ArcGIS guys: Setting Up a Graphical Survey Index

What base information does your boss have? What base information can you download or obtain to georeference the jobs?

what is the format of the existing database? is it georeferenced? or do you need to georeference all 20k-30k records?

Thanks spledeus and J,

Believe it or not, they have no existing index (no 3x5 note cards and certainly no database).

Some jobs are on SPC and some not. I think the Placemarks will be placed by eyeball.

My proposal was to start indexing our current jobs as we finish them, and then start work backwards (indexing the older flat files.)

So, I envision a draftsman emailing me the pdf of the survey as it is completed, and then I put it in Arc with add'l info, and make it available to Explorer.

No georeferenced index available, mates.

Thanks,

Steve

Ouch, how about a client list with addresses?

We just updated our client list (31 years) with exact addresses. We're planning to activate a license we won in an auction to join www.surveysearch.net. I'm not sure how far they work, but it is a very quick way to see where your jobs are. Check it out, last time I knew, Curtis Johnson, PLS owned and operated the site with the idea that it can be used for both your use of finding jobs and advertising. I know the site will take any number of fields, so you can include your job number. Perhaps a link.

If you contact Curtis, tell him Thadd sent you.

I just did a search for my office and it did put me a half mile down the road. I then tried an address 38 away from my office (office at 1038, I tried 1000) and it hit near the right spot. So the address algorithm is a bit off, but it's a cheap, quick way to get your idea off the ground. From there you can work on your own system or hopefully get some work out of the site.

Now that I look at it and see how much work someone else has done near me, I need to get my list uploaded... it's on the todo list.

Keep in mind that I am speaking as a Global Mapper user, so I do not know the specifics of ArcGIS. However, most GIS programs operate in a very similar manner, so my experience with developing a job GIS at my office may be applicable to your use of ArcGIS.

Answer 1: I have one map (called a workspace in Global Mapper). In it, I have a variety of layers such as:

All Jobs on separate layers by year
County Road System
Aerial Photography
Topographic Quad Sheets
Recorded Plats
and Countywide NGS Benchmark data

With all of that data, my PC does not seem to be bogged down. However, it does take about a minute to load the data initially, then refreshing with the aerial may take a few seconds. You can turn visibility of the aerial layers off and there is basically no delay in refreshing the screen. Instead of placemarks, I actually have the linework in place. Placemarks may make things even quicker. With each linework object, I have associated attributes such as:

Job#, Property Address, Client Name, Client Address, Owner Name, Owner Address, Date of Survey, Subdivision Name, Lot Number, Coordinate System, Acreage, Billing Amount, Research Time, Field Time, Office Time, etc...

The reason I separated my job files by year is that I can more easily update the workspace by loading a new year in as I complete the year. I do not think it makes a difference, but I can sometimes remember a year that I did the job easier than a name of a client. I turn off the other years and look at the remaining jobs and there it is.

So the shorter answer to question 1 is that it is very feasible to have all of your job data and much more in one map containing separate layers without bogging your computer down too much.

Question 2: This answer requires someone with knowledge of the ArcGIS system. My in office GIS runs off of the local hard disk, but I am the only user with no need to have access from other workstations.

I will point out that if your jobs are in pdf (you could even scan the older drawings), you can actually place that pdf document into your GIS and have the actual map overlaying the correct area in your GIS. Then set a translucency value such that the aerial images (if you choose to use them) will show through the pdf mapping. If I can get it to host properly, here is a video example of adding a pdf to your GIS (it does not include changing the translucency, but that is a simple process):

Placing PDF

I'm far from an expert here, but I know Arcmap can easily handle 20-30K records with lots of attributes and the system will still be zippy. The slow downs seem to occur mainly with raster data. Since you're building the system from scratch, there may be more than one approach. What information does the boss want to get from the system and how much energy and money is being dedicated to the project? I'd guess that they first see this as a system to quickly locate the "old job" data. The database could contain the project name, number, address, type, year, etc. Remember, every unique attribute is another another way to classify, symbolize or search for your information. "It's all about the database!!" You may have some luck using the addressing geo-locators to place a "dot" near the project site. That might be "good enough" for a start. Many locations will probably have to be manually placed, but getting the attribute info into that database will probably take the most time. Once that part of the project begins to show dividends, they may want to add survey polygons or project areas or even additional information about monumentation, control points, etc. and maybe even start geo-referencing PDFs or adding hyperlinks. As long as an ACAD drawing is properly geo-referenced, it (or its components) can easily be loaded into Arcmap.

Not sure about the server side of things, but I'd guess a simple point type file wouldn't need or require Arc server for viewing.

Thanks spledeus,

I will look further into the address geocoding method.

Thanks Jon,

I appreciate your explaining your method of doing this.

And thanks for the video.

Thanks wv,

I'm glad to hear that Arc can handle all of that. And thanks for giving me more things to think about.

This is an exiting prospect.