ArcView ALAS Suggested Improvements List
Following is a list of improvements that may be made to ArcView ALAS as well as some that have already been made. Those items that have been completed are indicated. If the item has not yet been completed a priority level has been indicated as either low, medium, or high. Low prioritization indicates that though this item would be nice, it isn't as important as finishing other items. Medium prioritization suggests that a little more emphasis should be placed on completing the item. High priority indicates that for the system to be viable, the item should be addressed as quickly as possible.
After perusing the list, if you feel that items have been missed, improperly categorized, or improperly prioritized, please inform us by sending e-mail. Please detail your addition, recategorization, or reprioritization as thoroughly as possible.
A. Interface
1. Appearance
a. Add parentheses to run location requests (completed)
b. Change railroad line type to something appropriate
(low)
c. Color instructions for color-blind people (low)
d. Create ability to generate graduated sizes/colors
of dots for numbers of accidents (low)
e. Disable commands that currently cannot be utilized
(completed)
f. Eliminate AV-ALAS scripts opening on errors ->
encrypting/embedding? (completed)
g. Eliminate underscores from menus/dialogs/etc.
if possible (completed)
h. Fit text into windows/dialogs/etc. (medium)
i. If no data in directory, take off selection list
or vice versa (completed)
j. Master report sheet with all report options listed
(medium)
k. Menus only show up when project window is open,
needs to show up when views (maps) or tables are
active (completed)
l. Name the view that is opened something that indicates
what is contained (e.g., county name, RPA) (completed)
m. Slow! Speed up? ? index, search only applicable
years, search for all crashes at same time (completed)
n. Stackable crashes (completed)
o. When querying multiple counties place the query
results into 1 table for the A records, 1 table
for the B records, and 1 table for the C records
and not have a table for the A, B, and C records
for each county (medium)
p. When selecting crashes within a distance of a
feature create a circle or other shape to reflect
what that actual distance is from that point. In
the example below the crashes 100 feet from the
node (large blue dot) were selected, however providing
a graphical reference allows a much clearer picture
of where this 100-foot area is. (low)
q. Stackable crashes is TOO slow! (high)
2. Operation
a. Speed
1) Link request inclusive of nodes is too slow.
(medium)
2) Redraw (invalidate) display after each county
opens? (low)
3) Select only from those layers that are pertinent.
(completed)
4) Use point selection to grab all layers related
to selected crashes (i.e., A, B, C records) (medium)
5) When session has already identified available
counties, need not identify them again every time
user opens another county. (completed)
b. User-friendliness
1) Allow automated creation of thematic maps
(e.g., Road ADT, type of collision) (low)
2) Allow users to start afresh with selection
and queries without closing AV-ALAS. (completed)
3) Automatic recognition of earliest and latest
dates available (completed)
4) Automatically recognize whether nodes/features
have been selected (completed)
5) Back button for parameter selections (high)
6) Code dialogs to work (high)
7) Create configuration files for: (medium)
a) counties available
b) RPAs, MPOs, ITCs, statewide available
c) Columns available
d) Column names
e) Years available, years desired, dates desired
- each county?
f) Root directory, program directory, data directory,
query directory, reports directory
g) Defaults saved to files, called up when AV-ALAS
opens
8) Creating 3 stages of hierarchy for users (i.e.,
beginner, advanced, and power user) by doing this
it would allow functionality to be deactivated
for the low end users (low)
9) Delete previous queries when a new query is
specified. Save old queries if user wants to.
(medium)
10) Eliminate month and day option when requesting
dates desired (completed)
11) Enable/change help information (medium)
12) If options have eliminated all crashes, inform
user and request different data refinement (medium)
13) Incorporate a choice for selecting all options
(low)
14) Provide a visual check on what selection parameters
have been chosen and also allow a back button
to change parameters selected (i.e., if you select
injury and accident information and you start
to select the additional parameter and realize
that you want to include driver information there
is no way to go back and change your initial selection
without starting completely over) (medium)
15)Reset AV-ALAS for new location specifications
(medium)
16) Wait messages (completed)
17) Rename A, B, and C themes with more descriptive
names, e.g. "Co. 85 Yr. 94 - Injuries".
If this isn't possible, explain the differences
among them in the online help and provide help
buttons in the dialog boxes. (medium)
18) Widen the Themes pane and the Identify Records
window so that users can read the theme names
without resizing. (low)
19) Take multiple parameters in the same window
so that users will be able to review their choices
in relation to each other. These windows might
look similar to old PC-ALAS dialog boxes. (medium)
20) Present series of windows as Wizards so that
users can easily go back to review and correct
previous steps. (medium)
21) Plan window placement so that windows do not
obscure each other. For instance, the Identify
Records window could always appear in the upper
left quadrant of the screen, while the report
tables could always appear in the lower right
quadrant. (low)
22) Plan window size so that windows won't have
to be resized. Widen the Identify Records window
so that each theme's name is completely displayed.
Resize the report table windows so that they can
be read without scrolling. If possible, resize
each report window to fit the specific report
table (e.g. the Fixed Objects Struck window would
be a different size from the Parameter Sheet window).
(low)
3. Functionality
a. Code string of nodes, milepoint, milepost (completed)
b. Combine (append) years of interest together during
session? (low)
c. Eliminate saving changes to AV-ALAS, but allow
changes to saved as another project. (low)
d. Eliminate the default setting for default root
directory and default directory name (completed)
e. Eliminate Transportation Center/Statewide options
or create regionwide coverages or speed it up (low)
f. Enable selection of crashes nearest (within distance
of) user-specified point. (medium)
g. Enable user specified regions, points, etc. (medium)
h. Facilitate selection of crashes using buffering
of selected features. (medium)
i. Functional selection of accidents using actual
accident locations (completed)
j. In order to open more than one county, needs
more coding (completed)
k. Modify flag notation (actual accident locations)
? flags doesn't do anything? (completed)
l. Only ask for logic specification once and inform
that this is now the default and must be changed
there. (low)
m. Provide a way to have program remember where
the last information was stored or accessed and
default directory to that location (low)
n. Provide a way to print information about one
crash with relevant information (not the numbers
and having the user look up what they mean) (medium)
o. Provide information as to how each data refinement
parameter limited the selection set? (low)
p. Provide information or automated way to query
with respect to other theme attributes. For example,
injury crashes between the hours of 1800 and 2200
that occurred on streets with an ADT less than 500.
(medium)
q. Provide precise information about the date analysis
capability (low)
r. Search for data directories automatically (completed)
s. Use summarize to produce symbols indicating #
of accidents at a point (medium)
t. Work on regional selection: RPA, ITC, statewide,
multiple counties, cities/rural (completed)
B. Query
1. Fix the following: (high)
a. Collision type (completed)
b. Injured severity (completed)
c. Type of accident (completed)
d. Driver/Vehicle Contributing Circumstances
e. Time of Day (completed)
f. Special Use Vehicle (completed)
g. Fixed object type accidents (completed)
h. Driver condition (completed)
i. Position of injured (completed)
j. Traffic controls (completed)
k. License restrictions
l. Combination requests
m. User defined queries
n. Sex of driver (Gender?) (completed)
o. Driver charged (completed)
2. Create these special queries (and others?): (low)
a. Weather-related accident causes/dates
b. Date vs. state parks
c. Proximity to signals or other interesting features
(bars, large employment centers, downtowns, shopping
centers, curves)
d. Crashes per type of road
e. Highlighting points with high numbers of certain
types of crashes (e.g., animal in roadway crashes)
f. Create a query for X # of injured, etc.
3. Provide some kind of information about the status
of a query (possible suggestions are a status bar
or a message stating query in progress please wait)
(low)
4. Put option for # of vehicles to include 1, 2, 3,
4, 5+ (completed)
5. Automated way to save query results before further
dividing (refining) search (medium)
6. Once query is executed then zoom to selected to
get a close up view (medium)
7. New search on 1st subset and not second parameter
selection on original data (medium)
8. Is there any way to save a query? Or log what the
previous X # of queries were? (medium)
9. Address issues of county-wide searches along with:
(high)
a. selection of crashes occurring in just a city
(completed)
b. selection of crashes occurring in the county
but not in a city (Sheriff Department)
c. selection of crashes in multiple cities (completed)
d. using the linework to select crashes (automated
for all crashes on a particular road)
C. Report
1. Reports do not have fixed object struck #s in
them (completed)
2. Put the refinement parameters in the report (possibly
under parameter sheet?) (high)
3. Crash rate is not filled in for the reports (high)
4. Surface conditions do not have values in the report
form (completed)
5. If generating multiple reports there is no way
to easily differentiate what report is for what (i.e.,
there are 2 fixed object struck, 2 parameter sheet)…delete
old reports (ask if want to save)…have dialog
which opens those portions of the reports desired…(high)
6. Non-fatality issues reporting (completed)
7. Dynamic, interactive vs. set reports (low)
8. add graphs and/or charts? Link to Excel to produce
charts? (medium)
9. Finish reports: engineering report, enforcement
report, ranking report, user-defined graphs, other
reports that might be useful -- divide these by year,
location, any other division? (medium)
10. Address current problems with the report tables
and provide a master report that includes all information
that is broken into smaller components. This would
provide print out capability for all of the reports
without wasting paper space, but also allows certain
reports of interest to be printed out when needed
(high)
11. Develop a script to select tables from the "av_alas.apr"
window and print them directly, without opening them.
(high)
12. Develop a script to print the A, B, and C records
for each selected accident, preferably in the same
format that the PC-ALAS report prints detailed accident
data. (high)
D. Printing
1. Printing selected records only (low)
2. Printing of reports (high)
3. Print the time and date as a footer or header for
any printouts of maps, tables, and reports (medium)
E. Data
1. Multiple years for each county in one file for
Shape, A, B, and C (low)
2. Shape, A, B, C stuff (low)
3. Create mpt2shp process in AV (low)
4. Obtain city corporate limits coverage for use in
AV-ALAS city searches (medium)
5. Explorer ALAS ? ABBBC for 10 years for entire state
((completed), ongoing?)
6. Delete all fields that are unnecessary (low)
7. Getting all BR ROADS information into several tables
for use in AV-ALAS (medium)
F. Documentation
1. Update Developer's Guide (medium)
2. Update User's Manual (medium)
3. Document code (medium)
4. Develop training and documentation materials to
help users better understand the relationship among
the different records. (medium)
5. Develop an online reference to help users interpret
descriptions such as VEHICLE_TY=1. Or find ways to
provide fuller descriptions. (medium)
6. Develop thorough online help. Users often have
trouble finding and coordinating resources (such as
training manuals) with online programs. If the online
help included a thorough reference, uses may have
less trouble and may become more self-sufficient,
and additionally, may find new uses for GIS-ALAS.
(high)
7. Develop a training program that includes online
help use. Users often haven't encountered online help
that is a useful reference, so they may need some
time to get used to the idea and to understand how
to use the help as a reference. (high)
8. In the training program, encourage users to share
expertise. This may involve teaching users how to
work on GIS-ALAS together. It also may involve encouraging
them to join a support apparatus such as an electronic
mailing list so they can ask questions and share answers.
(high)
G. Miscellaneous
1. Shorten code by modularizing more (low)
2. Severity determinations (for crashes, sites, etc.)
(low)
3. Further enforcement-related enhancements (medium)
4. Intersection magic interface (high)
5. Statewide operation (high)
6. Buffering roads to get nearest accidents (all accidents
along line) and to calculate crash rate (low)
7. Buffering railroads to get all accidents along
rail lines (low)
8. Interchange proximity (low)
last modified on April 12, 1999
