Clarification on Dual Fuel Approach in ArcGIS Maritime

[AhmedTarekAlhusainy]

Dear ArcGIS Community,

After attending several webinars related to adapting and building Nautical Information Systems (NIS), I encountered some confusion regarding the “Dual Fuel Approach.”

As I understand it, the dual fuel approach aims to facilitate both the import (loading) and export of both S-57 and S-100 data from the same database. However, I encountered challenges in implementing this approach.

Here are the steps I followed:

1. Database Creation:

   • I created a database based on the ENC (Electronic Navigational Chart) Product Schema, which was installed from the product file.

2. Importing S-57 Data:

   • I successfully imported S-57 data into the database.

3. Conversion to S-101 Cells:

   • I converted the S-57 data to S-101 cells.

4. Creating a New Database with S-100 Schema:

   • I created a new database using the S-100 schema, also installed from the product file.

5. Importing S-100 Feature Catalog:

   • I imported the S-100 feature catalog into the new database.

Despite these steps, I faced an issue: I couldn’t export both S-57 and S-100 data. I understand that the schemas of both databases are now different, but my main question is how to adapt the dual nature of data within the same database.

Additionally, I came across a file named “DualFuelS57ProductDefinitions.xml” in the S-101 folder of the installation product files. Could you please clarify its purpose and usage?

[Tobias-Venable]

The file "DualFuelS57ProductDefinitions.xml" you mentioned can be imported into your S-101 geodatabase to provide the S-57 product management alongside the existing S-101 products. Once you've defined your S-57 product using these new tables (following a similar process as defining products in the S-57 data model), you can launch the Export Geodatabase to S-57 geoprocessing tool and point it to your S-101 geodatabase.

Note that this dual fuel capability was introduced at Pro 3.3 and is still evolving as the S-101 standard continues to evolve. Much of the mapping from the S-101 schema back to S-57 is configurable and that configuration is not fully complete at Pro 3.3.

[AhmedTarekAlhusainy]

Dear Tobias,

I trust this email finds you in good health. I wanted to express my gratitude for your swift response. As we currently rely on S57, I thought it would be beneficial to explore the dual natural behavior approach. But I got you regarding incompletion of S101 mapping configuration of even standards.

Given my relative newness to this domain, Could you kindly guide me on how to stay informed about mapping configurations and the progress toward completing S101?

Best regards,

Ahmed 

[AhmedTarekAlhusainy]

Hello Tobias,

Are you suggesting that I use the file ‘DualFuelS57ProductDefinitions.xml’ within the S101 Geodatabase (GDB)? I don't get the benefit from it ?

Specifically:

1. Define a product in the S57 Nautical Information System (NIS).
2. Export it to the S57 GDB, resulting in an S57 file.
3. Convert this S57 file to S101, linking the created product to the S101 NIS.

However, this interpretation doesn’t align with my understanding of the ability to export both ENC (S57 Product) and S101 Product from the same NIS."

BR 

Ahmed

[Tobias-Venable]

Ahmed,

Once you import the DualFuelS57ProductDefinitions.xml into your S-101 geodatabase, the tables will be present to manage S-57 products (the database already manages and can export S-101 cells). If you define an S-57 product following the link I mentioned above (but using the S57ProductDefinitions and S57ProductCoverage tables instead), you will be able to "Export Geodatabase to S-57" using that geodatabase.

When the tool runs, it will extract the features (which are S-101 based) and produce an S-57 cell. Much of the simple mapping between S-101 and S-57 is present in the configuration today.

To stay current on the development of this capability, we have a Github user community to help collaborate and share findings on anything S-100 related to the Maritime product here. Discussions include this dual-fuel capability as well as the S-57 to S-101 converter.