Latest Contributions by JoshuaDamron

Distribute a more comprehensive traffic symbology set than is found in the ESRI transportation font. In the USA every state relys on some form of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) for their traffic sign symbology.  These include local, county, and state governments.  All of these agencies are under a federal mandate to generate inventories of their signs, obviously GIS is the most effective means to achieve this ( http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/night_visib/retrotoolkit/pdfs/AB08H243-2Ellison.pdf).  There is this post inquiring about this very topic: http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/17735-Manual-on-Uniform-Traffic-Control-Devices-(MUTCD)?highlight=mutcd  and there is this post which is offering ESRI a MUTCD symbology set for distrubution: http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/42474-Where-and-how-to-share-EMF-files It would be great if Esri would acknowledge this need and maybe go a few steps further and:  Provide state MUTCD symbols, e.g. MUTCD(CA) Provided FHWA type faces: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FHWA_Series_fonts Provide MUTCD standard road pavement marking symbols and line types   ... View more

This idea was originally posted by JefS here: http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/6066-Creating-a-variable-OFFSET? When mapping utilities it is difficult to comprehensively show the lines at different scales.  This is especially true of electric/cable utilities where an underground bank of conduits may contain many lines inches apart or overhead power lines are inches to feet apart running from pole to pole.  It would be great if there were a tool to spread lines apart at different zoom intervals while keeping their end vertices connected to the manhole/junction box they tie in to.   For overhead electrical transmission double circuits, this would display the (2) lines at a visual separation appropriate to the zoom scale factor. Each leg or circuit needs to have its own editable attribute data (circuit name, etc.). The user would need to input the real world offset (zoom 1:1), for example a 10' offset from the power pole centers. The display offset would use a formula similar to:   Offset display = [offset 1:1] + [(zoom)*(0.00224)]   Where zoom is the current zoom scale factor (e.g. 20,000, etc.)     Where 0.00224 is an editable constant (an offset multiplier) set for that particular feature (or layer, or display style) This particular number (0.00224) results in a displayed offset at 1:1,000 of 12' and a displayed offset at 1:30,000 of 75' The offset would recalculate with each change in zoom. As the user draws the feature, he/she would snap to pole centers. A positive or negative (or a left/right “flow direction” offset) offset would apply. Thank you. ... View more

This idea was originally posted by JefS here: http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/6066-Creating-a-variable-OFFSET? When mapping utilities it is difficult to comprehensively show the lines at different scales.  This is especially true of electric/cable utilities where an underground bank of conduits may contain many lines inches apart or overhead power lines are inches to feet apart running from pole to pole.  It would be great if there were a tool to spread lines apart at different zoom intervals while keeping their end vertices connected to the manhole/junction box they tie in to.   For overhead electrical transmission double circuits, this would display the (2) lines at a visual separation appropriate to the zoom scale factor. Each leg or circuit needs to have its own editable attribute data (circuit name, etc.). The user would need to input the real world offset (zoom 1:1), for example a 10' offset from the power pole centers. The display offset would use a formula similar to:   Offset display = [offset 1:1] + [(zoom)*(0.00224)]   Where zoom is the current zoom scale factor (e.g. 20,000, etc.)     Where 0.00224 is an editable constant (an offset multiplier) set for that particular feature (or layer, or display style) This particular number (0.00224) results in a displayed offset at 1:1,000 of 12' and a displayed offset at 1:30,000 of 75' The offset would recalculate with each change in zoom. As the user draws the feature, he/she would snap to pole centers. A positive or negative (or a left/right “flow direction” offset) offset would apply. Thank you. ... View more

Greetings,   I am having an issue when I start an editing session.  Often when I select "Start Editing" (either via the Editor drop down on the tool bar or via a right click on the layer>edit>start editing) I will receive an error message like this example: [ATTACH=CONFIG]32645[/ATTACH] Normally when I see this error message it would be telling me there is a schema lock on the file because someone else is editing in the same file geodatabase.  However with 10.2 this error pops up when I am the only one using the file.  I have even moved the file or started a new file geodatabase from scratch on my C Drive to make sure another user is not an issue.  The weird thing is that I can see the schema lock, and by all appearances it is generated by my computer (When I close out of ArcGIS I can watch the lock go away, then I reopen the .mxd and it reappears)... which since I only have one .mxd open that would mean that my ArcGIS is accessing the file, locking it then when I go to edit the file it is reading its own lock and not allowing me to edit. When I had 10.1 I would occasionally have this issue, it is much more frequent now in 10.2 (once a week).  I typically resolve it by restarting my computer and this will often (not always) clear the issue. Any thoughts on what could cause this lock issue to occur? ... View more

Mapping road/traffic signs is becoming a hot topic in the world of government transportation as there is a federal mandate in the US to have them in a managed database, which translates into mapping them in the GIS (http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/night_visib/retrotoolkit/pdfs/AB08H243-2Ellison.pdf).  The LGIM provides schema for a sign pole feature class and a sign table which is then related to the unique pole ID (http://help.arcgis.com/en/localgovernment/datadictionary.html#FeatureClassPole, http://help.arcgis.com/en/localgovernment/datadictionary.html#TableSign).   I'm glad to see that Esri has established a great method for handling street sign data using a one (pole) to many (signs) relationship. A common problem comes up when trying to map the street sign table for decision makers and field crews.  Ideally all signs would be represented by an image of their MUTCD standard design at the pole location.  This is easy enough, except that many poles have assemblies of multiple signs.  To map the signs, the GIS needs to clearly symbolize (or label using Unicode with a symbol font?) multiple signs at the same pole location without stacking the symbols on top of each other.  This issue gets a bit more complex as it would be ideal if the symbols looked similar to/stacked in the order of the sign assemblies actual arrangement out in the field.  Attached is an example of this being achieved with non-Esri software. Are there any out of the box tools provided by Esri for symbolizing the many in a one to many relationship?  Any thoughts on how to achieve something like this?  It would be ideal if the solution was functional with web maps served via ArcServer. As a side note for the Esri peeps: it would be great if the LGIM came with domains set up for MUTCD sign types. Additionally it would be great if the Esri transportation font included all MUTCD and state MUTCD signs, it would also be great to find a printable table of the Unicode characters for all Esri fonts but specifically the Esri transportation font. ... View more