Field names are now user-defined within your enterprise

A new version (10.2.121) of the LRS Lite Utilities has been published:

This version removes all hard-coded fieldnames (except for the “MRoute” fieldname used to identify R&H Marker features). The fields are now set in the LRS Options dialog. A command button has been added above the combo-box for selecting an Engineering Station layer that lets you define the fields that apply to these layers. A third tab has been added to the dialog that lets you access a button to display a form for defining fields related to LRS Event tables.

Notes:

  • The route layer field is defined within the route layer properties.
  • Many of these fields allow for multiple fieldnames (by placing a space between the names). You’ll see an error message if you attempt to define multiple fieldnames for an entry that doesn’t allow them.

Introducing a tool to 'Simplify Horizontal Curves'

Version (10.2.13) of our Curve and Grade utilities is here.

This version includes a new tool named ‘Dissolve Horizontal Curves’.  It attempts to dissolve/merge adjacent non-class ‘A’ polygons created in the ‘Construct Horizontal Curves’. Class ‘A’ curves can be absorbed into a dissolve if the length is less than the distance specified in the dialog. Curves having opposite signed radii are also not allowed to dissolve.

Rebuilt 'Construct Profile' dialog and modified behavior of 'Process Profile' dialog

Curve and Grade Utilities has a new version (10.2.12):

This update includes the following modifications:

We’ve rebuilt the entire ‘Construct Profile’ dialog. This allowed us to change references to UserProfile to RedlineProfile and fix changes with overlapping controls without having it corrupt the form. (This has been a problem with some of the forms converted a long time ago from VB6).

We've modified the ‘Process Profile’ dialog to automatically set the form parameters when the form is displayed. For example, if there is only 1 possible value for the Route Identifier field it will pick it. It will also persist the output summary table so that it doesn’t have to be set each time the dialog is invoked within the same ArcMap session.

We’ve done a fair amount of checking to ensure that the ‘Construct Profile’ dialog is working as it should, but we did rewrite the whole thing and it’s possible we may have missed something.

 

Maximum Chord Length can be specified for Horizontal Curves

A new version (10.2.6) of our Curve and Grade Utilities are available

This version incorporates the following modifications to the ‘Construct Horizontal Curves’ utility:

  • Added a textbox to the dialog to allow the user to specify a ‘Maximum Chord Length’.  Whenever the distance between two points exceeds this value, the curve between these points will be considered to be straight.

This enhancement prevent the miscalculation of curvature around arcs that bend sharply with minimal vertices near the bend.

Introducing 'Interpolate/Extrapolate Z-Values'

With version 10.2.49 of the GP Tools, a new GP tool named ‘Interpolate/Extrapolate Z-Values’ is provided. This tool will calculate the z-values that are 0 or NaN for polyline vertices by extrapolating/interpolating the known z-values from other vertices. The tool will store a z-value of zero for vertices that cannot be calculated.

This functionality is offered for the business purpose of applying elevations to previously 2d polylines that have been Z-enabled but are not yet populated.

Z-value support for Insert Vertices

With version 10.2.48 of the GP Tools, the Insert Vertices tool has been augmented to support the application of Z-elevation coordinates onto non-colinear 2d centerlines which are z-enabled but have no Z-coordinates.

  • The tool has been modified to include a new checkbox input to allow the user to specify whether or not they want the nearest polyline vertex within the buffer to move to the point location and other vertices in within the buffer to be removed. This option is labelled as ‘Move Points within Buffer Distance’.
  • If the polyline and point sources are both z-enabled, the utility will copy the z-values from the point to the inserted vertex on the polyline when the ‘Insert’ option is selected. Note that this will occur when the ‘Move Points within Buffer Distance’ option is not checked,  of if there are no polyline vertices within the buffer distance if it is checked.
  • When the point z-values are used to populate the z-value for an inserted polyline vertex as described above, it will be factored to the appropriate units (provided both the point and polyline sources have vertical spatial references assigned to them).

EditTracker returns to full potential for 10.2.2 ArcMap users

A new version (10.2.24) of the EditTracker utilities has been published.

This version should allow EditTracker to work when it is implemented on a feature class or table and is edited within the same ArcMap/Catalog session. This should fix the issue that we raised to ESRI when adding the extension to a feature class/table as part of our TAM process in which we wouldn’t see field updates being tracked.

Please reply with feedback on how well these modifications work. We need to report back to ESRI on whether the issue has been fixed or not.

Introducing 'Solve Bifurcations'

A new version (10.2.46) of our GP tools has been released.

It contains the first widespread release of the bifurcation solver as a GP Tool.  This replaces the previous bifurcation solver TAM.  All users with active maintenance during this release are encouraged to  implement the new solver - as we believe it is quicker and requires significantly fewer steps/iterations to a bifurcation free MLLRS. 

We think it is working properly – but more testing would be good, particularly with regard to curves.

Please provide feedback for any issues you might encounter.

Apostrophe char now supported in Reverse Geocoder GP Tool

A new version (10.2.45) of our GP tools has been released.

This version includes the following enhancements:

  • Modified the ‘Calculate LRS Measure Fields’ utility to work with routes that have an apostrophe in their name.

You asked -- and we responded!  Users that have exterminated the dreaded apostrophe inside a name string can now return to allowing apostrophes.

Exception SQL String provided - Select Nearest & Assign

A new version (10.2.32) of the Centerline Utilities is here.

This version includes the following enhancements:

  • The ‘Select Nearest and Assign’ tool has been modified to display a file showing SQL strings that can be used to query features that did not get an assignment, OR were assigned based upon one endpoint and the midpoint being within the buffer distance when doing a polyline to polyline assignment.

Note: This enhancement has NOT been applied to the equivalent GP tool named 'Assign Nearest'.  (It would not be good practice for a GP tool to open a text file.) 

Enjoy!

Elimination of 'Null' measures in Intersection table

A new version (10.2.43) of the LRS Advanced Utilities has been released.

This version includes the following enhancements:

  • Modified the ‘Make LRS Geocoding Tables’ utility to address an issue in which the ‘int’ table was occasionally populated with Null measure values when the route's shape was not simplified.

3 minor bug fixes in LRS Lite

A new version (10.2.118) of the LRS Lite toolset has been released.

This version includes the following enhancements:

  • The ‘Pan To’ context menu item for the From and To XY coordinates input has been modified to work correctly. The tool would only work if the XY textbox was the active form control. It now works even when the XY textbox is not the active control.
  • Modified the geocoder routines. They were still using the deprecated LRM_Type codes of 71, 81, and 91 to identify ramps. The geocoder now uses codes 74 and 75 per the LrsSubType domain.
  • Modified the ‘Display Measures’ tool -- as it would occasionally display an error related to attempting an operation on an empty geometry when using the tool on a non-simple polyline shape.

Enhancements to 'ReShape Partial Polylines'

A new version (10.2.43) of our GP tools has been released.

This version incorporates the following with regard to the ‘ReTrace Partial Polylines’ GP Tool:

  • Added an input for specifying a ‘Grouping’ field. This can be a text field that can be used to help group demarcation points sharing common route ids for the route providing the shape and the route being updated.
  • Added an input for specifying if the shape will be replaced or redacted.

NOTE: This version still uses the polyline Reshape method that was previously enhanced to make sure the polylines connected near the demarcation points. We may still need to modify this, by writing our own method to accomplish the reshape, if the results are undesirable.

Introducing 'ReTrace Partial Polylines' GP Tool

A new version (10.2.40) of our geoprocessing toolset has been released.

This version includes our first general release of the utility that was originally developed in Summer 2003 - and was the demonstrated in PowerPoint presentations beginning in 2009 when Arizona began to warm to the idea of centerline unification.

By special request, we have rushed this tool toward release - though beyond the scope of the 1st extension of the ATIS Unification - it is being delivered out of scope due to new requirements placed by ADOT ITG with regards to the Roads and Highways conversion.  

This new GP tool is named ‘ReTrace Partial Polylines’.  This tool uses pairs of demarcation points having common values in fields named ‘TargetRoute’ and ‘ReTraceRoute’ in a DemarkationPoints feature class to extract the portion of the polyline from the feature identified in the ‘TargetRoute’ field and use it to reshape the feature identified in ‘ReTraceRoute’. Note that these fields are not hardcoded in the tool (they are settable in the GP interface).  Just referring to their names as they exist in ADOT's version of the DemarkationPoints feature class.

The tool is available in the ‘Geometry’ category of ‘LRS GP Tools’.

Introducing 'Point and Align'

A new version (10.2.29) of the Centerline tools has been released.

This version incorporates the following:

  • We’ve included the ‘Point and Align’ tool for the first time in a general release. This is a construction tool (similar to ‘Point and Reach’). This tools operates in a modal fashion. A dialog will be displayed when the user has clicked on the map allowing the user to set the parameters to be stored with the new feature.

This is our original tool developed several years ago.  It will be replaced in the future by a tool that will operate in a non-modal fashion using a dockable window. However, this provides something for now.

LrsTools Support for ArcGIS 10.2.2

We’ve placed updated installs for our utilities in the downloads folder.

ArcGIS 10.2.2 installs are now available for these products:

  • ATIS Utilities
  • Centerline Utilities
  • Curve and Grade Utilities
  • EditTracker Utilities
  • General Utilities
  • GIS Works Geoprocessing Tools
  • LRS Advanced Utilities
  • LRS Lite Utilities
  • Roads and Highways Data Model Utilities

Let me know if you have any installation issues.

Geocoder enhancements . . . (a couple more)

A new version (10.2.117) of the Lite toolset now exists.

This version incorporates the following enhancements to the geocoder’s ‘Write New Solution to Database?” dialog:

  • The label is determined for the record and is displayed behind the ObjectID. Note that a label is NOT displayed if it resolves to an empty string.
  • The status ‘geocoding <LayerName> (## of ##)’ is displayed between the title bar and the ‘Geocoding Results’ label.