P. U. M. A.

Planning's Universal Mapping Application

BUTTONS

Property Detail Dialog. Loads the Property Detail dialogue. This provides property specific information, and access to more detailed information.

Create New Map. Launch the Mapper dialogue to specify map parameters and create a new map.

Theme Manager. Launch the Theme Manager dialogue to specify themes to include in the view.

Create New Plot Plan. Create a new Plot Plan map using the currently selected taxlot.

Remove the Plot Plan graphic from the View. Used after producing a Plot Plan map.

Property Report. Launch Crystal Reports and generate a property report.

Zoom To Township/Range/Section. Launches a dialog that allows the user to select a Township, Range, and Section to display.

Zoom to City or Community. Zooms to a city or community that the user selects from a list.

Add and/or Remove Labels. Adds and/or removes labels from the Taxlot, Zoning, Roads, and Soils themes (labels are added in the currently displayed area of the View).

Add Graphic outline (Shift + "click" button to remove  existing outlines). Adds a graphic of the outline of a selected polygon to the view, or removes them if the Shift key is down while button is "clicked".

Create a Graphic Circle or Square. Create a graphic circle or square centered on your selected point or polygon. The graphic can then be used to select taxlots.

Perform a theme-on-theme analysis. Select a polygon theme to analyze in relation to the currently selected taxlots.

Mailing Labels.  Start Crystal Reports mailing  labels, no removal of duplicate records.

Mailing Labels - Remove Duplicates.  Start Crystal Reports mailing  labels and runs a routine to remove duplicate records before creating the labels.

Mailing List.  Start Crystal Reports mailing list, generally used for record keeping in conjunction with mailing labels.

Locate Address.  Use this to locate an address by estimating its position.  Does not need to be exact.

TOOLS

Latitude/Longitude Tool.   Locate or Identify the Latitude and Longitude of specified areas.

View Assessor's map.  Click on the view to see the corresponding assessor's map in Adobe Acrobat.

Text Spliner.   Select text then use this tool to "spline" it (place text on the line you draw).

  Reverse Geocoding Tool.  Select a location near a road and see the interpolated address.

MENUS

PUMA Tools :  Menu choices for interacting with various aspects of PUMA

Planning :  Duplicates Mailing Label Buttons, and includes Buffering options.

The Property Information dialog provides access to a great deal of information about an individual property as well as the ability to search for other properties.

Search Buttons: The top row of buttons provide the user with different ways of searching the database for an individual property, either by taxlot  number, owner's name, or the property's address.

Information Display: Below the search buttons is the area for displaying property information. This information is from the Josephine County Assessor's databases. This data is linked to the geographic information (i.e. the area extent of each taxlot and it's relationship to other data sets) by the taxlot number.

Hazard Flags: Under these buttons, are a series of check boxes for "flagging" potentially limiting conditions on a property. These boxes will have a check mark in them if the condition exists anywhere on the property. So, just because the "flood" box is checked, does not mean there will be limitations on development. What it does mean is that there will need to be an examination of the property to determine if the flood zone on the property will coincide with the area to be used for development. The other check boxes work in the same way, except for the "violations" flag. If there is a current violation on a property, generally no permits will be issued until the violation is remedied.

Additional Information Display: Information is presented for Home Occupation and Medical Hardships permits. This information is from a database maintained by the Planning Department. The labels will be grayed-out if no permit information is found in the database

Information Buttons: Next, is a row of buttons for retrieving more detailed information about an individual taxlot. These buttons will be disabled (the button's label will be grayed-out and "clicking" the button will have no effect) if no information is available. For example, when viewing a property that is undeveloped, the "improvements" button will be disabled.

Parts of Total Parcel: The final piece of information presented on this dialog is the "part of total parcel" section. This is used when a taxlot is not a legal parcel. Some taxlots exist solely for taxation purposes but are not a parcel, generally two or more of these taxlots together constitute the actual legal parcel. The combo-box on the right (with the down-facing triangle) will list the other taxlot numbers that make-up the parcel. The button labeled "View POTs"  will outline all of the taxlots that make up the parcel in black and red.

Zoom Lock: When a new parcel is selected, Puma will zoom to the selected parcel at a scale that is appropriate for the parcel. When the Zoom Lock feature is on (checked) the zoom level stays the same when new parcels are selected and the view is centered on the selected parcel. This is most useful when browsing through taxlots interactively, so the user is not disoriented by many scale (i.e. zoom level) changes.

General Use Guidelines for 'Taxlot Search'

How to query the GIS using the Property Information dialog
Querying the GIS database is as easy as entering all, or a portion of, a taxlot’s map number. The user will then see the selected taxlot(s) highlighted and centered on the screen.

Selecting a Taxlot
The main Property Information dialog offers search options, or the menu item "Search by Mapnum" under the "Planning" menu may be used. A typical session will start by selecting a taxlot of interest using one of these searching capabilities. Taxlot numbers are fourteen digit numbers such as 390505BC000103. This is made up of the Township, Range, Section  (all two-digit numbers), subsection (two digit alpha numeric), and the taxlot number (a six-digit number). Note: As shown below, Puma will allow the entry of numbers in place of the alpha numeric code for 'Quarter & Quarter-quarter.'  For example "23" may be used for "BC" or "40" for "D0."

The user may enter as much of the taxlot number as they know, and an asterisk for the portion they do not know. So, if the user entered "390505*", for example, all taxlots in Township 39, Range 05, Section 05 would be selected. From there the user could refine the selection using ArcView’s standard Selection Tool

The Map Maker dialog provides the user with a number of options for creating maps. These options include the size and orientation of the map, as well as the text of the title and the inclusion of a "locator map" inset in your map. Once the map is created, it will be displayed and the user will be presented with options to change the scale. The scale may be changed until the user is satisfied with the appearance of the map. The map may be altered once it is created, it just gives the user a jump-start by formatting the borders, legend, scale, north arrow, and map scale.

Map Size: The options for size are common paper sizes. Most user's will only use the 8.5 X 11 option, due to the limitations of the printer available.  The size can either be set to a default map size, or set directly from the printer.

The Orientation: Orientation options are Landscape and Portrait. Portrait is the standard printer format. the map is longer than it is wide. Landscape orientation has the paper rotated 90 degrees, so that the map is wider than it is long.

Map Title: The map title defaults to the taxlot number of the most recently selected taxlot. This text can be changed to any title desired.

Locator Map: The locator map is located in the bottom right corner of the map. It shows a graphic of the extent of the map over a background of the PLSS lines for Josephine County.

Map Scale: Once the map is created the user is presented with a list of options for the map's scale. The options are "retain scale", "user defined", and many predefined scales. The retain scale option leaves the map "as is". The user defined option allows the user to input a desired scale.

Notes: If you intend on keeping this map in your project, you should rename it from "tmp" to another name (Layout>>Properties then type in a new name). Additionally, it may be desirable to remove the "live link" feature from the viewframe (the part of the map that shows geographic features). This will allow the user to continue working in PUMA without changing what the map looks like. To remove the live link from the viewframe: 1) select the viewframe (so it has black "handles" on it's four corners) 2) open the properties dialog (Graphics>>properties) 3) uncheck the box that is labeled "Live Link". This way the map will be "frozen", and will not change as you work in the PUMA view.

The Theme Manager dialog provides the user with an easy interface for selecting which themes are loaded in the view. Simply &quotcheck" or &quotuncheck" the box next to a theme to add or delete it from the view. Groups of themes can be added or deleted by holding the Shift key down while "checking" or "unchecking" a box. The groups are arranged together under headings, such as &quotDevelopment Overlays". Changes are implemented when the &quotadd/delete Themes" button is &quotclicked". This allows the user to have only the themes of interest listed in the table of contents of the view, increasing productivity.

Find User Defined Themes: This button will launch a standard &quotfind file" dialogue for the user to add themes not included in PUMA.

Add/Delete Themes: After selecting the themes to add (by checking the box next to the theme) or to delete (by unchecking the box next to the theme) from the view, click this button to implement your changes.

Plot Plan Maps: Plot Plan maps are focused on a particular taxlot, therefore a taxlot must be selected in order to produce these maps. These maps include the name of the owner, the situs address of the property, and specific zoning information about the taxlot. There is also a "mask" created around the selected taxlot. This hides all features outside the taxlot. These maps are generally used as a base map to draw-in proposed developments on the property. Once the map is created the user is presented with a list of options for the map's scale. The options are "retain scale", "user defined", and many predefined scales. The retain scale option leaves the map "as is". The user defined option allows the user to input a desired scale.

Remove Plot Plan Graphic (mask). This button appears after a Plot Plan is created. Once the user is done with the plot plan map. This button is used to remove the mask that covers the PUMA view. After the button is clicked, the icon returns to the Plot Plan icon.

Property Reports. Property reports allow the user to create a one page document describing a taxlot. This will include most of the information presented in the Property Information dialog, as well as improvements and the Latitude and Longitude of the center of the taxlot. This report requires Crystal Reports which is included on the ArcView installation CD.

Zoom to Township - Range - Section. This button will launch a dialog that allows the user to select a township, range, and optionally a section number to "zoom to". If only a township and range are selected, then the PUMA view will be redrawn to display this 36 sq. mile area. If a section number is also selected, then the 1 sq. mile area of that section will be displayed. Note that it is possible to make selections that will not work. These would be selections for areas not in Josephine County, for example Township 32, Range 11 West  will result in a error message stating the location was not found.

Zoom to City. This is a tool for "zooming in" on the communities in Josephine County. Simply select a community from the list and the Puma view will display that area of the County. Most of these areas do not have officially designated boundaries, so estimates of the extents of these areas were made by Geographic Information Systems specialists familiar with these areas.

Add and/or Remove Labels. This button will launch one or both dialogs for adding and removing labels.

Remove Labels: If the user has already added labels, then dialog for removing labels will be displayed first. Generally, it is desirable to remove the existing labels before adding more labels, though it is not required. Simply select the themes to remove labels from and click the "OK" button. The previously added labels will be removed.

Add Labels: After the Remove Labels dialog has been used, or if their are no existing labels, the Add Labels dialog will be displayed. Select the theme(s) you want labeled, then "click" the "OK" button. Labels will be added in the extents of the PUMA view, so the user should have only the area to be labeled displayed when adding labels. The labels will be placed using different sizes and fonts for the different themes being labeled. These labels are then attached to the various themes. So, if you turn off the visibility of the Soils theme, the corresponding Soil type labels will also disappear. turning the theme back on will restore these labels to visibility.

NOTES:

Visibility: You may notice that there is no "roads" theme in PUMA. This is because PUMA is based on taxlot data, so the areas between  taxlots represent the road right of way. However, there is a layer of road information used to generate the labels. If your road labels do not appear, check to make sure that the visibility of the theme at the bottom of the Table of Contents is turned on, as in the picture to the right.

Label Size: Since labels are added in groups, resizing one taxlot label. for example, will change the size of all taxlot labels. To resize the labels, use the pointer tool to select them and drag a corner handle until the desired size is achieved.

Graphic Outline. This button will add a graphic outline around a selected feature, and un-select the feature. This requires that the selected feature be part of the Active Theme. This is most useful when trying to display background data such as airphotos or USGS Digital Raster Graphics (DRG's) in conjunction with other data such as taxlots. At right, the first image shows that it is difficult to get useful information from the airphoto because it is being obscured by the "selected" status of the taxlot. The second image shows the graphic outline being used. To remove the graphic outline, simply hold down the Shift key while "clicking" the graphic outline button.

Shapes Dialog: This button will launch the Shapes dialog. This is used to create circular or rectangular shapes in specific locations, for example, this could be used to select all of the taxlots in a rectangular region centered on a certain taxlot in order to generate a mailing  list. Once all of the options and parameters have been selected, use the "Create" button to finish the process.

Select Shape Type: Select either Circle or Rectangle. If the circle is chosen, then radius or area can be used to specify the size of the shape. If the rectangle is chosen, then height and width are specified by the user.

Center Shape By: There are two options for centering the shape. The user can use the "point and click" tool to specify a certain location on the map. Select the "Point and Click Tool" option, then select the tool (follow the arrows after "point and click text to the tool). Once the tool is selected, click anywhere in the PUMA view and the coordinates will be captured and used to center the shape that is created.  Alternatively, the centroid of the selected features can be used. This option is useful for centering the shape on a selected taxlot, for example. Be sure features are selected in the active theme (see Concepts page) or this option will not work. If multiple features are selected, an average of the centers will be used.

Shape Parameters: First specify the units to be used by selecting an option from the drop down list. In the picture above, "Miles" have bee n selected as the units. This means any values entered for the size of the shape will be in miles. Other options include meters, feet, and kilometers. Depending on which shape type was selected, you will have different options for specifying the size of the shape to be created. 1) Circle Options. either the radius or the area may be entered. The radius is the distance from the center of a circle to the edge of the circle.  If the area option is selected, the appropriate radius will be calculated to achieve the desired area. 2) Rectangle Option. Enter the height and width of the rectangle to be created. This, of course, creates a square by entering equal values for the height and width of the rectangle.

Additional Options: Selecting the "Clear Previous Graphics" option will delete any previously created shapes. the "Select Taxlots Intersecting Your Shape" option will run a routine that will compare the created shape with taxlots, any taxlots intersecting the shape will be selected (see Concepts page). The selected set of taxlots can then be used for making address labels, or other further analysis.

This button will launch a routine to perform a theme-on-theme analysis. This is usually done with a &quothazard" theme such as steep slopes, however any polygon theme can be analyzed in relation to the taxlots. This is useful for determining how much of a taxlot or group of taxlots is covered by flood hazards, or percent covered by different soil types. The output is in tabular format.

First, select the taxlot(s) of interest. Next, launch the hazard analyst and select the theme you would like to analyze from the list presented. If you select one of the commonly analyzed themes such as slopes or soils, the Hazard analyst will choose the appropriate field from the themes attribute table, otherwise you may be asked which field to use in the reporting. Generally this would be a field that describes the hazard - such as &quotFlood_type" if you were analyzing a flood hazard.

Latitude/Longitude Locator. This tool allows the user to "click" anywhere in the PUMA view and find out the Latitude and Longitude of that location. Once the tool is clicked, a dialog appears with the latitude and   longitude information, as well as the UTM Easting and Northing.

Once the dialog is displayed, there are a number of uses available to the user.  The Locate button will place a red dot on the screen at the location of the Latitude and Longitude specified in the boxes. If the location is not in the current extent of the view, the view will be panned to that location. The up and down arrow buttons allow the user to convert the coordinates from one system to the other, in the direction of the arrow. Therefore, if you have a particular latitude/longitude you are looking for, you use the tool to open the dialog, change the latitude and longitude values to the ones you are interested in, and then use the Locate button to graphically see the location, and the down arrow button to see the values of the UTM Easting and Northing .

Notes: Northing and Latitude specify the "Y" coordinate (i.e. North to South) value  of a point, while the Longitude and Easting specify the "X" coordinate (i.e. East to West) value of a point.

  Locate Address.  This button allows you to identify the approximate location of an address or intersection by estimating the position along the road.  While many addresses throughout the county will be accurately located, be aware of the estimating nature of this function.  The estimate is made based on the start and end point of a known address range.  The function will interpolate the location of any address in between the known high and low value for any given range.  It is very possible to come up with an erroneous location.  Always verify an address by examining the situs address for nearby taxlots.

As well as locating addresses, the user has the option of finding streets by intersection.  For example, typing 'fruitdale & drury' in the dialog box will zoom the view to the intersection of Fruitdale Drive and Drury Lane.

View Assessor’s Map. This tool will allow the user to specify a location in the Puma View. The scanned assessor's map of that location is then opened using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. This can be useful for getting property line dimensions and other information included on Assessor's maps that are not available in PUMA. 

Text Spliner. This is a tool for aligning text to a line drawn by the user. This is generally used for road names which need to fit on a curved piece of road. First select the graphic text with the pointer tool - the text will have little black handles on the corners when it is selected. Then select the Text Spliner tool and draw a line for the text to follow. Single-click the mouse to start the line and for each node (i.e. where the line curves), and double-click to end the line. After the line is drawn, the text will be drawn along it. Continue to draw lines until it looks good. Re-activate the pointer tool when you are done.

  Reverse Geocoding Tool. This tool allows the user to click along a road and see the interpolated, or estimated, address.  Works best by turning the road visibility on.  Clicking too far away from the road line will not return a result.