Question

I know this is a total newbie question, but I happen to be a total newbie when it comes to KML. I am working on a GIS project using KML and I keep running into this multiple geometry issue. I want to programmatically determine when I need to encapsulate my <LineString /> points in a <MultiGeometry /> tag and when I don’t. Is it when a line string crosses itself on the same layer? When two points are at the same location on the same layer?

Answer 1

As far as I can see, kml is not that strict. Self crossing is allowed in a linestring:

<Placemark>
    <name>Naamloos Pad</name>
    <styleUrl>#msn_ylw-pushpin</styleUrl>
    <LineString>
        <tessellate>1</tessellate>
        <coordinates>
5.019464180902406,52.10505844756909,0 5.069557791548087,52.0007202857575,0 4.962895009539523,51.98018815537707,0 4.962744723288588,52.01668088418433,0 5.09205958631246,52.0401464921085,0 </coordinates>
    </LineString>
</Placemark>

So that will form no limitation. Use the MultiGeometry only if you want to combine different sources into one kml geometry object.