icon to the right of the Standard Tools.
These tools provide
additional functionality, however their use is more complex and should only be
used once you are familiar with other components of ACT Locate.
ALL REQUIRE AN ACTIVE
LAYER, AND THEREFORE THE USER NEEDS TO FIRST ENSURE THAT THE TICK BOX ADJACENT
TO THE DESIRED LAYER IS CHECKED AND THAT THE LAYER IS SELECTED BY CLICKING ON
THE LAYER NAME. REMEMBER TO THEN CLICK ON THE ‘REFRESH MAP’ BUTTON LOCATED
BELOW THE LAYER LIST TO MAKE THE SELECTION ACTIVE.
If this is not done the following dialog box will appear (with the
appropriate layer name).
Most of these tools provide
the option of further action such as zooming to the selected records, or
selecting them and saving them to the clipboard.
Once you have records
displayed in the Information Window you can either:
1.
Left-click on the Record number to zoom to that record; or
2.
Left-click on the ‘Zoom to all features’ hyperlink at the bottom of
the listing; or
3.
If there are more than 25 records which meet the selection criteria you
can left-click on the ‘More Records’ hyperlink at the bottom of the listing
to view further records.
In addition, you can select
and save the records to another application by going to the Edit tab on your
browser and left-clicking on Select All, then from the same tab left-clicking on
Copy. The pasting of these records
will depend on your application. You will also need to delete some links that
will be transferred from ACT Locate.
Each tool is reviewed
below.
Active Layer Identify
This button allows you to
identify a feature(s) in the active layer at a particular location on the map.
Click on the button then move the mouse crosshairs onto the map where you wish
to identify a feature, then left-click.
ACT Locate will retrieve
attribute information from the Active Layer for features within a
predefined distance of the click point, then return the result(s) in the Information Window below the Map.
Generally only one record
will be found, however it is possible that more than one will be returned if
others fall within the predefined search distance. It may be necessary to scroll
this window to see all records.
Zoom to Active Layer
This button allows you to
set the map extent to include all features in the active layer. Click on the
button and the map will redraw to this extent. If the Active Layer has a draw
scale range that is different from the view scale following the execution of
this tool, then the features from this layer will not be visible.
They will become visible when the user changes scale to within this
range.
Query
This button provides you
with an opportunity to search for records in the Active Layer, which meet
the criteria of a complex query on one or more attributes in the layer.
The dialog below will
display when you left-click on the button.
The steps for using this
function are:
1.
Choose a data field for the first search criteria from the ‘Field’
dropdown box;
2.
Select an operator from the ‘Operator’ dropdown box;
3.
Type in a value in the ‘Value’ box (you can list potential values by
left-clicking on the Get Samples button and quotation marks are not required and
the function is not case sensitive). The string can be the first few characters
of a string; or a string which does not include the first character(s) but a
‘%’ character as a wild card.
4.
When you are happy with the first part of your query left-click on the
‘Add to Query String’ and your query will be transferred to the adjacent
window;
5.
At this stage you can either Execute the query, Undo the last step, Clear
the query string (using one of the buttons below the query box), or add to the
query using one of the extension commands to the right of the ‘Get Samples’
button and repeat steps 1 to 4.
If there are records in the
layer, which meet your query requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise
you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for
further options using these records.
Find
Enter a character string in
the data entry box (quotation marks are not required and the function is not
case sensitive). The string can be the first few characters of a string; or a
string which does not include the first character(s) but a ‘%’ character as
a wild card.
All text fields will be
searched and as there is an automatic wild card at the end, a part string will
also return results. If too many results are returned then try typing in more of
the string. If no results are returned then try typing in less of the string.
If there are records in the layer, which meet your find requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for further options using these records.
Select by Rectangle
This button provides you
with an opportunity to select records in the Active Layer using a
rectangle. The function employs the ‘pass through’ option so that any
feature in the Active Layer which falls partially within the selected area will
be selected.
To use the function
left-click and HOLD with your mouse at a point on the map in the top left corner
of an imaginary rectangle containing the features (or parts of features) you
wish to select. HOLD your finger on the left mouse button and ‘swipe’ a
rectangle on the map, and then release the left mouse button. The selected
features will be highlighted in orange and their attribute details will display
in the Information Window.
If there are records in the layer, which meet your find requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for further options using these records.
Select by Line or Polygon
This button provides you with an opportunity to select records in the Active Layer using a line or a polygon. The function employs the ‘pass through’ option so that any feature in the Active Layer, which falls partially within the selected area will be selected. The dialog below will display as a separate browser window when you left-click on the button.
For a line select carryout
the following steps:
1.
Left-click with your mouse at a point on the map from which you wish to
commence your line. A red dot will appear on the map.
2.
Your line can be made up of a number of segments so you can repeat Step 1
until your selection line is complete. As you progress the line will be
displayed in red. NOTE: You can use the buttons to ‘Restart’ or ‘Delete
Last Point’ to modify your line as you progress.
3.
When you have completed your line definition, click on the ‘Complete
Line & Select’ button to activate the search.
For a polygon select
carryout the following steps:
1.
Left-click with your mouse at a point on the map from which you wish to
commence your polygon boundary. A red dot will appear on the map.
2.
The boundary of your polygon can be made up of a number of segments so
you can repeat Step 1 until your polygon only requires closing. As you progress
the polygon boundary will be displayed in red. NOTE: You can use the buttons to
‘Restart’ or ‘Delete Last Point’ to modify your polygon as you progress.
3.
When you have completed your polygon definition, click on the ‘Complete
Polygon & Select’ button to close the polygon and activate the search.
The selected features will
be highlighted in orange and their attribute details will display in the Information Window.
If there are records in the layer, which meet your find requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for further options using these records.
Buffer
This button provides you
with an opportunity, after having selected one or more records in the Active Layer to then create a buffer around these records and to highlight records
from another layer which overlap with this buffered region. The function employs
the ‘pass through’ option so that any feature in the Active Layer, which
falls partially within the buffer area will be selected. The dialog below will
display as a separate browser window when you left-click on the Buffer button.
To use the function select
from dropdown box the layer with the features that you wish to select through
your buffer operation. Then enter a distance in metres that will determine the
extent of the buffer region from the initially selected features. If you wish to
display the attributes for the newly selected features you will need to
left-click the box titled ‘Display Attributes’. Finally you can click on the
‘Create Buffer’ button for the command to be executed. The buffer area will
be displayed on the map in a grey speckle and the highlighted features will be
highlighted in orange and their attribute details will display in the Information Window.
If there are records in the
layer, which meet your find requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise
you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for
further options using these records.