Project Manager's Update (June 20, 2008)
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 FREP Data Sharing Agreement [pdf 184Kb] Policies and Procedures Regarding Attachments to Checklists Submitted in IMS [pdf 160Kb] |
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FREP IMS Release 3.2 is now live in production
We are pleased to announce that Release 3.2 of FREP IMS is available for use. The following changes have been incorporated:
Stand Level Biodiversity Checklist
- New data quality edit rules have been incorporated, including checks to ensure clear cut and dispersed strata types are documented correctly, and some small changes to the plots page.
- Visuals and Cultural Heritage features are now available in the Reserve Constraints section of the Stratum screen.
- The WTP Override field has a new warning that will display if you enter a value that is less than the RESULTS gross area.
- On the plots screen, a number of invalid tree and decay classes have been removed from your drop down lists.
Riparian Checklist
- Wording has been modified to reflect multiple wording changes in the Riparian field cards, mostly on the Questions page.
- Two new continuous indicators have been added to the Field Data screen, to match the field cards.
- The Other Indicators to Note screen has been disabled, so you won't see it this release. That's because a new expanded version of this page has been designed and is being tested in the field this year. Once it stabilizes, this field card will again be incorporated into the application.
- On the Questions screen, NA options have been added to questions 7 and 8.
Attachments
- To better meet the business requirement for photo and map attachments, we have raised the number of attachments that can be added from 5 to 10; however, to ensure that we don't tax database space, we have lowered the size limit from 4 MB to 1 MB. For assistance, please see Tips on Sizing Attachments in the Help file.
Navigation/Ease of Use
- We are testing out a new warning that stops you from leaving a screen if you have not saved your data. This has been implemented in the Plots page of the Stand Level checklist and the Questions page of the Riparian checklist. If you like this feature, we will implement it on more screens.
- We now indicate for you on both the Stratum and Plots screens of the Stand Level Biodiversity checklist the number of plots you have completed.
- The HELP link, at the top right of the application, has been made larger so that people will find the help file more easily.
Reports
- While there are no new reports (that's a focus of the next release in September 08), we have modified the data dumps so that they sort a little more logically -- by district and then by opening
- We have also added Target and Rationale information to both the Riparian and Stand Level data extractions so that you can focus on targeted sites, as required.
District Random List
- We have added the ability for you to filter the list by harvest completion date: 0-2 years and 2+ years.
- We have also modified the list so that it remains static; we call this historical data capture. This means that the list of openings and the data that you see today will remain the same over time, even though opening numbers, gross areas, licence numbers may change in RESULTS and FTA. However, when a change does occur, you will see an asterisk beside the Opening or Licence that has changed and you can use the link provided to those applications to find out exactly what happened.
Master List Generation
- Your yearly master list can now be generated directly from within the application. This is a new feature that is available from the Administration tab of the application. Only the System Administrator can use this feature. Generation of the list will be done at Branch at the appropriate time in the business cycle. Currently users with View/Update access only will not be able to see the Generate Master List screen; however, in the Fall release, you will be given view access so that you can see when the list was created and the criteria that were used.
What's Next?
- Release 4.0 due September 30, 2008. This release will introduce the Water Quality checklist, a new Quality Assurance function, some new reports, and as many of your requests for enhancements as we can get in.
- Release 5, due May 25, 2009. Planning for this release begins in earnest after the September release, however, we project that enhancements to the existing checklists will be incorporated, and if new checklists are ready we will do our best to get them into this Spring release.
Want to help?
Please send any suggestions for improvement to Sue Elo. If you're interested in helping to plan for the next releases, or to test, you're welcome to join the FREP IMS Working Group. The working group meets roughly every 6 weeks, and spends 1-2 days testing twice per year.
Frank Barber
Project Manager FREP IMS
- Project Manager's Update - March 4th, 2008 [pdf 141Kb]
- Project Manager's Update - November 13th, 2007 [pdf 124Kb]
- Project Manager's Update - September 17th, 2007 [pdf 106Kb]
- Project Manager's Update - May 4th, 2007 [pdf 168Kb]
- Project Manager's Update - February 19th, 2007 [pdf 198Kb]
- Project Manager's Update - December 14th, 2006 [pdf 47Kb]
The purpose of the Forests and Range Evaluation Program (FREP) is to determine if forest and range practices, policies and legislation in British Columbia are achieving government's objectives for FRPA resource values, with a priority on environmental parameters and consideration for social and economic parameters where appropriate.
To help realize this, the FREP Information Management System Working Group was formed to provide guidance toward development and implementation of a province-wide information management system that will be used by a wide variety of stakeholders. The Working Group is committed to producing a user-friendly, quality-assured product through a participatory process involving the districts, regions and headquarters staff.
Summary of Key Milestones- April 2006: General Business Requirements Gathering complete
- May 2006: Developer selected (CGI)
- June to October 2006: Requirements confirmation and development
- November 16, 2006: ELAN Data Makers begin entering field data on a separate database
- November 27-December 6, 2006: User Acceptance Testing Round 1
- January - February, 2007: Corrections made by developer, final testing, migration activities
- February 19, 2007: Release 1 live in Production
- May 4, 2007: FREP Release 2 live in Production
- May through September: Training on Release 2; District/Branch data input
- September 25, 2007: First field season review session held in Victoria
- October 2007: User Acceptance and Quality Assurance testing for Release 3
- November 9, 2007: Release 3 live in Production