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Building Blocks of Optioneer
Option
The base building block of Optioneer. It is an individual result of Optioneer engine run that carries all route parameters and metrics as well as any relevant metadata.
Case
An umbrella encompassing a unique system configuration (e.g. diameter of a pipe or type of a cable), points and lines (i.e. the As Bs and Cs you want to connect) and GIS data (e.g. zones you want to either avoid or route through in a particular way).
A case would be sent to Optioneer engine which outputs options and corridors (also referred to as heatmaps) that can be analyzed and used by you.
Project
Workspace that agglomerates cases and their results (options and corridors) for a specified location and for defined group of users. All users have access to the same information in the project in real time.
A workspace would store all your GIS Data, Points, Lines, Corridors and a library of System Configurations
Data, numbers, parameters
GIS Data
Basemaps, elevation maps, GIS Layers and all the bells and whistles that one can thing of when one thinks of geographic information. In context of Optioneering, GIS data includes information on environmental, political, physical constraints, existing linear features, geohazards etc.
Points, Lines and Zones
Something we refer to as GIS Objects. Not to be confused with Options or GIS Layers.
Those are mere geometric shapes on the map without much metadata attached to them. Still, they are crucial in defining Cases and making Optioneer produce Options for you.
System Configuration
All the engineering parameters editable by the user. They come together with GIS Data and GIS Objects to generate the results of Optioneering work - options.
A System Configuration encompasses everything from high level definition of System type (e.g. onshore cable or wastewater pipeline) to specific Design Rules (e.g. required minimum radius of curvature or methods for linear feature crossings) to basic constants like unit costs or engineering parameters.
Design Rule
Perhaps the most important building block of Optioneer.
A design rule defines how the system is designed, what is possible to be built, how that thing looks like or how the system reacts to geospatial factors.
When you think of a design rule you can think of complex mathematical formulas and functions that take in Parameters, Constants and GIS Information and use the power of Optioneer engine to produce options that users can analyse and refine.
Parameter
Most commonly associated with Design Rules. They are the individual values that define e.g. min/max depth of cover or penalties for routing through constraints.
Optioneer UI
Page
Pages are something that guides the user journey. We have 7 of them (listed just below) and each of them should simplify the immense complexity that goes into successfully producing design options for linear infrastructure projects.
They range from simple user management and settings, through complex libraries of GIS data to informative charts and legends that help you analyze what you see on the map.
User Home
A rather boring place. You can see the projects you are a member of, adjust your personal information and settings. There will be an admin console for Project Leads coming soon - so that’s perhaps exciting.
Project Home
A place where you can view and manage all your recently worked on Cases and Options as well as see any information related to a Project, its members or the area which it covers.
You can quickly navigate to other parts of the UI from here, whether that is to analyze a particular option or to setup a new case.
Model
This page allows you to define, adjust and save all the assumptions that go into informing the Optioneer engine and generating/evaluating options.
You can see what all configurations have been tried, re-use them or define new ones as you see fit.
Data
This page allows you to manage and view GIS Data, define new GIS Objects (points, lines and zones) and upload data files.
Setup
Here you can combine anything that you have defined in the System and Data page to generate new options.
The Setup page guides you through the process of matching your Start and Endpoints (and Waypoints if needed) with the System Configuration. You can add any description or tags so you can better understand what your objectives were at the point of submitting a case to the Optioneer engine.
There are two main types of cases that Optioneer engine can solve for you:
Option generation - requires route points and a system config, will return multiple options and a heatmap of the solution space which allows to spot potential corridors. This process can take a few hours.
Option evaluation - requires a line and a system configs, will return a single option and evaluate its parameters. This process can take as little as a few minutes.
Analysis
Page in Optioneer app which contains two workflows for analysis of options generated and/or evaluated by Optioneer engine. It has two main workflows: Option Comparison and Option Analysis.
Option Comparison allows to compare multiple options at once, looking at high-level metrics of each. Option Analysis allows to drill into an individual option in more detail and see all of the data produced by Optioneer engine.
Export
Self-explanatory and rather simplistic for now. You can export the options you have set up and analyzed from here. All data that is available in Optioneer can be exported in a variety of formats, ranging from raw data, to common GIS formats, pre-formatted Excel sheets and more software-specific formats.
Case and Option Library
Place where you can see all options generated by Optioneer engine in a tabulated format. Makes it easier to quickly spot best options and filter what you want to see on the map. Can be launched from Project Home or Analysis page.
Object Library
Found in Data and Setup pages, in the bottom right corner. Object library is a table where you can see all the things you have personally drawn on the map or imported. Those would be your points (startpoints, endpoints, waypoints), lines or zones
Vertical Profile Chart
Found in Analysis page, in 'Option Analysis' view - allows to view long section chart which plots all of options' data along the chainage. It can only visualise one option at the time.
Spider/Radar Chart
Found in Analysis page, in 'Option Comparison' view - allows to compare multiple options quickly by plotting a variety of metrics in a single chart. Data can be tabulated in a table blow the chart.