Where to Find ROAD Files

   

The root directory of the first ROAD CD contains a readme.txt file that describes the files contained on that CD. There are 6 directories on the first CD arranged as follows.

In the DOCS directory the documentation, in HTML format. The file road.html is the root file, and contains the table of contents and links to all other files.

In the BOUNDS directory the shape files describing the geographic boundaries of each MCDgroup in ArcView 2.0 format.

• Archived in a zip file bounds.zip, for each state-level set of MCDgroups there are three files: sumxx.dbf, sumxx.shx, sumxx.shp .i.e., sumal.dbf, sumal.shx, sumal.shp,... sumwv.dbf, sumwv.shx, sumwv.shp.

In the PRECINCT directory the Precinct Electoral files

• Archived in zip files PartX.zip, for each state for each year an SPSS portable file, xxyymp20.por, containing electoral data, i.e., al84mp20.por, al86mp20.por, al88mp20.por, al90mp20.por ... wv88mp20.por, wv90mp20.por

In the MCDGRP directory the MCD Group level files

• For each state an SPSS portable file, mg_xx.por, containing merged Census and electoral data at the MCDgroup level, i.e., mg_ak.por, mg_al.por, mg_ar.por, mg_az.por . . . mg_wa.por, mg_wv.por

In the NOTES directory the notes and exceptions documentation files

• In the MATCH_C sub-directory
  For each state, where informative, a matc_xx.log, i.e., matc_ak.log, matc_al.log, matc_ar.log, matc_az.log . . . matc_wa.log, matc_wv.log
• In the MATCH_F sub-directory
  For each state, where informative, a matf_xx.log, i.e., matf_ak.log, matf_al.log, matf_ar.log, matf_az.log . . . matf_wa.log, matf_wv.log
• In the MATCH_H sub-directory
  For each state, where informative, a math_xx.log, i.e., math_ak.log, math_al.log, math_ar.log, math_az.log . . . math_wa.log, math_wv.log
• In the EXCEPT sub-directory
  For each state, where informative, a excep_xx.txt, i.e., excep_ak.txt, excep_al.txt, excep_ar.txt, excep_az.txt . . . excep_wa.txt, excep_wv.txt

In the KEY directory the Key files

• In the KEYS sub-directory
  When appropriate, each state has two zip files, key.zip and pkey.zip. These contain SPSS portable files keyxx.por, and pkeyxx.por providing matches of MCDs (or counties) to MCDgroups, and precincts to MCDgroups (respectively), i.e., key_ak.por, keyak.por, pkeyak.por, . . . keywv.por, pkeywv.por.
• In the INPUT sub-directory
  For each state an ascii file, xx.mcd, listing precincts and MCDs (by precinct) used as input for plvdkey.exe program, see the description in the section on plvdkey.exe. i.e., ak.mcd, al.mcd, ar.mcd, az.mcd . . . wa.mcd, wv.mcd
• In the PROGRAMS sub-directory
  The program used to create the match files described above, i.e., plvdkey.exe, and the C++ code used to create this plvdkey.exe program contained in a series of files: plvdkey.cpp, plvdkey.dsk, plvdkey.h, plvdkey.obj, plvdkey.prj, alphanum.cpp, alphanum.h, alphanum.ob
• In the OUTPUT sub-directory
  For each state three ascii files, xx.mg, xx.mgl, and xx.mgs, that are an output file, a log file, and a statistics file generated from the plvdkey.exe program that is a list of precincts and mcds (by precinct), see the description in the section on plvdkey.exe. i.e., ak.mg, ak.mgl, ak.mgs, al.mg, al.mgl, . . .wv.mg, wv.mgl, wv.mgs

The root directory of the second ROAD CD contains a readme.txt file that describes the files contained on that CD. It contains only a CAMCDGRP directory containing the MCDgroup data for California, and a CAbounds directory containing only the boundary files for California.

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