1564 lines
57 KiB
HTML
1564 lines
57 KiB
HTML
<html>
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<title>GFESuite Documentation - Edit Tools</title>
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<body>
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<h1 align=center>Edit Tools</h1>
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<p>
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<a href="#SelectPointsTool">Select Points Tool</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#ContourTool">ContourTool</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#UsingtheContourTool">Using the Contour Tool</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#PencilTool">Pencil Tool</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#Move/CopyTool">Move/Copy Tool</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#EditActions">Edit Actions</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#SampleTool">Sample Tool</a>
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</p>
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<hr width="100%"></div>
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<h2 class="1Heading">
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<a name="EditAreas"></a>Edit Areas</h2>
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<div class="Body">Nearly all of the spatial editor tools use edit areas
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to determine which grid points to modify. You will need to know how to
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define edit areas before using the spatial editor tools.</div><br>
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<div class="Body">An Edit Area defines a set of grid points. These
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points
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may comprise a county, forecast zone, or any random area that you
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define.
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They may be saved and recalled later for reuse. In fact, there are two
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ways to save edit areas: as an ordinary named set or as a QuickSet.</div><br>
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<div class="Body">After you define a edit area you may save it as a
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named
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set. The simplest example of this type of edit area is a county. In
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general,
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named edit areas are saved once, recalled many times, and not changed
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very
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often.</div><br>
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<div class="Body">Another way to save an edit area is as a QuickSet.
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QuickSets
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should be considered as a temporary method of saving edit areas as they
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are easily overwritten. QuickSets are similar to the store button on a
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calculator. They hold the state of an edit area temporarily while you
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perform
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some operation that requires a different edit area.</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="EditAreaInterface"></a>Edit Area Interface</h3>
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<img src="images/eaButtons.jpg">
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<div class="Body">
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<br>
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The figure above is a snapshot of the edit area buttons on the Button
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Bar. The operations include toggling, clearing, doing queries, setting
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the edit area mode, and accessing/storing edit areas. Refer to
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the
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<a href="Toolbar.html">GFE
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Toolbar documentation</a> for more details.</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="DefininganEditArea"></a>Defining an Edit Area</h3>
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<div class="Body">There are several ways to define an edit area. You
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can
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recall a previously saved set, define a new edit area by hand, or
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execute
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a query that defines the set based on data values of any grid or grids
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that you specify.</div><br>
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<div class="Body">The simplest method of defining an edit area is to
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define
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one by hand. The Select Points tool was designed to allow you to define
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edit areas interactively. When this tool is selected, dragging with MB1
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selects an area while dragging with MB2 deselects an area. The
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following
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exercise will get you familiar with defining references sets by hand.
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<p class="2Heading"><a name="Load Edit Area from Main Menu"></a><b><font
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size="+1">Load
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an Edit Area from the Main Menu</font></b>
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</p>
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<p class="2Heading">Probably the easiest way to load an edit area is
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from
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the Main Menu. All of the edit areas that correspond to your
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counties,
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zones of various kinds, WFOs, and states are generated automatically by
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EDEX. You can find them under the Main Menu item Edit
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Areas.
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> To load a predefined edit area</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Make sure that the current edit area mode is set to Replace (=).</li>
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<li>From the main Menu Bar select <b>Edit
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Areas->Counties->[county
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name of
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your choice]</b></li>
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</ol>
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You should see the county you chose highlight in a white stippled
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pattern.
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This indicates that this area has been chosen to edit. Any edit
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operation that you perform will be applied to this area.</div>
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</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="DefineEditAreabyHand"></a>Define an Edit Area by hand</h3>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> To define a new edit area</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Make sure that the current edit area mode is set to Replace (=).</li>
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<li> <img nosave="" src="images/editArea.jpg" align="middle"> Select
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the Select Points tool.</li>
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<li>Move the cursor into the Spatial Editor.</li>
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<li>Press MB1 and drag the cursor to outline an area with the mouse.
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You
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should
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see a white outline that defines the edge of your area.</li>
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<li>Release MB1. You should see the area filled with a white shaded
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pattern.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">You now have defined an edit area by hand. At this
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point,
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you could use one of the edit tools to modify the data over this new
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area
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that you defined. We discuss how to use tools in the <a
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href="#EditTools">Edit
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Tools</a> section.</div><br>
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<div class="Body">Repeat the above exercise, but this time select the union
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(|) mode button beforehand. Note that in union (|) mode, each time you
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define a new area the old area(s) remains and is combined with the new
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area. Now select the intersection (&) button and repeat the exercise
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again. Note that this time the result is the intersection of the newly
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defined edit area and the current edit area. Only the areas that
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overlap remain.</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="EraseanEditArea"></a>Erase an Edit Area</h3>
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<div class="Body">Now and then you may want to remove a portion of an
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edit
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area that you've already defined. The next exercise show you how to
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erase
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an edit area.</div>
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<div class="Body">
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<ul>
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<li> <b>Purpose:</b> Remove a portion of the edit area</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Move the cursor near any edit area and press MB2.</li>
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<li>With MB2 pressed, drag another outline to define a new area that
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partially
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intersects with your first area.</li>
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<li>Release the mouse and observe that the intersected area is
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removed from
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the edit area.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="ToggleanEditArea"></a>Toggle an Edit Area</h3>
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<div class="Body">
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<ul>
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<li> <b>Purpose:</b> Invert the currently defined edit area</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Occasionally, it is useful to invert (toggle) the
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currently
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displayed edit area. When you toggle the current edit area, all the
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grid
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points that were selected are deselected and all the points that were
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previously
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not selected become selected.</div><br>
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<div class="Step-First">Create an edit area by hand as you did in the
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exercise
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named, <a href="#DefineEditAreabyHand">Define Edit Area by Hand</a> ,
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using
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the <img nosave="" src="images/editArea.jpg" align="middle">
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Select Points Tool</div>
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<ol>
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<li> <img nosave="" src="images/toggleEa.jpg" align="middle">
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Using MB1 click on the Toggle Button.</li>
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</ol>
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<div class="Body">Note that all the grid points that were selected have
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been deselected and vice versa.</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="ClearanEditArea"></a>Clear an Edit Area</h3>
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<div class="Body">
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<ul>
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<li> <b>Purpose:</b> Clear the current edit area</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Frequently you will want to clear the current edit
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area
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and create a new one. The clear button was made for this purpose.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Make sure there is an edit area displayed in the Spatial Editor.</li>
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<li>Using MB1 click on the button <img nosave=""
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src="images/clearEa.jpg" align="middle">.
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</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">The edit area has been cleared and no grid points are
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selected.</div><br>
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<div class="Body">A couple of handy utilities can be found on the MB3
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pop-up
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menu over the spatial editor, one that selects a contiguous edit area
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based
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on the grid point value under the cursor, and another that deselects a
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contiguous edit area. We discuss these in the next two sections.</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="SelectHomogeneousAreabasedonValue"></a>Select Homogenous Edit
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Area based on Value</h3>
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<div class="Body">
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<li><b>Purpose:</b> To select an edit area based on value.</li>
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</div><br>
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<div class="Body">This function allows you to select an edit area based
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on the value of the selected point and the value of the points
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surrounding
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it. To understand how this works, complete the next exercise.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Clear the edit area as you did in the previous exercise.</li>
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<li>MB1 click on one of the grids in the Grid Manager to display it
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in the
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Spatial Editor and make it editable.</li>
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<li>Move the mouse cursor to middle of the Spatial Editor display and
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MB3
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press
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and select <b>Select Homogeneous Area</b>.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">You should see a new edit area that identifies those
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grid points whose values are within the fuzz value of the point you
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selected.
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For example, if the fuzz value is 3, and you selected a grid point with
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the value 10, all the points with value between 7 and 13 and that are
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also
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touching become selected.</div>
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<ol>
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<li class="Step">Move the mouse cursor to the middle of the Spatial
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Editor display and
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press
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MB3 and select <b>Set Fuzz Value... </b>This will display the <a
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href="SpatialEditorDialogs.html#FuzzValueDialog">Fuzz
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Value Dialog</a>.</li>
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<li class="Step">Change the Fuzz Value so that it is two to three
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times larger than its
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current value.</li>
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<li class="Step">Select OK in the Fuzz Value dialog.</li>
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<li class="Step">Repeat steps 2-4 above, and note that the edit area
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is larger, since
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the fuzz value is now larger.</li>
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</ol>
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<div class="Body">The fuzz value is meaningless for the Weather data
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type.
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When you select Select Homogeneous Area when the Weather weather
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element
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is editable, any points that are the same weather value and touching
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are
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selected.</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="RemoveaContiguousEditArea"></a>Remove a Contiguous Edit Area</h3>
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<div class="Body">
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<li><b>Purpose:</b> To remove a contiguous edit area</li>
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</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Using the edit area that you defined in the previous exercise,
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move the
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mouse cursor to any grid point in this area.</li>
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<li>Press MB3 and select Deselect Contiguous Area from the pop-up
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menu. The
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area identified by your mouse cursor is deselected.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Once you define an edit area, it is often useful to
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save
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it so you do not need to define it again. This exercise show you how to
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save an edit area in a temporary location as a QuickSet.</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="SavingEditAreasasQuickSets"></a>Saving Edit Areas as QuickSets</h3>
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<div class="Body"><b>Purpose:</b> To temporarily save an edit area</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Define an edit area as you did in any previous exercise.</li>
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<li>Find the quick set store button <img nosave=""
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src="images/saveEa.jpg" align="middle">
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in the group of edit area buttons on the right side of the toolbar
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click with MB1.</li>
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<li>Move the mouse cursor over one of the numbered buttons <img
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nosave="" src="images/quickSet1.jpg" align="middle">
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<img nosave="" src="images/quickSet2.jpg" align="middle">
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<img nosave="" src="images/quickSet3.jpg" align="middle">
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<img nosave="" src="images/quickSet4.jpg" align="middle">
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and with MB1 click any one of them.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Now your edit area is saved under that particular
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slot
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and can be recalled at any time. The next exercise shows you how to
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recall a saved QuickSet.</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="LoadingaQuickSet"></a>Loading a QuickSet</h3>
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<div class="Body"><b>Purpose:</b> To restore a previously saved QuickSet</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Clear the edit area, if there is one currently displayed in the
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Spatial
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Editor.</li>
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<li>Find the same button <img nosave="" src="images/quickSet1.jpg"
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align="middle"> <img nosave=""
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src="images/quickSet2.jpg" align="middle"> <img
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nosave="" src="images/quickSet3.jpg" align="middle">
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<img nosave="" src="images/quickSet4.jpg" align="middle">
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under which you saved the QuickSet in the previous exercise.</li>
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<li>Click MB1 on this button.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Note that the edit area that you saved as a QuickSet
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is now displayed.</div>
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<div class="Body">To review, clicking the button <img nosave=""
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src="images/saveEa.jpg" align="middle">
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and then a button labeled with a number <img nosave=""
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src="images/quickSet1.jpg" align="middle"><b><i>saves</i></b>
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the currently displayed edit area under that slot. Simply clicking the
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number <b><i>displays</i></b> that edit area. QuickSets are intended
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for
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temporary storage of edit areas. QuickSets slots should be considered
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volatile,
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since there are a limited number of them and that they are not
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considered
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to be "owned" by any user. To save edit areas more permanently, <a
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href="#SavingNamedEditAreas">store
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them as a "named" edit area.</a></div>
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<h3 class="Step">
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<a name="EditAreaGroups"></a>Edit Area Groups</h3>
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<div class="Step">Since the list of Edit Areas can be very long (well
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over
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100), the GFE provides you with a way to organize them. Any Edit
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Area that you define can be saved under any combination of edit area
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groups.</div><br>
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<div class="Step">The GFE provides two ways to assign a particular Edit
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Area under one or more Edit Area Groups. One way is to assign the
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group(s)
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when you initially save the EditArea. The other method is to first save
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the Edit Area without assigning any group and then use the <a
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href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#SaveEditAreaGroupDialog">Save
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Edit Area Groups Dialog</a> to assign Edit Areas to Edit Area Groups.</div><br>
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<div class="Step">To assign a group to your Edit Area as you are saving
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it, follow the instructions in the section for <a
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href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#SaveEditAreaDialog">Saving
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Named Edit Areas</a> , but this time select or type in the Edit Area
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Group(s)
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before you click "Save." That operation will not only save your
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Edit
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Area, but also assign it to the group or groups that you selected
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before
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you clicked "Save". Note that if you do not assign a group to a new
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edit
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area, it will automatically be assigned to the "invisible" group
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"Misc".
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The only Edit Areas that are contained in the group "Misc" are those
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that
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have not been assigned to any other group. Once you assign an
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Edit
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Area to a group, it will no longer appear under the "Misc" group name
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in
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the Edit Area Query Dialog.</div><br>
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<div class="Step">Now let's assume that you've saved some Edit Areas
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but
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not yet assigned them to any groups. To simply assign Edit Areas
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to groups, use the Save/Delete Edit Area Groups dialog found within the
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Edit Area Query dialog under the "File" menu item. Here's an
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exercise
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that steps through this process.
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<blockquote><li>Purpose: To save assign an Edit Area to a group name</li>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<ol>
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<li class="Step">From the "Save/Delete" menu item in the <a
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href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#EditAreaQueryDialog">Edit
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Area Query dialog</a> , select "<a
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href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#SaveEditAreaGroupDialog">Save
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Edit Area Group...</a> ".</li>
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<li class="Step">When the dialog appears, select one of the Edit Area
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Groups, located in
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the list on the left.</li>
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<li class="Step">Select one or more Edit Areas that you want included
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in that Edit Area
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Group.</li>
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<li class="Step">Finally, select "Save".</li>
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</ol>
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<div class="Step">Now when you use the Edit Area Query Dialog, those
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Edit
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Areas will appear under the group to which it was assigned.
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If you want to make a new group name, just type the new name in the box
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labelled "Identfier" and a new group name will be created.</div><br>
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<div class="Step">To remove an Edit Area from a group, bring up the <a
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href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#DeleteEditAreaGroupDialog">Delete
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Edit Area Group Dialog</a> again. Note that when you select any
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Edit
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Area Group, the Edit Areas in that group automatically
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highlight.
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To remove one or more of the Edit Areas from the selected group, simply
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toggle them off and select "Save".</div>
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<h3 class="2Heading">
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<a name="LoadingNamedEditAreas"></a>Loading Named Edit Areas</h3>
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<div class="Body">
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<blockquote><li> <b>Purpose:</b> To display a named edit area</li>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Once you have saved an edit area as a named set, you
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will want to load it as the current edit area. The next exercise
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explains
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how to do this.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">Select the Clear button <img nosave=""
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src="images/clearEa.jpg">
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to clear the Spatial Editor of any current edit areas.</div>
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<ol>
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<li class="Step">Select the button <img nosave=""
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src="images/queryEa.jpg" align="middle">
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from the toolbar.</li>
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<li class="Step">Once the <a
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href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#EditAreaQueryDialog">Query
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dialog</a>
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appears, select a named edit area from the column titled "Edit Areas".</li>
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<li class="Step">Select "Submit".</li>
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</ol>
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<div class="Body">The edit area you selected in the dialog should now
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be
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displayed in the Spatial Editor. If an edit area is defined when you
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load
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a named edit area, it will be replaced, unioned, or intersected with
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the
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named area, depending on the edit area mode.
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<h3 class="2Heading"><a name="SavingNamedEditAreas"></a>Saving Named
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Edit Areas</h3>
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<div class="Body"><b>Purpose</b>: To save the current edit area as
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named set</div><br>
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<div class="Body">There are some edit areas that you will want to save
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permanently as named sets rather then temporarily as QuickSets. This
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exercise
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will show you how to save a named edit area.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
|
|
<li>Define an edit area as you did on any of the previous exercises.</li>
|
|
<li>From the Query Dialog mani menu select <b>Save/Delete -> Save
|
|
Edit
|
|
Area</b>.</li>
|
|
<li>In the box labeled "Identifier", type in a unique name. (Don't
|
|
bother
|
|
with
|
|
the Group Name(s) column just yet.)</li>
|
|
<li>Select "Save Active Area" and your edit area will be saved in the
|
|
database.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
Note that the GFE will automatically generate Edit Areas based on map
|
|
data
|
|
for your local area. For example, in the <a
|
|
href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#EditAreaQueryDialog">Edit
|
|
Area Query Dialog</a>, you should see each one of your counties and
|
|
zones
|
|
listed. There is no need for you to define these areas since they
|
|
already are defined for you.</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<h3 class="2Heading">
|
|
<a name="DeletingNamedEditAreas"></a>Deleting Named Edit Areas</h3>
|
|
<div class="Body"><b>Purpose:</b> To delete a named edit area
|
|
from the inventory</div><br>
|
|
<div class="Body">Occasionally you will want to remove a named set from
|
|
the edit area inventory. This exercise will show you how to delete a
|
|
named edit area.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Select the <img nosave="" src="images/queryEa.jpg"
|
|
align="middle"> button located on the toolbar.</li>
|
|
<li>From the <a href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#EditAreaQueryDialog">Edit
|
|
Area
|
|
Query Dialog</a> , select "Save/Delete" from its menu bar.</li>
|
|
<li>Select one of the names listed with an MB1 click.</li>
|
|
<li>Select "Delete Selected Area" with MB1.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">The edit area will be removed from the inventory.</div>
|
|
<h3 class="2Heading">
|
|
<a name="EditAreaQueries"></a>Edit Area Queries</h3>
|
|
<div class="Body">In a previous exercise, you learned how to define
|
|
edit
|
|
areas by hand. In the next set of examples, we will demonstrate how to
|
|
define an edit area based on data values. Defining the edit area for
|
|
one
|
|
weather element based on data values of another weather element makes
|
|
it
|
|
easier to keep the weather element values consistent. For example, you
|
|
may want to select all of the areas where it is raining and then assign
|
|
100% cloud cover to those points. The following exercises will show you
|
|
how to define edit areas via queries.</div>
|
|
<h3 class="3Heading">
|
|
<a name="SimpleQuery"></a>Simple Query</h3>
|
|
<div class="Body">
|
|
<blockquote><li> <b>Purpose:</b> Define a new edit area via simple
|
|
query</li>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Set up the Spatial Editor display so that a temperature grid is
|
|
displayed.</li>
|
|
<li>Carefully examine the range of values on this grid.</li>
|
|
<li>Select the <img nosave="" src="images/queryEa.jpg"
|
|
align="middle">
|
|
Query button from the toolbar.</li>
|
|
<li>When the <a href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#EditAreaQueryDialog">Edit
|
|
Area
|
|
Query dialog</a> appears, select "T" from the column labeled Weather
|
|
Elements.</li>
|
|
<li>Next, from the operators columns, select > (greater than).</li>
|
|
<li>Now, select a temperature value (e.g., 70) using the number keys.
|
|
Make
|
|
sure that you have selected a value such that there are grid values
|
|
that
|
|
are greater than the value you typed in.</li>
|
|
<li>Finally, select the "Submit" button, which can be found at the
|
|
bottom
|
|
of
|
|
the dialog.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">When you submit your query, the GFE calculates all of
|
|
the points that satisfy the expression. You should see one or more edit
|
|
areas defined on the Spatial Editor. If you don't see any edit areas,
|
|
repeat
|
|
the last 4 steps above, but this time choose a temperature value that
|
|
will
|
|
result in a valid edit area.
|
|
<p>If you had wanted to, you could have simply typed in the query as: <b><tt><font
|
|
size="+1">T
|
|
> 70</font></tt></b></p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<h3 class="3Heading">
|
|
<a name="Amorecomplexquery"></a>A more complex query</h3>
|
|
In this exercise we will execute a query expression that defines a
|
|
range
|
|
of temperature values.
|
|
<div class="Body">
|
|
<blockquote><li> <b>Purpose:</b> Define a new edit area via more
|
|
complex query</li>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Clear the current edit area by selecting <img nosave=""
|
|
src="images/clearEa.jpg">
|
|
from the toolbar.</li>
|
|
<li>With temperature still loaded, select the <img nosave=""
|
|
src="images/queryEa.jpg" align="middle">
|
|
query button, if the query dialog is not already visible.</li>
|
|
<li>Type the following into the query box: <b><tt><font
|
|
size="+1">(T
|
|
> 70) & (T < 90)</font></tt></b></li>
|
|
<li>Select the "Submit" button.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">This time all of the grid points whose value is
|
|
between
|
|
70 and 90 should be selected. This type of query demonstrates how to
|
|
select
|
|
a range of values using queries. When using the '&' or '|'
|
|
operators,
|
|
you must enclose the surrounding entries with parenthesis.</div>
|
|
<h3 class="3Heading">
|
|
<a name="MultipleParameterQueries"></a>Multiple Parameter Queries.</h3>
|
|
<div class="Body">Queries are not limited to single parameters. The
|
|
following
|
|
example shows how you can execute an expression that includes multiple
|
|
queries.</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">
|
|
<blockquote><li> <b>Purpose:</b> To use multiple parameters in a
|
|
queryLoad the
|
|
dewpoint
|
|
(Td) parameter into the GFE if is not already loaded.</li>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Display the dewpoint grid on the Spatial editor such that both
|
|
temperature
|
|
and dewpoint are displayed at the same time.</li>
|
|
<li>Examine an area on the screen and generally note the temperature
|
|
and
|
|
dewpoint
|
|
over this area.</li>
|
|
<li>Select the <img nosave="" src="images/queryEa.jpg"
|
|
align="middle"> <a href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#EditAreaQueryDialog">Query
|
|
dialog</a> button to display the query dialog.</li>
|
|
<li>Use the selectors or type in a query that resembles the
|
|
following: <b><tt><font size="+1">(T
|
|
> 80) & (Td > 50)</font></tt></b></li>
|
|
<li>Select the "Submit" button.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">For this query to work properly, there must be some
|
|
area
|
|
in the display where the temperature is greater than 80 and the
|
|
dewpoint
|
|
is greater than 50. If this is not the case, then repeat the exercise
|
|
again
|
|
but use appropriate values for your data set. Once the values fit the
|
|
data,
|
|
you should see an area defined that identifies those grid points that
|
|
satisfy
|
|
the expression that you defined.</div><br>
|
|
<div class="Body">By this time, you should start to understand why
|
|
defining
|
|
edit areas via queries is so powerful. This method allows you to define
|
|
and edit data based on data values, thereby linking the weather
|
|
elements
|
|
together in a consistent way. For example, a previously defined QPF
|
|
field
|
|
can be used to help you define the Probability of Precipitation (PoP)
|
|
field.
|
|
Not only are forecast weather elements more consistent, but the need to
|
|
tediously define edit areas by hand is greatly reduced. Using queries
|
|
in
|
|
this way encourages you to think meteorologically.
|
|
<br>
|
|
<h3><a name="ComplexQueries"></a>Complex Queries</h3>
|
|
Queries are simply expressed in numpy. Thus the
|
|
techniques
|
|
you use to write <a href="SmartTools.html">smart tools</a> and <a
|
|
href="SmartInit.html">smart
|
|
initialization</a> scripts may also be performed in the query engine,
|
|
just
|
|
as long as the result is a "mask" representing whether a grid cell is
|
|
marked
|
|
"on" or "off". Thus, numerical functions may be used as well as
|
|
numerical
|
|
expressions.
|
|
<p>For example, the following query calculates the dew point depression
|
|
and then selects points where the depression is less than 4 degrees:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<center><b><tt><font size="+1">(T - Td) < 4</font></tt></b></center>
|
|
<p>Here is an example of a numerical query to determine which the T
|
|
from
|
|
the Fcst and T from the NAM12 are not within 4 degrees of each other;
|
|
note
|
|
the use of the numerical absolute() function:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<center>
|
|
<p><b><tt><font size="+1">absolute(T -
|
|
T_SFC_BOU_GRID__NAM_20030314_1200)
|
|
> 4</font></tt></b></p>
|
|
</center>
|
|
<p>The above query also introduces the concept of performing queries on
|
|
non-Fcst database grids. There are several more convenient
|
|
formats
|
|
than that shown above, please refer to the <a
|
|
href="ButtonBarDialogs.html#EditAreaQueryDialog">Edit
|
|
Area and Query Dialog</a> for more details.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>Queries on WEATHER and DISCRETE data are also complex. The
|
|
Edit
|
|
Area and Query Dialog provides several shortcuts so you don't need to
|
|
remember
|
|
the specific syntax. The options permit exact matches or
|
|
"contains"
|
|
matches. For example, you can search for any instance (i.e., any
|
|
coverage, any intensity) of RW (rain showers) using this query:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<center><b><tt><font size="+1">mask(Wx, ":RW:")</font></tt></b></center>
|
|
<p>Intimate knowledge of the format of the WEATHER "ugly" string makes
|
|
this job easier, even though the dialog provides automatic filling if
|
|
desired.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>The weather query above will match any grid cell that contains any
|
|
form
|
|
of RW. If you wanted to make an exact match of only the RW, then
|
|
the query would be similar to:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<center><b><tt><font size="+1">mask(Wx, "^Sct:RW:-:<NoVis>:\Z", 1)<br>
|
|
</font></tt></b>
|
|
<div style="text-align: left;"><br>
|
|
If you want to select the inverse of an edit area, for example, the
|
|
opposite of the above statement, then you use the logical_not()
|
|
function. The following selects everything but Sct RW-:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><tt><font size="+1">logical_not(mask(Wx,
|
|
"^Sct:RW:-:<NoVis>:\Z", 1))<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font></tt></b>
|
|
<div style="text-align: left;">Wind queries use the "FROM"
|
|
direction. Wind is presented as a tuple, so if you want to do a
|
|
query based on wind speed, use Wind[0]. If you want to do a query
|
|
based on wind direction, use Wind[1]. For example, the following
|
|
wind query looks for speeds greater than 25 and directions between NW
|
|
(325) and NE (45):<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><tt><font size="+1">(Wind[0] >
|
|
25) and (Wind[1] > 325) and (Wind[1] < 45)<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font></tt></b></div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</center>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<h3 class="Body">
|
|
<a name="SavingEditAreaQueries"></a>Saving Edit Area Queries</h3>
|
|
<div class="Body">Edit Area Queries can be saved just like ordinary
|
|
"polygon"
|
|
queries. Once you have submitted the query, select the save
|
|
button
|
|
to save that query. Note that it will be saved as a query so that
|
|
when you submit it again, the result may be different, depending on the
|
|
particular data values on your display.</div><br>
|
|
<div class="Body"><b>Important note about Edit Area Queries!</b> <font
|
|
color="#3366ff">Many
|
|
of the product generation applications accept one or more edit areas as
|
|
input to allow you to trim the product to a domain of your
|
|
choice.
|
|
Unfortunately, these product generation applications cannot accept edit
|
|
area queries as input to generate a product. Edit Areas passed
|
|
into
|
|
these routines must be "polygon" areas that are defined by boundaries
|
|
not
|
|
queries. Specifiying a query to a these applications will likely result
|
|
in a "blank" product. <b><i>This restriction will be lifted in the
|
|
future.</i></b></font>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<hr width="100%"></div>
|
|
<h2 class="1Heading">
|
|
<a name="EditTools"></a>Edit Tools</h2>
|
|
<div class="Body">Spatial Edit tools (with the exception of the Contour
|
|
tool and Pencil tool) require that you first define the set of grid
|
|
points
|
|
to which you want the edit operation to apply and then apply the
|
|
operation.
|
|
Tools consist of the Select Points, Contour, Pencil, Move/Copy, and
|
|
Sample.
|
|
These tools are selected using the GFE Toolbar and then particular
|
|
mouse
|
|
actions do different editing operations. Refer to the <a
|
|
href="Toolbar.html">GFE
|
|
Toolbar Reference Guide</a> for more details on the mouse button
|
|
assignments.
|
|
Also, you can set up keyboard shortcuts for these tools. (See <a
|
|
href="gfeConfig_StartUp.html#KeyboardShortcuts">gfeConfig
|
|
Keyboard Shortcuts).</a></div>
|
|
<h3>
|
|
<a name="SelectPointsTool"></a>Select Points Tool <img nosave=""
|
|
src="images/editArea.jpg" align="middle"></h3>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose: </b>To define an Edit Area</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">The Select Points tools allows you to define and
|
|
modify
|
|
edit areas. Perform the following exercises to learn three different
|
|
ways
|
|
Select Points tool can edit your Edit Areas.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Select the Select Points tool from the <a href="Toolbar.html">Button
|
|
Ba</a>
|
|
r (see figure above).</li>
|
|
<li>Press MB1 and drag a closed outline anywhere on the Spatial
|
|
editor
|
|
display.</li>
|
|
<li>Note that a white shaded area appears that indicates the extent
|
|
of your
|
|
edit area.</li>
|
|
<li>Now adjust the edit area by drawing another closed outline with
|
|
MB2
|
|
that
|
|
includes part of the area you just defined.</li>
|
|
<li>Note that the area that was inside this second outline is removed
|
|
or
|
|
deleted.
|
|
The MB2 drag operation trims an existing edit area.</li>
|
|
<li>Next, press MB3 and select Deselect Contiguous Area. Note that
|
|
the area
|
|
that you defined earlier is deleted.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<h3>
|
|
<a name="ContourTool"></a>ContourTool <img nosave=""
|
|
src="images/contour.jpg"></h3>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Modify grid values by drawing
|
|
and adjusting contours</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">The contour tool lets you define or adjust a gridded
|
|
field by drawing and adjusting contours. There are four different
|
|
operations
|
|
supported by the contour tool: draw a new contour, adjust an existing
|
|
contour,
|
|
delete a contour, and add a new contour. Because converting from
|
|
contours
|
|
to the actual grids can take several seconds, the contour tool allows
|
|
you
|
|
to perform as many of these operations as you like before the grid is
|
|
actually
|
|
generated. And there are two algorithms from which to choose that
|
|
convert
|
|
your contours into a gridded field. We will define the operations that
|
|
the Contour Tool offers, and then demonstrate each one in the exercises
|
|
that follow.</div>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Draw New Contour</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">This operation allows you to draw a new contour with
|
|
a value that you choose from the Pickup Value dialog or from the <a
|
|
href="#ColorBar">Color
|
|
Bar</a> located at the top of the Spatial Editor display. To perform
|
|
this
|
|
operation, you first select the value of the contour and then draw the
|
|
contour on the Spatial Editor display.</div>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Adjust Existing Contour</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">This operation lets you modify the position of a
|
|
contour
|
|
that already exists. After you adjust any contour, the grid is
|
|
immediately
|
|
recalculated.</div>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Add Contour</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">The Add Contour operation inserts a new contour at
|
|
whatever
|
|
location you click. Its value is same value as the gridpoint you
|
|
clicked
|
|
upon. After adding a new contour in this way, you may adjust it using
|
|
the
|
|
Adjust contour operation.</div>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Delete Contour</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">The Delete Contour operation removes a contour from
|
|
the
|
|
display. Contours that are removed are not used when calculating a new
|
|
grid from contours.</div>
|
|
<h3 class="3Heading">
|
|
<a name="UsingtheContourTool"></a>Using the Contour Tool</h3>
|
|
<div class="Body">Unlike the other edit tools, the Contour Tool lets
|
|
you
|
|
make many changes to the display before the gridded values are actually
|
|
modified. You can draw, add and delete as many contours as you like
|
|
before
|
|
you command the grid to be recalculated. If you use the adjust
|
|
operation,
|
|
however, the grid will be recalculated automatically. Once the grid is
|
|
recalculated, you can make further modifications and recalculate
|
|
again.
|
|
Once you are done manipulating the contours, the Button-3 popup menu
|
|
gives
|
|
you the options to Calculate New Grid. Selecting this options
|
|
will
|
|
generate a new grid based on the contours that you just edited.</div><br>
|
|
<div class="Body">The Contour Tool works only on weather elements that
|
|
are of type scalar. For example, you cannot use the Contour Tool to
|
|
edit
|
|
the elements wind or weather. The following exercise will help get you
|
|
familiar with the Contour Tool.</div>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose</b>: Draw a new contour</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>To begin, move the mouse cursor over to the Grid Manager and
|
|
decide
|
|
which
|
|
scalar element you would like to edit.</li>
|
|
<li>Press and hold MB3 over a gap (not over a grid) and select Create
|
|
From
|
|
Scratch. If you were successful, a small yellow rectangle should appear
|
|
and its corresponding legend in the Spatial Editor should show that the
|
|
grid is ready to edit.</li>
|
|
<li>Next, select the Contour Tool icon from the Button Bar. The icon
|
|
looks
|
|
like: <img nosave="" src="images/contour.jpg"></li>
|
|
<li>Now, you are ready to draw some contours. Pick a value from the
|
|
color
|
|
bar,
|
|
located at the top of the Spatial Editor, by clicking MB1 or MB2
|
|
on whatever value you like.</li>
|
|
<li>Move the mouse cursor over the Spatial Editor. Press MB1 and drag
|
|
to
|
|
define
|
|
the position of this new contour. You should see a thin white line
|
|
trace
|
|
your path.</li>
|
|
<li>When you are finished drawing this contour, release MB1.</li>
|
|
<li>Once you release, you should see small contour labels appear
|
|
adjacent
|
|
to
|
|
the contours. This label indicates the value of the contour that you
|
|
just
|
|
drew.</li>
|
|
<li>Repeat steps 5 and 6, but select a new contour value from the
|
|
color
|
|
bar.
|
|
Continue defining new contours until (in your best judgement) the
|
|
contours
|
|
adequately define the grid. Try to draw the contours so that the edges
|
|
touch the sides of the data area, or close the contour on itself.
|
|
Drawing contours this way yields the best results when the grid is
|
|
recalculated.</li>
|
|
<li>Now generate the grid based on your contours by pressing MB3
|
|
anywhere
|
|
in
|
|
the Spatial Editor (except over the legends) and select from the pop-up
|
|
menu Calculate New Grid.</li>
|
|
<li>After a few seconds a new grid should appear that correlates with
|
|
the
|
|
contours
|
|
that you drew earlier.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><b>Purpose:</b> Adjust an existing contour</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
The next exercise shows you how to adjust the position of contours that
|
|
already exist. With the adjust operation, the grid is recalculated
|
|
automatically
|
|
after you adjust each contour. So, when adjusting contours there is no
|
|
need to select the command Calculate New Grid.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Using the grid that you just created, move the mouse cursor over
|
|
one of
|
|
the existing contours.</li>
|
|
<li>Press and hold MB2 and drag a new position for this contour. For
|
|
the
|
|
best
|
|
results, make sure that you release MB2 over the same contour on which
|
|
you started.</li>
|
|
<li>The grid will be recalculated and displayed using the new
|
|
position of
|
|
the
|
|
contour that you just modified.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Delete a Contour</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
Occasionally, you may want to remove a contour. The delete contour
|
|
operation
|
|
was made for this purpose.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Using the same grid as in the exercise above, move the mouse
|
|
cursor
|
|
over
|
|
any contour.</li>
|
|
<li>Click MB2 over this contour. You should see the contour disappear.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">Removing a contour from the display means that the
|
|
removed
|
|
contour will not be used in the calculations when converting the
|
|
contours
|
|
to a grid. Typically you would remove a few contours before drawing new
|
|
ones of a different value and location to replace them. Note that
|
|
the remove contour function removes the closest contour from the click
|
|
point. If you are not careful to click close to the contour that
|
|
you want to remove, you may remove the wrong one.</div>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Add a new Contour</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">Sometimes you may want to adjust gridded values
|
|
between
|
|
contours without modifying the existing contours. The Contour Tool
|
|
allows
|
|
you to add a new contour to the display so that you can manipulate the
|
|
gridded values that lie between the typical contour intervals.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>As with the previous Contour Tool exercises, make sure that you
|
|
have an
|
|
editable scalar grid displayed in the Spatial Editor.</li>
|
|
<li>Move the mouse cursor to a location that is between two contours.</li>
|
|
<li>MB1 click at a location that is between the two contours. You
|
|
should
|
|
see
|
|
a new contour appear with a value that has the same value as the grid
|
|
point
|
|
upon which you clicked.</li>
|
|
<li>Now use MB2 drag to adjust the position of this new contour. When
|
|
the
|
|
grid
|
|
is recalculated, note that the data changes are primarily limited to
|
|
the
|
|
data that lie in-between the two original contours.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">When you add a new contour with MB1 click, that
|
|
contour
|
|
value will continue to be displayed after the grid is recalculated,
|
|
until
|
|
you switch to a new grid or new weather element. In other words, new
|
|
contours
|
|
added this way will persist until you edit a different grid.
|
|
<br>
|
|
<h4>Contour Tool Notes</h4>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">After you have modified a contour, but before
|
|
you recalculate the grid,
|
|
the contours and the gridded data are inconsistent. If you attempt to
|
|
edit
|
|
a new grid or change to a different edit tool while in this
|
|
inconsistent
|
|
state, a dialog will appear asking if you would like to recalculate the
|
|
gridded data based on your modified contours before moving on. If you
|
|
click
|
|
"yes", the grid will be recalculated before switching to the new grid
|
|
or
|
|
new edit tool. If you select "no", all of your contour edits since the
|
|
previous recalculate operation will be lost and the GFE will switch to
|
|
the new grid or new edit tool.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">The Contour Tool allows you to cross contours.
|
|
When drawing new
|
|
contours
|
|
(MB1 drag) over existing contours, the "old" contours are partially
|
|
removed
|
|
so as not to convey conflicting and ambiguous information to the
|
|
contour-to-grid
|
|
algorithm. To reflect this visually, the deleted portions of the old
|
|
contours
|
|
are removed from the display. Try this out. Pick a new value from the
|
|
color
|
|
bar and draw a new contour near some existing contours. Note that
|
|
portions
|
|
of the old contours are removed indicating that those portions will not
|
|
be used when calculating the new grid.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">There are two different algorithms that convert
|
|
the contours to a
|
|
gridded
|
|
field. You can select your favorite from the main menu under the menu
|
|
item
|
|
GFE->Editing Preferences->Contour Server Selection. Each
|
|
algorithm has
|
|
its strengths and weaknesses with respect to performance and accurately
|
|
generating a grid from contours. We strongly recommend that you use
|
|
generate
|
|
grids using each algorithm and determine for yourself which works best.
|
|
Keep in mind that a set of contours represents a gridded field only
|
|
approximately.
|
|
There are many potential gridded field solutions for a given set of
|
|
contours.
|
|
Each algorithm implements a slightly different solution and therefore
|
|
will
|
|
produce different results.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Because contours only approximate the gridded
|
|
field, the better you
|
|
define
|
|
the field, the better the result. The more contours you define for a
|
|
particular
|
|
field, the more likely that you will be happy with the resulting grid.
|
|
Sometime the algorithms will produce gridded fields that appear to be
|
|
noisy.
|
|
The Smooth edit action will generally remove this noise in the
|
|
data.
|
|
You will get the best results when you:</li>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Draw contours to the edge of the grid or that
|
|
close in on
|
|
themselves.
|
|
Contours that stop before the edge tend to generate "spikes" near the
|
|
end
|
|
point.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Draw many contours rather than fewer as the
|
|
contour-to-grid algorithm
|
|
has
|
|
more information with which to generate the grid.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">When the Contour Tool is selected, the pop-up
|
|
menu includes several
|
|
operations
|
|
that will affect the set of contours.</li>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Calculate New Grid</b> - Selecting this
|
|
option will calculate
|
|
a new
|
|
grid based on the contours that you just edited. In general, only
|
|
the area under the modified contours will be modified. Grid
|
|
values
|
|
in areas that you did not modify will not be changed. So, if you
|
|
are satisfied with the contours in a particular area and you don't
|
|
change
|
|
them, they will not be modified.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Undo Last Contour Edit</b> - This will
|
|
reverse the last
|
|
contour edit
|
|
that you made. If you added a new contour, it will be
|
|
removed.
|
|
If you deleted a contour, it will be added back. If you adjusted
|
|
a contour, the old contour will be restored. If you deleted
|
|
all of the contours with the Delete All Contours operation, all of the
|
|
contours will be restored to their previous state.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Delete All Contours</b> - Selecting this
|
|
item will remove all
|
|
of the
|
|
editable contours from the display. This effectively allows you to
|
|
throw
|
|
away all existing contours and edit the grid from scratch. Simply
|
|
clicking
|
|
button 1 in any location will add back a contour whose value
|
|
corresponds
|
|
to the grid value under the cursor. So you may choose to delete all of
|
|
the contours and then add a few back in areas that you want to preserve
|
|
the existing gridded data.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Contour Adjust Influence</b>
|
|
- Selecting this
|
|
option will
|
|
cause a cascade menu to appear that lists a set of distances in
|
|
kilometers.
|
|
Selecting one of these distances will affect the distance over which
|
|
the
|
|
Contour Adjust operation modifies the grid points. The&
|
|
largest
|
|
value affects about six times the distance from the new contour
|
|
poistion
|
|
than the smallest value. The Contour Adjust operation and
|
|
influence
|
|
works exactly like the <a href="#PencilTool">Pencil Tool</a>.
|
|
In
|
|
fact, if you change the Contour Adjust Influence for a particular
|
|
parameter
|
|
in the Contour Tool, that same influence will be applied if you use the
|
|
Pencil Tool later.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Note that you can add or remove contours by
|
|
changing the contour
|
|
density
|
|
from the Spatial Editor product labels.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<h3>
|
|
<a name="PencilTool"></a>Pencil Tool<img nosave=""
|
|
src="images/pencil.jpg"></h3>
|
|
<div class="Body">The Pencil Tool can be thought of as a contour
|
|
adjustment
|
|
tool, but it does not actually adjust contours. The Pencil Tool assigns
|
|
a specific value to a set of grid points and then recalculates the grid
|
|
points nearby. The result is that the gridded data reflect the new
|
|
position
|
|
of the contour. You don't need to display a particular grid as contours
|
|
for the Pencil Tool to work. It is envisioned that the Pencil Tool will
|
|
be integrated with the Contour Tool at some point in the GFE
|
|
evolutionary
|
|
process since the Pencil Tool and the Contour Adjust operation are
|
|
essentially
|
|
identical.</div>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Modify grid values by
|
|
adjusting the position of
|
|
contours</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">The pencil tool allows you to "redraw" the position
|
|
of
|
|
a contour. An algorithm recalculates the grid to reflect this new
|
|
contour
|
|
position.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Load a scalar grid (e.g., Temperature) into the Spatial editor
|
|
and make
|
|
it editable.</li>
|
|
<li>Make sure that no Edit Areas are currently active.</li>
|
|
<li>Select the Pencil tool with MB1 (see figure above).</li>
|
|
<li>If you like, you can make contours visible by pressing MB3 over
|
|
the
|
|
grid
|
|
lable in the Spatial Editor and select Display Attributes. Turn on the
|
|
Contour Image Visual type check button.</li>
|
|
<li>Move the cursor over a contour, press and hold MB1 and draw a new
|
|
position
|
|
for the contour.</li>
|
|
<li>Release MB1.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">As you drag the cursor with MB1 pressed, a white line
|
|
appears that defines the new position for this contour. When you
|
|
release
|
|
MB1, the grid values are modified such that the new contour will be
|
|
drawn
|
|
very near the line you identified.</div>
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li class="Step">Redraw several more contours using the Pencil tool
|
|
and get familiar
|
|
with
|
|
how it works. Note that you are allowed to cross contours.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
<h4 class="Step">
|
|
Pencil Tool Width</h4>
|
|
<div class="Step">The button-3 popup menu contains the option to
|
|
change the Pencil Tool Width. Making this value smaller modifies
|
|
a smaller area on either side of the newly modified contour.
|
|
Making
|
|
this value larger modifies a larger area on either side of the newly
|
|
drawn
|
|
contour. To become familiar with this feature, change the Pencil
|
|
Tool Width to its smallest value and modify a contour. Then
|
|
change
|
|
it to its largest value and modify another contour. Note the
|
|
relative
|
|
difference in the two operations. The individual
|
|
influence
|
|
sizes can be configured via your GFE configuration file. Note that the
|
|
Pencil Tool Width is Weather Element dependant. Changing the
|
|
Pencil
|
|
Tool Width for one Weather Element will not affect the Pencil Tool
|
|
Width
|
|
for any other Weather Element. The Pencil Tool Width is defined
|
|
on
|
|
a per Weather Element basis.
|
|
<p><b>Pencil Tool with Active Edit Areas</b>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>To better control changes to your grids, the Pencil Tool operations
|
|
are restricted to any active Edit Areas that you have defined. If
|
|
there are no Edit Areas active, then the Pencil Tool beahves as if the
|
|
entire grid is the active Edit Area. For example, if you first
|
|
select
|
|
an edit area and then repeat the exercise above, you will see that any
|
|
changes that were made are confined to the Edit Area that you
|
|
selected.
|
|
The data values are identical to what they would be if no Edit Areas
|
|
were
|
|
active, but again changes are restricted to those grid points that lie
|
|
inside the active Edit Area. <font color="#ff0000"><b>Note that if
|
|
your
|
|
Pencil Tool operation does not go near the active Edit Area, no changes
|
|
to your grids will occur</b>.</font> To turn off this feature, simply
|
|
clear
|
|
the Edit Area. If you have an Edit Area that you would like to save,
|
|
but
|
|
still use the Pencil Tool as if no Edit Area were active, you can save
|
|
the Edit Area with a <a href="#SavingEditAreasasQuickSets">QuickSet</a>
|
|
button or simply clear the area and recall it again with an MB3 pop-up
|
|
command <b>Undo Area Edit</b>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p><b>Using the Pencil tool with Wind</b>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>Note that the Pencil Tool will also work on grids of type vector,
|
|
such
|
|
as wind. The algorithm is virtually identical except that the
|
|
speed
|
|
and direction are considered as separate components and are
|
|
recalculated
|
|
independently. Try the Pencil Tool with a wind grid to get an
|
|
idea
|
|
of how it works on data of type vector.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p><a name="streamlineTool"></a><b>The Streamline Tool</b>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>The Pencil Tool works like a streamline editor for a given set of
|
|
conditions.
|
|
To use the Pencil Tool as a streamline tool, make a Wind (or any other
|
|
vector-type weather element) active. Then from the main menu
|
|
select
|
|
<b>GFE->Editing
|
|
Preferences->Vector Edit Mode->Direction Only</b> or from the MB3
|
|
pop-up
|
|
menu over the Spatial Editor select <b>Vector Edit Mode->Direction
|
|
Only</b>.
|
|
When the GFE is in this mode the Pencil Tool behave line a streamline
|
|
editor.
|
|
To use it, select the tool, press and hold MB1 and drag a line in
|
|
the direction you want the wind to blow. For example, if you drag
|
|
a line from northwest to southeast, all of the wind values within the
|
|
Pencil
|
|
Tool width will now indicate a northwest wind. Give it a
|
|
try.
|
|
Note that with a large enough Pencil Width you can draw a circle in a
|
|
counter-clockwise
|
|
direction with the tool and create a large cyclonic circulation in the
|
|
wind field. <font color="#ff0000"><b>Remember that this tool
|
|
works
|
|
only on weather elements of vector type and when the Vector Edit Mode
|
|
is
|
|
set to</b> <b>DIrection Only</b></font>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p><b>Using the Pencil tool with Weather and Discrete</b>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>In the case of weather, the Pencil Tool will expand the extent of
|
|
the
|
|
weather/discrete (or No Weather/Discrete) that you select. When
|
|
using
|
|
the Pencil Tool on Weather, <b>you must begin and end the Pencil Tool
|
|
operation
|
|
on the same contiguous area of weather/discrete</b> or an error will
|
|
result
|
|
and no grid data will be changed. Try the following
|
|
exercise
|
|
to learn how to edit weather with the Pencil Tool.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Edit the extent of various
|
|
areas of weather using
|
|
the Pencil
|
|
Tool</li>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Load the "Wx" weather element into
|
|
the GFE
|
|
(if not already), select
|
|
a grid and make it editable.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Select the Pencil Tool.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Find a contiguous area of weather such as "Sct
|
|
RW-".</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Move the cursor inside this area and press and
|
|
hold MB1.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Drag the cursor (while holding MB1) to define a
|
|
new boundary for this
|
|
weather
|
|
area.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Make sure that your MB1 drag operation ends in
|
|
the same contiguous
|
|
weather
|
|
area in which you started.</li>
|
|
<li class="4Heading">Release MB1</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
Note that you have now defined a new boundary for the weather area in
|
|
which
|
|
you started. Note that this is not a "paint" operation. The
|
|
Pencil Tool defines a new <b>boundary</b> for the weather area.
|
|
It
|
|
does not assign values along the draw path like the algorithm that
|
|
operates
|
|
on scalar or vector data. You can also use the Pencil Tool to
|
|
make
|
|
any area of weather smaller. Simply start in an area that is
|
|
defined
|
|
as "No Weather" and define the new boundary. If the line you draw
|
|
crosses into any other weather area, the boundary of that area will
|
|
change.
|
|
Be sure to end your drag in the same "No Weather" areaas you started.
|
|
Give
|
|
it a try. Note the change in the weather grid.</div>
|
|
<h3>
|
|
<a name="Move/CopyTool"></a>Move/Copy Tool<img nosave=""
|
|
src="images/moveCopy.jpg"></h3>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Adjust the spatial position of
|
|
grid values</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<div class="Body">Occasionally the values of the grid points are
|
|
reasonable,
|
|
but you may not agree with the location of certain features. Once you
|
|
have
|
|
identified the feature as an edit area with the Select Points tool, you
|
|
can adjust its location with the Move/Copy tool.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Load a grid into the Spatial Editor and make that grid editable.</li>
|
|
<li>Find a feature that you would like to copy.</li>
|
|
<li>Pick the Select Points tool and define an edit area over your
|
|
feature.</li>
|
|
<li>Pick the Move/Copy Tool by clicking MB1 on the Move/Copy tool
|
|
icon.</li>
|
|
<li>Move the cursor over the selected area, press and hold MB1, drag
|
|
the
|
|
feature
|
|
to some other location, and release the mouse button.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">Note that the feature you selected has been copied to
|
|
a new location. The original feature (at least the part that did not
|
|
overlap
|
|
the copied area) was left untouched. Now try the "Move" operation by
|
|
following
|
|
the steps below.</div>
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li class="Step">Press MB3 anywhere in the Spatial Editor display and
|
|
select Undo Grid
|
|
Edit.</li>
|
|
<li class="Step">Move the cursor over the area that you selected in
|
|
Step 2.</li>
|
|
<li class="Step">Press and hold MB2, drag the feature to some other
|
|
location, and
|
|
release
|
|
the mouse button.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
<div class="Body">This time the original selected area did not remain
|
|
unchanged.
|
|
When you released MB2, an interpolation algorithm filled in the
|
|
original
|
|
area with new values.</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">Use MB1 when you want to copy an area of data and
|
|
move
|
|
it to a new location. Use MB2 if you want to move some feature and fill
|
|
in the original area with background values.
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
<h1><a name="EditActions"></a>Edit Actions <img nosave=""
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src="images/editAction.jpg" align="middle"></h1>
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There are many more tools available from the Edit Actions menu.
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These
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edit tools always operate over the currently selected edit area. To use
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them, click on the Button Bar button labelled "E". The Edit
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Action
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dialog menu will display a list of tools that operate on the currently
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editable weather element. Selecting one of these tools will
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perform
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that operation over the edit area that you have selected. The
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four
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standard tools that work for virtually all weather elements are listed
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in the table below.
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<br>
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<br>
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<table nosave="" border="1">
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<tbody>
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<tr>
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<td> <b>Tool Name</b></td>
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<td><b> Function</b></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td> Assign_Value</td>
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<td> Assigns the current pickup value </td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td> AdjustValue_Up</td>
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<td> Adds the delta amount to the current value</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td> Adjust Value_Down</td>
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<td> Subtracts the delta amount to the current value </td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td> Smooth</td>
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<td> Smooths out strong gradients</td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<p>The Edit Actions dialog also lists the set of Smart Tools that will
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edit the currently editable weather element. Smart Tools will
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also
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appear on the MB3 pop-up menu over the Spatial Editor. In
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addition,
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keyboard shortcuts can be set up for Smart Tools and Procedures (<a
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href="gfeConfig_StartUp.html#KeyboardShortcuts">see
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gfeConfig Keyboard Shortcuts</a> ). For more information about
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Edit
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Actions and Smart Tools, go to the <a
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href="SmartTools.html">Smart
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Tool Training Guide</a>.</p>
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</div>
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<h3>
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<a name="SampleTool"></a>Sample Tool <img nosave=""
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src="images/sample.jpg" align="middle"></h3>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Provide a textual
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representation of grid values</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Body">The Sample tool displays a text representation of
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grid
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values for all currently editable grids. These representations, called
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"Samples", are useful when you are editing data and want to know the
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value
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of a weather element at a particular location, such as a city. The
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Sample
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Tool can also be used to control "Markers", which are mainly used for
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Intersite
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Coordination data. Markers are similar to Samples, except that
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data
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values are not shown.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Make sure that you have at least one grid displayed in the
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Spatial
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Editor.</li>
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<li>Select the Sample tool located near the middle of the
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button bar.</li>
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<li>Move the cursor into the display. Press and hold MB1 and drag the
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cursor
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around. You should see a text representation of the value under the
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cursor.</li>
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<li>Release MB1.</li>
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<li>Make a second weather element visible in the Spatial Editor by
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clicking
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MB1 on its label.</li>
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<li>Press and drag MB1 again in the spatial display. You should see
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both
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grid
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values under the cursor displayed.</li>
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<li>Release MB1.</li>
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<li>Click MB1 several times in the display. You have just added Fixed
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Sample.
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These will remain on the Spatial Editor display until you clear them.
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Add
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more Samples by clicking MB1 in several other locations.</li>
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<li>Position your cursor directly under one of the "+" symbols
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located
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below
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one of your samples. It may be difficult to find them if the data
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background
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is light in color.</li>
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<li>To remove individual Samples, click MB2 directly on the "+"
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symbol.
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Your
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sample is removed.</li>
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<li>To remove all of the samples from the display, select from the
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main
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menu
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bar Maps->Samples->Clear. All of the samples are removed.</li>
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</ol>
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Note that there is an option to also display the latitude and longitude
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of the sample point. To display the latitude/longitude select
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from
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the main menu bar <b>Maps->Samples->Show Lat/Lon</b>. Turning
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this mode
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on will cause the samples to display the latitude and longitude always
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at the bottom of the sample in the color white. Turning this mode
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off will remove the lat/lon display.
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<p>Samples may also be defined by latitude/longitude through the <a
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href="MainMenuDialogs.html#DefineSamplesviaLatitude/LongitudeDialog">Define
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Samples via Lat/Lon Dialog</a>. This is accessed from the main
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menu
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bar, <b>Maps->Samples->Define Samples via Lat/Lon...</b>
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</p>
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<p>Samples and Marker options are available from the <b>Maps->Samples</b>
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and <b>Maps-> ISC Markers</b> menu. The user can choose to
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enable
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optional features of the sample points, which include the update time,
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WFO site identifier, and "P" official database symbol for those data
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points.
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Markers and Samples differ in the fact that markers do not show data
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values
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and are intended for displayof intersite coordination data
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status.
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Samples display data points. The Sample Tool provides a MB3 popup menu
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to add and remove markers. Markers are not cleared from the <b>Samples->Clear</b>
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menu. Refer to the <a href="ISC.html">Intersite Coordination User's
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Guide</a>
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for more information.
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</p>
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<p><img nosave="" src="images/isc3.jpg" height="438" width="295"><img
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nosave="" src="images/isc4.jpg" height="432" width="395">Example
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of regular samples and ISC Markers
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<br>
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</p>
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</div>
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<div class="1Heading">You can save a set of samples after you have
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defined
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them. Once you have the set of samples just the way you like,
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select
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from the main menu bar, <b>Maps-Samples->Save/Delete...</b>
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This will display the <a href="MainMenuDialogs.html#SaveSamplesDialog">Save/Delete
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Sample Dialog</a> which allows you to assign a name to your sample set.
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<p>Samples are represented with additional information if the GFE is in
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"<a href="ISC.html#UsingISCMode">Show ISC Mode</a>". When "<a
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href="ISC.html#UsingISCMode">Show
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ISC Mode</a>" is enabled, the sample points may contain update times,
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site
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identifiers, and the official database symbols for those areas outside
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of your CWA. Refer to the <a href="ISC.html">Intersite Coordination
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|
User's
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|
Guide</a> for more details.
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<br>
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</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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