ArcFM Solution: The Director's Cut

And So Begins the Era of ArcFM Buzz...

In recognition of the need to connect, share, and interact with you (our users, partners, and international distributors) in more engaging, consistent, and timely ways, Telvent Utility Group is pleased to announce the launch of our new, public facing, feature rich blog: ArcFM Buzz.

ArcFM Buzz reflects the collective efforts of Telvent Utility Group's Product and Education Services teams to bring you a tailored on-line resource for all things ArcFM Solution. If your interests lie with timely product news, technical know-how, and application tips and tricks — rest assured ArcFM Buzz is the right place for you. Furthermore, consider ArcFM Buzz as your feedback conduit to Telvent Utility Group's product managers, software developers, and education specialists. We have enabled commenting throughout the site and extended accessibility options with personalized RSS feeds, a dedicated Twitter account, and a variety of common social media services. So, come visit and interact with us at ArcFM Buzz.

ArcFM Buzz: keeping you informed, educated, and connected with all things ArcFM Solution.

(Please note that ArcFM Solution: The Director's Cut will remain intact for archiving purposes through 2010, however all new content will be published to ArcFM Buzz. Thanks for your interest and readership over the years)

What's New in ArcFM 9.3.1 Webcast

For those of you who were unable to attend last week's live webcast in the What's New in ArcFM webcast series, we've recorded and posted this session here for your consideration. Approximately 72 minutes in duration, this recording presents a high level overview of what's new in the recent 9.3.1 product release across the ArcFM Solution suite. Co-hosted by Telvent's Education Services and Product teams, the webcast combines interactive presentation, live demonstration, and open forum Q&A.

Stream What's New in ArcFM 9.3.1 Webcast
Download What's New in ArcFM 9.3.1 Webcast

(Download version requires free WebEx .ARF player to view)

Presentation slides in .pdf.

ArcFM Attribute Editor Easter Egg

If you are familiar with the term "Easter egg", you know that it refers to a hidden feature or message within an object such as a movie, book, DVD, game, or web page. If you are not familiar with this term, well, consider yourself now in the know and poised to learn some insider information you can use to impress your colleagues.

Unlike most Easter eggs which contain little to no value (e.g. pressing "Shift" + "Alt" + 2 to produce a guaranteed win in solitaire on Windows XP), the ArcFM Attribute Editor Easter egg is quite beneficial. Among other things, it allows a user to instantly display a complete list of administratively set domain values for any given feature class. To access this option, simply hover the mouse cursor over any field name (with an assigned domain) in the lower window of the ArcFM Attribute Editor, then press "Shift" + "Ctrl" + right-click to display the hidden menu and choose Domain Information from the list of commands.

A new window will appear detailing both the codes and the descriptions for the specific domain associated to this field, allowing a user, even outside of edit mode, to quickly and easily confirm this important database driven information. In the example below, a list of valid Manufacturers is shown for CP Rectifiers in the network.

 
  
This hidden menu can also be accessed using the same key/click combination within the ArcFM Locator, the ArcFM Identify Tool, and the ArcFM Quick Attribute Viewer.

At Last, Search Has Arrived!

With posts spanning a dozen primary categories, an archive library exceeding 100 pages, and new content added weekly, we thought it prudent to add search capabilities to our blog.

Mirroring the existing search functionality on our main site, we have added a tailored search box atop the right column of this layout. We hope this functionality will allow you to navigate this blog and its myriad of content with greater ease and efficiency.

If your searches return less than ample results, please let us know what topics you would like to see addressed. We are constantly striving to author content that is highly relevant to the work you do with the ArcFM Solution everyday, so we welcome your feedback. Please submit your topic suggestions/requests to education@telvent.com

  

How-To for Viewing User Edits and Conflicts

In response to reader feedback, we are happy to provide in this post the steps for launching the three edit tools described in the September 24th post "What Have You Done To This Job!" Three Ways to View User Edits and the September 29th post Conflict Viewing Made Simple. 

Thanks for the feedback, and thanks for reading The Director's Cut!

QA/QC Version Differences

Steps:

(1) If necessary, add the QA/QC Version Differences button to the ArcMap interface: Tools menu > Customize, Commands tab, ArcFM Solution Category. From the Commands list on the right, click and drag ArcFM QA/QC Version Difference onto any toolbar. 

(2) To see all edits (not just those with errors), from the Tools menu choose ArcFM Options, Attribute Editor tab, and set After QA/QC to Keep Current Items.

(3) Open the desired Session/Design, then click the QA/QC Version Difference button. Open the ArcFM Attribute Editor, QA/QC tab, to view the results. 

Mobile Edit Log

Steps: Open the desired Session/Design, then on the ArcFM Session Manager toolbar click the Open Edit Log button. 

Designer Design Tab

Steps: Open the desired Design, then open the ArcFM Attribute Editor, Design tab.

ArcSDE Version Changes Command

Steps:
(1) If using ArcFM Process Framework, open the desired Session/Design; otherwise on the Table of Contents, Source Tab, right-click the second node (e.g. SDE.DEFAULT), choose Change Version, and choose the desired version from the resulting dialog. 

(2) On the Versioning toolbar click the Version Changes button. 

(3) When prompted, choose the desired ancestor version (or descendant version if starting from SDE.DEFAULT).

Mobile Conflicts Report

Steps: Open the desired Session/Design. If it contains any conflicts, the Conflicts Report will open automatically. Additionally, if an administrator configures a "Display Conflicts Report" task you may run that task from the Session Manager or Workflow Manager interface, Available Tasks drop-down list.

Further details for these tools are also available in the ArcGIS Desktop Help, Configuring the ArcFM Solution, or Using the ArcFM Solution documentation.

Conflict Viewing Made Simple

Both ArcMap and ArcFM Mobile provide tools for viewing, without necessarily resolving, conflicts between versions. Identifying potential conflicts before attempting to reconcile a version can be particularly beneficial in a batch reconciling environment where humans will not normally be present during the actual reconcile.

ArcSDE Version Changes Command

Includes: All edits in the current version, as long as those edits are to layers that are both in the current map document and in the current workspace. For edits that conflict with a chosen ancestral or descendant version, both of the conflicting values plus the original value are shown. 

Available: Whether editing or not, as soon as the desired version is chosen on the Table of Contents Source tab. After clicking the Version Changes button, you will be prompted to choose an ancestor. If the current version is DEFAULT, you will be prompted to choose a descendant instead.

Mobile Conflicts Report

Includes: Any features and objects in the currently open Session/Design which are in conflict with features or objects in the target version, normally DEFAULT.

Available: While a mobile Session or Design that was previously edited in the field (e.g. a truck or remote office) is on the enterprise (e.g. a main office). Some flavor of ArcFM Mobile must be configured (Redliner, Inspector, Mobile ArcFM, or Mobile Designer). If there are conflicts, the Mobile Conflicts Report will appear automatically when the Session/Design is opened on the enterprise. An administrator may configure a "Display Conflicts Report" task to let users view the report from Session Manager or Workflow Manager without having to open the Session/Design.

"What Have You Done To This Job!" Three Ways to View User Edits

When reviewing a Session or Design, you may want to see a list of the edits it includes. Telvent software provides three user-friendly tools for viewing such lists.

QA/QC Version Differences

Includes: All features and objects created or edited in the currently open version, and whether the same features/objects were edited in the target version (typically SDE.DEFAULT). The list is divided into six groups:

Update, Update: Features/objects changed in the open version and the target version

Update, Delete: Features/objects changed in the open version but deleted in the target version

Insert: Features/objects created in the open version

Update, No Change: Features/objects changed in the open version but not changed in the target version

As a bonus, this tool also lists any errors (such as incorrectly networked features or omitted related objects) associated with the edits in this version.

Omits: Features/objects deleted in the currently open version.

Available: While any Session or Design is open.

Mobile Edit Log

Includes: All features and objects created, deleted, or edited in the currently open version, including edits made by AutoUpdaters. Features (except those deleted) can be identified through the Zoom To and Highlight buttons within the log.

Omits: N/A

Available: While a mobile Session or Design that was previously edited in the field (e.g. a truck or remote office) is open in the enterprise (e.g. a main office). Some flavor of ArcFM Mobile must be configured (Redliner, Inspector, Mobile ArcFM, or Mobile Designer).

Designer Design Tab

Includes: All CUs (Compatible Units, i.e. units of material or labor), of all types, associated with the currently open Design. The CUs can be grouped by Work Location.

Omits: Edits made directly to features or objects; that is, edits accomplished without adding CUs.

Available: With Designer software, while a Design is open.

How to Tame a Wildcard

"Wildcards" are special characters (*, ?, %, _, and many more) that you can use to represent unknown portions of a search string. If the ID written on an equipment tag or plate has been partially worn away; or the name of a a person, street, or city is difficult to spell or could be spelled in several ways; or when other important identifiers have been written only semi-legibly, wildcards searches can help you find a list of likely matches. 

Enter the legible portion of the name or other identifier into your search field and substitute wildcards for the illegible or unknown portions. Which wildcard to use depends on which database management system you are running and on how flexible you want the search to be. Below are some common wildcard roles with their symbols in various database management systems:

So when searching in an MS Access database for someone named Kathy, if you aren’t sure which spelling variation she uses you could try some of these search strings to locate her record:

Of course, what names will be found by the search depends on what names are present in the database. 

Wildcard searches are available in the ArcFM Locator Display Field tool, ArcMap Select by Attributes tool, and many other tools in ArcGIS. Wildcard searches are possible in most software, from MS Word to SAP. Since there are many competing systems for searching with wildcards, when using any new software try searching on “wildcard” in its help documentation to find out which wildcard roles and symbols the software supports.

10 Uses for Directory Replication

Directory Replication copies a folder, including all its files, subfolders, subsubfolders, etc. from one server to an unlimited number of client machines, typically laptops or tablet PCs.  Frequently updated files that must be distributed to many people are great candidates for Directory Replication, including:

1. Maps
2. Blueprints
3. Job packets
4. Phone/contact information lists
5. Schedules
6. Task assignment lists
7. Equipment lists
8. Price sheets
9. Announcements/reminders
10. "Login" databases defining corporate Stored Displays and Page Templates

Directory Replication always communicates in one direction: from the server to the clients. If client users edit the files in their Director Replication folders, the next time the replication process runs these files will be overwritten by the server's version of them, in order to keep the files in sync. However, client users are free to copy the files from the Directory Replication folders into other folders, where the client users may keep altered versions of these files permanently.  

ArcFM Mobile technology, which distributes updates to disconnected geodatabases for use by field crews and inspection staff, also runs Directory Replication. However, Directory Replication works on files of any type, not just geodatabases. If you are already running ArcFM Mobile Replication, you can add Directory Replication with minimal additional configuration. 

Designer Staker Sneak Peek: An Overview

Amidst levels of heightened anticipation not seen since the likes of Apple's recent iPhone 3G S release, we are pleased to bring you "Designer Staker Sneak Peak: An Overview"   

With the intent to provide some early exposure among our user and partner communities regarding the upcoming debut of Telvent's new Designer Staker product at the fall 9.3.1 release, we offer this engaging multimedia presentation, led by Product Specialist Matt Zimmerman, showcasing the core concepts, key functions, and targeted enhancements of Designer Staker in its current pre-release form. 

Questions, comments, or feedback surrounding Designer Staker are welcome and can be directed to Matt Zimmerman at matt.zimmerman@telvent.com

Stream Designer Staker Sneak Peek: An Overview
Download Designer Staker Sneak Peek: An Overview

(Download version requires free WebEx .ARF Player to view)