On the Work Orders screen you can define all the details of the work order. Assuming you are familiar with the Work Orders screen, the following only focuses on the linear aspects of this screen. Similar is applicable to any of the other screens and tabs described in this section.
This screen has the following important attributes relating to the linear aspect of the work:
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From Point - Starting point of the work. Must fall between the Equipment Starting Point and the defined equipment length plus the Equipment Starting Point.
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From Point Ref. Description - Free text field. Depending on the selected From Point this may default to a value coming from the linear reference records and is used to help identify the starting point.
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From Point Geographical Ref. - Free text field. Depending on the selected From Point this may default to a value coming from the linear reference records and is used to help identify the starting point.
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To Point - Ending point of the work. Must fall between the Equipment Starting Point and the defined equipment length plus the Equipment Starting Point. It cannot be less than the From Point.
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To Point Ref. Description - Free text field. Depending on the selected To Point this may default to a value coming from the linear reference records and is used to help identify the end point.
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To Point Geographical Ref. - Free text field. Depending on the selected To Point this may default to a value coming from the linear reference records and is used to help identify the end point.
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Inspection Direction - Defaults from the selected equipment but can be changed here as required.
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Flow - Defaults from the selected equipment but can be changed here as required.
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Relationship Type - Use of this field depends on your configuration requirements. One use is to identify the track (left, right or both) if the work order equipment is a rail.
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From Reference Point - Reference to a feature that is defined along the linear equipment. Any feature like a signal, a milepost, the start of a certain type of ties (railway), an overpass (roads), etc., that is defined on the Linear References tab of the equipment, or on any of its parents (Apply to Children must be active) or children (Apply to Route/ROW must be active), can be selected. Once you enter this field the system will also overwrite the From Point with the corresponding value. After entering From Reference Point, you can also specify:
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From Offset - The distance to the From Reference Point. Once you enter this field the system will also apply this distance to the From Point immediately.
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From Offset Percentage - You can also use a percentage to estimate this distance. If a feature is located about halfway between two mileposts and you measure position in feet, then when you enter 50% here, the system will calculate an offset of 50% of the distance between these two mileposts. Normally, if the mileposts are placed perfectly, that would be 50% of 5280 feet is 2640. If you enter 10% this would be 528.
Note that this field is only available if the selected From Reference Point is of Type "Linear Reference System." -
From Offset Direction - Since the offset is always a positive number you still need the ability to specify the location of the feature as it relates to the From Reference Point. Is it 25 feet before or after the milepost? If the linear equipment Direction is north and the From Offset Direction is also north, then the feature is located after the milepost, providing that your look at the world, starts at the beginning. So, if the milepost is located at 5290 feet (not a typo!), 25 feet north would locate the start of the work at 5315 feet. Changes to this field will impact the From Point immediately.
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From Reference - The selected From Reference Point may itself reference a feature. A signal for example may be located 15 feet north of a milepost. If you selected the signal in From Reference Point, then the related milepost will automatically be visible in From Reference. The system will also make sure that the From Ref. Offset and From Ref. Offset Direction, i.e., the distance to the milepost, are automatically adjusted for any offsets entered.
Additional, information only, fields to help identify location are:
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From X Coordinate
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From Y Coordinate
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From Latitude
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From Longitude
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From Relationship Type
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From Horizontal Offset
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From Horizontal Offset UOM
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From Horizontal Offset Type
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From Vertical Offset
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From Vertical Offset UOM
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From Vertical Offset Type
These additional fields are used to help identify the end of the work that function and serve a similar purpose as those fields for the starting point of the work:
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To Reference Point
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To Offset
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To Offset Percentage
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To Offset Direction
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To Reference, To Ref. Offset and To Ref. Offset Direction
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To X Coordinate
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To Y Coordinate
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To Latitude
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To Longitude
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To Relationship Type
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To Horizontal Offset
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To Horizontal Offset UOM
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To Horizontal Offset Type
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To Vertical Offset
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To Vertical Offset UOM
When using the From Reference Point and To Reference Point fields to determine the from and to position of the work, the system does not mind if the From Point is higher than the To Point. You can encounter this scenario if you do an inspection against the direction of the linear equipment. In that case you will hit the higher From Point first, before you hit the lower To Point. To make it easier on the inspector, the system will automatically swap the values on the from side with those on the to side, when you save the work order. Again, only available when using the From Reference Point and To Reference Point fields. If these fields are blank and only From Point and To Point are entered, the system will raise an error.
This feature is also available on the Trace Route and the Linear Location Details popup.
Both the From Reference Point and To Reference Point lookups have the following fields that help determine if a linear reference is located on the equipment.
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Located on Equipment - Will be selected if the linear reference is completely or even partially located on the equipment. Otherwise, this field will be unselected.
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From Point Distance to Equipment - If the From Point is not located on the equipment this value will indicate the distance from the From Point to the beginning (how far in front) or the end (how far behind) of the equipment. If the From Point is located on the equipment this value will be blank.
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To Point Distance to Equipment - Like the From Point Distance to Equipment, but now for the To Point.
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Trace Route Button - Clicking this button will bring up the Trace Route popup. This popup has so many features that it has its own section in this document.