Frequently Asked Questions
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Upgrading to Version 2
How can I upgrade to the latest version of the HERE Client?
To upgrade to the latest version, simply download the HERE Client by clicking the Download link and install using the installation instructions. There is no need to uninstall Version 1 of the HERE Client before you install Version 2, as both clients can remain on the same machine at once. However, Version 2 is backwards-compatible with all versions of the HERE flow, so once you are satisfied that it is meeting your needs, there is no need to keep Version 1 of the HERE Client on your machine. Version 1 can be uninstalled from Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
What are the advantages to upgrading to Version 2?
The latest version of the HERE Client includes many new features, including detail for tanks facilities, more mapping options, improved search capabilities, and a streamlined data request process. In addition, as States upgrade to the latest version of the HERE flow, the latest HERE Client v2 will be required to continue receiving data updates. Note: Some features, including details for tanks facilities, will not be available until States have upgraded to using the latest version of the HERE flow. Please see I just downloaded data and I'm not seeing all the detail I expected to see in the HERE Client, why is this? for more detail.
Background
What is the HERE Network?
The HERE Network was created by a group of environmental agencies to make the relevant and valuable data they manage readily available to emergency responders. The participating agencies agreed to publish data useful to emergency planners and responders via their secure Exchange Network Nodes (internet-based servers that use web services to share data with authorized users). The HERE Network relies on an intuitive yet powerful data retrieval tool to gather and display this information in a format that can easily be queried or analyzed by the emergency responders. The latest data is rapidly and continuously delivered to emergency personnel, so they can most effectively plan for and respond to situations that threaten public safety or the environment.
What makes the HERE Network unique?
The HERE Network has been developed at a revolutionary time due to recent advances in internet technologies such as web services and XML and is founded on the new nationally-standardized data exchange infrastructure (the Exchange Network). By employing these advances the HERE Network provides capabilities that have previously been unavailable to emergency responders. Most notably, the Network ensures that emergency responders have the latest data available to them; it allows that data to be stored on a disconnected PC; and it automatically gathers and combines data that originates from multiple organizations.
With access to the HERE Network, Emergency Operations Centers and emergency management officials as well as first responders will be able to access critical data when and where they need it, even if the emergency situation straddles jurisdictional boundaries and even if there is a network (or internet) blackout. The HERE Network solves many of the data availability and access issues that have been highlighted in recent high profile emergency situations.
What is the history of the HERE Network?
The HERE Network was initially developed and implemented by agencies in the four states of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri in 2007. Other states are planning on joining the Network in the coming months. For more details please refer to the Project Success Story document on the Exchange Network website and the Network Status page of this site for details of the current level of participation in the Network.
Installation and Authorization
Can anyone use the HERE Client?
No. Although anyone can download and install the HERE Client, only authorized users will be able to download and access the HERE data. Much of this data is sensitive and not available to the general public, and it is being provided for the sole use of emergency response officials.
What is a NAAS Account?
A NAAS account typically consists of a username and password, and is the standard mechanism for authenticating users requesting access to data flows (such as the HERE flow) over the Exchange Network. It is centrally-managed by US EPA, but your NAAS account is created and maintained by your node administrator. Please click here for more detail.
How do I get access to the data? Who do I contact?
During installation you will be asked what your area of interest is (i.e., which states’ data you want). Based on this, the Client will provide you with request text and e-mail addresses of the HERE Administrators for each area of interest you select. Once you have e-mailed them, the HERE Administrator will determine whether you should be allowed access to the data and will respond accordingly. This process may take a day or so to perform.
Why is my NAAS password not accepted?
If you have a valid NAAS account, then one common issue may be that you are entering the user name or password in the wrong case. NAAS user names and passwords are case sensitive, so make sure you enter it exactly as it was provided to you.
I just installed the Client, but why is my PC running so slowly?
When the Client is first installed, it needs to download and collate a large quantity of raw data from one or more data providers. The process typically takes between 30 minutes and 2 hours depending upon the number of data sources chosen. For this reason, it is recommended that you schedule the HERE Client data refresh process to occur at a time when you will have minimal demands on your system's resources. Before any update process begins, you will be prompted with a dialog box asking if you want to run the import now, run after a specified amount of time, or postpone until the next scheduled refresh. If you don't click anything, the Client will default to running the import process within 30 seconds of displaying the dialog box. If you requested that the Client perform the import process and now wish to postpone this process, you can do so by by right clicking on the HERE icon in the icon tray in the bottom right of your desktop, and selecting Postpone Task).
I'm getting an error message of "Could not access database to locate current user" or "Error while updating: CREATE FILE encountered operating system error 5."
This indicates that the SQL Server Express service was installed and configured to run under an account other than the Local System Account. Please review the HERE Client Installation Guide under the "HERE Client Will Not Start" section of the "Troubleshooting Guide" for complete instructions on how to address this issue.
I'm getting an error when installing SQL Server Express, "Product: MSXML 6 Service Pack 2 (KB954459) -- Configuration failed."
There is a compatibility issue with the latest version fo MSXML 6 Service Pack 2 and SQL Server Management Studio. This issue can be avoided by downloading another version of SQL Server Express that contains only the database engine, available here. This is the version included with the default installation of the HERE Client. Alternatively, there are instructions in the installation guide on how to resolve this particular error when installing with SQL Server Management Studio.
I have SQL Server Express 2008. Is the HERE Client compatible with this?
The HERE Client is fully compatible with SQL Server Express 2008. The default setup process will download SQL Server Express 2005 if no instance of SQL Server Express is found running on the machine, but the Client will work equally well under 2008.
Will the HERE Client run under Microsoft Vista?
The HERE Client will run under Microsoft Vista. Because the Client requires running under administrative privileges, you will need to right-click on the HERE Client icon and select "Run as Administrator" in order to load the HERE Client.
I'm a Node Administrator and my username and/or password has changed. Does anything need to be updated in the HERE Node Admin as well?
Yes, if your NAAS username and password were used as the credentials for the Node Admin itself, then they will need to be updated in the Node Admin Deployment.config file. This is stored in the Config directory of the Node Admin root directory. Please refer to your Node Implementation Guide for more details.
How can I change the database connection information for the HERE Client?
The database connection string is defined in the SmartClient.exe.config file, which should be in the "C:\Program Files\Windsor\HERE Client 2" directory by default. This file can be edited with any text editor. You can either edit an existing database connection string or create a new one. The application only uses the named connection string defined under dataConfiguration defaultDatabase="[named database connection]".
I just downloaded data and I'm not seeing all the detail I expected to see in the HERE Client, why is this?
If after fully-synchronizing with a data provider you are still missing some expected data, it may be because that provider has not yet upgraded to Version 2 of the HERE Flow. The following data is available only to providers who have upgraded to HERE Flow v2: - Tanks detail
- Chemical mixture information
- Alternate names for facilities
- Fire districts for chemical facilities
- Site hyperlinks for certain facilities
Another reason may be that your account has not been granted access to this data from the data provider. Please contact your node administrator for more information.
Common Functions
How does one search for sites that store a specific chemical?
From the Dashboard, click New Search. On the Search window click the Selected Chemicals panel’s Edit button. Now enter part of the name of the chemical in the Search for: field. As you type the list of matched chemicals will automatically change to those that contain the text you typed. Select one or more from the list of chemicals displayed and click Add to add those to the search list. You can search and add additional chemicals if you wish, and once complete click OK to return to the Search window. You can now click Execute Search to locate sites that contain any one of the chemicals you selected.
For an example of this process, and additional options please see the Searching tutorial.
How do I find sites near a specific incident?
On the Search window check the Spatial Criteria box, then enter the coordinates if known, or click Lookup and find the location on the Google map that appears in your browser; double click the point on the map that you want, and then cut and paste the coordinates displayed below the map into the HERE Client coordinate search fields. Once the coordinates are entered, specify the radius of interest, and any other criteria and then click Execute Search. Note: if entering the coordinates they must be decimal values, and not hours, minutes, and seconds.
How the Application works
When/how do updates occur?
Data is updated over the internet by connecting to each of the Nodes that provide data updates (typically one Node per State). Data is updated automatically based on the frequency defined in the Data Download task. The default is daily, and occurs at the same time each day as was determined when the Client was first installed. This can easily be changed by Clicking on the Data Download task from the Client Dashboard.
To see how this is achieved please refer to the Updating Data tutorial.
My data is not updating, why is that?
The most likely reason is either that the computer is not connected to the internet when it tries to connect (e.g., it is turned off), or that the Client is not running during that time. Please make sure that the Client is running and the computer is turned on at the time specified in the Data Download task; or change this time to occur when the computer is typically turned on and connected to the internet. Another potential reason your Client is not updating is because you are behind a proxy. Please refer to the installation guide for detailed instructions on how to configure the HERE Client to work in a proxy environment.
If I go to shut down my machine, the Client warns that it is updating, what happens if I shut down anyway?
The Client is able to quit its data processing at any time, and restart when it is next started. So there is no issue to rebooting your machine, but please make sure the Client is running again when the PC restarts.
Mapping Sites - General
NOTE: Most of the common mapping questions are answered by the Mapping tutorial so please view this first.
What mapping tool can I use?
The HERE Client does not restrict the mapping tool you use, but it provides spatial data in two common forms - KML and GML. KML is used to interactively map data from within the Client. A number of desktop mapping applications support KML such as NASA WorldWind, Google Earth, and ESRI's ArcExplorer, and the ability of each of these applications to interact seamlessly with KML is improving rapidly. Many users seem to use Google Earth, as at the time of writing it is able to handle KML files with minimal manual intervention. Please note that these tools may have licensing requirements and may not be free to use - please refer to their published terms and conditions of use. As of Version 2.0, the HERE Client also includes a built-in map viewer, which can be selected under the Edit...Preferences menu option on the Map tab.
How can I make another application the default handler of a mapping file extension (e.g., "KMZ")?
The automatic handling of a file extension is controlled by Windows Explorer. To change this, open an Explorer window (any one will do) and select Tools...Folder Options. Click the File Types tab, then scroll down to the file extension (e.g., "KMZ"). Select this and click the Change button. A pop-up window will appear. The application you want will probably already be shown in the list below, in which case you should select this and click OK. If not, you can find it by selecting the Browse button and finding the application.
Why are multiple copies of Sites appearing on the Map?
There are a couple of common reasons this might occur. It may simply be due to some duplication in the source data that you are receiving from the providing data suppliers. Some of the datasets being provided have not been fully reconciled by that agency and so you may see duplicate sites although each site references a different environmental interest. The other common reason this can occur is because each time you map to Google Earth it creates a new Sites folder of the mapped sites and by default displays these sites along with all previously mapped sites; the same sites could be in both results sets. To avoid this you should delete each of the previous Sites results sets from the Temporary Places folder in Google Earth. Also, when you close Google Earth, it will ask if you want to save the Sites that you just mapped, and you should answer No to avoid them being duplicated with the next set of Sites you map.
Mapping Sites - Google Earth
How can I zoom into the results of my query using Google Earth?
You can zoom in to view all of the sites that resulted from your query by double clicking on the Sites folder that is displayed in the Places window. This folder is located under the Temporary Places folder.
How can I see the details of a site plotted in Google Earth?
To view site details, select the placemark on the map. A pop-up window will be displayed with the name of the facility and a hyperlink labeled Show Details. Click Show Details. The site details will be displayed in a new window in Google Earth as well as in the HERE Client itself.
How can I turn off the legend?
In the Places panel (on the left side of Google Earth by default), uncheck each of the Temporary Places > Sites > Legend boxes.
How can I change icons in the legend?
In the HERE Client, on the menu click Tools > Icon Chooser. Right click on any icon you wish to change, and then select a new icon from the list presented.
Mapping Sites - Built-in Map Viewer
How do I pan and zoom in the built-in map viewer?
To pan around the built-in map viewer, right-click and drag. To zoom in or out, use the mouse scroll wheel or select a zoom level from the slider bar on the upper right-hand corner. You can also zoom into a particular site by selecting it in the list of markers in the right-hand panel.
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