GeoWorlds -- Incident Manager

GeoWorlds Project, Distributed Scalable Systems Division
University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute

The GeoWorlds Client is used to register incidents with the system. An incident has a type and location that are used by the Map Manager to place a star on the map at the point associated with the location of the incident.

Users have the option to either work locally or login to the GeoWorlds server and share their incident and information space information. Once you are logged in or working standalone, the functionality remains the same and you can use the same help questions to address issues on both modes of operation.

Following is the list of the most important questions asked when using the GeoWorlds Incident Manager.

How can I login to the GeoWorlds server?
How can I create an incident?
How can I delete an incident?
How can I update the information of an incident?
How can I logout from the server?
How can I enter the geo-location information associated with an incident?

How can I login to the GeoWorlds server?

The GeoWorlds server can be used as a repository of shareable information spaces. Users can create and edit information spaces and save them to the server, so that other users can also access the information.

First, click on the login button ( ) located on the GeoWorlds toolbar. The login window will popup with the information about the default GeoWorlds server. Change as needed and click on the ok button. From now on, your GeoWorlds Client can access all information spaces saved on the server.

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Whenever you are logged in, the login button is grayed out to prevent you from login again. In this case, the logout ( ) button is made accessible to let you logout from the server. Note that the logout button is always grayed out if you are not logged in to a server.

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How can I create an incident?

Incidents are created by selecting the new incident button ( ) located on the GeoWorlds toolbar. This creates a new incident with default incident information. Click on the incident properties button ( ) to edit the incident information.

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You can also open a previously created incident by clicking on the open incident button ( ) located on the GeoWorlds toolbar. This will popup a window with a list of all currently available incidents. If you are not logged in the GeoWorlds server, then the list shows only local incidents previously created. However, if you are logged in the server, then the list will show all incidents created and saved on the server. Select the incident you want to work on and click the ok button..

NOTE: The "Load Map Layers" question that appears in the movie refers to whether or not the user wants to load the previously saved map layers or want to start from scratch.

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How can I delete an incident?

Click on the delete incident button ( ) located on the GeoWorlds toolbar. The delete incident window pops up with a list of incidents that can be deleted. Click on the incident to be deleted and then select the ok button.

Note that you cannot delete the incident you are currently working on (the ok button grays out when you select the current incident)..

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How can I update the information of an incident?

In order to update the information you have added to the incident you are working with, you need to save the current state of the incident. This can be done by clicking on the save incident button ( ) located on the GeoWorlds toolbar.

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How can I logout from the server?

Users can loggout from the server any time during program execution. Just click on the logout button ( ) located on the GeoWorlds toolbar. The user is prompted to save (or ignore) changes to the current incident whenever these modifications haven't yet being saved.

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How can I enter the geo-location information associated with an incident?

The geo-location as its name implies, contains geographic information about the location of the incident the user is working on. Click on the incident properties button ( ) to edit information about the currently opened incident. Then select the geo-locate button on this window. The geo-locate window pops up with several fields that can be used to locate the incident on a map.

Name:	String used to label the incident location on the map.
Approx. Location:	Used to offset the incident location from the exact location information.
Exact Location:	The exact location information is used to search for the geo-location of the incident against the locations available on the GeoWorlds gazetteer.
Country:	Country in which the incident took place.
State/Province	State in which the incident took place.
City:	City in which the incident took place.
Query Gazetteer:	As an option, users can query the gazetteer to obtain information about all states and cities associated with the given country name.
Address:	Users can also enter specific address information about the location of the incident. This is used to pin-point the location on the map, as opposed to limit it to city or state information only.
Exact query:	Uses the exact information to query the gazetteer.
Approximate query:	Uses the exact information to get the location of the incident. Then uses the approximate location information to offset the incident location from the exact location previously determined.

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