I mentioned this application at the previous meeting and wanted to post the docs associated with it to give users a feel for how it works and what it does.

Pictometry Data Migrator

The Pictometry Data Migrator(PDM) was developed to distribute layer data across an enterprise when SDE either will not work or isn’t practical. For example some environments might have difficulty with SDE 9.3 and the latest version of Pictometry, or you need to have a remote area supplied with local Pictometry data in case of network failures. The PDM allows you to set up a scheduled job within windows that will start the application and run in an automated manner and copy layers out to as many as four different server locations.

Requirements

  • Windows XP (Hasn’t been tested on Vista or 7)
  • Pictometry 2.7 R12
  • An ARCGIS model that builds the data files and deposits them on a network share.
  • A network share named “FCP_GIS” with a folder in it named “PictometryBaseUserData”

Features

  • Runs automatically when configured to work with Windows Scheduler
  • Populates up to 4 locations with Pictometry data
  • Runs in auto or manual mode.
  • Allows for the creation of automated or custom indexes on the data.
  • Data source can be customized without coding.Data destinations are currently hardcoded and must be changed to reflect updates to the server topology.

Installation(Florence County settings in blue)

Running the associated Setup.exe program will install the application and create a shortcut in the start menu under Florence County-Pictometry Data Migrator. The installation folder is “c:\Program Files\Florence County\PDM” .

Configuration

There are two INI files that are used with the PDM. Server.ini and Settings.ini. Server.ini is included with the application, but must be modified manually to indicate the source server where the Pictometry data resides. The server.ini file looks like this:

 [DataHost]
 serverName
Florence County’s Server.ini looks like this:

 [DataHost]
 flocogis

The Settings.ini is generated automatically when you set the program to run in Host mode.

Host or Guest Mode

The PDM can run in two different modes, Guest or Host. In guest mode you can open the application and make changes to the indexing of the data files or run the distribution manually. In host mode the PDM runs unattended once the application is launched.

When you check this box the program creates a file in the application folder called Settings.ini. If this file is deleted Host mode will be disabled until you check the Host PC box again.

Florence County’s Settings.ini looks like this:

 [Host]
 01-pln-0873

If you edit the Settings.ini file manually keep in mind that the machine name is case sensitive.

The application will check to make certain which mode it is set to run and notify the user at start up.

Main Screen

Departments

Once open you can see the four hardcoded options for a manual run. Unchecking the Departments will disable a manual update for that area.

Host PC

Checking this box will set the program to run automatically the next time it is launched. (Note: You will have 30 seconds after launch to disable the autorun, but you must uncheck the box and close the application for the change to take effect. Once reopened the application will be set back to guest.)

Run

When in Guest Mode double clicking this button will start the process manually for the departments selected. During the process the application will modify the Pictometry Batch File template with the appropriate path information for running the indexes as well as copy the updated layers and indexes to the selected departmental locations. Since the application cannot generate the indexes itself it will open EFS and load in a batch file using Pictometry’s EFS interface. (Note: This process will fail if the EFS window loses focus for any reason. For that reason it is recommended that this process run without any other applications open that might take focus away from the program.

Set Indexes

Clicking the Set Indexes button opens the Index Chooser screen.

This screen looks in the datasource folder you previously created and reads the XML files describing the contents of each shape file. Certain field names are auto selected and the user can add to these by clicking the others or subtract from them by unchecking the fields. (Note: The auto selection of fields is based on Florence County’s current schema. If your schema is different or it changes, the auto selection process will not work and you will have to manually select the fields to index.)

Clicking the close button the screen closes without saving the indexes to be built. Clicking Send Indexes sets the indexes to be built in a Pictometry batch file template and closes the screen.