset of an NRN product. Two files are provided in FGDC/XML format (in French and in English) and two others according to FGDC/HTML format. The name of the metadata file is structured accordingly:

nrn_rrn_<identifier>_<edition>_<version>_fgdc_en.<format>

Property

Description

nrn_rrn

Abbreviated English and French product title.

<identifier>

Code of a province or a territory corresponding to the dataset location. Possible codes are: ab, bc, mb, nb, nl, ns, nt, nu, on, pe, qc, sk, yt.

<edition>

Dataset edition number.

<version>

Dataset version number.

fgdc

Metadata file format according to CSDGM standard of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC).

en

ISO code of the dataset distribution language.

<format>

File name extension (xml or html).

Examples:

File Name

Description

nrn_rrn_ab_4_0_fgdc_en.xml

Metadata file for dataset of Alberta, edition 4, version 0 in FGDC/XML format.

nrn_rrn_ab_4_0_fgdc_en.html

Metadata file for dataset of Alberta, edition 4, version 0 in FGDC/HTML format.

3.4.4. List of distribution file names#

The NRN product is comprised of two types of datasets: a file that contains up to date (actualized) data (e.g. that has been updated) and a file containing the modifications (differences) applied to the previous edition of the dataset.

3.4.4.1. Datasets#

The extension of the file name corresponds to the distribution format.

Feature catalogue Entity name

Entity name

Type

Address Range

ADDRANGE

Table*

Alternate Name Link

ALTNAMLINK

Table*

Blocked Passage

BLKPASSAGE

Point

Ferry Connection Segment

FERRYSEG

Line

Junction

JUNCTION

Point

Road Segment

ROADSEG

Line

Street and Place Names

STRPLANAME

Table*

Toll Point

TOLLPOINT

Point
* Attributes file (.dbf) in SHP format.

3.5. Attributes Identification#

The attributes common to all entities of the NRN product are listed in the first table. The attributes specific to each entity are presented in the following subsection.

The data type for all distribution formats is either: C(c) for character or N(n,d) for number (c = number of characters, n = total number of digits, d = number of digits in decimal).

3.5.2. Attributes Specific to Entities#

3.5.2.1. Address Range#

Feature catalogue Attribute name

Attribute name

Data Type

Alternate Street Name NID Left

L_ALTNANID

C(32)

Alternate Street Name NID Right

R_ALTNANID

C(32)

Digitizing Direction Flag Left

L_DIGDIRFG

C(18)

Digitizing Direction Flag Right

R_DIGDIRFG

C(18)

First House Number Left

L_HNUMF

N(9,0)

First House Number Right

R_HNUMF

N(9,0)

First House Number Suffix Left

L_HNUMSUFF

C(10)

First House Number Suffix Right

R_HNUMSUFF

C(10)

First House Number Type Left

L_HNUMTYPE

C(21)

First House Number Type Right

R_HNUMTYPE

C(21)

House Number Structure Left

L_HNUMSTR

C(19)

House Number Structure Right

R_HNUMSTR

C(19)

Last House Number Left

L_HNUML

N(9,0)

Last House Number Right

R_HNUML

N(9,0)

Last House Number Suffix Left

L_HNUMSUFL

C(10)

Last House Number Suffix Right

R_HNUMSUFL

C(10)

Last House Number Type Left

L_HNUMTYPL

C(21)

Last House Number Type Right

R_HNUMTYPL

C(21)

NID

NID

C(32)

Official Street Name NID Left

L_HNUMTYPL

C(32)

Official Street Name NID Right

R_HNUMTYPL

C(32)

Reference System Indicator Left

L_HNUMTYPL

C(18)

Reference System Indicator Right

R_HNUMTYPL

C(18)

3.5.2.3. Blocked Passage#

Feature catalogue Attribute name

Attribute name

Data Type

Blocked Passage Type

BLKPASSTY

C(17)

NID

NID

C(32)

Road Element NID

ROADNID

C(32)

3.5.2.4. Ferry Connection Segment#

Feature catalogue Attribute name

Attribute name

Data Type

Closing Period

CLOSING

C(7)

Ferry Segment ID

FERRYSEGID

N(9,0)

Functional Road Class

ROADCLASS

C(41)

NID

NID

C(32)

Route Name English 1

RTENAME1EN

C(100)

Route Name English 2

RTENAME2EN

C(100)

Route Name English 3

RTENAME3EN

C(100)

Route Name English 4

RTENAME4EN

C(100)

Route Name French 1

RTENAME1FR

C(100)

Route Name French 2

RTENAME2FR

C(100)

Route Name French 3

RTENAME3FR

C(100)

Route Name French 4

RTENAME4FR

C(100)

Route Number 1

RTNUMBER1

C(10)

Route Number 2

RTNUMBER2

C(10)

Route Number 3

RTNUMBER3

C(10)

Route Number 4

RTNUMBER4

C(10)

Route Number 5

RTNUMBER5

C(10)

3.5.2.5. Junction#

Feature catalogue Attribute name

Attribute name

Data Type

Exit Number

EXITNBR

C(10)

Junction Type

JUNCTYPE

C(14)

NID

NID

C(32)

3.5.2.6. Road Segment#

Feature catalogue Attribute name

Attribute name

Data Type

Address Range Digitizing Direction Flag Left

L_ADDDIRFG

C(18)

Address Range Digitizing Direction Flag Right

R_ADDDIRFG

C(18)

Address Range NID

ADRANGENID

C(32)

Closing Period

CLOSING

C(7)

Exit Number

EXITNBR

C(10)

First House Number Left

L_HNUMF

N(9,0)

First House Number Right

R_HNUMF

N(9,0)

Functional Road Class

ROADCLASS

C(41)

Last House Number Left

L_HNUML

N(9,0)

Last House Number Right

R_HNUML

N(9,0)

NID

NID

C(32)

Number of Lanes

NBRLANES

N(4,0)

Official Place Name Left

L_PLACENAM

C(100)

Official Place Name Right

R_PLACENAM

C(100)

Official Street Name Concatenated Left

L_STNAME_C

C(100)

Official Street Name Concatenated Right

R_STNAME_C

C(100)

Paved Road Surface Type

PAVSURF

C(8)

Pavement Status

PAVSTATUS

C(11)

Road Jurisdiction

ROADJURIS

C(100)

Road Segment ID

ROADSEGID

N(9,0)

Route Name English 1

RTENAME1EN

C(100)

Route Name English 2

RTENAME2EN

C(100)

Route Name English 3

RTENAME3EN

C(100)

Route Name English 4

RTENAME4EN

C(100)

Route Name French 1

RTENAME1FR

C(100)

Route Name French 2

RTENAME2FR

C(100)

Route Name French 3

RTENAME3FR

C(100)

Route Name French 4

RTENAME4FR

C(100)

Route Number 1

RTNUMBER1

C(10)

Route Number 2

RTNUMBER2

C(10)

Route Number 3

RTNUMBER3

C(10)

Route Number 4

RTNUMBER4

C(10)

Route Number 5

RTNUMBER5

C(10)

Speed Restrictions

SPEED

N(4,0)

Structure Name English

STRUNAMEEN

C(100)

Structure Name French

STRUNAMEFR

C(100)

Structure ID

STRUCTID

C(32)

Structure Type

STRUCTTYPE

C(15)

Traffic Direction

TRAFFICDIR

C(19)

Unpaved Road Surface Type

UNPAVSURF

C(7)

3.5.2.7. Street and Place Names#

Feature catalogue Attribute name

Attribute name

Data Type

Directional Prefix

DIRPREFIX

C(10)

Directional Suffix

DIRSUFFIX

C(10)

Muni Quadrant

MUNIQUAD

C(10)

NID

NID

C(32)

Place Name

PLACENAME

C(100)

Place Type

PLACETYPE

C(68)

Province

PROVINCE

C(25)

Street Name Article

STARTICLE

C(7)

Street Name Body

NAMEBODY

C(50)

Street Type Prefix

STRTYPRE

C(18)

Street Type Suffix

STRTYSUF

C(18)

3.5.2.8. Toll Point#

Feature catalogue Attribute name

Attribute name

Data Type

NID

NID

C(32)

Road Element NID

ROADNID

C(32)

Toll Point Type

TOLLPTTYPE

C(22)