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A dataset is one set of official records Ploti holds from one source. Each is one of five kinds, and a search names the kind of each match. The kind decides which calls read it, whether you can download it, and whether Data Feeds delivers it. To search only some kinds, pass kinds to datasets search.

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Layers

A layer is a set of records that each have a shape: parcels, zoning districts, flood zones, roads. Each record is a row with columns, such as a parcel’s owner, acreage and land use, plus its shape.
  • Understand it: datasets get lists its columns, datasets values the codes a coded column takes, and datasets profile how full each column is.
  • Read it: see Read rows.
    • datasets rows reads rows with conditions.
    • datasets aggregate counts and totals them.
    • datasets lookup finds rows by parcel number, address or owner name.
    • datasets related finds what overlaps or lies near one parcel.
    • datasets estimate sizes a read first.
  • Download it: datasets download writes its rows to a file, whole or narrowed. See Download a dataset.

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Tables

A table is rows without shapes, usually from a spreadsheet or database export: a permit log, a fee schedule, a list of tax delinquencies.
  • Read it: the same calls as a layer. Its rows have no shapes, so a table refuses a place or a bbox (a rectangle on the map). Narrow it with a condition on its own columns instead, such as its city or parcel number column.
  • Download it: datasets download, without a shape column.

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Documents

A document is one text Ploti has read and split into sections: a zoning ordinance, a comprehensive plan, a staff report.
  • Read it: see Documents and collections.
    • documents search finds passages by meaning or exact words.
    • documents read reads one section.
    • documents outline lists the sections and tables in order.
    • documents tables list and documents tables read read the tables found inside it, such as a district’s dimensional standards.
  • Download it: documents download writes the whole text to a file. datasets files get with original downloads the file Ploti read it from, such as the PDF.

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Scanned maps

A scanned map is a map a government published as an image or a PDF, not as data, such as a scanned future land use map or a zoning atlas page. Ploti keeps its title, a description and the area it covers, but it has no text to open.
  • Read it: a documents search with a question can find it. It can’t be opened with documents read.
  • Download it: datasets files get with original downloads the image or PDF.

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Collections

A collection is many documents that belong together, kept as one dataset: a town’s meeting minutes, an agency’s yearly reports, a numbered series of resolutions. Each document in it has a member key (its id within the collection), a title and a date.
  • Read it:
    • collections documents list lists the documents.
    • collections documents search finds words inside them and names the document and page of each match.
    • collections documents read opens one document by its member key.
    • A collection usually also has a table with one row per document. Read it like any other table.
  • Download it: not as one file. Read the documents you need one at a time. Each comes with a link to its stored file.