What do I need to use this data?

OS MasterMap Topography Layer – Building Height Attribute is designed to be joined to and then used as part of the OS MasterMap Topography Layer. The guide on joining data to a OS MasterMap Topography Layer gives guidance on how to join this data to your Topography Layer holding.

As it is a part of the OS MasterMap Topography Layer, Building Height Attribute is designed for use in a digital map within geographic information systems (GIS) and database systems. For details of Ordnance Survey’s Licensed Partners who can assist you with incorporating Building Height Attribute data in their systems, please see the software for mapping page on the OS website.

Ordnance Survey does not recommend either suppliers or software products as the most appropriate system will depend on many factors, such as the amount of data being taken, resources available within the organisation, the existing and planned information technology infrastructure and last but by no means least, the applications that the data will be used for. However, as a minimum, the following elements will be required in any system:

• A means of reading the data, either in its native format or by translating it into a file format or for storage in a database

• A means of storing and distributing the data, perhaps in a database or through a web-based service

• A way of visualising and/or querying the data, typically a GIS

Backup provision of the product

You are advised to copy the supplied data to a backup medium before following the steps in this guide.

Typical data volumes for the product

For reading purposes, it is recommended that users store the data on a single hard disc as this will speed up the ability of your computer to read the data. The uncompressed file size for the full supply of Great Britain (GB) is 2.6 Gb.