ImportTiger()

Summary

Converts TIGER/Line files to standard geographic files.

Changes

For Version 5.0, TIGER/Line versions are supported through 2006.

Syntax

ImportTiger(integer version, array filenames, string db_name, array options)

Argument	Contents
version	The version of TIGER/Line to be imported (1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006).
filenames	An array of the names (without extensions) of the TIGER/Line files to be imported, e.g. {"d:\\tgr25017", "d:\\tgr25025"}
db_name	The name of the output geographic file

Choose only one of the following five options. The option indicates the types of features to import and the type of layer to create:

Option	Type	Contents
Point	Array or string	An array of Census Feature Class Code (CFCC) strings, or the string "Block Centroid", or the string "ZIP+4", indicating the point features to import
Line	Array	An array of Census Feature Class Code (CFCC) strings, indicating the line features to import
Street	Array	An array of Census Feature Class Code (CFCC) strings, indicating the street features to import
Landmark	Array	An array of Census Feature Class Code (CFCC) strings, indicating the landmark area features to import
Area	String	Any one of the following strings, indicating the type of area boundary to construct: "State", "County", "Tract", "Block Group", "Block", "Water Block", "Place", "MCD", "Census UA Code" (or "UA"), "American Indian Reservation" (or "AIR"), "Voting District."

In addition, the following strings can also be used with the Area option to indicate the type of area boundary to construct for particular versions. The table indicates the first version that the string can be used with and the last version (if any) that the string can be used with:

String	First Version	Last Version
Congressional District	1990	2000
101st Congressional District	1990	1992
103rd Congressional District	1990	1992
106th Congressional District	1994	--
108th Congressional District	2000	--
Legislative Upper	1999	--
Legislative Lower	1999	--
80 State	1990	1992
80 County	1990	1992
80 Tract	1990	1992
80 Block	1990	1992
Place (FIPS)	1990	1995
90 State	1994	2000
90 County	1994	2000
90 MCD	1994	2000
90 Place	1994	2000
90 Tract	1994	2000
90 Block Group	1994	2000
90 Block	1994	2000
Block 2000	1997	2000
Current County	2002	--
Current MCD	2002	--
Current Place	2002	--
90 American Indian Reservation (or 90 AIR)	1994	2000
90 Tribal Designated Statistical Area (or 90 TDSA)	1994	2000
90 Tribal Jurisdiction Statistical Area (or 90 TJSA)	1994	2000
90 Alaska Native Village Statistical Area (or 90 ANVSA)	1994	2000
Tribal Designated Statistical Area (or TDSA)	1990	2000
Tribal Jurisdiction Statistical Area (or TJSA)	1990	2000
American Indian Tribal Subdivision (or AITS)	2002	--
Alaska Native Village Statistical Area (or ANVSA)	1990	2000
Alaska Native Regional Commission (or ANRC)	2000	--
Traffic Analysis Zone (or TAZ)	1994	--
TAZComb	2002	--
Elementary School District	1992	--
Middle School District	1992	1995
Secondary School District	1992	--
Unified School District	1992	--
Geographic Location	1994	2000
Consolidated City	2000	--
SMCD	2000	--
UGA	2000	--
ZCTA	2000	--
UA2000	2000	--
Atomic Polygon	2000	--
PUMA5	2000	--
PUMA1	2002	--

The following options can be used with any of the above options:

Option	Type	Contents
Copy Path	String	A path to which the TIGER/Line files are copied before processing; increases speed when working with TIGER/Line files on CD
Label	String	A descriptive label for the new geographic file
Layer Name	String	The name of the new layer in the geographic file
Datum	String	The name of the datum to convert to: "NAD27" or "NAD83"

The following option can be used only with the Line or Street options:

Option	Type	Contents
Node Layer Name	String	The name of the endpoint layer in the geographic file

The following option can be used only with the Landmark and Area options:

Option	Type	Contents
Water Boundary	Boolean	If "True" (the default), water blocks will be merged with adjacent area features, resulting in a simpler geographic file that does not show any water detail. If "False" water blocks are dropped out and appear as holes in the resulting, more detailed, geographic file.

Notes

If the version is not know, use TigerVersion() to make an educated guess of the TIGER/Line file version.
2000 is the version for the Redistricting Census 2000 TIGER/Line files (released December 2000 through March 2001), the (final) Census 2000 TIGER/Line files (released October 2001), the UA (Urban Area) Census 2000 TIGER/Line files (released June 2002), and the 108th CD Census 2000 TIGER/Line files (released March 2003).
If ImportTiger() does not find a TIGER/Line file in the specified folder, it prompts the user to place the CD in the drive. This option is very useful if the input data is scattered across two or more CDs.
The 103rd Congress (January 1993-1995) was the first based on the 1990 Census. Adjustments to Congressional districts were made through the 106th Congress (January 1999-2001). The 108th Congress (January 2003-2005) was the first based on the 2000 Census.
The 106th Congressional District codes are blank until the 1999 TIGER/Line files.
The 108th Congressional District codes are blank except in the 108th CD Census 2000 TIGER/Line files.
Some Area option strings need further description:

Area Option String	Description
Atomic Polygon	The areas from which all other areas are created; atomic polygons can have holes but not islands
Congressional District	Districts for the current Congress for that version of TIGER/Line
Geographic Location	Key Geographic Locations (KGLs), which are areas of interest in addition to the landmark areas
Place	Place boundaries with Census IDs
Place (FIPS)	Place boundaries with FIPS IDs
PUMA1 and PUMA5	Public Use Microsample Areas for 1 and 5 percent samples.
SMCD	Sub-MCDs, in particular the sub-barrios in Puerto Rico
TAZComb	Combined TAZs with unique IDs within states
UA	Census Urban Areas
UA2000	Census Urban Areas developed from the 2000 Census
UGA	Oregon Urban Growth Areas
ZCTA	5-digit ZIP Code Tabulation Areas; available only in the final Census 2000 TIGER/Line files and later

The geographic file name must be a valid name for a standard geographic file, with the .dbd extension.

Example

// Build simple Census Block boundaries

ImportTiger(1990, {"tgr25015"}, "my_file.dbd", {{"Area", "Block"}})

// Build voting districts, dropping out water blocks for more detail

ImportTiger(1992, {"tgr25015", "f:\\tgr25017"}, "another.dbd", {

{"Area", "Voting District"},

{"Layer Name", "Precincts"},

{"Label", "My Voting District File"},

{"Water Boundary", "False"}

})

Error Codes

Error Type	Meaning
Error	An error occurred creating the geographic file (e.g., insufficient disk space)
NotFound	One of the input TIGER/Line files could not be found