Advanced Tools

 To activate these tools left-click on the   icon to the right of the Standard Tools.

Advanced Tools

These tools provide additional functionality, however their use is more complex and should only be used once you are familiar with other components of ACT Locate.

ALL REQUIRE AN ACTIVE LAYER, AND THEREFORE THE USER NEEDS TO FIRST ENSURE THAT THE TICK BOX ADJACENT TO THE DESIRED LAYER IS CHECKED AND THAT THE LAYER IS SELECTED BY CLICKING ON THE LAYER NAME. REMEMBER TO THEN CLICK ON THE ‘REFRESH MAP’ BUTTON LOCATED BELOW THE LAYER LIST TO MAKE THE SELECTION ACTIVE.  If this is not done the following dialog box will appear (with the appropriate layer name).

Most of these tools provide the option of further action such as zooming to the selected records, or selecting them and saving them to the clipboard.

Once you have records displayed in the Information Window you can either:

1.                  Left-click on the Record number to zoom to that record; or

2.                  Left-click on the ‘Zoom to all features’ hyperlink at the bottom of the listing; or

3.                  If there are more than 25 records which meet the selection criteria you can left-click on the ‘More Records’ hyperlink at the bottom of the listing to view further records.

In addition, you can select and save the records to another application by going to the Edit tab on your browser and left-clicking on Select All, then from the same tab left-clicking on Copy.  The pasting of these records will depend on your application. You will also need to delete some links that will be transferred from ACT Locate.

Each tool is reviewed below.

          Active Layer Identify

This button allows you to identify a feature(s) in the active layer at a particular location on the map. Click on the button then move the mouse crosshairs onto the map where you wish to identify a feature, then left-click.

ACT Locate will retrieve attribute information from the Active Layer for features within a predefined distance of the click point, then return the result(s) in the Information Window below the Map.

Generally only one record will be found, however it is possible that more than one will be returned if others fall within the predefined search distance. It may be necessary to scroll this window to see all records.

          Zoom to Active Layer

This button allows you to set the map extent to include all features in the active layer. Click on the button and the map will redraw to this extent. If the Active Layer has a draw scale range that is different from the view scale following the execution of this tool, then the features from this layer will not be visible.  They will become visible when the user changes scale to within this range.

          Query

This button provides you with an opportunity to search for records in the Active Layer, which meet the criteria of a complex query on one or more attributes in the layer.

The dialog below will display when you left-click on the button.

The steps for using this function are:

1.                  Choose a data field for the first search criteria from the ‘Field’ dropdown box;

2.                  Select an operator from the ‘Operator’ dropdown box;

3.                  Type in a value in the ‘Value’ box (you can list potential values by left-clicking on the Get Samples button and quotation marks are not required and the function is not case sensitive). The string can be the first few characters of a string; or a string which does not include the first character(s) but a ‘%’ character as a wild card.

4.                  When you are happy with the first part of your query left-click on the ‘Add to Query String’ and your query will be transferred to the adjacent window;

5.                  At this stage you can either Execute the query, Undo the last step, Clear the query string (using one of the buttons below the query box), or add to the query using one of the extension commands to the right of the ‘Get Samples’ button and repeat steps 1 to 4.

If there are records in the layer, which meet your query requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for further options using these records.

         Find

This button provides you with an opportunity to search for a character string within records in the Active Layer The dialog below    will display as a separate browser window when you left-click on the button.

Enter a character string in the data entry box (quotation marks are not required and the function is not case sensitive). The string can be the first few characters of a string; or a string which does not include the first character(s) but a ‘%’ character as a wild card.

All text fields will be searched and as there is an automatic wild card at the end, a part string will also return results. If too many results are returned then try typing in more of the string. If no results are returned then try typing in less of the string.

If there are records in the layer, which meet your find requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for further options using these records.

          Select by Rectangle

This button provides you with an opportunity to select records in the Active Layer using a rectangle. The function employs the ‘pass through’ option so that any feature in the Active Layer which falls partially within the selected area will be selected.

To use the function left-click and HOLD with your mouse at a point on the map in the top left corner of an imaginary rectangle containing the features (or parts of features) you wish to select. HOLD your finger on the left mouse button and ‘swipe’ a rectangle on the map, and then release the left mouse button. The selected features will be highlighted in orange and their attribute details will display in the Information Window.

If there are records in the layer, which meet your find requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for further options using these records.

            Select by Line or Polygon

This button provides you with an opportunity to select records in the Active Layer using a line or a polygon. The function employs the ‘pass through’ option so that any feature in the Active Layer, which falls partially within the selected area will be selected. The dialog below will display as a separate browser window when you left-click on the button.

For a line select carryout the following steps:  

1.                  Left-click with your mouse at a point on the map from which you wish to commence your line. A red dot will appear on the map.

2.                  Your line can be made up of a number of segments so you can repeat Step 1 until your selection line is complete. As you progress the line will be displayed in red. NOTE: You can use the buttons to ‘Restart’ or ‘Delete Last Point’ to modify your line as you progress.

3.                  When you have completed your line definition, click on the ‘Complete Line & Select’ button to activate the search.

For a polygon select carryout the following steps:  

1.                  Left-click with your mouse at a point on the map from which you wish to commence your polygon boundary. A red dot will appear on the map.

2.                  The boundary of your polygon can be made up of a number of segments so you can repeat Step 1 until your polygon only requires closing. As you progress the polygon boundary will be displayed in red. NOTE: You can use the buttons to ‘Restart’ or ‘Delete Last Point’ to modify your polygon as you progress.

3.                  When you have completed your polygon definition, click on the ‘Complete Polygon & Select’ button to close the polygon and activate the search.  

The selected features will be highlighted in orange and their attribute details will display in the Information Window.  

If there are records in the layer, which meet your find requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for further options using these records.

          Buffer

This button provides you with an opportunity, after having selected one or more records in the Active Layer to then create a buffer around these records and to highlight records from another layer which overlap with this buffered region. The function employs the ‘pass through’ option so that any feature in the Active Layer, which falls partially within the buffer area will be selected. The dialog below will display as a separate browser window when you left-click on the Buffer button.

To use the function select from dropdown box the layer with the features that you wish to select through your buffer operation. Then enter a distance in metres that will determine the extent of the buffer region from the initially selected features. If you wish to display the attributes for the newly selected features you will need to left-click the box titled ‘Display Attributes’. Finally you can click on the ‘Create Buffer’ button for the command to be executed. The buffer area will be displayed on the map in a grey speckle and the highlighted features will be highlighted in orange and their attribute details will display in the Information Window.

If there are records in the layer, which meet your find requirements, then they will be presented in the Information Window below the Map. If no records are found, a message will advise you of this. Please see the general comments at the top of this section for further options using these records.