Route processing can improve the cartographic appearance of a product using rules and conditions to reduce the number of visible routes. Route processing allows you to generalize or offset overlapping features.
Route processing allows you to configure rules to perform the following actions:
- Hide or offset overlapping routes in a product.
- Combine route identifiers in overlapping routes of the same type.
- Calculate fields on a route based on a rule condition.
The Route Processing tool uses groups of settings, known as preferences, to define how it will process overlapping routes. You must configure preferences before running the tool. These settings allow you to rerun the tool without additional input.
Route processing preferences
The Route Processing tool uses set preferences to define the following properties:
- Field Selection—Specifies fields to compare during the initial stage of route processing. Routes with matching field values will be processed using rule sets.
- Route Rules—Defines sets of rules that control the feature hiding and field calculation process.
- Route Hiding—Indicates that overlapping routes will be hidden. Allows you to select multiple fields used to identify overlapping routes.
- Combine Identifiers—Indicates that identifiers will be combined for overlapping routes.
- Route Offsetting—Allows you to offset different overlapping routes by an input distance and unit.
You can create, manage, and store preferences in the Aviation Properties pane. You can also name and switch between set preferences in the Route Processing dialog box. Once configured, preferences are applied to the Route Processing tool and do no need to be configured again.
Route processing rules
Route processing rules are grouped into rule sets that are processed sequentially. Each rule set has a minimum of two rules with the order of rules determining the processing order. If any of the required rules are not met, the next rule set is applied.
A rule has the following structure:
- Selection Query—Defines a rule's selection criteria. Routes that match this criteria may be processed by the rule.
- Required—Stipulates that at least one of the overlapping routes must match the criteria specified in the rule. If no rules match the rule criteria, processing skips to the next rule set.
- Visible—Controls the visibility of any route meeting a rule's criteria.
- Field Calculation—Applies a value to a field if a route matches a rule's selection criteria.
You define rules while creating route processing preferences.
Default rule
You can create route processing preferences by assigning names to them. Each named setting has one default rule. You are not required to create rule sets, but you must have a default rule. The default rule only performs field calculations. Calculations are based on values; domain values; or other fields in ATSRoute, ATSRoute_C, the AirspaceAssociation table, or any other feature class or table with a relationship to ATSRoute. The tool applies the default rule if a route meets no other rule set's criteria.
Route processing dialog box
The Route Processing dialog box allows you to select product instances to apply route processing rules. The Route Processing tool uses an iterative, multistep process to identify routes and check them for conditions defined in rules. Processing runs in the following manner.
Locate overlapping routes within an area that have matching attribute values
At the beginning of processing, the tool selects routes that intersect an instance area of interest (AOI). It then checks each route for matching attribute values defined in the Field Selection preferences. Routes with matching attribute values are flagged for rule set processing.
Rule set processing
The tool checks each route against rules in each rule set. If a route has attribute values that match the selection query defined in a required rule, the tool applies the rule's Field Calculation and IsVisible settings to the route. Rules are applied in order. If a route does not match the conditions defined in a rule, the next rule is checked. If all rules have been checked in a rule set, the tool moves to the next rule set. If a route does not match any rule or rule set conditions, the tool processes the route using the default rule.
Route Hiding
If the Route Hiding setting is checked, the tool finds routes matching attributes set in the Field Selection box. For each group of routes, the tool sets all but one route to not visible.
Combining Identifiers
If the Combine Identifiers setting is checked, the tool combines different identifiers from overlapping routes into a delimited string. It then stores the string in the IdentConcat_txt field of the ATSRoute_C feature class.
Offset different routes
If the Offset Different Routes setting is checked, the tool offsets visible routes with different fields by an offset distance and distance unit. Routes are offset in opposite directions from the original geometry. The tool writes the offset distance to the RouteOffset_Val field in the ATSRoute_C feature class.