Download CWIS user manual

018530 - SWITCH
Sustainable Water Management in the City of the Future
Integrated Project
Global Change and Ecosystems
Deliverable D1.4.3 (Replaces D1.4.5 - D1.4.8 and D1.4.16 from original DoW)
The City Water Information System (CWIS) - Training package
Due date of deliverable: 31/07/06
Actual submission date: 30/04/11
Start date of project: 1 February 2006
Duration: 63 months
Organisation name and lead contractor for this deliverable: Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)
Revision [final]
Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme (2006-2011)
Dissemination Level
Public
PU
PP
Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services)
RE
CO
Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services)
Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services)
X
SWITCH Deliverable Briefing Note
SWITCH Document: City Water Information System (CWIS)
Deliverable reference: D1.4.3
(includes D1.4.5, D1.4.5.6, D1.4.7 and D1.4.8 from original DOW)
Author(s) and Institution(s): Colin Schenk, Bastien Roquier, Marc Soutter / EPFL
Publication date: 30 Apr. 2011
Audience
Learning alliances, public bodies, researchers, anybody having to deal with
complexity, global and integrated approaches to resources management.
Purpose
To provide knowledge and information sharing platform to support global and
integrated urban planning.
Background
Sharing information and knowledge is a very basic first step in the multi-thematic
and multi-stakeholder global and integrated approaches that have long been
recognized as necessary step towards a more sustainable practice of natural
resources management.
The City Water suite of tools and, more specifically, the City Water information
System, have been designed to address complex strategic planning issues that are a
major characteristic of urban water management challenges for the cities of the
future.
Potential Impact
With its modular structure, including three complementary data viewing tools
(reporting, geographic and systemic), its system-based database and its ability to
handle scenario/situation data, the City Water Information System offers a unique
tool to address complex, multi-thematic and multi-stakeholder issues in a global
and integrated framework.
Due to its generic layout, based on ontologies, this novel, if not revolutionary,
Web-based information system is not restricted to integrated urban water
management but has a very broad range of potential fields of application.
Recommendations
Try out the online demo version
The City Water Information System
(CWIS)
Welcome to CWIS
TheCityWaterInformationSystem(CWIS)isanintegratedWebͲbasedsoftwareapplicationtoexploreasamesetof
informationaccordingsimultaneouslytostandarddocumentlogics(text/image/hyperlinks),tospatiallogics
(geographiclayout)andtosystemlogics(hierarchies,interrelations).
Itsmostdistinctivefeaturesare:
x
amodularstructurewiththreeindependentmodulesthatcanbesynchronized(i.e.shareasameselectionof
systemelements),theactivereportingtool,thegeographicviewerandthesystemviewer,
x
anunderlyinggenericsystemͲbaseddatabasestructurethatallowsworkingwithontologies(i.e.librariesofsystem
elementsdescribingagivendomain,inthepresentcaseintegratedurbanwatermanagement).Thedatabaseis
thusabletostoreanykindofdata,withaveryhighflexibilityandadaptabilitytochangesintheobjectsand
attributesthatarehosted.Furthermore,potentiallyanydataformatcanbesupported(text,numeric,image,video,
geometries,binary,etc.),
x
designtosupportscenarioplanningapproaches,theCityWaterInformationSystemhastheabilitytomanage
alternativesituations,inadditiontothetemporaldimensionofinformation.Theinformationdisplayedinthe
variousviewersisthusconditionedbyatimecontextandasituationcontext:asystemelementisonlydisplayedif
itstimetagsmatchtheselectedtimespanandifitbelongstotheactivesituation/scenario.Systemelements
belongingtoalternativesituationsmayalsobedisplayedbutinadimmedmode.
CWIS and the City Water suite of tools
CITYWATERisaknowledgeandinformationsharingplatformtosupportglobalandintegratedurbanplanning.With
its fullsetoftoolsitismeanttotohelpyouunderstandwaterinyourcity;
x Tounderstandthedifferentcomponentsofthewatersysteminyourcity,theirinterͲlinkagesandaspectsof
waterwithinacity.
x Tounderstandhowwaterlinkstootheraspectsofthecitymanagement––forexampleineducation,health,
transportation,planning,economicactivities.
x Tohelpevaluatethefuturepotentialimpactsofglobaltrendsonthewaterofyourcity. Yourcitymightbe
atriskfromclimatechange,populationgrowth,depopulationorenergycostincreases.
x Tohelpevaluatethetechnicaloptionswhichneedtobeconsiderednowsothattheseimpactscanbe
addressed.
StructureandcomponentsofCityWater
Ͳ
TheCWISorCityWaterInformationSystem,withitstwo
components
o
TheCityWaterDatabase,i.e.thecityspecific
informationorganizedaccordingtothedatabase
structure,totakeadvantageofthefrontend
tools,
o
TheWebͲServerthatprovidesthedatatothe
clientapplicationorfrontend
o
TheFrontEnd:somefundamentaltoolsto
connecttodatabasesandmanagetheworkspace,
plusthreedifferentinterlinkedviewingtools: ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Ͳ
TheDataviewer/manager,i.e.thetool
aimingatnavigationinthedatabase
contents, TheGeographicviewer,i.e.thetool
proposedtonavigateinformationona
spatialbasis,
TheSystemviewer,i.e.thetoolproposed
tonavigateinformationonasystemic
basis,
ThevariousCityWaterSimulationmodels(simple
screeningmodels):
o
CityWaterBalance,ascopingmodeltoassessthe
sustainabilityofacity’’swatersystemusing
indicators.Centraltothemodelisthewater
balancewhichiscalculatedusingmeteorological
dataonadailytimeͲstepforanareadividedinto
clustersbasedoncommonlanduse. o
CityWaterDrain,amodelforassessingthe
interactionsbetweenelementsoftheurban
drainagesystemonasubͲdailytimebasis:
catchmentrunoff,sewers,treatmentplantsand
receivingwaters.
Ͳ
o
CityWaterEconomics,amodeltoexplorethe
potentialeconomicimplicationsoffuture
strategiesonurbanwatermanagementby
analyzingscenariosforcostrecovery&economic
driversforchange(financing,pricingand
subsidies).
o
CityWaterRisks,atooltoevaluatethecity
responsestoglobalchangepressuresintermsof
risksanduncertainties.
Variousothersimulationmodelsthatmightalsobe
linkedtotheCWIS
Datarequirements InordertousetheCityWaterInformationSystem,thereareno
specialrequirementsondata.Themoreinformationinthe
database,themorecanbeexploredand/orshared.Itisperfectly
possibletostartsettingupCityWaterwithaverylimitedsetof
initialdataandfeedthesystemprogressively.Muchinthesame
spirit,onedoesnotnecessarilyhavetousethefullrangeof
viewing tools:itwillbeperfectlypossibletowork,togivean
example,withthedatamanager(reportingtool)aloneorthe
Geographicvieweralone.
InordertousetheCityWaterSimulationModels,alimited
minimumsetofdataneedstobestoredinthedatabase.What
exactlythosedataarewillhavetobedescribedindetailsbythe
modeldevelopers.However,ifsomeofthosedatawouldbe
missing,itsimplymeansthatitwillnotbepossibletorunthe
specificmodel(s)thatneedthosedata,butitwillstillbepossible
touseinformationsystemtoplayaroundwiththeinformation
availableinthedatabase.
DifferentkindsofinformationcanbestoredintheCitydatabases
:
Ͳ Numericvalues,
Ͳ Texts,includingURL addresses(linktoWebsites)
Ͳ Files(pdffiles,images,etc.)
Ͳ Geometries(spatialobjects)
Ͳ Lifetimes
License
THISEULASHALLAPPLYONLYTOTHESOFTWARESUPPLIEDBYIPOGEEHEREWITHREGARDLESSOFWHETHEROTHER
SOFTWAREISREFERREDTOORDESCRIBEDHEREIN.
DEFINITIONS
"CityWaterInformationSystem"and"Software"referstoIPOGEE'sCityWaterInformationSystemprogram,ineach
case,suppliedbyIPOGEEherewith,andcorrespondingdocumentation,associatedmedia,andonlineorelectronic
documentation.
LIABILITYDISCLAIMER
THECITYWATERINFORMATIONSYSTEMISDISTRIBUTED"ASIS".NOWARRANTYOFANYKINDISEXPRESSEDOR
IMPLIED.YOUUSEITATYOUROWNRISK.NEITHERTHEAUTHORSNORIPOGEEWILLBELIABLEFORDATALOSS,
DAMAGESANDLOSSOFPROFITSORANYOTHERKINDOFLOSSWHILEUSINGORMISUSINGTHISSOFTWARE.
RESTRICTIONS
Youmaynotuse,copy,emulate,clone,rent,lease,sell,modify,decompile,disassemble,otherwisereverseengineer,
ortransferanyversionoftheSoftware,oranysubsetofit,exceptasprovidedforinthisagreement.Anysuch
unauthorizeduseshallresultinimmediateandautomaticterminationofthislicenseandmayresultincriminaland/or
civilprosecution. TERMS
Thislicenseiseffectiveuntilterminated.Youmayterminateitbydestroyingtheprogram,thedocumentationand
copiesthereof.Thislicensewillalsoterminateifyoufailtocomplywithanytermsorconditionsofthisagreement.You
agreeuponsuchterminationtodestroyallcopiesoftheprogramandofthedocumentation,orreturnthemtothe
author.
OTHERRIGHTSANDRESTRICTIONS
Allotherrightsandrestrictionsnotspecificallygrantedinthislicensearereservedbyauthors.
Getting Started
Chooseoneofthefollowingsections:
Softwarearchitecture
Explainsthedifferentpartsofthesoftware
SystemRequirements
Whatcomputerandsoftwarearerequiredtosetupthedatabaseandtheserver,andruntheapplication
GettingHelp
ProvidesthedifferentwaystoaccessCityWaterInformationSystemhelpresources
Software architecture
The City Water Information System is built as a 3Ͳtier architecture, using the Microsoft Silverlight application
frameworkandASP.net4.0:
x
Thedatatierconsistsofthedatabaseserveranditsdatabasemanagementsystem(DBMS),wheredataarestored
andfromwhichtheyareretrieved.IntheDBMS(MicrosoftSQLserver2008),thedataareorganisedintheformof
interconnectedtablesthatfollowapredefineddatabasedesign.
x
Themiddle tierisawebserver(InternetInformationServicesIIS)thatprovidesaccesspointstothedataandits
transfer between the database server and the client(s). The mapping between the relational data stored in a
MicrosoftSQLServer2008andtheprogrammaticobjectsusedbytheapplicationismadebythe““ADO.NETEntity
Framework””. x
Theclienttierishostedonthecomputeroftheusers(eitherpermanentlyorloadedfromaWebsite)andmainly
containstheuserinterface(i.e.thepartofthesoftwareapplicationthatusersseeandinteractwith). System requirements
Dataandmiddletier
Minimumconfiguration
x
WindowsXP,WindowsVistaorWindows7 x
200MBoffreediskspace(dependingonthedatabase'sexpectedsize)
x
MicrosoftSQLserver2008R2(Express)
x
InternetInformationServicesIIS6.0orhigher
SettingupthedatabaseandtheWebserverisnotalwaysstraightforward,sothatasystemadministratorshouldbein
chargeofthattask.Moredetailsmaybefoundathttp://www.ipogee.ch/Nexsis
Clienttier
Minimumconfiguration
x
Windows,MacOS(Linux+MoonLightnottested) x
500MBofRAM(2GBrecommended)
x
20MBoffreediskspace x
1024x768screenresolutionorhigher x
WebBrowserwiththeSilverlight4.0plugͲin
Getting help
Access to help within the application itself
x
in the help window,
x
in a set of reports, part of a project called Info & docs.
On-line resources
x
download the .chm or .pdf user manual,
x
On-line version of the help file
User interface
TheCityWaterInformationSystemstartswithadashboardwhereasetofpredefinedworkspacesareproposedas
startingpoints.
ThegenerallayoutofCWIS'userinterfacedividesthescreenintothreeareas:
ͲThemaindisplayarea,thatwillhostdifferentviewers(geographic,activereporttool,systemviewer),
ͲTheleftbanner,thatwillhostthecommands,
ͲThemessageloggerusedtodisplaymessagestotheuser.
Alloftheseareasmayberesizedbymovingthesplittersthatseparatethem
Theleftbannerhostsinitsbottompartasmallhelpwindowthatdisplayssomeinformationrelatedtotheobjectsthe
mouseispointingat.
Furthermore,theleftlateralbannermaybeswitchedfromapermanentlyvisiblestatetoanautomaticshow/hide
behaviorbyclickingonthebeanlikebuttonthatstaysonitstoprightborder.Show/hideistriggeredwhenthebean
likebuttongetsfocusorwhentheleftbannerloosesfocus.
FormoredetailsonthegenerallayoutoftheCityWaterInformationSystem,andespeciallythecontrolsthatare
providedbyitsleftbanner,lookattheoverallinfrastructuresectionhereafter.
Overallinfrastructure
GeographicViewer
ActiveReportingTool
SystemViewer
Overall infrastructure
Thegeneraltoolsthatarecommontothewholeapplicationarelocatedinthegenerallateralbanner,withexceptionof
thethreebuttonslocatedontheupperrightpartofeachView(seeatthebottomofthissection).Thisleftbannermay
besetasvisibleorhidden(byaclickonthebeanͲlikebuttonlocatedonitsupperrightedge).Ifhidden,hoveringthe
mouseoverthebeanͲlikebuttonwillautomaticallyunhidethebannerandhideitagainwhenloosingfocus.
x
TheLayoutManagerallowstosplitthemaindisplayareaintoregionsthatwillhostthevariousviews.Selecting
oneofthelistedlayoutswillsplitthedisplayareaaccordingly.Unlikeothersoftware,CWISdoesnotuse
overlappingtiledwindows.Thevarioussubregionsmayberesizedbyclickingandmovingthesplittersthatseparate
them.
x
TheProjectManagerandDataSpacescontrolhostsfouritems: (i)atoolbarwithabunchofbuttons, (ii)theAddNew...expander,
(iii)asetoftabbedlists,and
(iv)theTimespan...expander.
Theseitemsaredescribedherebelow,startingwiththetabbedlists:
o TheselistsexposetheViews(Vtab),Projects(Ptab),Workspaces(WStab)andSituations(Stab)storedin
thedatabase.
Views(V)aretheelementarytoolsusedtoaccessanddisplaydata,eitheraccordingtodocumentlogics
(activereportingtool),tospatiallogics(geographicviewer)ortosystemlogics(systemviewer).Dashboard
viewsisaspecialcaseofviewsdesignedtobeusedinthedashboardthatshowsupatthestartupofthe
application.
Workspaces(WS)maybeseenassnapshotsoftheuserinterface:theystorethemainarea'slayoutalong
withtheviewsthataredisplayedinitsvariousregions.Savingaworkspaceisaconvenientwaytostoreand
retrievetheviewconfigurationfromaworksessiontothenext,ortopredefineasetofviewersforagroup
ofunexperiencedusers. Projects(P)maybeconsideredascontainersinwhichtohostvariousviewsandworkspacesthatbelongto
asameconcern/study/topic.ViewsaswellasWorkspacesmaybelongtoseveralProjects.
Situations(S)areactuallysubgroupsofsystemelements(thesystemelementsbeingthevariousitems
storedinthedatabase,suchaswatersheds,wells,stakeholders,energyflux,andwhatsoever,seethe
systemviewsectionformoredetails).ThecurrentlyexistingelementsbelongtoasoͲcalledbasesituation
butmayormaynotbelongtoalternativessituations.Situationsmaythusbeusedto"filter"dataandonly
displaythedatabelongingtothesituation(s)thathavebeenmarkedasbeingvisible.
AsillustratedbytheAlexandriaProject Eachoftheseitemsmaybeexpandedandthenrenamed.In
expandedform,thedisplaysomeoftheircharacteristics,suchastheprojectstheybelongto(Views,
WorkspacesandScenarios)andtheitemstheycontain(Projects).
Thisgroupoffourtabbedlists(V,P,WS,S)describetheoverallExistingsetofViews,Workspaces,Projects
andSituations.OnemaydefineasubsetoftheCurrentViewsandSituationsthatareusedduringawork
session.Whenaddingaviewtothedisplay,itwillbeautomaticallyaddedtothecurrentlistofviews.Views
mayalsobeaddedandremovedfromthecurrentlistbyusingthebluearrowbuttons(seebelow).
FinallytheSituationslistisusedtomanagethevisibilitystatusofsystemelementsaccordingtothe
situationstheybelongto(anelementmaybelongtoseveralsituations):elementsbelongingtotheactive
situation(greenVsign)havefullvisibility.Elementsthatdonotbelongtotheactivesituationbutdobelong
toanothervisiblesituation(eyeenabled)arevisiblebutdimmed.Elementsthatonlybelongtononvisible
situationsarehidden.Situationrelatedvisibilitystatusofelementsmaybesetattheoveralllevelor
specifiedforeachviewindependently(seespecificviewssections).Situationsmembershipsofelements
maybesetandchangedthroughcontextualmenus(seespecificviewssections). o Thetoolbarexposesthefollowingtools:
TheOpenbuttonmaybeusedtoopenanddisplayaVieworaWorkspace.InthecaseofaView,the
latterisopenedanddisplayedinthefirstemptydisplayarea.Ifnoneofthemisavailable,theviewissimply
loadedandaddedtothesubsetofCurrentViews.WithViews,onecanusetheDragandDropoperation,
withtheCtrlͲKeypressed,toreplacetheViewinadisplayareabytheonethatisbeingdropped.
TheSavebuttonsavestheselecteditem(View,Project,Workspace,Situation).
TheCopybuttonaddsacopyoftheselecteditematthebottomofthelist(View)
TheDeletebuttondeletestheselecteditem(View,Project,Workspace,Situation).
TheTransferbuttonstransfertheselecteditem(View,Situation)fromtheExistingtotheCurrentset
ofitems,andback.
o TheAddNew...subsectionoftheDataSpacessectionprovidesthetoolsnecessarytoaddnewitems
(View,Project,Workspace,Situation)usingtheDragͲDropoperation,withtheCtrlͲKeypressed.These
itemscaneitherbeaddedtoaregionofthedisplayarea(Views)orintheitemtabsbelow(V,P,WS,S).
o TheTimeSpansectionismeanttofilterdisplayeddataaccordingtoadefined"timewindow"(not
implementedyet).
EachViewinthedisplayhasasetofthreesmallbuttonsintheirupperrightcorner.Draggingtheleftone(depicted
withanS),againwiththeCtrlͲKeypressed,fromaViewanddroppingitontoanotherViewwillsynchronizethecurrent
selectionsofthosetwoViews.ARightͲClickonthissamebuttonwilldeactivatethesynchronization. Themiddlebuttonisused,withtheCtrlͲKeypressed,todragaviewfromoneregionanddropitintoanotherone.The
colortagisreflectedintheViewlist.
TherightbuttonwillremovetheViewfromthedisplay.
Geographic viewer
Tobrowseinformationonaspatialbasis...
x
PanandZoom.Sofarpanningandzoomingareimplementedinaverysimpleandstraightforwardway:panningis
achievedbymovingthemousearoundwiththeleftbuttonpressed,whereaszoomingisachievedwiththemouse's
scrollbutton.
x
BackgroundLayer.Themap'sbackgroundlayermaybechangedusingthebottomrightComboBoxwhereasthe
backgroundlayer'sopacitymaybesetwiththenearbyslider
x
MiniͲmap.TheMiniͲmapshowstheareacoveredbythemainmapata(usually)largerscaleintheformofared
square.TheMiniͲmapcanberesizedbydraggingthesmallbuttonlocatedatitsbottomͲrightcorner.A
DoubleͲClickonthisbuttonwillhide theMiniͲmapor,ifhidden,displayitagain.Panningandzoomingworkinthe
samewayasforthemainmap,exceptthatpanningontheredsquarewillmovethesquare,thuschangingthe
visibleareaofthemainmapaccordingly.ThebackgroundlayeroftheMiniͲmapmaybechangedthroughthe
relatedcontextualmenu(RightͲClickontheMiniͲmap).
x
Lateralbanner.Theleftbannermaybesetasvisibleorhidden(byaclickonthebeanͲlikebuttonlocatedonits
bottomrightedge).Ifhidden,hoveringthemouseoverthebeanͲlikebuttonwillautomaticallyunhidethebanner
andhideitagainwhenloosingfocus.TheleftbanneroftheGeographicViewhostsasetofsevenelements,of
whichthefirstthreearecommontoalltypeofviews(Geographic,SystemandReportingtool):
Commonitems:
o Metadata.Asmallcontrolthatsimplyreminds(andmayedit)thenameanddescriptionoftheView o DataSpaces.ThiscontrolreplicatestheSituationmanagerlocatedintheProjectManagerandData
Spacescontrolofthemainleftbanner(seeOverallinfrastructure).WiththeSynchronizeoptionchecked,
thehigherlevelprojectwidesettingsareused,whereasifnotcheckedthelocalsettingswillbeused.These
settingsdefinethevisibilitystatusofsystemelementsaccordingtothesituationstheybelongto:the
elements,i.e. theshapesdisplayedonthemapinthiscase,belongingtotheactivesituation(greenV
sign)havefullvisibility.Elementsthatdonotbelongtotheactivesituationbutdobelongtoanothervisible
situation(eyeenabled)arevisiblebutdimmed.Elementsthatonlybelongtononvisiblesituationsare
hidden.Situationsmembershipsofelementsmaybesetandchangedthroughcontextualmenus.
o Searchtool.Thistoolallowstosearchforsystemelements,eitheronaByNamebasisoraByIdbasis.Not
implementedyetfortheGeographicalviewer,seetheotherviewersformoredetails. Specificitems:
o Data.Thisexpanderliststhegeographicaldatalayersthatmaybedisplayedonthemaporusedtobuild
indicatormaps.Thedatalayersaregroupedinahierarchicalstructurewithuptothreelevels.Eachlayer
itemshows(i)aroundedbuttonusedtograbit(withtheCtrlͲKeypressed),draganddropitintheindicator
section,tocreateanewindicatormap,(ii)asquarecheckboxtoshowandhidethelayeronthemap,(iii)
thelayersname,(iv)apictogramshowingitscolorfeaturesand(v)anexpandbutton.Expandingadata
layergivesaccesstothetoolstoconfigurethelayeritems'fillcolorandopacity,andstrokecolor,opacity
andthickness. o Indicators.Indicatormapsarebasedondatalayers,withanassociateparameterusedtodrawthelayer's
shapesaccordingtoacolororsizeramp.Theindicatorlayersaregroupedinahierarchicalstructurewith
uptothreelevels.Tocreateanewindicator,onehastograbtheroundedbuttonlocatedontheleftsideof
adatalayerintheDataexpander,andthentoCtrlͲDragandDropiteitherontopoftheIndicators
expander(inthetitleheader)orinoneofthepredefinedgroupsofindicators.
Expandinganindicatorlayergivesaccesstotheindicatorparameterselectionandtothescaleusedto
drawtheindicatormap.
Expandingtheindicatordefinitionareagivesaccesstotheindicatormapsettings:(i)thenumberofclasses,
(ii)thecustomsettingsoption,thatallowsone,ifchecked,todefinemanually thelowerandupperlimits
andthefillandstrokepropertiesofeachthematicclass.Ifunchecked,thethemeclasseswillbedefined
automatically,accordingto(iii)thelevelofrounding,(iv)thetypeofdistribution,(v)automaticorcustom
lowerandupperboundariesand(vi)thelimitsofthefill,strokeandsizescaletobeused. o LayerOverlay.Eachlayeraddedtothemapisaddedontopofallothers.Theoverlaystructureofmap
layersismanagedinthelayeroverlaysection,aswellastheiroverallopacityandvisibility.Theoverlay
manageractuallyshowsalllayersthathavebeenloadedduringthecurrentworkingsessionandnotonly
thevisiblelayers. o EditionMode.Selectingand/oreditingtheshapesofamaplayerisachievedthroughcontextualmenus
(accessedbyaRightͲClickonthetargetedshape).Aselectedshapewillbedrawninredwithanorange
border,whileeditingashapewilldrawitsvertices,verticesthatmaythenbemovearoundordeleted
(contextualmenu).Toaddanewvertexonashape,RightͲClickontheedgeoftheshapeatthelocation
whereyouwouldliketohavethenewvertexadded.
o Toaddnewshapes,opentheEditionModecontrol,selectthelayerinwhichthenewshapesaretobe
added,pressthetogglebuttonthechoosebetweenpoint,linesandpolygonsandthenstartdrawing:in
AddPointmode,eachclickonthemapwilladdanewpoint,inAddLineorAddPolygonmode,eachclick
onthemapwilladdanewvertextotheshape.DoubleͲclickonthelastcreatedvertextoquittheAdd
mode.
Active Reporting Tool
Toviewandedittherelatedreports,data,tablesandcharts...
x
Lateralbanner.Theleftbannermaybesetasvisibleorhidden(byaclickonthebeanͲlikebuttonlocatedonits
bottomrightedge).Ifhidden,hoveringthemouseoverthebeanͲlikebuttonwillautomaticallyunhidethebanner
andhideitagainwhenloosingfocus.TheleftbanneroftheActiveReportingToolhoststhesetofthreeelements
thatarecommontoalltypeofviews(Geographic,SystemandReportingtool):
Commonitems:
o Metadata.Asmallcontrolthatsimplyreminds(andmayedit)thenameanddescriptionoftheView o DataSpaces.ThiscontrolreplicatestheSituationmanagerlocatedintheProjectManagerandData
Spacescontrolofthemainleftbanner(seeOverallinfrastructure).WiththeSynchronizeoptionchecked,
thehigherlevelprojectwidesettingsareused,whereasifnotcheckedthelocalsettingswillbeused.These
settingsdefinethevisibilitystatusofsystemelementsaccordingtothesituationstheybelongto.
o Searchtool.Thistoolallowstosearchforsystemelements,eitheronaByNamebasisoraByIdbasis.The
resultsofasearchwillbedisplayedasalistofitems,withforeachfounditemsomebasicinformation
alongwiththelistsoforiginatingandtargetingconnections(seeSystemViewer).ACtrlͲDragofonelist
itemandsubsequentDropinthedisplayareaofthereportingtoolwillloadanddisplaythiselement'sdata. x
Structureoftheview.TheActiveReportingToolviewareaconsistsinatabbedviewwithonetabforeachitemor
systemelementthatisdisplayedbytheview.Eachofthesetabscontainstheitem'sdata,structuresinfour
sections:
o Attributes.TheAttributessectiondisplayssomeofthemajorfeaturesofasystemelementandmaybe
seenasakindofsummary.
o Reports.TheReportssectionhosts,againinatabbedstructure,thevariousreportsthatmaybelinkedto
theitem.
o DataCatalog.TheDataCatalogsectionprovidesaccesstoviewandeditthedifferent"raw"dataassociated
toasystemelement.
o DataPanel.TheDataPanelsectionprovidesanalternativetotheDataCatalog,todisplayandeditdata
associatedtoasystemelementintabularandchartviews.
Asetofcontrols,locatedonthetopleftofthedisplayarea,allowtocontrolwhichsectionsofthedisplaywillbe
visible:[a],[r],[c]and[p]tolimitthedisplaytotheattributes,reports,datacataloganddatapanelsections
respectively,[r|c]todisplayboththereportanddatacatalogsections,and[4]todisplayallofthem.
x
EditingdataintheDataCatalog.TheDataCatalogSectionoftheviewexposesthevariousdataassociatedtothe
selectedsystemelement:thesedataarepresentedinatabbedlayout(tobesooncomplemented/replacedwith
tabular/chartlayouts),eachlinerelatingtoanelementofinformationintheinformationgroup(seeSystemview).
Clickingintothefieldsallowstoeditthemandchangetheirvalue(oruploadanalternativeimageasintheexample
below). x
EditingReports.ThebuttonsinthetoolbarontopoftheReportsectionallow(i)tocreateanewreport,(ii)to
deleteanexistingreport,(iii)tosavethechangesintheactivereport,and(iv)tosavechangesmadeinallreports
intheview.ThereportitselfcanbeswitchtoEditionmodebyclickingontheEditbutton,whichwilldrawared
frameonthereport'sedgeandallowdirectwritingintothereportarea.InEditionmode,the[r|d]displayallowsto
CtrlͲDraganddropdataitemsfromthedatasectionintoareport.Thereport'slayoutiscontrolledbyaXaml
Markuplanguage,similartohtml(see hereforsomedetails).PressingtheEdittagsbuttonwillsplittheviewin
two,withthereportontheleftandthetagsontheright.Thetwoarrowbuttonslocatedbetweenthosetwo
windowsallowtoupdatethetagsfromthetext,andviceͲversa. x
UsingtheDataPanel.DataPanelsareavailableprovidedanitem"GroupofDataPanels"hasbeenaddedasa
property(seeSystemViewer)tothesystemelementunderconsideration(theSwitchProjectintheexample
above).Ifso,thefourbuttonsontopoftheDataPaneldisplayareaallowtoadd,deleteandsaveDataPanels. DataPanelsareactuallyasetofthreetabbeditems:aparameterselectiontab,atabledisplaytabandachart
displaytab.WhenaddinganewDataPanel,theparameterselectiontabisfirstdisplayed.Itallowstochoosethe
informationthatwillbedisplayedinthetableandchartdisplays.Theimportantpointtokeepinmindisthefact
thatthereareuptofourdimensionsthatneedtobeset:(i)asystemelementmighthaveseveral
indicators/attributesthatcanbedisplayed,(ii)theseindicatorsmaytakedifferentvaluesintimeand(iii)according
tothedifferentsituations/scenarios.(iv)Thefourthdimensionappearswhenitcomestoanalyzegroupsofsystem
elements,i.e.Nodegroups(seeSystemViewer),suchasforexamplethegroupofelementsbelongingtoa
geographiclayer:theTable/Graphmayforinstancedisplaytheindicators/attributesvaluesincolumnsforthe
variousmembersofthegroupinrows,forafixedtimespanandafixedsituation/scenario.Changesintheselection
willbereflectedinstantlyinthetableandchartdisplays.
System viewer
Todigintothelogics,interrelationsandinteractions...
x
PanandZoom.Panningandzoomingareimplementedinaverysimpleandstraightforwardway:panningis
achievedbymovingthemousearoundwiththeleftbuttonandtheShiftͲKeypressed,whereaszoomingisachieved
withthemouse'sscrollbutton.
x
Selectanelementbyclickingonit,deletetheselectedelementbypressingtheDeleteKey.
x
Lateralbanner.Theleftbannermaybesetasvisibleorhidden(byaclickonthebeanͲlikebuttonlocatedonits
bottomrightedge).Ifhidden,hoveringthemouseoverthebeanͲlikebuttonwillautomaticallyunhidethebanner
andhideitagainwhenloosingfocus.TheleftbanneroftheSystemviewhostsasetofsixelements,ofwhichthe
firstthreearecommontoalltypeofviews(Geographic,SystemandReportingtool):
Commonitems:
o Metadata.Asmallcontrolthatsimplyreminds(andmayedit)thenameanddescriptionoftheView o DataSpaces.ThiscontrolreplicatestheSituationmanagerlocatedintheProjectManagerandData
Spacescontrolofthemainleftbanner(seeOverallinfrastructure).WiththeSynchronizeoptionchecked,
thehigherlevelprojectwidesettingsareused,whereasifnotcheckedthelocalsettingswillbeused.These
settingsdefinethevisibilitystatusofsystemelementsaccordingtothesituationstheybelongto:the
systemelementsdisplayedinthedisplayareathatbelongtotheactivesituation(greenVsign)havefull
visibility.Elementsthatdonotbelongtotheactivesituationbutdobelongtoanothervisiblesituation(eye
enabled)arevisiblebutdimmed.Elementsthatonlybelongtononvisiblesituationsarehidden.Situations
membershipsofelementsmaybesetandchangedthroughcontextualmenus(RightͲClickonthesystem
element).
o Searchtool.Thistoolallowstosearchforsystemelements,eitheronaByNamebasisoraByIdbasis.The
resultsofasearchwillbedisplayedasalistofitems,withforeachfounditemsomebasicinformation
alongwiththelistsoforiginatingandtargetingconnections(seeSystemViewer).ACtrlͲDragofonelist
itemandsubsequentDropinthedisplayareaofthereportingtoolwillloadanddisplaythiselement'sdata. Specificitems:
o Classeslibrary.Theclasseslibraryisasetofsystemelementsthathavebeendefinedsofartodescribe
urbanwatermanagement(seebelowforsomeconceptualdetails)andmaybeusedtodrawSystemViews. Systemelementsaredefinedalongtwoaxes:thetypeandthelevel.Thepossibletypesarenode,
interactionandinformation.Anodeisasystemelement,suchasalake,apersonorapolicy.Aninteraction
isafluxoraninfluencebetweentwogroups.Finally,aninformationisanactualvaluewhoseformatcanbe
anumericvalue,atext,ageometry,afile,oralifetime.Thepossiblelevelsare““class””,““instance””orand
““property””.Aclassisanabstracttemplateallowingthecreationofinstancesbasedonitsdefinition.For
example,agiven,realͲworldlakeisaninstanceofthe““lake””classdefiningwhatalakeis.Propertiesofan
elementareclassesusedwithinthecontextofanelement.Forexample,acarmayhavetheproperties
numberofwheels,acolor,etc.Thelatterareinstancesofthewheelandcolorclasses,withinthecontextof
acar.Asthecarshavemorethanonewheel,andmaybedifferentcolors,thesepropertiesarealsocalled
““groups””.Interactionsarealsoproperties,butcannotbeconsideredasagrouporaninstance(itcanbea
class,though).Overall,thecombinationofthetwoaxes(typeandlevel)produceseightdifferentconstructs
(interactionbeingnotrepresentedasaninstance).
Insummary,theClasseslibraryhoststhreegroupsofelements:nodes,informationandinteractions
Asdepictedbythefigurebelow,thesegroupscontainaquitelargeinventoryofsystemelement"types"
thatformthebasicbricksthatareusedtodescribedthesystemstructureofdata.
SystemelementscanbeCtrlͲdraggedanddroppedontothegraphicareatobeaddedtotheSystemView.
Thestandardbehaviouristoaddagroup.Ondrop,keeppressingtheCtrlͲKeyandpressinadditionthe
ShiftͲKeytoaddaninstance.Similarly,keeppressingtheCtrlͲKeyandpressinadditiontheAltͲKeytoadd
theclassitself.
SystemelementscanbeCtrlͲdraggedanddroppedontothegraphicareatobeaddedtotheSystemView.
Thestandardbehaviouristoaddasingleelement(instance).Toaddagroup,keeppressingtheCtrlͲKey
andpressinadditiontheShiftͲKeywhendroppingtheitem.Similarly,keeppressingtheCtrlͲKeyandpress
inadditiontheAltͲKeytoaddtheclassitself.
o Classeslibrary.Theconnectionslibraryprovidesthefivetypesofstructuralconnectionsthatmaybe
neededtodescribethesystemlogicsofsystemelements'interconnections:
ƒ
(i)Inheritance,theconnectionbetweenaparentclassetoneofitschildrenclassorsubclass.
ƒ
(ii)Instance,theconnectionbetweenaninstanceanditsparentclass.
ƒ
(iii)PropertyInstance,theconnectionbetweenapropertyanditsparentclass.
ƒ
(iv)Member,theconnectionbetweenanelementandthegroupitbelongsto.
ƒ
(v)Property,theconnectionbetweenapropertyandtheelementitdescribes.
o Navigation.Thenavigationareasimplyallowstoactivatetheexplorationmode.Inexplorationmode,the
systemelementsthatarecurrentlydisplayedintheviewaredimmedandwhenselectinganitemallits
connectedelementsaredisplayed.Toaddoneoftheseelementstothecurrentdisplay,RightͲClickonit:it
willbeduplicatedandtheduplicatewillremainvisiblewhentheexplorationmodeisdeactivated.