PNTS Shapefile Creation

This page covers two techniques that can be used to generate notification area shapefiles for upload into the PNTS system.

PNTS Shp Web App

1. Accessing PNTS Shp Web App

The PNTS Shp Web App can be accessed HERE and will appear similar to the image below

As the application evolves and more data is added some minor changes may be present

2. Optional: Filtering Out Previously Created Notification Areas

Due this web app holding data for all notification areas as they are submitted, it may be beneficial to filter out existing data prior to creating a new area.

1. Access the filter widget shown below.

2. Make sure to enable the filter for "Date of Creation".

3. By default it will be set to "today" (This will only show notification areas that were created today, which may remove all notification areas from the map)

4. Now with excess notification areas cleared, you can being to create the notification area you need without inference from existing data.

3. Creating New Notification Area Polygon

Prior to Creating a new notification area, you can zoom in to the location of interest to see address points. As you zoom in further, a label displaying the address will appear for each point location.

1. Open the Edit widget (This will open the editing window and will allow you to add features to the map)

2. Select the feature in the widow that represents the division you are apart of

3. Once selected, you can begin drawing the polygon for the notification area on the map

4. Drawing Feature and Populating Attributes

Using the web app makes it easy to create simple notification areas that do not cover extensive areas. If the polygon you are creating requires additional editing tools, refer to the other tab on this page that utilizes ArcPro for this step. 1. After selecting your division from the editing window, each click on the map will add a new vertex to the polygon you are creating. 2. Once you have finished creating your notification area by double clicking, the attributes window will appear. This is where you will enter all attributes associated with the notification area. 3. After all attributes have been input, click the "Close" button at the bottom of the attribute window. If you are not satisfied with the polygon you have create you can select "Delete" and recreate the polygon.

5. Optional: Editing Vertices of Notification Area

If you are unsatisfied with the creation of your polygon and need to make some minor changes to the vertices, the steps below can help.

1. While still have editing enabled you can single click on the polygon you created. This will open the attributes window and allow you to free transform the polygon (this may be helpful in some cases but can quickly get messy). You can also close the attributes window if you will only be making geometry changes.

2. More highly recommended would be to click the polygon twice to allow for individual vertex creation and editing.

Left: Free Transform editing Right: Individual Vertex editing and creation

The editing window also offers a couple helpful tools you may want to experiment with. Most helpful though are the "Undo" and "Redo" buttons.

6. Exporting Notification Area to Shapefile

Now that the notification area has been created it can be exported out of the web app as a zipped shapefile. This will allow you to directly import into the PNTS GeoLoader application.

1. Open the Screening widget and click the select drawing mode shown below. This will allow you to select the polygon you just created.

2. Once your polygon is selected, the options in the screening widget window will change and your polygon will appear as light blue. At this point you will want to click the "Report" button.

3. After selecting the "Report" button the window will change again and allow you to export the polygon you created as a CSV, FGDB, or a Shapefile. As shown below click the download button, then when prompted to select the format choose "Shapefile". Then click the "Download" button. This will download the polygon you created/selected and download it as a zip file saved to your downloads.

7. Using Zipped Shapefile in PNTS Geoloader

When downloading the Shapefile make sure to save the download to your computer rather that opening it. Saving it will make it easier to access the zip file and upload to the PNTS Geoloader.

Now that the zip file has been saved and is accessible in the downloads section of your browser (Firefox is used in this example), you can open the PNTS GeoLoader and directly drag and drop the zipped shapefile to section 2 of the form .

PNTS Shp Web App + ArcPro (for more complex notification areas)

1. Accessing PNTS ArcPro Document

If you have found that the PNTS Shp Web App doesn't provide the full editing functionality you need or you prefer to work out of ArcPro, you can follow the path below to access the same map and data through ArcPro: G:\ATD\ACTIVE TRANS\GIS\Base Maps\PNTS_NotificationAreaCreation_ArcPro\PNTS_NotificationAreaCreation_ArcPro.aprx

*You may need to use your AGOL login credentials to access the data in ArcPro. Since all maps and data are shared to the organization your log in should provide full access

2. Creating Notification Areas

All editing and feature creation from this point will be handled using the full functionality of ArcPro. If you are not familiar with editing or creating features this is a good opportunity to learn. Creating Features 1. Click the "Edit" tab to open editing toolbar 2. To create feature click on the "Create" button, this will open the panel shown on the right 3. Select the division for which you will be creating the notification area 4. Once the Notification Area division is selected you can begin creating your notification area polygon

3. Modifying Notification Area Polygons

Once you have created a feature you may want to make adjustments. The steps below highlight how to go about modifying an existing feature.

Modifying Features 1. Click the "Edit" tab to open editing toolbar 2. To modify feature click on the "Modify" button, this will open the panel shown on the right 3. Choose the appropriate modifying tool and select the feature to begin making modifications

4. Saving Created or Modified Notification Areas

1. Once a creation or modification has been made, make sure to save your edits. Your edits will be displayed, but will not be fully captured until you click the "Save" button shown below.

5. Exporting to Shapefile

Even with editing and feature creation done in ArcPro, it is still easiest to use the PNTS Shp Web App to complete the export process. If you are comfortable going through this process in ArcPro that is fine, but it will be easier to follow steps 6 and 7 in the PNTS Shp Web App documentation.

1. Open the PNTS Shp Web App in a new window or tab
2. Follow steps 6 and 7 in the PNTS Shp Web App documentation in the other tab on this page