Q: Where can I see if a particular country of interest has CODs?
A: Inspect the COD Portal or the HDX COD Dashboard.
Q: What are COD geoservices?
A: Many COD-ABs have live geoservices and they are being added gradually to all remaining COD-ABs. These services allow GIS systems to directly consume the most up-to-date COD-AB version into a map or automated system. Once the map with the geoservices is saved, it will load the newest boundaries when re-opened. For more information see COD Tutorial: How to consume COD live services.
Q: How is the Humanitarian Profile COD (COD-HP) used?
A: COD-HPs are integral to Snapshots, Dashboards, Humanitarian Needs Overviews, Strategic Response Plans, SitReps, and all sorts of data analyses.
Q: What is a P-code?
A: A P-code is an alphanumeric place code that uniquely identifies a geographic place including a COD feature independently of feature name variations, language, or spelling. See P-codes and gazetteers.
Q: What is a COD feature?
A: A COD feature is a boundary polygon or location point referenced by a COD. COD-AB and COD-PS datasets normally reference administrative features. The generic term is used to avoid association with administrative level terminology (such as ‘province’ or ‘district’) which varies from country to country and even within a country.
Q: What is the difference between an HDX dataset and a COD?
A: All CODs are disseminated as HDX datasets, but many HDX datasets are not CODs. CODs are tagged as a ‘COMMON OPERATIONAL DATASET - COD’ and can be filtered within HDX.
Q: What is the difference between an HDX dataset and a resource?
A: HDX datasets are collections of one or more resources and have one URL. Resources are individual files (although they may be zip files containing multiple files) or links to live geoservices, APIs, or other web-based services.
Q: What file formats are COD-AB datasets provided in?
A: COD-AB datasets generally include:
shapefiles
geodatabases
EMF files
live geoservices
spreadsheets (XLSX) (for the gazetteer)
GeoJSON files may also be included.
Q: What file formats are COD-PS datasets provided in?
A: COD- PS datasets generally include:
XLSX spreadsheets for the gazetteer
XLSX spreadsheets for the population statistics, with a separate worksheet for each administrative level
individual CSV spreadsheets for each population statistics administrative level
Q: Where can I obtain CODs?
A: CODs are disseminated on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). HDX has a COD page, and CODs are a filtering option on every location page.
Q: Is there a COD-PS for every COD-AB?
A: No, but most COD-AB countries have a COD-PS.
Q: What are the proper field names for COD files?
A: FIS encourages the use of:
“ADMn” for administrative level terminology, where 'n' is the level number
“ADMn-XX for feature name fields, where 'n' is the level number and XX is the two-character country code
“ADMn-CODE” for P-code fields, where 'n' is the level number