RAPC User Guide

Maher Abdel Karim

<Maher_Karim@dorsch.com.jo>

Copyright © 2006 DORSCH Consult

$Date: 2006-04-06 22:25:22 +0200 (الخميس, 06 نيسان 2006) $

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
1.1. What's New?
1.1.1. Version 0.0.1
2. Requirements
3. User Interface
3.1. Navigation
3.2. Languages
3.3. Go to link by routename
3.4. Field Descriptions
3.5. Context Sensitive Help
4. Quick Start
4.1. Logon
4.2. Index page
4.3. Map page
4.4. New data entery page.
5. Procedures
5.1. Move Panel
5.2. Delete Panel
6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
7. Main Page
8. Query
9. Map
10. New data entry
11. Old data entry
12. Reports
13. Shapefile Dumper
14. Shapefile Loader
15. Miscellaneous
15.1. About the Road Advertisement Panel Control
16. Troubleshooting
16.1. Common Problems
16.1.1. The Page Cannot be Displayed
16.2. RAPC Administrator
16.3. RAPC Devel Mailing List
16.4. Bug Reports
17. Feedback


1. Introduction

1.1. What's New?
1.1.1. Version 0.0.1

This document describes how to use the Road Advertisement Panel Control (RAPC) application version 0.0.1.

RAPC is a web-based application that allows to record and analyze detailed Advertisement Panel information.


1.1. What's New?

1.1.1. Version 0.0.1

Changes introduced by different RAPC versions.


1.1.1. Version 0.0.1

  1. Query: This functionality allows the user to query the panel database using registeration date,route name based on district, and company name.

  2. Map:Allows the user to view the panel data, in addition to the route, and district inofrmation.

  3. New data Entry:This function allows the user to enter new panel based on the new panels regulations.

  4. Old data Entry:This function allows the user to enter panel information for old panels which may not follow the panel regulations.

  5. Reports:This functionality allows the user to create standard reports based on the requirement.

  6. RAPC installer: introduce an installer for the application, and the needed components.


2. Requirements

In order to run the RAPC you need a web browser like Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox and the address (URL) of a RAPC server. Contact your RAPC administrator if you need help.

If you are running RAPC on a standalone system, you should be able to start the RAPC application from the Start Menu or with a Shortcut on your Desktop.


3. User Interface

3.1. Navigation
3.2. Languages
3.3. Go to link by routename
3.4. Field Descriptions
3.5. Context Sensitive Help

This section introduces important concepts of the RAPC user interface.


3.1. Navigation

A consistent navigation structure guides through the application. Through the "RAPC" link in the navigation bar at the top it is always possible to return back to the main menu.

Logoff, routename search and help functions are available at the top of each page.


3.2. Languages

The RAPC application is fully internationalized. You can switch to the language of your choice using the select box at the top of the page.

RAPC is currently available in the following languages:

  • Arabic

  • English

Additional languages can be easily added. If the language you are looking for is missing, please contact the RAPC developers.


3.3. Go to link by routename

The Go to link by routename tool in the navigation bar allows to find routes by their sequence numbers. This will open the data entry form.

routename have to be entered to the text field. Pressing Enter or clicking on the Go to link by routename button next to the data entry field will start the search for the route. If the route is found the map will zoom in to the route, and the route will be highlighted .

[Important] Important

If no route is found, a message will appear.


3.4. Field Descriptions

The RAPC application helps you to fill in the forms correctly by providing an intuitive help: If you entered wrong values in the form, a message box will appear to the user the wrong values, and the corrected values need to be entered.


3.5. Context Sensitive Help

Context sensitive help is available on every page by clicking on Help link in the navigation bar.

The user guide will be opened in the language that is currently selected in the RAPC application.

[Note] Note

If no documentation is available in the language that is selected in the application, an error message might be displayed by the browser.

The chapter describing the current page will be opened in the RAPC user guide.


4. Quick Start

4.1. Logon
4.2. Index page
4.3. Map page
4.4. New data entery page.

This section gives you a short introduction into the main features of RAPC. Nevertheless it is recommended to read the whole user guide.


4.1. Logon

Open the RAPC logon page in your browser. This can be done by

  • Double-clicking on the RAPC link on your desktop

  • If you don't have a RAPC link on your desktop, open your web browser (Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer) and enter the URL provided by your RAPC administrator. If you are using a stand-alone installation, the URL is most probably http://localhost/RAPC/

In the logon page you have to enter your username and password in the respective fields.

Username and password should have been provided by your RAPC administrator.

After successfull completion of the logon dialog you will be transferred to the main page (Section 4.2, “Index page”).

[Tip] Tip

Ask your RAPC administrator to create a bookmark for the logon page of the RAPC application.


4.2. Index page

The index page (main page) provides the central navigation element for the RAPC application.

Section 7, “Main Page” contains detailed information about the main page.

Click on the Map link to go to the map page.


4.3. Map page

The user should enter to this page in order to view the panel location on the map according to the updates from the field. available functionalities are insert,move, ,edit and delete panel. The user should just click on the panel location on the map after selecting the panel tool, a new panel will be added on this location, and a unique sequential number will be generated for it.


4.4. New data entery page.

This page is used to fill the panel information which come from the field. In order to access this page either you can use :

the panel information page will appear, and the user can fill the panel information according to the application form.

After filling the form information according to the Application form, The user can submit the changes.


5. Procedures

5.1. Move Panel
5.2. Delete Panel

The following procedures should be followed in order to operate RAPC successfully.

Large scale should be used for any operation to be done in the map page.The user should zoom in as much as he can sho that he can do the panel operation (e.g. add,delete,edit, and move) precisley.


5.1. Move Panel

The user should use this option when an update the panel location in order to fix the GPS shifting .


5.2. Delete Panel

The user should use this option to delete the unneeded panel from the map.

[Important] Important

The function will delete a Panel, all panel information will be deleted.


6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This section tries to answer to frequently asked questions regarding the usage of RAPC.


7. Main Page

The main page contains the main menu of the RAPC application.

This page can be reached from any page in the application by clicking on the RAPC link in the navigation bar (Section 3.1, “Navigation”).

The following links are displayed:

Query Allows the user to query the database using different criteria (query.php).

Map Allows you to explore the map (map.php).

New data entry Allows you to eneter new panel information (panelpage.php).

Old data entry Allows you to enter panel information for old panels which may not follow the panel dimension regulations (panelpage.php).

Reports Reports generated from the survey data (reports.php).

About RAPC RAPC copyright information.

If you are logged on to the RAPC application as an administrator, additional administration tools will be available.

Shapefile dumper Dumps the data as shapefiles from the geodatabase.

Shapefile loader load zipped shapefiles to the geodatabase.


8. Query

This page allows the user to query the panel table in the RAPC database

This page can be reached from the main page (Section 7, “Main Page”).

Query items One of the following items can be used for query:

  • Routename:Search using name based on district.

  • Registeration date:Search using the the application registeration date.

  • Company Name:Search using the company's name.


9. Map

The map page allows to edit Panels.

This page can be reached from the main page (Section 7, “Main Page”) and the zoom page (Section 9, “Map”) as well as some of the reports.

Legend The legend allows to hide some layers from being displayed on the map. Removing the checkmark next to the layer will remove the layer from the map the next time the map is redrawn.

Quick View A dropdown list that allows to quickly display a certain area or the full extent.

Keymap You can use the keymap to pan the map.

Map Size Use this dropdown list to select the size of the map.

The following map tools are available:

Zoom In Use this tool to zoom in the map

Zoom Out Use this tool to zoom out the map

Pan Use this tool to pan the map

Identify use this tool to see information about features on the map. Your administrator might use plug-ins to deliver custom information (e.g. images) for the identified features.

Panel Use this tool to edit panel location on the map


10. New data entry

This is the page used to enter new panel information which follows the new panel regulations.


11. Old data entry

This is the page used to enter old panel information which may not follow the new panel regulations.


12. Reports

  1. Panel Installation list: This report creates a tabular report for all installed panels in a period of time.

  2. Panel Types on routes:This report creates a tabular report for all panels on routes and catagorized based on panel type.


13. Shapefile Dumper

This is the page used for dumping the data from the geodatabase as shapefiles, Panel data can be dumped as shapefile so that the can be view on GIS software.


14. Shapefile Loader

This is the page used for loading zipped shapefile data to the geodatabase. A spatial index will be created for the loaded shapefile.


15. Miscellaneous

15.1. About the Road Advertisement Panel Control

Miscellaneous RAPC functions.


15.1. About the Road Advertisement Panel Control

Copyright information for RAPC and the software packages used by the application.


16. Troubleshooting

16.1. Common Problems
16.1.1. The Page Cannot be Displayed
16.2. RAPC Administrator
16.3. RAPC Devel Mailing List
16.4. Bug Reports

This section shows ways to get support for the RAPC problems.


16.1. Common Problems

16.1.1. The Page Cannot be Displayed

The most common problems when using RAPC.


16.1.1. The Page Cannot be Displayed

If you encounter an error like in Figure 1, “The Page Cannot be Displayed”, the network connection to the server might be lost. Check that the network cable is connected properly to your computer or the Apache webserver is not started. If the problem is not related to the network cable, contact your RAPC administrator.

The Page Cannot be Displayed

Figure 1. The Page Cannot be Displayed


16.2. RAPC Administrator

Contact your RAPC administrator if you have any problems.


16.3. RAPC Devel Mailing List

The RAPC devel mailing list may provide help to solve problems by sending an email to <Maher_Karim@dorsch.com.jo>.


16.4. Bug Reports

When submitting bug reports or support requests, try to be verbose. This will allow the administrators or developers to reproduce the problem quickly and resolve it.

There are a few parameters that should always be included when submitting a bug report or support request:

  • The RAPC version. The version number can be found in the top line of the application, along with the main menu link. Example: RAPC 0.0.1

  • The user name used to log on to the application. The user name can be found in the top line of the application in the Log off link.

  • Error messages. If the system is issuing any error messages, please include these messages in your report. Try to insert the error messages as text, not as screenshots because text can be found in search engines.

  • Give a short description of what you were trying to do and how you expect the application to react. Describe what the application is doing wrong.


17. Feedback

The RAPC application needs your ideas for improvement. Please submit your comments to the developers by email .