30-Mar-2026 — area-map: custom group boundaries and parish footpath observer allocations #201

build 568 — commit 34c780a

area-map: custom group boundaries and parish footpath observer allocations and support ad-hoc shapefile upload for custom group boundaries (#201)

Custom Group Boundaries

• Support ad-hoc shapefile upload for custom group boundary polygons
• customGeometry field on AreaGroup for per-group GeoJSON polygon overrides
• BNG→WGS84 coordinate transform via proj4 for uploaded shapefiles
• Features matched to groups by GROUP_CODE/GROUP_NAME properties
• Admin UI with upload button, match preview, and per-group clear

Parish Boundary Overlay

• ONS parish boundary proxy at /api/parishes/query fetching from Parishes_and_Non_Civil_Parished_Areas_December_2024 ArcGIS FeatureServer
• Server-side pagination, bounding box validation, and 24h in-memory cache with noCache query param to force refresh
• Parish boundaries clipped to group area polygons using point-in-polygon ray casting, coloured by allocation status (green=allocated, red=vacant)
• Hover highlights with increased opacity, tooltip showing parish name and status

Parish Footpath Observer (PFO) Allocations

• MongoDB parishAllocations collection with compound unique index on (groupCode, parishCode) storing per-parish allocated/vacant status
• Full CRUD via /api/database/parish-allocation with bulk delete endpoint
• CSV import at /api/parishes/import with upsert logic (matches by parishCode or parishName), per-row error detail reporting, and automatic fallback code generation for parishes without ONS codes
• Click-to-toggle admin UI: authenticated admins click a parish on the map to toggle allocated/vacant, saved to MongoDB in real time

Parish Popup with Member Selector

• New ParishPopupComponent with ng-select dropdown for assigning members to parishes via assigneeMemberId
• Compact mode for card-based rendering, Escape key closes popup
• Dynamic Angular component creation via createComponent() replaces HTML-string popups
• Members loaded once in ngOnInit, tooltip suppression while popup is open
• Selecting a member auto-sets status to "allocated"; marking vacant clears assignee

Parish Model & Query

• Added assigneeMemberId field to ParishAllocation model and Mongoose schema
• Added inSR: 4326 to ArcGIS API call to fix projection mismatch
• CSV import resolves assignee names to member _id via database lookup

Admin Settings (Maps Tab)

• Maps tab split into togglable sub-sections using SectionToggle: Area Groups, Custom Boundaries, Geographic Data, Parish Allocations
• Parish Allocations section with:
• Image-cropper-style file dialog (badge button + drag-and-drop zone)
• Sortable/filterable allocations table with status badges
• Clear All Allocations button with bulk delete
• Full error detail display on import failures
• ngx-bootstrap tooltips on custom boundary icons (replacing native title)

CMS Page Editor

• AreaMapData extended with showAreas, showParishes, colour pickers (parishAllocatedColor, parishVacantColor, parishBorderColor), and parishFillOpacity slider
• Checkboxes for "Show group area overlays" and "Show civil parish boundaries"
• CSV import UI with badge button, drag-and-drop, filename confirmation

Event Group Component

• Added compact input mode (hides "Group" heading on cards)
• Fixed "undefined" group name fallback via API lookup
• Icon and text wrapped in single clickable link with tooltip
• Shows group name even without login (no URL required)
• Removed unused service imports
• Consistent margin spacing in walk view

Data Migration & Housekeeping

• Migration 20260328000000-backfill-area-map-show-areas.ts sets showAreas: true on all existing area map rows in pageContent
• Extracted repeated MongoDB collection name constants into server/lib/mongo/migrations/shared/collection-names.ts
• Updated 16 migration files to import from shared module
• Fixed "pagecontent" typo to correct "pageContent" casing
• Added MapsSubTab and ParishAllocationSortField enums
• Removed unused MarkdownEditorComponent import from album backgrounds
• Suppressed browser focus outline on Leaflet map elements

Summary

Adds the ability to upload ESRI shapefiles containing custom group boundary polygons, replacing the default ONS Local Authority District boundaries on the area map. This produces sharper, more accurate group boundaries that reflect actual walking group territories rather than approximations built from council district polygons.

What's New

Custom Group Boundary Upload

• Upload a shapefile (.zip) via the new "Custom Group Boundaries" section in Admin > System Settings > Area Map
• Shapefile features are automatically matched to configured groups by GROUP_CODE or GROUP_NAME properties in the .dbf file
• Coordinates in British National Grid (OSGB36) are automatically detected and transformed to WGS84
• Geometry is simplified using Turf.js for efficient map rendering
• Upload results show which features matched to groups and which did not, so administrators can verify the import before saving

Per-Group Custom Geometry

• Each group can now have its own customGeometry (Polygon or MultiPolygon) stored directly in the system configuration
• When custom geometry is present, the area map uses it directly instead of looking up and assembling ONS district boundaries
• Groups without custom geometry continue to use ONS districts as before — both sources can be mixed within the same area map
• A green marker icon in the groups table indicates which groups have custom boundaries applied

Clearing Custom Boundaries

• Clear custom geometry from a single group by clicking the clear button next to its custom geometry indicator in the groups table
• Clear all custom boundaries at once with the "Clear All Custom Boundaries" button, reverting all groups to ONS district lookup

API Endpoints

Technical Details

• New customGeometry field on AreaGroup interface (system.model.ts)
• Reusable shapefile parser extracted to server/lib/map-routes/shapefile-parser.ts
• Backend areas() and batchAreas() endpoints check for customGeometry before falling back to ONS district lookup
• No changes required to the frontend area map component — it renders whatever GeoJSON the backend returns
• Multer middleware handles file upload on the new route

Context

Kent area coordinator Robert Peel provided a shapefile (groups_new.zip) with accurate boundary polygons for all 11 geographically-based Kent walking groups. The existing ONS district-based approach produced boundaries that were imprecise and visually busy. This feature enables any area to upload their own authoritative group boundary data.