Main Features
Tabs
Map Based Tab
The map based display provides an intuitive, icon driven display of Traffic Events and Fixed Entities. It centres around an Ordnance Survey style map of the area under consideration.
The map tab provides:
- display of relevant map features or ‘fixed entities’, including main roads, minor roads, railway stations, car parks, street furniture e.g. traffic signals, access control barriers, pelican crossings, VMS and matrix signs.
- icons representing the location and nature of Events. This might be congestion on a particular link of the road, a road traffic accident, roadworks, a faulty traffic signal or any other Event from the predefined list of system Events.
- ability to interact with the map based display, for example, double-clicking on an Event or a Fixed Entity will bring up a dialog window which allows the editing of selected Event information e.g. duration, description, and status.
- ability to control the display of this information, e.g. turn off the display of minor roads, or only show congestion Events, allowing them to declutter or customise the map for their needs.
- Other features include: Toolbars, Status Bar, Overview Map, Main Map, Basic Details area, Unlocated events list and Display Options
The map display on the GUI is created from Ordnance Survey OSCAR data. As part of the purchase agreement the following data information must be supplied by the purchaser:
- OS OSCAR Map Data for the entire region to be displayed on the GUI. The client licence must cover the cost of using this data on the GUI.
- Fixed Entity data – to be provided on a pre-prepared Excel Spreadsheet where mandatory data will be identified.
- Other Configuration parameters e.g. data types, codes etc. specific to the client
Note: Maximum Data Capacities will be applied. Details of these will be provided
once requirements have been established.
If the OS data or licences cannot be provided then additional cost will be incurred.
Text Based Tab
The Text based display centres around a tabular list of Events and Fixed Entities. There are three sub-tabs within this display – Priority Events, Non-Priority Events and Expired Events. Updates will be indicated by flashing tabs and a red bar down the left-hand side of each changed entry.
The Events tab features include:
- depending on how the user has configured the Event type priorities, events will appear in a list under the Priority and Non-Priority tabs.
- each entry in the list will show a basic set of information - Type, Location, Start and End time, Status and a short description.
- clicking on an entry in the list will bring up the same dialog to the one accessed by double clicking on the Event or Fixed Entity icon on the map. This dialog will give the full set of information for the item.
- once Events have ‘expired’, or past their end date/time, they will move to the Expired Events tab.
The Text based display also contains an Equipment tab which contains a fairly static list of Fixed Entities that are Street Furniture e.g. Traffic Signals, Pelican Crossings, Access Controls and VMS. Each entry will display a basic set of information – Type, Location, Status and a short description. These Entities will permanently remain on this list, and will only be updated when attributes such as status change. Clicking on an entry in the list will bring up a dialog giving the full set of information for each of these Fixed Entities.
Note: status changes are reported only when supplied by interfacing data sources.
Interfaces Tab
The Interface Tab provides a text based list of the status of the UTMC systems that are interfacing to CDMF.
The Interfaces Tab provides:
- details of the system status and the date/time that data was last received.
- alerts users to a problem with a supplying system, allowing them to report it and get it resolved as quickly as possible.
The Standard product will only include one interface and that must for an existing UTMC Adapter. The CDMF product is capable of interfacing to several UTC systems, each requiring an adapter. Additional adapters can be supplied as an optional extra.
Menus
The following menu options are available:
- File – New Located/Unlocated Events, Preferences: Event/Supplier/Notification of Updates Exit.
- Edit – Event Move/Modify/Terminate.
- View – Selection/Acknowledge Updates/Find on map/Refresh/Labels/Map Phase (Past/Current/Future).
- Tools – Find in Current Tab/Gazetteer – search District or Road name/No.
- Find Equipment – System/Type/Id.
- Help – on-line help facility.
Functions
In addition to the above facilities the following general function are provided with the standard CDMF:
User Roles & Access
There are a number of configurable user roles each with different levels of
access. Currently this is configured by MM on installation but faculties will
be provided to allow an authorised system administrator to do this. The system
will only allow a single user for each username/password combination (target
date is July 2004).
Traffic Event Manipulation
The CDMF enables users with appropriate privileges to create and manipulate
Traffic Events within the system.
Traffic Event manipulation features include functionality to allow users to:
- create new events (located and non-located)
- modify the attributes of existing events
- move existing events to new locations (including positioning non-located Events within the Main Map and, conversely, making located Event non-located)
- terminate events.
The Non-located Events element of the map-based display presents all Events that do not have a specified location and cannot therefore be displayed within the Main Map. Non-Located Events can be selected, viewed and modified in the same way as they can within the Main Map. Similarly, they can be created, moved and terminated
Gazetteer
A tool for searching the map display for a location by road name or road number. The data for this tool is generated from the OSCAR map data.
Find Field Equipment
A tool for searching the map display for field equipment by equipment type or identifier e.g. an operator may wish to search for a piece of field equipment using its unique equipment identifier. The result of the search will display the map tab centred on the requested piece of field equipment. This tool is very useful when operators are not familiar with the region they are monitoring.