How do i edit kml files

Take a look at the "Absolute Extruded" example in the Paths folder and you can see how the shape has been generated by the following code:. Notice how it is really just one line drawn at altitude above the ground. You can use Polygons to create simple buildings and other shapes. The Pentagon example is generated by drawing simple inner and outer shells and then extruding them down to the ground.

Here is the code :. This section describes some of the KML elements that must be authored using a text editor, such as shared styles for geometry, highlighted icons for Placemarks, and screen overlays. Authoring KML "by hand" is a bit more advanced than using the Google Earth interface to create and modify features, but with a small amount of practice, most users are comfortable editing KML files to add these effects. Once you've created features within Google Earth and examined the KML code Google Earth generates, you'll notice how styles are an important part of how your data is displayed.

Power users will want to learn how to define their own styles. Because more than one element can use the same Style, styles defined and used in this way are referred to as shared styles.

If the Style definition is within the same file, precede the Style ID with a sign. Note that it's easiest if your IDs are descriptive strings so that you can easily tell what their effect is. Here's an example of a style "transBluePoly" that defines a transparent blue color for the polygon faces and a line width of 1.

This style is used by Building 41 in the Google Campus example in the Polygons folder :. The Document defines two styles, one for the "normalPlacemark" and one for the "highlightPlacemark" shown when the cursor rolls over the Icon.

There are two icon states: normal and highlight. Screen overlays cannot be authored directly within Google Earth and are thus more difficult to create than ground overlays. As an example, enable the "Absolute Positioning: Top left" folder in the KML Samples file and you will see a screen overlay at the top left of the view window. This was created with the following KML code:. In this case, the top-left corner of the image 0,1 has been made coincident with the same point on the screen.

Check the other examples in the folder to see how it is possible to obtain other fixed positions, and to create images that size dynamically with screen size. Note that xunits and yunits can also be specified as "pixels" for precision control. For further detail, see the KML 2. The specified file can be either a local file or a file on a remote server. In their simplest form, network links are a useful way to split one large KML file into smaller, more manageable files on the same computer. So far, all of our examples have required that the KML code be delivered to Google Earth from the local machine.

Network links give you the power to serve content from a remote location and are commonly used to distribute data to large numbers of users. In this way, if the data needs to be amended, it has to be changed only at the source location, and all users receive the updated data automatically.

With some knowledge of a scripting language such as PHP, Python, or Perl, you can create a script that delivers a stream or file of KML data to each network link. The response must be valid KML. For complex applications, proper error handling is very important. Tip: A simple way to handle errors is to parse the server's error as the text for a folder name.

This is more informative and more user-friendly than letting the connection drop. Whenever the network link is refreshed, the Python script runs again and generates KML with new latitude and longitude values. Click the three line menu. Click the Settings icon.

Click the Bookmark icon. Navigate to and double-click your KML file. Click Save. Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue.

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Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. The downloader will automatically detect the operating system you are using and download the appropriate file. Click the downloaded file to launch the Google Earth Pro Installer. Open Google Earth Pro.

VP and General Manager, Lifewire. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn. Updated on June 14, Ryan Perian. Lifewire Technology Review Board Member.

Article reviewed on May 18, Tweet Share Email. Open one with Google Earth , Merkaartor , or Marble. How do you open. KML files in Google Maps? KML files in Excel? Was this page helpful?

Thanks for letting us know! Email Address Sign up There was an error. Here are examples of the mashup in a web page and a blog. You can also add your Google Analytics code to the project, which will allow you to track statistics about who is viewing your page.

Here's the simple script to add it:. This will allow other users to view your mashup. Also, check out the list of tags for a brief description of all gm tags with examples. Once you've published your mashup, you can use the KML file in it as a parameter to include in another application, or loaded directly as a map. For instance, this page:. You can also create a Gadget from your project.