New Graphic Turn and Intersection Editor

In Release 7 the way the intersection and turn data are stored internally were completely restructured and the network calculator was enhanced to fully support turn calculations. In Release 8 these turn related enhancements are completed by the addition of a new worksheet, which allows easy interactive graphic editing of intersection and turn data. This will provide a much more user friendly alternative to the old way of modifying turn data interactively, where the turn definitions were entered alpha-numerically, using the same format as for batch entry.

The new worksheet provides two distinct modes of operation:

In the network mode, the main plotting area of the worksheet shows a normal network window (similar to what we are used to from modules 2.12 and 2.22) in which the intersection nodes are highlighted in red. In this mode of operation, the user can easily define nodes to become intersections or remove nodes from the intersection table. He can also identify an intersection which he wants to modify or to look at in detail.

At this moment, the worksheet will switch to the intersection mode, in which the selected intersection is displayed in detail. In the left part of the plotting area, the intersection is displayed graphically along with all its turns and neighboring nodes, while on the right part of the screen all turn attributes are listed in an alphanumeric turn attribute table.

When modifying the turns at an intersection, this can of course be done in the traditional manner (i.e. similar to modules 2.12 and 2.22), in which the turns are selected by clicking on the corresponding from- and to-nodes in the intersection plot and then answering a mini-dialog in the left hand margin. But in addition, the new worksheet also supports direct turn attribute modifications: the user simply clicks on the value to be modified in the turn attribute table and then enters the new value directly into the table.

In order to further facilitate the editing of intersection and turn data the worksheet provides several possibilities to adapt the way the information is presented according to the user's needs:

• In intersection mode, a network inset can be displayed in the lower right corner of the screen. This shows a small window of the network surrounding the current intersection node. Besides showing the current intersection in its network context, this inset can also be used to quickly switch to neighboring intersection nodes, without any need to toggle back to network mode first.
• The intersection plot can be rotated arbitrarily, either by specifying the rotation angle numerically or by clicking on the node to rotate to the bottom of the plot. This way, each intersection can be brought into the position which is the most natural for the user to work with (e.g. main approach at the bottom). The rotation angle is kept at an intersection node level, so that it is possible to switch between intersection nodes without loosing the specific rotation angles. A ``north arrow'' indicates the active rotation angle, if any.
• The turns in the turn attribute table can be listed either by increasing from- and to-node numbers (i.e. in standard EMME/2 order) or they can be sorted graphically. In the latter case the position of the turn in the attribute table is defined by the positions of the from- and to-nodes in the intersection plot (including any rotation, if applicable) and does not depend on the node numbering.
• The user can choose between displaying U-turns like ordinary turns or hiding them in both intersection plot and turn attribute table.
• Five different color schemes are available to allow an easy visual distinction of the turns:
  - by from-node (default)
  - by to-node
  - by turn penalty function
  - by turn angle (right, left, straight, U-turn)
  - by a user defined color index attribute
  In order to easily associate a turn in the attribute table with the corresponding turn in the intersection plot and vice versa, the same color used to plot the turn appears as short line between from- and to-node in the attribute table.
• A summary displaying the current usage of the turn table and the number of currently defined intersections is displayed in the command area just above the attribute table.