Preparing the coverages for VPF conversion using Workstation (Maritime Charting)

If you exported your geodatabase data to the ArcInfo coverage format, it needs to be processed to match the workstation coverage requirements, then Esri Nautical Solution Workstation can be used to export the coverage data to VPF.

Restoring geodatabase note information

The note information that was exported from the geodatabase must be transferred to the coverage features.

Steps:

1. Start the Nautical Solution Workstation for DNC.
2. Click System on the main menu and click Change Workspace.
3. Set the workspace to the location where the notes were exported.
4. On the Database Production DNC menu, click Product Finishing > Restore Geodatabase Note Info.
5. Move the note tables to be processed into the Action List area and click Apply.
6. Select the workspace that contains the coverages that the notes relate to.
7. Click OK.
8. Select the notes.njt file. This file is located where the notes were exported.
9. Click OK.
10. Click OK to close the Notice dialog box.

Creating a VPF export library

The exported coverages need to be processed to ensure the correct coverages exist with the proper topology, items, and item definitions as defined by the workstation coverage model. However, to do this, you must tell the system which specification the coverages should match; therefore, the VPF export library and metadata information must be completed before the coverages can be corrected to match the model.

Steps:

1. On the Database Production DNC menu, click Product Finishing > Vector Product Format (VPF).
2. On the VPF Main Menu dialog box, click Library Info > DNC_[scale of the library] > Create a new DNC_[SCALE] ArcInfo Library.

   The Confirm message box appears.

3. Click Yes to confirm the creation of a new DNC library.
4. Type the library name in the New Library Name text box.
5. Right-click the New Library Location text box and browse to a location.
   Tip:

   You can also type the location.

6. Choose the Create EXPORT Library option.
7. Right-click the Pre-Index/Prototype cover text box and browse to the location of the DQYNET coverage you exported from the geodatabase.
   Tip:

   You can also type the location.

8. Type the database name in the VPF Database Name text box.
9. Type a library name in the VPF Library Name text box.
10. Choose 1996 Digital Nautical Chart Data from the VPF Product Type list.
11. Choose No for the Is the Data being created from sheets option.
12. Click Create Library.
13. Click Yes to make an INDEX with this coverage.

    A message box appears once the library is created.

14. Click OK.

The Library Manager menu appears and you can continue to the next section.

Editing the metadata file

The exported coverages need to be processed to ensure the correct coverages exist with the proper topology, items, and item definitions as defined by the workstation coverage model. However, to do this the system must know which specification the coverages should match; therefore, the VPF export library and metadata information must be completed before the coverages can be corrected to match the model.

Steps:

1. On the Library Manager menu that appeared from the previous section, click Library Administration > Show Library Metadata Files.
   Tip:

   The Library Manager menu can also be accessed on the Database Production DNC menu by clicking Product Finishing > Vector Product Format (VPF). The VPF Main Menu dialog box appears. Click Library Info > DNC_[scale of the library] > [VPF Library].

2. Click the .lib file in the left pane.
3. Click Library Administration and click Edit Metadata File.

   The Confirm message box appears.

4. Click Yes to edit the .lib file.

   A text file opens.

5. Scroll down to the Browse Library information area.

   This is where the Notice to Mariners information is updated.

6. Set the .lib$lib_ntm variable to the week/year of the latest Notice to Mariners update.
7. Set the .lib$lib_ntm_date variable to the publication date of the Notice to Mariners edition.

   Set it to year, month, and day without any spaces.

   For example, your NTM date should look something like 20050818.

8. Scroll down to the VPF FILE INFO area.

   This area contains a list of the themes that can be captured for the library.

9. On the &s .meta$catlayers row, set the .meta$catlayers variable to be the list of themes included in the library.

   Make sure you delete any theme that is not going to be included in your library.

   For example, if env is not in your dataset, your row should only include cul, ecr, hyd, iwy, lcr, lim, nav, obs, por, rel, dqy, tileref, and libref.

   Note:

   It may be necessary to open ArcCatalog to identify which themes have data. It is important that the themes remain in the order they are currently listed, so if it is necessary to add one back in, find its position in the example list, then enter it in the active list.

10. Save the <library>.lib text file and close it.
11. If prompted, click Yes to remove any formatting and save the file as text only.

Processing the geodatabase output coverages

Prior to ArcInfo Library insertion, a few procedures must be executed on the data to ensure that Library Insertion will take place on all coverages and that proper VPF feature relationships will be created. The following steps will define the projection information, slam route and region feature classes to arcs and polygons (except LIMNET), and combine point feature classes into theme-based coverages.

Steps:

1. Ensure the current workspace is the workspace that contains the coverages that were output from the geodatabase.
2. On the main menu, click System > Change Workspace.
3. Change the workspace location if necessary.
4. Click the Library Manager menu for the appropriate library, point to ArcInfo Library Tools, and click Process GDB Output coverages.

   The Set Pick List for format_gdb dialog box appears.

5. Click All to move all coverages to the Action List.
6. Click Apply.

   This process takes a few minutes. A message appears once the processing is complete.

7. Click OK.

Copying the coverages

Once the coverages have been prepared, they can be copied to the joined/final location in the VPF export library structure for VPF finishing.

Steps:

1. Navigate to the Database Production DNC menu and click Commands > Coverage Manager.

   The Coverage Manager dialog box appears.

2. Click Copy Many.

   The Copy Many Coverages dialog box appears.

3. Browse to the location of the geodatabase output coverages.
4. Leave the NONE option selected for Extensions on the coverages.
5. Click All to move all coverages to the Action List.
6. Browse to the joined/final workspace in the library directory.
7. Click Copy.

   The Coverage Manager dialog box becomes inactive while copying the coverages, then active again when the process is finished.

8. Click Dismiss to return to the Database Production DNC menu.

Finishing the notes

The notes that are exported need to be unique in the note table. However, each feature that has a note is exported to the <theme>.notes.rat.dat table. This table needs to be cleaned so that there is only one record for each unique note, then the note IDs of the features in the coverages need to be recalculated to match the new note ID.

Steps:

1. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the directory where the notes were exported. For all the themes that had attached notes, there is an associated <theme>.notes.rat.dat file.
2. Create a Notes folder under the [library]_lib directory.
3. Copy the <theme>.notes.rat.dat files to the [library]_lib/notes directory.
4. Create a cross-reference spreadsheet for each <theme>.notes.rat.dat file.
   Tip:

   Create a column for the note ID ID, a second ID or cross-reference ID ID2, and a note column NOTE. Populate each spreadsheet with the notes in each of the <theme>.notes.rat.dat files.

5. Remove duplicate notes in the <theme>.notes.rat.dat files.
6. Populate the ID2 column with the new note ID in the <theme>.notes.rat.dat tables.
   Tip:

   If there are no IDs listed, the ID matches the order of the notes in the file; for example, note 1 is ID 1, and so on. This serves as the cross-reference file for calculating the new note IDs for the features in the coverages.

7. Ensure the current workspace is the workspace that contains the coverages.
8. In ArcEdit, edit the coverages that had duplicate notes in the <theme>.notes.rat.dat files.
9. Renumber the NOTES item for the affected features by calculating the ID for the new note ID (ID2) by using the ID based on the cross-reference spreadsheet.

   The old ID value is listed in the ID column, and the ID value to calculate to is listed in the ID2 column.

Creating coverage routes and regions

The final step in preparing the coverages is formatting the coverages and creating route and region subclasses from the coverage polygon and line features.

Formatting the coverages

First you must format the coverages.

Steps:

1. Ensure the current workspace is the workspace that contains the coverages that were copied to the joined/final location.
2. On the main menu, click System > Change Workspace.
3. Change the workspace location if necessary.
4. In the Maritime Charting Workstation for DNC, from the Database Production DNC menu, click Product Finishing > Format Cover.

   The Format Cover dialog box appears.

5. Click All to move all coverages to the Action List.
6. Type the library name in the Enter ArcInfo Library text box and press Enter.
7. Click Apply.

   A message box appears once the process is finished.

8. Click OK.

Creating feature classes

You can now create route and region subclasses from the coverage polygon and line features.

Steps:

1. On the Database Production DNC menu, click Product Finishing > Create Feature Classes.

   The Create Feature Classes dialog box appears.

2. Click All to move all coverages to the Action List.
3. Type the library name in the Enter ArcInfo Library text box and press ENTER.
4. Click Apply.

   A message box appears once the process is finished.

5. Click OK.

Running the coverage consistency report

The consistprep2 process establishes proper coverage topology, removes unwanted pseudo nodes, tests for unnecessary lines, and calculates null values based on each F_CODE. The output report lists detected errors that need to be corrected before creating coverage routes and regions.

Steps:

1. On the Database Production DNC menu, click System > Command Line Tool.
2. Type consistprep2 in the input box and click Execute.

   The Library Scale dialog box appears.

3. Choose the library's scale.
4. Click OK.
5. View the watch file consistprep2.wch and search for errors.

   The watch file is located in the workspace that contains the coverages.

   Tip:

   To find the file, click the System arrow.

Once the steps for preparing the coverages have been completed, the online help for Nautical Solution Workstation can be used to provide guidance on completing the VPF export process, which includes creating the LIBREF layer, inserting the data into the library tiles, converting the coverages to VPF, and exporting the browse library.