What is Geosupport (Desktop Edition)?

Geosupport is a data processing system originally designed to run on IBM mainframes to support geographic processing needs common to New York City agencies. It was developed and is maintained and enhanced by the staff of the Geographic Systems Section (GSS) of the Department of City Planning’s Information Technology Division. Geosupport is customized for New York City’s unique geography, and with a 99% address hit rate it is far superior to any other existing system for processing New York City geographic locations. This powerful geocoding package (Geosupport Desktop Edition) is now available to pc users.

What are the system requirements for installing Geosupport Desktop Edition?

Minimum System Requirements:
• PC running Windows 95 or higher
• 800 megabytes of available harddisk space
• CD-ROM drive

What can I do with Geosupport Desktop Edition?

Geosupport is very versatile. Geosupport Desktop Edition users can write their own applications in any programming language that permits a standard Dynamic Link Library (DLL) call, or use one of two Geosupport stand-alone utility products, GOAT or GBAT. Users can process and geocode data files (such as a customer address list) either in batch or in an interactive mode. Geosupport will return geographic information as well as administrative and political districts based on each input location.

What kind of geographic information is available in the Geosupport System?

Geosupport processes data in a variety of inputs: street names (with or without addresses), intersections, intersection names, non-addressable place names (such as “City Hall”), tax lots, building identification numbers (BINs), street segments (defined by two consecutive cross streets), and street stretches (defined by two consecutive or non-consecutive cross streets). The geographic information returned as output varies with each type of input processed. Such output may include: zip codes, address ranges, cross streets, census tract and block, tax block and lot, election district, police precinct, number of structures and x-y coordinates.

Do I have to be programmer to use Geosupport Desktop Edition?

No user programming is necessary to use the utility programs, GOAT or GBAT and these sufficiently satisfy the needs of many users. However, programmers can write their own applications to access Geosupport through its Application Programming Interface (API).

Do I need Geographic Information System (GIS) software to use Geosupport?

Absolutely not. One of the primary benefits of Geosupport is that spatial information can be obtained without the user’s need for a Geographic Information System (GIS). At the same time, GIS users can connect to Geosupport.

I am using an older version of Geosupport Desktop Edition, is it necessary for me to license the latest version?

It depends on how you want to use and maintain your own data files and your necessity of the most current information. Geosupport is continually updated with geographic data as well as occasional software enhancements and is released on a quarterly update cycle. New York City’s geography is constantly changing. Tax block and lot boundaries are re-drawn to reflect new development and/or the transfer of ownership. The corresponding address and/or street information assigned to such lots undergo change as well. The average release contains 750-1500 new addresses as well as multiple street name additions and other changes.

Can I see an example of an application that was developed using Geosupport?

Yes! You can view and use the Address Translator (AT) on City Planning’s own website http://gis.nyc.gov/dcp/at/f1.jsp . The AT contains a subset of the functions and data items available to Geosupport users.

Sounds great! Can I try it out before licensing?

A sample version of Geosupport Desktop Edition is available for download with full system functionality, but containing data files limited to a sample set in Jamaica, Queens. The sample data matches the samples from other BYTES of the BIG APPLE products such as PLUTO and the Tax Lot Base Map so that the user can test our products in conjunction with one another. The download also contains a full set of documentation to answer any other questions that you may have.

Who can I contact if I have more questions?

Call the BYTES of the BIG APPLE™ Coordinator at (212) 720-3505.

Additional information is available in the Overview Documentation. For a complete technical manual please download the sample application.

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