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Neighborhood Scan: A Neighborhood Assessment Tool for the City of Champaign Final Project: UP519 (Advanced Applications of GIS) Spring, 2016 Prof: Dr. Bev Wilson Team Members: Zach Kennedy, Esteban Lopez-Ochoa, Manuel Martin-Ramos, Andrew McMillan, Md Muntasir, Stephen Sherman SECTION 1: PROJECT NARRATIVE Introduction

This report outlines the creation of a mobile GIS application. Through the Spring

semester of 2016, a group of six students in Urban Planning 519: Advanced Applications of GIS

created a mobile application to be used by the City of Champaign Neighborhood Services

Division (“NSD”). The tool will streamline the “windshield survey” process that NSD currently

performs with a pen and paper. Through the use a custom-designed app in the ArcCollector

environment, NSD will now be able to drastically reduce the time needed to perform

neighborhood surveys. NSD can also use the tool for their upcoming Neighborhood Wellness

Plan update, which entails neighborhood surveys of the entire city. Lastly, the tool can be used

for advanced spatial analysis; a brief example will be included herein.

This report also presents exploratory findings about GIS technology integration within

the public sector. Through the process of app creation, and meeting with City of Champaign

professionals, the team learned lessons about applying new GIS platforms to city governments.

As a critical addendum to this narrative, we thus include a user manual for the app, and a brief

instruction manual on how to re-create it with ArcGIS Online and ArcCollector. Given the

semester-long scope of the project, and the city’s desire to maintain their own information

systems, the team found this step to be crucial.

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Following a brief literature review, this report will outline the creation of the app, along

with the challenges (and ways by which these challenges were addressed). Following this, we

will briefly outline an example of the app’s output, along with how it can inform spatial data

analysis. Within the appendix will be two manuals: one for how to use the app, the other for

how to recreate it.

MOBILE GIS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

The development of mobile cellular technologies has created new avenues for

applications of GIS. Among applications in the literature include mapping of personal fear

(Kwan & Ding, 2008; Jones et al., 2011); analysis of urban “disorder,” vandalism, and other

local concerns (Haworth et al., 2013; Saad-Sulonen & Susi, 2007); and public health (Dwolatzky

et al., 2006).

These studies are characterized by a “bottom-up” approach to mobile GIS, showing how

ubiquitous mobile technologies enable advanced data collection. Few published studies can be

cited that involve mobile GIS integration into existing municipal government GIS programs.

Local governments often face barriers to the adoption of new GIS technologies. These barriers

include a lack of existing expertise within government bureaucracy, and the lack of existing

expertise networks which promote new technologies (Nedovic-Budic, 1999; Nedovic-Budic &

Godschalk, 1996).

Local universities can act as development hubs for building local expertise in specialized

fields (Hansen & Lehmann, 2006). Furthermore, external agencies have been shown to better

spur the adoption of e-government systems within local bureaucracies (Jun & Weare, 2010).

GIS scholars within universities can thus help to “dismantle the ivory tower” (Klein et al., 2010)

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by partnering with local governments to develop GIS applications. Examples of this exist with

East St. Louis, IL (Reardon, 2000) and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan (Hoover, 2012).

In the review of the literature, no examples were found in which universities partnered

with municipal governments to develop specifically mobile applications of GIS. Reasons for this

could be the “bottom-up” emphasis on most mobile GIS research. Furthermore, many

proprietary products, sold to municipal governments, already exist for the purpose of mobile data

collection. Given present conditions of municipal fiscal austerity (Peck, 2013), potential exists

for university-municipal partnerships through which scholars and students produce applications

to be used by municipal officials.

E-Government, Mobile GIS, and Champaign

Data collection and use can facilitate both government communication and increase

efficiency in carrying out government functions. This technology-assisted practice is collectively

known as E-Government. Examples at the federal level include the Open Government Initiative

and the Obama administration’s Project Open Data, which calls for the digitization and

dissemination of a wide range of data collected by various governmental bodies. At the state

level in Illinois, the Open Meetings Act leverages technology to mandate the sharing of

government information. Under this law, public bodies at the state and lower levels are required

to post a calendar of events and activities public notices, meeting agendas, and minutes online (if

that unit of government has a website).

Beyond facilitating governmental transparency, the use of technology in government also

improves the efficiency of their operations. A municipal government example is the free

SeeClickFix app used by hundreds of cities across the country, including the City of Champaign.

SeeClickFix enables citizens to report public infrastructure, such as potholes or street lights, that

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are in need of repair. With a few clicks from the user, the app makes use of the smartphone’s

camera and GPS hardware to report the information directly to each city’s appropriate

departments. This allows the city to collect up-to-date information that would otherwise be costly

and time consuming to continuously collect. With this information the cities can make a more

informed decision how to best prioritize their limited resources.

Like SeeClickFix, this project’s Neighborhood Scan app is a smartphone app designed to

improve the efficiency of government functions. The City of Champaign Neighborhoods

Services Department (NSD) delivers services to Champaign’s 39 neighborhoods. The NSD is

comprised of three divisions; Neighborhood Coordination, Neighborhood Programs, and Code

Compliance. Recently, the Code Compliance division had been engaged in survey work in the

Garden Hills neighborhood. For that survey, staff conducted Ppper-based “windshield” surveys,

noting the external visual conditions of dwellings and property code violations in the

neighborhood. The paper-based survey instrument was time consuming and inefficient, a

problem given the Code Compliance division’s limited labor resources. NSD Community

Development Special Janel Gomez, in a visit to UP519, expressed interest in having the survey

process improved and automated. A group of six students, with a shared interest in mobile GIS

applications, formed a project team to address NSD’s specific need.

The project team developed Neighborhood Scan to improve and digitize the collection of

the home condition data by NSD. The first step in the development process was for the project

team to hold a face-to-face meeting with NSD staff. In the initial meeting NSD staff stated that

they currently used pen-and-paper surveys to assign a 0-5 score based on the external visual

condition of private homes and auxiliary structures on each parcel in a given neighborhood.

Ultimately, this information is used to facilitate code enforcement and compliance activities.

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NSD explained that the current process was inefficient and somewhat unreliable. They were

interested in a digital data collection and storage solution. The ability to attach a photo to each of

the structure ratings was also stated as a key desired function of the digital solution. In addition

to the collection of structural condition data, city staff mentioned that it would also be useful to

have the ability to collect neighborhood infrastructure data in support of the NSD’s

Neighborhood Wellness planning processes. The relevant data for the Neighborhood Wellness

plans includes the condition of street pavement, presence of sidewalks, condition of street

lighting, and alley conditions. As an outcome of the meeting the project team had a clear

understanding of the type of data that NSD needed to collect.

The next step in the development process was for the project team to consider several

platforms from which to create a solution to NSD’s data collection requirements. Early in the

development process, the team decided that the creation of a native app was not feasible given

the time constraints of the academic semester. Ultimately, the team decided on creating an app

using ESRI ArcCollector. The ArcCollector app is designed to run on smartphones or tablets on

both Android and iOS operating systems. The key factors that influenced this decision were the

City of Champaign’s existing use of ESRI’s ArcGIS infrastructure, and the project team

members’ familiarity and prior experience developing apps using ArcCollector.

Once the project team had selected a mobile GIS framework, the next step was to

determine the appropriate base shapefiles and obtain them from the city. Initially, a tax parcel

polygon shapefile and road line shapefile were selected as the base files for the structural

condition data collection and neighborhood condition data collection, respectively. The project

team also decided to include an address point shapefile as an additional optional base shapefile

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for structural data. The City of Champaign provided the requisite shapefiles via the Champaign

County GIS Consortium (CCGIS).

The project team developed a working prototype of the app. The prototype allowed for

the end user to load ArcCollector on their smartphone preloaded with the tax parcel, address

points, and street line shapefiles. This allows the end user to click on either the parcels or the

address file to assign scores to primary and auxiliary structures and attach one or more

accompanying photos. When the user clicked on one of the street lines they could record the

neighborhood condition data for a particular segment of the neighborhood. Several test data

points were entered in the app to test functionality and stability.

Key issues and fine-tuning the app

With a working prototype, the project team again met with City of Champaign staff. In

addition to NSD staff members, public works and members of the city’s IT department were also

present at the second meeting. During the meeting the project team presented the prototype to

staff members and sought feedback on the app’s function. One of the specific questions that the

project team posed to NSD staff members was whether they would prefer to have the

information entered by clicking and appending the tax parcel polygon shapefile or the address

points shapefile. The NSD staff indicated that they would prefer to use the address point

shapefile. Subsequently, the project team asked about apartments and other multi-address

structures; specifically, the team was curious if NSD staff needed to enter data points for every

address, or simply the main structure. NSD indicated that the individual apartment points were

superfluous for the purpose of this app as they were assigning one score for the external

structural condition for the overall building, and not each individual apartment unit.

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Another key issue raised in the second meeting with City of Champaign staff was how to

best integrate this app within the city’s existing GIS infrastructure. The city’s GIS and IT staff

members indicated that data integration with the current GIS framework could be an issue with

regard to data storage. For example, the Neighborhood Scan prototype is set up so that the data

collected are stored and hosted on the ArcGIS Online servers. For the final version of the app the

data would need to be collected and stored within the city’s GIS servers. To address this issue the

project team has provided, as a part of this paper, a technical manual for the recreation of the

Neighborhood Scan app. The working prototype is a proof of concept and the city’s GIS staff

can use the manual to recreate the app to work within the parameters of the city’s GIS system.

The project team also proposed that NSD could potentially host the end data, rather than it being

stored by CCGIS.

The project team incorporated the NSD and city staff recommendations from the second

meeting into the Neighborhood Scan prototype. Subsequently, the app was ready for additional

field testing. The app prototype was tested in the Garden Hills neighborhood on April 18 in the

southwest and northeast corners of the neighborhoods and on April 26 in the central sections of

the neighborhood.

Both testers used Android phones, accessed through the free ArcGIS Android app. The

app’s response time was fast, even on an older phone. Multiple layers loaded quickly and

zooming in and out and panning was very smooth. This indicates that the app should run

smoothly on most currently operating phones and tablets (though lag time can occasionally

happen with the large address point shapefile on iOS). The app also processed data quickly after

the tester surveyed a property. Uploading data through the app took from 3 to 10 seconds.

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The testers identified three issues with the app. First, they found that while using a small

device, it was at times difficult to confirm that the parcel highlighted in the app was in fact the

parcel being examined. As such, it was recommended that the individual points for each property

within the property points file be color-coded based on the primary structure’s rating. This would

make it easier for the user to determine whether the property they were standing in front of had

already been assessed. Second, the testers found that the size of the points representing each

property was small and sometimes difficult to tap. Finally, both users noted that the app could be

difficult to read when used in direct sunlight. The first two issues were addressed in a subsequent

version of the app. But as anyone who has tried to read a smartphone or tablet in direct sunlight

knows, the third issue is a problem that cannot be overcome with current technology.

While the app has yet to be applied within a specific neighborhood project in City of

Champaign, the development team created hypothetical data of Garden Hills, which can be seen

in Figure 1. A map like Figure 1 would be the result of Neighborhood Scan’s use in a

neighborhood. The project team created this map with ArcGIS, using hypothetical structure

ratings for parcels.

Figure1

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Such data not only provide useful visualizations, but can also be the basis of more

sophisticated point-pattern analysis. Figure 2 presents the results of a hot-spot analysis using the

hypothetical data. Given that poorly rated structures receive a lower score, those structures are

actually “cold spots” visualized in red (so as to denote their worse condition). This analysis was

performed with ArcGIS Online, using the “Analysis” function at the top of the map screen.

However, spatial data from the app can also be downloaded and analyzed with the "spstat”

package on R.

Figure2

Conclusion

This app and analysis has myriad implications for policy and general knowledge. First,

ArcGIS’s relative ubiquity as a GIS interface means that ArcCollector would be an ideal

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platform for simple mobile GIS applications. “Neighborhood Scan-like” apps could thus be

applied in other municipalities. This could not only save cities’ staff much-needed time, but also

save the cities significant money, as they would not need to purchase proprietary data collection

native apps. Secondly, this process provided a lesson not only on app development, but on the

importance of creating tools which would last beyond the semester. The team realized that

writing both manuals – the re-creation manual, and the user manual – were crucial parts of the

process.

Regarding limitations: the team acknowledges that the Neighborhood Scan app as

designed may have potential shortcomings unforeseen throughout this semester’s project.

Through their use of the app, NSD may discover bugs, or may want to alter the app due to a

change of policy. Ideally, the process of learning how to build the app will allow NSD to build

local knowledge of ArcCollector, thus allowing NSD to use the app for other endeavors in the

future. Secondly, city staff mentioned the desire for a spatially-referenced record keeping

software that not only documents exterior condition, but also keeps records on construction

inspections. Currently, Neighborhood Scan only records data on addresses and blocks, not in-

structure construction issues. Lastly: as of writing the data management issue has yet to be fully

solved. Future endeavors for mobile application development could consider this issue earlier.

The remainder of this report contains two manuals: the manual to use the existing app,

and the manual to recreate a simple “Neighborhood Scan Light,” which explains the ArcGIS

Online/ArcCollector platform. To gain access to our existing version of Neighborhood Scan,

City of Champaign staff should contact Steve Sherman as sashermn@illinois.edu, who was the

group’s designated City of Champaign liaison.

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SECTION 2: USER MANUAL FOR NEIGHBORHOOD SCAN APP This manual describes a step-by-step process for using the Neighborhood Scan app to collect data. The ArcCollector app for mobile data collection and processing was developed by the ESRI and is available for Android devices, iOS, and Windows devices (Windows 10 or later). In order to use ArcCollector, users must have an ArcGIS account, which can be created at: https://www.arcgis.com/home/signin.html Step 1: Installing ArcCollector Android: To install the application, you must open Google Play Store and type “arcgis collector” in the search area. The following list of applications will show up. You can install the Collector for ArcGIS application by tapping on the application icon. iOS: To install the application, open the App Store on the iOS device and type “arcgis collector” in the search area. The Collector for ArcGIS program will appear and can be installed by tapping the application icon. Windows: To install the application, access the Windows Store and type “arcgis collector” in the search area. Click or tap on the “Collector for ArcGIS” icon and the click or tap on the “Install” button.

Figure3:ArcCollectorforAndroid

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Figure4:ArcCollectorinWindows

Step 2: Accessing the maps through the application Once installed, the user will need to open the application and sign in using the username and password from their ArcGIS account. Once signed in, the user will be taken to the All Maps section, where all layers/shapefiles that the user has uploaded to the ArcGIS online account will appear. Tapping on a map will open the layer and will allow the user to open and view the shapefile. Step 3: Collecting and updating ratings on structures and tax parcels Tap on the Neighbrhood_Scann_v2.1 map. It will open up the layers associated with the Neighborhood Scan app. In order to properly function, the user’s device must have the “Location” setting of their device turned on. The application will open to the user’s location (marked by a square box in Figure 6). The app is designed such that north is always the top of the screen.

Figure5:ArcCollectoriniOS

Figure6

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The blue areas in the accompanying images are the tax parcels (polygons), while the dots represent each structure. The inspector can collect data and add compliance ratings for both the tax parcels and the structure. That choice is theirs, and one can toggle each layer on/off. Step 4: Editing the elements for updating the ratings The user will tap on the desired element on the map (blue polygon or the points). This will open a pop-up option at the bottom of the screen (see Figure 5. Note: on iOS systems the pop-up appeared to the right of the screen). The user will need to tap on that pop up and the app will show the attributes of that polygon/point, with fields to edit. For example, see Figure 8 on the following page.

Figure7

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The inspector will display relevant information about that tax parcel/structure (e.g., address, parcel number, etc.). If there is no existing rating for the structure or property, the fields for “ratings” will be empty. To record the ratings the inspector must tap the pencil icon at the bottom of the screen (marked with circle on Figure 8). This will open up an editable field (marked with square box on the right side of Figure 8). This section includes editable fields for the primary structure rating, accessory structure rating (if any), additional notes, and attachments (such as a photo of the structure). The inspector can tap on the PRIMARY STRUCTURE RATING or ACCESSORY STRUCTURE rating and a choice of numbers will appear on screen. The inspector can then select the number appropriate with the status of the structure(s). To attach a photo, the inspector will need to tap on the “attachment” icon at the bottom of the screen (marked with red circle in Figure 8) which will open another pop-up. (Note: on iOS systems the layout differs slightly. See the “iOS addendum” at the end of this manual).

Figure8

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The pop-up will look like image on the right, with options to use the device camera to capture a photo or to attach a photo from the gallery of the device (if there is a pre-existing photo in the gallery). After attaching the picture, the user will simply need to tap the check mark at the top of the screen to update the data on that particular parcel/point (i.e. structure) and send it to the database. If the user decides not to save the edits, s/he can tap the back button of the device, which will prompt pop-up to ask for user’s confirmation. Then, the user can tap the “discard” option to abandon the edits and return to the map. The user will also see a “cancel” option that allows the user to keep the changes. iOS addendum: For Step 4, the app’s layout significantly differs depending upon which mobile platform you use. If using ArcCollector on an iOS system, tapping the map feature will prompt an editing screen that looks like Figure 10. To edit that feature, tap the box with an upward arrow (on the right side of the screen) and then click “Edit.”

Figure10

Figure9

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From here, you can click on a data field and enter numbers for each type of structure (or provide additional text notes) using your device’s keypad. The camera icon in the upper left part of the screen will allow you take pictures of the parcel. Once completed, you can click “Update” in the top right, or “Cancel” in the top left. See Figure 11 for a screenshot.

Figure11

Downloading the data To download the completely analyzed data onto your computer, go to the ArcGIS Online platform on your desktop. Find the layer file which you have altered in your “My Content” section, as visible on the top of thescreen (or, if the content is shared, in your “Groups” folder). Find the relevant layer: if in the “Groups” area, click on the “Details” link below it. If in your “My Content” folder, click the dropdown to the right and click “View Item Details.” On the following screen, under the “Layers” section, click the down-arrow dropdown menu to see your download options. See Figure 12 for an example.

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Figure12

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SECTION 3: NEIGHBORHOOD SCAN REPLICATION MANUAL Description: This manual documents the steps to re-create the app. The Neighborhood Scan app is based in ArcCollector, a product in the ArcGIS universe that allows on-site information collecting in a simple and organized fashion. Prerequisites:

• ArcGIS basic knowledge: User should be familiar with concepts such as: layers, coordinate systems, shapefiles, geodatabases, attribute tables, etc. An introductory college-level course in GIS is recommended but not required, as working experience will familiarize a person with these concepts.

• ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS online: The potential user should have access to both of these softwares in order to pre-process shapefiles, and upload them into the ArcGIS cloud system, respectively. ArcGIS online is where ArcCollector stores information (shapefiles and its database files [dBASE]). Hence, users with an ArcGIS online account will sign into the ArcCollector app to access their content. This point bears emphasis: the Neighborhood Scan app is simply a bundle of shapefiles stored in an ArcGIS online account, and accessed through ArcCollector in order to collect information on-site and store it in the aforementioned shapefiles.

o Different types of licenses allow access to different kinds of ArcGIS products. To find more information about general licensing of ArcGIS online please refer to: http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgisonline/purchase

o To find more information about the use of ArcGIS in local governments please refer to: http://www.esri.com/industries/localgov/offers

• Mobile device with a GPS: Most current smartphones and tablets have two basic functionalities needed to use ArcCollector.

o One needs to download ArcCollector app from the corresponding app service (e.g, the Apple App Store). Please refer to this website to download the appropriate system: http://doc.arcgis.com/en/collector/

o Second, most smartphones and tablets have GPS functionality that can be used either with or without internet access. A GPS enabled device is required to use ArcCollector location services in order to collect spatial information on-site in an accurate fashion. One does not consistently need GPS enabled to use Neighborhood Scan, but it helps.

Disclaimer: The following steps contain information and screenshots based on private information obtained from the City of Champaign Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) and the Champaign County GIS Consortium (CCGIS). Access to ArcGIS online was provided by and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). In order to assure replicability of this app, the user must follow the following steps and consider the particular specifications used within the collaborative framework between the NSD, CCGIS, and UIUC. In this context, the following steps assume that the user has already access to ArcGIS products and to the relevant shapefiles.

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STEP 1: PRE-PROCESSING SHAPEFILES

• Step 1.1: Download address point shapefile. Address point shapefiles are provided by CCGIS. Download it, open ArcMap, and add the address data to a blank map.

• Step 1.2: Create a file geodatabase. In ArcCatalog, go the directory and create a file geodatabase in your working directory.

• Step 1.3: Create a shapefile of only primary addresses. Within the Address shapefile, there is both data for primary address points and secondary address points (e.g., apartment units). As the purpose of Neighborhood Scan is to only gather data on exteriors, we need to remove all apartment units address points from our shapefile. To do this, open ArcMap and load the address points shapefile into your map. Go to the “Selection” dropdown on top, and go to “Select by Attributes.” Find the field for “SubAddType” and bring it into the bottom text box. This field, which shows the sub-address type, contains some unique attributes (e.g., “Apt”, “Unit,” or blank). Considering we want to remove all sub-addresses, we only want to select the blank cells. Enter the following text string into the text box at the bottom of the menu:

“SubAddType” = ‘ ‘ Figure13

This should select only the non-apartment/sub-unit/etc. structures. Hit the “Apply” button on the bottom, and then close the “Select by Attributes” window. Right click on the address points shapefile in the Table of Contents, go to Data->Export Data, and export to the file geodatabase you created in Step 1.2. Add the new feature to the map, and remove the older address shapefile.

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• Step 1.4: Create new fields. Open the attribute table for the new address layer. In the Table Options dropdown, select “Add Field.” In the “Name” text box write field name corresponding to each of the windshield survey questions. Depending of the type of information to be entered in this section, select the appropriate formatting. For example, according to the Neighborhood Services Department, the main fields for the windshield survey are the Primary Structure Rating, the Accessory Structure Rating. Both of these are real numbers ranging from 0-5. Create a variable type “Primary” in the “Name” field, and select “Double” as the “Type,” input “1” in “Precision” and “0” in “Scale”, and hit “OK.” Repeat this procedure, but call the second field “Accessory”.

Figure14

Figure15

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Figure16

STEP 2: UPLOADING FILES TO ARCGIS ONLINE

• Step 2.1: Sign in to ArcGIS online in a computer This can be done by going to: https://www.arcgis.com/home/signin.html, and entering the username and password of the intended user.

Figure17

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• Step 2.2: Upload the GeoDatabase (gdb) file Once the database has been created, it needs to be compressed in a zipfile in order to be uploaded to ArcGIS online (see Figure 18). After locating the zipfile containing the geodatabase using the “Choose File” button, select “File Geodatabase” from the “Contents” drop-down menu. If desired, change the Title and add a Tag. Then Click in “ADD ITEM” to finish the upload process.

Figure18

Figure19

• Step 2.3: Define access and sharing parameters Once loaded, ArcGIS online will direct the user to the webpage that contains the details of the uploaded geodatabase. In this webpage, the user must decide how the layer and its contents will be used. If the user creating the app will be also the user using the app, conducting the survey and collecting the information, there is no need to change other parameters, and the user can continue with the following steps. However, if the app is to

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be shared among users with different ArcGIS online accounts, the layer and the finalized created app needs to be shared. To share the layer the user needs to first define a group by clicking in “Groups” in the top menu and then “CREATE A GROUP”. In this step, the group creation allows for defining a name, group description and type of group. The types range between “Organization”, “Private”, or “Public”. In the case of the creation of Neighborhood Scan, an “Organization” group class was created that allowed a search for users within the same organization, in this case the University of Illinois.

Figure20

Once the group has been created, the user must share the uploaded geodatabase with the users of the defined group by clicking in the “SHARE” button and then selecting the desired users to share with. The image below shows the sharing layout for the case of the UP519: Neighborhood Scan group created in the context of the course UP 519: Advanced GIS Applications.

Figure21

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After the uploading process is completed, ArcGIS online creates a “Feature Layer” file and a “Geodatabase” file. The user needs to share both of these in order to be able to create the map and share the app with other users. To do this: click on “My Content” in the top menu, select the particular items to share (by checking the box to the left of that item), then click the “Share” button (above the list of items). See Figure 22.

Figure22

STEP 3: CREATING AN ONLINE, EDITABLE MAP

• Step 3.1: Create an Online Map using the GeoDatabase (gdb) file As in ArcGIS desktop, in order to display a shapefile or geodatabase, it is necessary to have a basemap. For this, ArcGIS online requires the user to create an online map where the uploaded shapefiles and geodatabases are displayed as layers. This can be done by clicking “MAP” in the main top menu, and then clicking “New Map” in the new screen. Click “Create New Map.” See Figure 23. Note: this step has occasional bugs. You may find it helpful to skip this step and go to Step 4 on page 30.

Figure23

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Then, the geodatabase needs to be uploaded into the new map. As with ArcGIS desktop, layers are added by simply clicking the “Add” button and then searching the layer from the available contents. In our case, since the geodatabase file was already uploaded, the “Search for Layers” option is selected after clicking in the “Add” button

Figure24

In this step, the user should select the layer to be inserted. Upload whichever layer you want to edit. In this case, the user can click in “My Content” or the “519: Neighborhood Scan” group from the drop-down menu, and select the geodatabase layer. After all layers have been added, click on “DONE ADDING LAYERS” at the bottom of the menu.

Figure25

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The result of this step should show the added layers that were included in the geodatabase file, as shown below. Your geodatabase – if it contains only address points – will contain fewer data.

Figure26

• Step 3.2: Define the survey attributes as pop-ups After the geodatabase is uploaded and displayed into a map, the next step is to define what to display and how. As portrayed in the User Manual in section 2, ArcCollector displays maps in mobile devices and shows the map attributes with “pop-ups.” Pop-ups are small windows that appear when tapping in a layer feature such as points, polygons, lines, etc. In our case, the Address shapefile is a point shapefile, which means that every time an ArcCollector taps in one of these points, a series of attributes about that point will pop-up in a small window. Hence, in this step, we can define what attributes to show and how to show them.

As seen from the image above, the “Contents” sidebar shows the different layers existing in the map. Through the “Contents” sidewbar, the user can change particular features of each layer. The set of images below shows the process of changing the pop-up attributes of the core layer of the windshield survey, i.e. the SingleAddressPoints layer.

First, click on the button showing three horizontal dots, at the right side of the layer menu, which will show the complete set of possibilities available.

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Figure27

Second, click on “Configure Pop-up”, which will open a new menu. Then click on “Configure Attributes” and a new window will appear. This window allows the user to select what specific attributes to be displayed in the pop-up from the whole set of attributes present in the dbf file associated to the particular shapefile. As Figure 28 shows, only those files associated to the Windshield survey have been selected. Note two columns: one for “Display” and one for “Edit.” Only click the box in the “Edit” column if you want the ArcCollector user to be able to change these features. When done, click “OK” in the “Configure Attributes” window and “OK” in the “Configure pop-up” side-menu.

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Figure28

• Step 3.3: Defining how to display the pop-ups attributes. A particularly useful feature is defining colors and shapes conditional to values for a particular attribute. Specifically, the Neighborhood Scan app defined a set of different colors for the Primary Structure Rating in the Address Point Layer. To do this yourself: click the “Change Style” button in the Layer menu, as shown in Figure 29.

Figure29

Once in the “Change Style” side menu. The user can define both the attribute to show, and the drawing style (i.e., its color and shape). As in Figure 30, the “Primary Structure Rating” field from the Address Points Shapefile has been selected, and colored with red for values equal to 1, pink for 2, orange for 3, green for 4, and blue for 5. Once this is completed, click in “DONE” to finalize this process. The utility of this step is that every time the user enters a value for the Primary Structure Rating in ArcCollector, the color of the point will change, allowing to both identify addresses already surveyed and the specific ratings of those surveyed. We also suggest changing the size of the dot, so as to make it more “clickable” on a small mobile device screen.

29

Figure30

Repeat the previous steps for each of the attributes and layers of interest.

Figure31

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STEP 4: MAKING FEATURES EDITABLE IN ARCCOLLECTOR

Oncecompletedwithconfiguringthepopupandselectingthesize/colorofthedata,oneneedstoeditthemaptomakesureitcanbeopenedinArcCollector.Clickthe“MyContent”buttoninArcGISOnline(locatedonthetopofyourscreen).Findthegeodatabase’stargetlayer,clickthedropdownontherightsideofthe“Title”columnforyourtargetlayer’srow,andthenclick“Viewitemdetails.”

Figure32

Next,onceinthelayerwebpage,click“EDIT”(withthepencilicon,nearthetopofthscreen)andchangethefollowingfeaturesasshowninFigure34,andclick“SAVE.”ThisallowsthefeaturestobeeditedinArcGISonline.

Figure33

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Figure34

Finally,toenableattachments(specificallyphotographs)tobecollectedinArcCollector,gothe“Layers”sectioninyourtargetlayer’scontentscreen.Gotothedropdownmenutotherightofyourtargetlayer.Figure35showshowtoattachphotographstotheAddressPointslayer.Clickon“EnableAttachments.”Now,inArcCollector,youcanattachpictures.

Figure35

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