Latest Contributions by ChrisDonohue__GISP

Adding some more ESRI enterprise geodatabase folks in case they want to weigh in: Jake Skinner Vince Angelo Asrujit SenGupta Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Question - what data is available to use in dividing up the territories?  Any chance you have point data showing each inspection? Also, let me add in who probably has several ideas on how to solve your original proposal: Dan Patterson EDIT:  Xander Bakker  beat me to it.  I need to learn how to type faster...... Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Just wanted to toss out a couple of ideas, though it may be more elaborate than you want: 1.  Most of the inspections will likely require transiting a street network.  If points could be established at the center of each "territory" (see the idea by Wes Miller  , then if you have access to the Network Analyst Extension, you could run a Location Allocation to refine the territories. ArcGIS Help 10.1 - Network Analyst 2.  In terms of figuring out where to place the "center" of each territory, there may possibly be a way to derive those centers using the Geostatsical Analyst Extension.  However, I'm not super-familair with this extension, so we'd need someone who is to chime in here. ArcGIS Help 10.1 Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Adding a groups which may help glean more responses (I didn't see a tag for them in this post): 911 GIS Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

This is GIS - what could possibly go wrong?  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Robert - do you have other examples of the "before" and "after"?  I ask as in one of the two examples you provided there is still a non-number in the desired result: EF-83N  to 83N What Darren Wiens suggested looks like it will do the trick for some of this, but I suspect there will be a bit more complexity that may require some other Python functions.  If you have a sample set of the start/desired result, that will help in figuring out the exact functions needed.  Essentially, as Darren mentions, you need to come up with the "rules".  Once the "rules" are assembled, the next step will be to come up with the functions that accomplish them. Also, my cast idea didn't pan out. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Conceptually, the first idea that comes to mind would be to cast them to an integer field, which would theoretically drop out all the characters.   I'll have to tinker with that.... Also, I'm fairly sure there is a way to do this in Python, but don't know the specifics.  I'm sure there will be several replies soon here given the high level of Python skill on GeoNet. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Will there be a separate list for the ESRI staff who contribute to GeoNet?  I know they are not eligible for the contest, but do appreciate that they put in the effort to answer our questions Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

I dunno Vince, he could run into trouble with that request if his client is not in the U.S.  The usage of Trilllion in some parts of the world is different; that amount might not fit in their database....  Trillion may refer to: Numbers[edit] Trillion (short scale) (1,000,000,000,000; one million million; 10 12 ; SI prefix: tera-), the current meaning in both American and British English Trillion (long scale) (1,000,000,000,000,000,000; one million million million; 10 18 ; SI prefix: exa-), the former meaning in British English and current usage in some non-English-speaking countries Source:  Trillion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Yeah, that dang Fuzzy Tolerance.  That brings back memories.... Fuzzy tolerance is the minimum distance separating all arc coordinates (nodes and vertices) in a coverage. The fuzzy tolerance unit of measure is the same as that of the input coverages. The default is determined in this order: Tolerance values are read from the existing coverage tolerance (TOL) file. If no tolerance file exists and the width of the coverage's boundary (BND) is between 1 and 100, the tolerance is 0.002. Otherwise, the tolerance is 1/10,000 of the width or height of the coverage's boundary (BND), whichever is greater. ArcGIS Desktop Help 9.2 - How the default fuzzy tolerance is calculated Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Very handy. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

I would also recommend marketing your past experience besides your GIS background, as you mention you had other jobs.  I found my first job in GIS as the firm that hired me, an Environmental Consulting firm, needed someone who knew some GIS but could also pitch in with Hazardous Materials work (my career prior to GIS).  So see if you can find those firms that do some of what you have done in the past and want GIS.  Having this combination can give you an edge. Also, networking is important.  Network with other GIS folks.  They often have leads to jobs and if they know you are looking, can contact you if an opening shows up,  As Darren Wiens alluded to, most non-government job openings never get posted.  In the Hiring world, this is referred to as the "Hidden Job Market."  For better or worse, this is how it works.  When an organization has a need, the hiring process often starts out with the folks in the organization brainstorming "who do you know that we could ask to do this job?".  And then those folks ask their connections.  So don't forget to network. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Some background information that may help you in planning the analysis.  There's a whole area of Urban Planning that revolves around Parking Planning.  There's quite a bit of discussion on how to effectively plan parking to meet demand.  I've worked with Planners who deal with this, and along the way found out the issue is surprising complex. Also, at times, there is quite a bit of disagreement.  For example, free parking is currently a controversial subject in the US urban planning world. Here's some resources (not exhaustive/this just scratches the surface): http://www.vtpi.org/park_man.pdf https://www.planning.org/store/product/?ProductCode=BOOK_A64965 http://www.planetizen.com/tag/parking https://www.planning.org/pas/infopackets/subscribers/pdf/eip24part1.pdf http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab089264.pdf You may also want to see if you organization/locality has specific requirements that need to be met when determining parking, as this may provide context for your analysis.  For example, many municipalities in the US provide mandatory parking ratios for new development.  There are usually specified protocols for determining the ratios.  With those protocols come the rationale, which you then may be able to factor into your analysis. So I guess that brings up a bigger question to ask - the why.  Why is a parking demand analysis being requested?  Look at it from that perspective too - it will aid in the analytical design.  If you have access to subject matter experts (planners), I'd run it past them for insight before diving into the GIS analysis. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more