represent-boundaries 0.10.2

A web API to geographic boundaries loaded from shapefiles, packaged as a Django app.

Represent Boundaries is a web API to geographic areas, like electoral districts. It allows you to easily find the areas that cover your users’ locations to display location-based information, like profiles of electoral candidates.

It’s a Django app that’s easy to integrate into an existing project or to deploy on its own. It uses a simple file format to control how data is loaded into the API, and it provides a command-line tool to easily manage data.

Notable uses include:

• Represent helps people find the elected officials and electoral districts for any Canadian address or postal code, at any level of government.

• OpenStates.org allows anyone to discover more about lawmaking in their state and uses Represent Boundaries to help them find their state legislators.

• GovTrack.us helps track the activities of the United States Congress and uses Represent Boundaries to help people find their members of Congress.

• ANCFinder.org helps Washington, DC residents discover and participate in their Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.

Public instances include:

• represent.opennorth.ca for Canada: source code and data files

• gis.govtrack.us for the US: source code

Documentation

• Installation

• Add data to the API

• Use the API

• Update data in the API

• Read the API reference

Testing

createdb represent_boundaries_test
psql represent_boundaries_test -c 'CREATE EXTENSION postgis;'
env DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=settings django-admin migrate --noinput
python runtests.py

Acknowledgements

Represent Boundaries is based on the Chicago Tribune’s django-boundaryservice.

Released under the MIT license