Abstract:
To improve its model development process, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is striving to develop application tools within the TransCAD modeling package. Using GISDK, the TransCAD developer language, a user can create a customized user interface and design menus, toolbars, toolboxes, and dialog boxes. Users can also write applications that prompt for inputs and perform all needed calculations, data processing, and file management in the background. Using GISDK to automate processes eases file management, reduces user error, and increases speed of operation through the automation of routine steps. This paper presents a GISDK tool developed by the NCDOT Model Research and Development Unit for managing highway network data for multiple years or scenarios. The purpose of the tool is to provide a user interface for entering highway attribute data and to provide a data management system for handling multiple model alternatives. The advantage of this approach is that all data can be maintained in one master file. The benefits of such a tool are reduced user error, increased efficiency in managing different model alternatives, elimination of duplicate data reducing the amount of disk space needed for storing model data, and maintaining consistency of model data through standardization of data inputs. A detailed description of the tool for users and programmers is presented, followed by a discussion of limitations and recommendations for future enhancements.
