the-new-maps-project / redistrictingalgorithm

The original Java algorithm, developed by The New Maps Project to redraw US Congressional District boundaries.

The New Maps Project Redistricting Algorithm v1.2

Updates: v1.2

Effective Aug 31 2020
No Breaking Changes

Changes:

1. All results write to a newly created file in a folder called "results" in the root directory. Files created in a specific format, with the state name, threshold, and time created. See "Retrieve Output Data" below
2. Prints the number of lines outputted.
3. Prints version of algorithm when run.

How to use:

Run Locally

Must have Java installed, preferably JDK 11 or higher

1. Download the repository onto your local system
2. Put an input file in "inputfiles" directory, see below "Input File Format" for the required format of this file.
3. Open the command line to compile the code, "cd" into the folder with all the code and run "javac *.java". (This compiles all .java files)
4. Run the program's Main class with 4 command line arguments: state name, input file name (in the "inputfiles" directory), # of districts, threshold (as a decimal percent).
   Example Execution: java Main "Rhode Island" "rhodeisland.txt" "2" "0.95"
5. When the program has finished running and it prints "Successfully written to results.txt", open the result.txt file and retrieve the output data. See below "Retrieve Output Data" for the file format.

Prints during the Algorithm:

Check the console for lines of print during the algorithm

1. Version of the Algorithm
2. Calculated total population
3. Population threshold (total population / districts * threshold %)
4. "Starting Algorithm"
5. Results (will print line count if over 100 lines)
6. "Successfully Written", with file name in the "results" folder for output, OR "Error".

File Formats

Input File Format:

Will not work if not in this format: .txt files with Comma separated values. Each line: town name, population, latitude, longitude (latitude and longitude are numerical values, do not put N/S/E/W).

Example:

Providence,179883,41.8239891,-71.4128343
Cranston,81456,41.7798226,-71.4372796
Warwick,81004,41.7001009,-71.4161671
Pawtucket,72117,41.878711,-71.38255579999999
East Providence,47618,41.8137116,-71.3700545
Woonsocket,41751,42.00287609999999,-71.51478390000001
...

Retrieve Output Data:

After the algorithm is complete, it will write to a new file in the "results" folder located in the root directory. The Name of this file will be printed in the console if run successfully. (Name of file in the format: State-Threshold---Day of Week-Month-Day-Hours-Minutes-Seconds-Timezone-Year)

The content of the output file is in the following format: First Line: State name,threshold (as a decimal). Following lines: town name, district #, latitude, longitude, population

Example:

Massachusetts,0.95
Boston,1,42.361799621354926,-71.05746810205792,692600
Chelsea,1,42.3917638,-71.0328284,39690,
Worcester,2,42.29045342556963,-71.70299110368317,185428
Auburn,2,42.1945385,-71.8356271,16766
Millbury,2,42.19207189999999,-71.761522,13947
Shrewsbury,2,42.2959267,-71.71284709999999,38526
Leicester,2,42.245926,-71.90868429999999,11341
...

Sample Input Files

In the folder "inputfiles", there are text files that have data corresponding to the US state name (Ex: westviginia.txt contains data from West Virginian towns). These files are already in the specified CSV format for input files