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A Custom Image Management Application

A Custom Image Management Application. The NCPN Photo Database:. 2008 GIS and Data Management Conference. Russ DenBleyker IT Specialist, NCPN russ_denbleyker@nps.gov. Helen Thomas Data Manager, NCPN helen_thomas@nps.gov. About the NCPN Photo Database

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A Custom Image Management Application

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  1. A Custom Image Management Application The NCPN Photo Database: 2008 GIS and Data Management Conference Russ DenBleyker IT Specialist, NCPN russ_denbleyker@nps.gov Helen Thomas Data Manager, NCPN helen_thomas@nps.gov

  2. About the NCPN Photo Database • Custom-developed application for organizing, storing, naming, and retrieving digital images • Usage/scope: • Data Photos, Geospatial - Used for resource analysis and tied to a specific location: • Inventory and monitoring project photos (e.g., vegetation mapping plot photos) • Voucher photos • Pretty Pix - Used in NCPN reports, briefs, and other publications (e.g., scenery, wildlife, people)

  3. Why a Custom Solution? • Initially developed in 2003 to replace a commercial photo management solution • Key requirement was tight integration with project databases, e.g., easily import photo data from project databases • Such integration was lacking in commercial solutions • A custom solution allowed us to achieve such integration, and provided other advantages: • Ability to leverage familiar Access tools (e.g., queries, find/filter) • Ubiquity of Access allows for easier distribution of photos • Greater flexibility

  4. tblPhotoMain tblKeywords ∞ 1 Technical Details • Microsoft Access 2002/Visual Basic (VB) • Frontend-backend structure • Separate backend files for different photo collections, e.g.: • General NCPN photos • Vegetation mapping photos • Upland monitoring photos • Common frontend (interface) • Simple data model • Photo attribute table (tblPhotoMain) • Keyword table (tblKeywords) • Several lookup tables (e.g., projects, species, contacts)

  5. Technical Details: Selected Photo Attributes

  6. Technical Details: Folder Structure/File Naming • Photo files stored in file system, not in the database • Image Category assigned to each photo determines its folder location, e.g.: • Climate, habitat, invasive plants, inventory, monitoring, scenic, upland, veg mapping, voucher • Photo file name generated by concatenating Image Category, Park Code, and Record ID (unique, system-generated ID), e.g.: • Voucher photo taken in Arches NP might be named “vou_ARCH_25783.jpg” and stored in “Voucher” folder • Tools for generating photo file names and renaming files • Individual (interactive) and batch file renaming • Usually run during data entry/import

  7. Technical Details: Data Entry/Import • Data entry form for adding new photo records individually • Tools for importing in batch mode • Used for entering most new photo records • Based on Access tools (e.g., linked tables, append/update queries) • Customized tools to help automate photo import process for long-term projects that routinely collect photos (e.g., vegetation mapping, monitoring)

  8. Technical Details: Search and Retrieval • Two broad search and retrieval usage scenarios: • Pretty pix queries: Image contents usually more important than image info; thumbnail list often suffices • Data photo queries: Image contents and info usually important; display of detailed image info often necessary • Two types of search and retrieval tools: • Custom-built query tool: Query limited set of fields; browse thumbnails; especially effective for pretty pix queries • Access built-in tools (e.g., Find, Filter): Query any field; browse detailed photo records; especially effective for data photo queries • These usage scenarios and tools will be demonstrated…

  9. Challenges • Managing growth in number of photos and storage • Serving photos to distributed staff • Expanding user base • Providing effective photo search and retrieval • Ensuring quality of photos/photo data • Archiving digital photos

  10. Demonstration

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